Northeast Market Reports

By Phil Ross, CPA, accounting & audit partner, Anchin, Block & Anchin LLP After nearly 15 months of shutdowns and restrictions, New York City has taken a major step forward. Seventy percent of the city’s residents are now vaccinated, and restrictions significantly reduced across the area’s commercial spaces, from offices and retail to dining and hospitality. Mask mandates have been lifted and the hum of the metro area’s business districts is growing loud again. With an expected increase in demand for building upgrades and repositioning services to meet new market needs, as well as new projects across housing, infrastructure and healthcare, the construction sector is poised to see a more robust pipeline. During the pandemic slowdown, construction firms were understandably more focused on the short term. But with the market back on the upswing, now is the time to refocus on long-term goals and strategies. A major part of this is ensuring you have an internal organizational pipeline to continue growth well into the future and maintain your firm’s legacy of success. This is just as important as creating a business development strategy and building up a backlog of projects. Transitioning a construction business for the next generation and beyond …

By Taylor Williams After months of disruption and uncertainty, commercial lenders throughout the country and the Northeast are eager to deploy funds, creating an environment in which borrowers are somewhat insulated from economic and geopolitical forces that threaten to derail the recovery. With interest rates still at historic lows and investors of all types looking to recoup returns unexpectedly lost to COVID-19, there is tremendous liquidity in the market. There’s also the simple fact that lenders are for-profit companies with expenses to cover. As the saying goes, if “they’re not lending money, they’re not making money,” and they’re losing market share. As a result, sources say, lenders are competing among themselves to finance deals. When lenders compete, borrowers win. “The overall level of capital flowing into the U.S. commercial real estate market is equal to or greater than where it was pre-pandemic,” says Matt Swerdlow, director of capital services at New York City-based intermediary Ariel Property Advisors. “Right now, there’s more capital than deals, so borrowers can get better spreads, higher proceeds or less structure just because the availability of capital is so broad.” “Despite the fact that we’re in a post-pandemic market, it’s heavy competition for deals, which has …

There are multitudes of ways for property owners to reduce their tax burdens, as well as missteps that can derail a tax strategy. With that in mind, taxpayers should beware of trying to prove a low value for a tax appeal while simultaneously claiming a higher value in another proceeding. And here is how it can happen. Protesting a High Assessment Most real estate taxes in the Northeast — including those in New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Massachusetts — have an “ad valorem” or “value-based” assessment method. Thus, the greater a property is worth, the higher its real estate tax burden. A property tax bill is calculated by multiplying the property assessment by the tax rate. The assessment or taxable value is determined by the local assessor or board of assessors and is typically a percentage of market value. This percentage varies among states and even municipalities. In New York, it is based on a comprehensive analysis of sales. The percentage is released annually by the state’s Office of Real Property Tax Services and is different for each municipality. For example, Connecticut sets its percentage by statute. In Pennsylvania, it is set by the state’s Tax Equalization Board. But regardless …