REBNY toasts great year in real estate.Another REBNY REBNY Real Estate Board of New York banquet is upon us. As we embark on 2005, it's a good time to reflect on the past year and highlight the numerous initiatives undertaken on behalf of our membership. Looking back, this was one of the most active years for New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of real estate in the recent past. The economy was improving, the Manhattan residential market was surging and the commercial market was steadily climbing as major deals were signed for office and retail space. As always, REBNY strives to be the voice of the industry by staying involved in issues of importance to our members. In 2004, we were involved in numerous initiatives including the revitalization re·vi·tal·ize tr.v. re·vi·tal·ized, re·vi·tal·iz·ing, re·vi·tal·iz·es To impart new life or vigor to: plans to revitalize inner-city neighborhoods; tried to revitalize a flagging economy. of Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan is the southernmost part of the island of Manhattan, the main island and center of business and government of the City of New York. Lower Manhattan is generally defined as the area delineated on the north by Chambers Street, on the west by the Hudson River (North , fighting for key legislation that affects the industry, major land use proposals to foster our City's growth, and new organizational initiatives to better serve our members. Here are some highlights from the past year ... Making New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. Better than Ever REBNY has been a key partner in the revitalization of Lower Manhattan, which has moved forward dramatically in 2004. The start of construction on the Freedom Tower and topping out of 7 World Trade are powerful and visible signs of our recovery and our progress. The World Trade Center transportation hub Transportation hub is a location where traffic is exchanged across several modes of transport. These modes may include any of railway, tramway, rapid transit, bus, automobile, truck, airplane, spacecraft, ship, ferry, pedestrian or any other kind of transportation. , the Fulton Street Transit Center The Fulton Street Transit Center is a $750 million project, currently in progress in New York City, USA, that will improve access to and connections between 12 subway services stopping at Manhattan's Fulton Street, PATH service and the World Trade Center station in Lower Manhattan. , the modernization of the South Ferry South Ferry may refer to:
Kennedy Interrnational, Kennedy Long Island - an island in southeastern New York; Brooklyn and Queens are on its western end as well as a connection for Long Island commuters directly into Lower Manhattan are major initiatives that will transform the country's third largest central business district. In addition, President Bush announced his support to permit New York City to trade-in unused September 11th tax credits for $2 billion for the JFK/LIRR connection. The President's commitment emphasizes the importance of this project to the revitalization of Lower Manhattan and will assure us of a substantial part of the total funding necessary for the project. The Relocation and Employment Assistance Program (REAP), a critical component in the City's economic development policy, was renewed this year. With our support, the program was enhanced and modified in a number of important ways. We continued to .work with, the Real Estate Roundtable and the Coalition to Insure Against Terrorism (CIAT CIAT Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (Spanish: International Center for Tropical Agriculture, Colombia) CIAT Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists (UK) ) to push for an extension of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) is a United States federal law signed into law by President George W. Bush on November 26, 2002. The Act created a federal "backstop" for insurance claims related to acts of terrorism. (TRIA TRIA Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 TRIA Term Requirement in Average ). While some congressional leaders oppose bringing it to the floor this year, we believe an extension of TRIA is essential to calm the growing market uncertainty and ensure that policies issued at the beginning of 2005 don't sunset. We've also been involved in major planning and land use policy initiatives to revitalize underutilized areas of the city. The Hudson Yards proposal has been approved by the City Council Land Use Committee. The plan will create 24 million square feet of commercial space, 14 million square feet of residential space, an extension of the number 7 Line to serve the entire area more adequately, and a comprehensive network of open space. We have supported this major initiative vigorously and critically reviewed the details to guarantee they meet the current demand for space and the requirements of the market. We look forward to the plan getting full City Council approval on January 19. Member Services REBNY's market reports continue to provide members important information about trends in the residential and commercial markets. This year's quarterly cooperative and condominium condominium In modern property law, individual ownership of one dwelling unit within a multidwelling building. Unit owners have undivided ownership interest in the land and those portions of the building shared in common. reports highlighted a soaring residential market. In addition, REBNY's semi-annual retail reports this year indicated that retail rents have rebounded to pre-9/11 highs. We've updated the educational courses offered this year. In addition to 90 hours of all new continuing education continuing education: see adult education. continuing education or adult education Any form of learning provided for adults. In the U.S. the University of Wisconsin was the first academic institution to offer such programs (1904). courses, we've added the Salesperson's Qualifying Licensing Course. REBNY continues to offer members a wide range of networking opportunities through its members luncheons featuring leading individuals in our industry who offer insight on the market and share their business philosophy. In addition, there are numerous opportunities to network through individual committee luncheons often featuring guest speakers to discuss a more specific area of the industry. While this is only a brief summary of the many initiatives, activities, and legislation we were involved in last year, we encourage members to take a look at our annual report which has a more complete list of highlights. Looking Ahead As we look ahead to 2005, our list of goals and priorities includes a number of important issues. We plan to hold the line on taxes to ensure that increasing property taxes are not the primary solution to closing the City's budget gap. We also plan to launch a commercial listing exchange system to better serve commercial brokerage firms and commercial building owners by enabling them to share exclusive listings. And we will continue to support rezoning in West Chelsea, and Greenpoint/ Williamsburg, an extension to the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, and to ensure that the $2 billion in unused September llth tax credits, which President Bush committed to be used for the downtown rail link, are indeed part of the budget this year. With the help of our dedicated Board of Governors, Boards of Directors, all of our committee members and staff, we have had a productive year. We hope to continue the progress in 2005 and build a better real estate industry in New York. |
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