Zohran Mamdani to turn housing in NYC highly expensive? Barry Sternlicht, real estate billionaire, raises concerns as he criticizes NYC’s new mayor’s housing policy; here’s what he said
Starwood Capital Group has both commercial and residential holdings and joint ventures in the city, as well as its own offices in Midtown Manhattan.
“Over $100 million, every project in New York has to go to the union, and that’s very expensive. That leads to extremely expensive housing. And other developers have tried to cut deals with the unions, but they run New York, and that’s one of the main reasons why the blue states are so expensive and it’s so hard to add housing supply to them,” Sternlicht told CNBC in an interview.
“And then the far left gets really crazy and says tenants don’t have to pay. Well, you can’t kick them out if they don’t pay. So the neighbor finds out that his neighbor isn’t paying and he doesn’t pay, and the next guy doesn’t pay either, and then you’ve basically turned New York City into Mumbai,” the billionaire said.
ALSO READ: Who is Barry Sternlicht? His net worth and career highlights; Real estate mogul opposes Zohran Mamdani’s rent freeze plan in New York
Mamdani’s central housing platform focused on freezing rents, but expressed disagreement with the Sternlicht strategy. He emphasizes that Mamdani should focus on the core problems facing the city and increase housing. “What he’s focusing on isn’t the basic issues. We need to increase housing. That’s not going to be easy, is it? You need serious subsidies from the government if they want us to work with unions. Unions have to be more compliant with labor laws and wages and everything else, otherwise you can’t add economically,” he said.
Meanwhile, members of the New York real estate industry are preparing for the ripple effects of Mamdani’s affordability and housing policies, according to Reuters. They are now trying to contact the mayor of New York City, who is trying to freeze rents and encourage development in the city.
