Photos by Steve Friedman

By Daniel Geiger

The Laboz brothers are close to acquiring the mortgage and deed to 408 Broadway, a roughly 75,000 s/f property in Soho for around $32 million, according to sources. The building was purchased in 2008 by the New Jersey-based real estate investment firm Vanick Properties for $29 million, according to city records. In August of that year, Vanick leased the five story building’s 14,300 s/f fourth floor to the music publication Spin Magazine. It appears, however, that the building eventually went into default. Read more...

By Roland Li

The fate of rent regulations affecting over 1 million New York City apartments is now in the hands of Albany’s Senate. Last week, the State Assembly passed a bill that would renew the regulations, which limit rent increases, extending them to 2016. It also abolished deregulation due to vacancy, increased the ceiling for deregulation for high-income tenants and decreased rent increases to 10% from 20% for new tenants. Assemblyman Brian Kavanagh, a Democrat who represents the east side of Manhattan, said the changes were important in order to preserve the city’s rent-regulated housing stock. Read more...

By Daniel Geiger

Arup, a structural and construction engineering firm, is in talks to move its downtown headquarters to 77 Water Street, according to sources. The company, which was founded in England after World War II and has offices around the globe, currently has its New York headquarters at 155 Sixth Avenue, a building in Lower Manhattan owned by Trinity Real Estate, the real estate arm of the Trinity Church. Arup’s lease is set to expire in the building in 2014. The space at 77 Water Street is being sublet by Goldman Sachs, which leased nearly the entire 600,000 s/f building several years ago, but reconsidered the space and decided to sublease instead. Read more...