A report from Curbed New York. "A contractor who worked on a lower Manhattan condo tower—which is now leaning slightly—is suing the project’s developer, accusing the firm of cutting corners to curb costs, according to court documents. The 58-story tower at 161 Maiden Lane, also known as 1 Seaport, is leaning north by about three inches because the skyscraper’s foundation is defective, according to a March 22 lawsuit filed by the project’s contractor, Pizzarotti, in New York State Supreme Court."

"But a representative for Fortis Property Group, the project’s developer, points the finger at Pizzarotti for the leaning lower Manhattan tower, and says the contractor improperly poured a concrete slab and failed to account for the settling of the foundation. Pizzarotti is now in 'panic mode' and filed the suit in a last-ditch effort to avoid damages, according to the Fortis spokesperson."

"'This lawsuit is patently false from start to finish and nothing more than simple defamation and a desperate attempt by a failing general contractor to divert attention from the fact it defaulted on yet another New York City project,' said the spokesperson. 'As a number of prominent New York City developers have learned the hard way over the past few years, Pizzarotti is simply incapable of buying out, managing and completing a construction project within contractually promised timelines.'"

From City Limits. "A looming affordable housing deadline in Brooklyn may be met—but only because state requirements are far looser than what Brooklynites were promised regarding the project launched in 2003 as Atlantic Yards. A newly acquired document discloses a plan, otherwise kept under wraps, for the developer of the vexed project, called Pacific Park since 2014, to meet an ever-closer deadline: building the required 2,250 affordable housing units by May 31, 2025."

"The new details about Greenland Forest City’s plan were made available not in Brooklyn but half a world away in China, as part of a document discussing unbuilt project sites, treated as collateral for immigrant investors seeking green cards under the federal government’s EB-5 program."

"Asked by City Limits to confirm or clarify the plans—the document was prepared for a lender to the developer, not the developer itself–the developer instead offered a general statement: 'Greenland Forest City Partners is fully committed to meeting our target of 2,250 units of affordable housing by 2025, and our development plan for the remaining affordable units will be in full compliance with the outlined General Project Plan.'"

"Why the unwillingness to say more? Perhaps because the company’s previous '100 percent affordable' buildings have faced criticism, given they’ve been skewed to middle-income households earning six figures, with such units tough to rent, as City Limits reported."

"When would Pacific Park be finished? A map (below) charting the tentative buildout, prepared by Greenland Forest City in August 2014, predicted completion by 2025, with the final three buildings delivering major portions of affordable housing: all three, built over that platform, would have a 50/30/20 configuration, with 20 percent low-income units, 30 percent moderate- or middle-income, and the remaining 50 percent market rate."

"However, that plan was upended by delays, with no new buildings starting after mid-2015. In November 2016, in a sign of tension within the joint venture, Forest City unilaterally announced a pause in construction, citing a glut of market-rate buildings in and around Downtown Brooklyn, rising construction costs, and uncertainty about the 421-a tax break."

From New York Real Estate Journal. "Compound Asset Management (Compound), a New York City-based real estate asset management company, will integrate New York City’s most accurate automated valuation model, also known as AVM, as part of the firm’s data aggregation platform for urban residential real estate investment."

"'Today, there are more than 3,800 apartments publicly listed for sale in Manhattan – and there are hundreds (if not thousands) of ‘shadow inventory’ units, which are uninhabited or soon to be uninhabited residences,' Janine Yorio, CEO of Compound. 'As units come on and off the market and price changes are announced, the ability to parse through this complex data will allow us to pin-point properties that fit Compound’s investment strategy.'"

"Unlike most i-buyers, Compound’s strategy is to hold residential assets for the long-term in a fund, rather than rehabbing and flipping them. The firm believes this model is more sustainable and less vulnerable to market downturns."