As New York City gets ready for an estimated reopening date of early to mid-June, extensive preparations are taking place behind the scenes. Governor Andrew Cuomo will sign an executive order allowing businesses to deny entry to anyone not wearing a mask or face covering. New York City has the most open streets of any city in the United States, and the City Council has ideas for making the most of it - it has introduced a bill requiring the city to use the newly opened space for outdoor dining.

A wide range of predictions for the future of work and office space has emerged after weeks of people working remotely, but Tavros Development Partners remains optimistic about New York’s office market. To that end, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (“Landmarks”) will hear its proposal to build a new, 11-story commercial tower with outdoor space to rise behind the two- and four-story buildings at 44-54 Ninth Avenue and 351-355 West 14th Street, located up the street from Google’s New York headquarters, in a virtual hearing on Tuesday, June 2. The hearing is necessitated by the fact that one of the lots is in the Gansevoort Market Historic District.

Renderings show that while the new tower hardly looms over its neighbors, it is a fairly obvious addition to the local skyline and streetscape. A presentation by BKSK Architects, designer of the nearby Gansevoort Row, cites local residential (345 Meatpacking and The Porter House, the condos bookending the site) and commercial (Diane von Furstenberg and Samsung stores) examples of historic buildings that have juxtaposed contemporary additions. It remains to be seen whether local preservationists will accept that, or the idea that the plan calls for the rear yard additions to be demolished.

In addition to the new tower, the developer aspires to restore the existing mixed-use buildings, which date back to the 19th century, to their original glory. This involves restoring the brick facade to the original red, reinstalling the cornice according to historic photos, replacing the lintels, replacing the windows to match original heights and profiles, and reinterpreting the chimney profiles. A new, solid signage band recalls the historic balconette; some of the storefronts’ cast iron columns will be exposed while others will be removed; and the retail interiors will be restored with historic features exposed. To literally top it all off, the plan also calls for solar panels on the roofs.

Manhattan skyline views are an obvious benefit of living in Long Island City, but its own waterfront is going to look a lot more distinctive in the wake of new construction. Among it is a pair of 46- and 56-story towers at Hunters Point Parcel C, a project helmed by TF Cornerstone that will be the tallest towers along the city's shoreline outside Manhattan. ODA Architecture / SLCE Architects are leading the design of the towers, which are set to accommodate a total of 1,200 apartments. Sixty percent of which will be earmarked as permanently affordable, making it the largest affordable housing project New York City has completed in decades.

Residential amenities will include a fitness center, recreational terrace, and lounges. The site will also house a new community center, new retail, a daycare center, and a 22,000-square-foot park designed by Matthews Nielsen Landscape Architects. Delivery has been estimated for late 2022, and a recent visit shows that the south tower is nearly topped out.

In the heart of the West Village, the landmarked townhouse at 33 Charles Street has been gracefully renovated to modern standards, though not at the expense of original, timeless details. Two-time Academy Award-winner Hilary Swank bought it for $3.9 million with then-husband Chad Lowe in 2002, and sold it for $8.25 million in 2006. More recently, it has just sold again for $9.794 million in a virtual closing. No word yet on the new buyer, but 6sqft notes that its most recent owner was Harry A. Lawton III, the former president of Macy's. Mr. Lawton purchased the townhouse for $10.5 million in 2017.

There was a time when Facebook considered remote work to be less than efficient, but the pandemic left management and employees with no choice. Now founder Mark Zuckerberg has changed his tune and announced a permanent shift to a greater amount of remote work, citing environmental benefits and access to a larger pool of talent that might not want (or be able to afford) to move to the cities of operation. No word yet on how this affects its plans for office space in Hudson Yards and the Farley Post Office redevelopment.

At the same time, other tech companies remain enthusiastic about taking office space in New York. Video-sharing app TikTok, which has hosted several dance challenges and let people connect during quarantine, has signed a lease for 232,000 square feet of office space at One Five One, also known as Four Times Square. According to The Real Deal, this will be spread across seven stories - five at the top and two at the base.

Further downtown, Uber is still moving forward with plans to take seven floors of office space in 3 World Trade Center despite layoffs and closed offices across the country. A spokesperson told Crain's New York Business, "We look forward to continuing to be part of the fabric of the city."

For a while, some were concerned that DUMBO was in for a downturn in the wake of oversupply. However, a more recent visit by Crain's New York Business saw that this waterfront neighborhood is still in high demand, citing its excellent positioning and the architecturally inspired, amenity-rich offerings. 98 Front Street is nearly halfway sold out, and remaining availabilities range from $735K for a studio to $4.5 million for a three-bedroom penthouse with a private roof terrace. A few blocks away, Front & York has reached full height.