From Bloomberg:
Homes Are Shrinking in the U.S.
In a reversal of a three-decade trend, U.S. homebuilders are cutting the size of the American home as margins are being squeezed by a shortage of land and labor. The average floor area year to date of a new house is 2,420 square feet (225 square meters), down from a record high of 2,520 set in 2015, according to a Capital Economics Ltd. analysis of federal data. Before the decline, the typical size had grown by a third since 1990.
Good Morning New Jersey
Looking at the graph in the link, it’s really more like a wobble at the top, than a drop.
Does that include basements?
yes. Stu needs somewhere to post from…..
Ha!
Hey Chi. Let me know when you saved enough to open your own pizza joint. Kapeesh?
NFL is rigged. Jets got robbed.
I absolutely love that the Giants won without O’Dell. I can’t stand his antics. Watching that game from the hyperbaric chamber must have killed him.
And the Jets did get robbed. Though, McClown’s perfect pass to McCourty (interception), didn’t help much either.
Just spoke with a prominent US corporate name. Laying off 200+ in NY State prior to end of the year due to coming minimum wage increases.
The minimum wage increase this year ($1) created significant cost issues, they don’t feel they can sustain next year (another $1 increase) or the year after (another $1).
2016, 2017, 2018 minimum wage increases – $1 each time – results in nearly $1.25-1.5 million in additional labor costs.
They’ll outsource and move the business to the US southeast likely.
Unfortunate, these were good paying jobs in a somewhat depressed area on upstate NY. This community will likely feel some significant pain from the job losses, it was a major employer in town.
They’ll at least keep their jobs through Christmas, because they haven’t WARN’ed yet.
I feel at ease knowing someone like Wilbur Ross is secretary of Commerce.
Conducted at Google’s Washington headquarters, Larry Kudlow and Sec. of Commerce Wilbur Ross sat down for a wide-ranging interview. Overall, Ross told Kudlow “the animal juices are starting to flow” in the American economy — causing record gains on Wall Street — because of President Trump’s regulatory reforms.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d16usaF2MmM
Ross’s comments on “free trade” on a global scale are spot on. It’s different when theory meets reality.
Laying off 200+ in NY State prior to end of the year due to coming minimum wage increases.
What about the children!
Did Mexican Cartel Arsonists start the CA fires?
http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/12/smallbusiness/california-cannabis-fires/index.html
I absolutely love that the Giants won without O’Dell. I can’t stand his antics. Watching that game from the hyperbaric chamber must have killed him.
What I can’t stand is that he drops passes when they matter the most. At this point, he’s worse than TO and caused the whole team to implode faster than I’ve ever seen a football team do so.
Al Michaels joked…
“the Giants are coming off a worse week than Harvey Weinstein”
The Jets were certainly robbed. But they’re the punchline for a lot of things in the league and this is no different.
Weiner, Weinstein.
Noticing a trend.
Grim. Please don’t share my last name.
You are off by a few letters.
Fortunately.
Ladies (and some men),
Don’t spend any time alone with anyone named Weintraub.
Just heard neighbor’s house for sale the one with the aluminum wiring fell through again, for a simple credit owner could have been done and closed with the place. Owner is asking full boat price on a house that has not been updated since the 1970s, and needs to be updated significantly by whomever purchases the place.
Here is the fuzzy image the realtor used for the kitchen. Painted crap cabinets and Formica!
https://ibb.co/hMcnMR
Steven Mnuchin on Tax Reform Bill
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=130&v=p0pBY4iXqls
Seems like the target is “middle income”. I don’t hear them saying “middle class” as much.
Wow…I really thought the Judge was going to toss the Menendez bribery charges…
http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/10/judge_wont_dismiss_menendez_bribery_charges.html#incart_2box_nj-homepage-featured
“Gov. Chris Christie will announce this afternoon he’s endorsing Newark’s bid for Amazon’s second sprawling headquarters, sources told NJ Advance Media.
Christie’s backing may come with $5 billion in tax breaks state lawmakers have agreed to lavish on Amazon should it choose New Jersey to host its massive headquarters and 50,000 potential new jobs.
Christie worked with legislative leaders to craft the generous tax breaks, specifically tailored for the online retailing giant, to land New Jersey at the front of the crowded pack of suitors jockeying for Amazon’s business.”
http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/10/christie_to_throw_support_behind_newarks_amazon_bi.html#incart_river_home
“”This study confirms the progress that is being made in Newark schools and shows that reforms undertaken — particularly in areas like citywide enrollment and expansion of high quality schools — are making a real difference for Newark students,” Schools Superintendent Christopher Cerf said in a statement. “The data shows us that the seeds planted in earlier years are now yielding rewards for students.”
A district analysis of the report said that part of the reason math scores were unchanged was because the baseline was already high and above the state average. It also does not include 2016-17 data which shows greater improvements.”
http://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2017/10/did_newarks_school_reform_efforts_work_this_study.html#incart_river_home
Dow got within spitting distance of 23K.
When you look at a graph of the DJIA for the past year, it hits you like a baseball bat. Trump should just make that his campaign poster.
Of all the stupid billions NJ has given away to half-ass, worthless, companies, they better be on their knees for Amazon. Especially for Newark, ESPECIALLY.
What about Secaucus for a location for Amazon?
Big Guv is tweetin’
Told you guys… 40% of the poplulation of the US…within a day away
https://twitter.com/GovChristie/status/919989785376317440
He is right about that….location, location, location.
D-FENS says:
October 16, 2017 at 2:23 pm
Big Guv is tweetin’
Told you guys… 40% of the poplulation of the US…within a day away
https://twitter.com/GovChristie/status/919989785376317440
Yup..
grim says:
October 16, 2017 at 2:11 pm
Of all the stupid billions NJ has given away to half-ass, worthless, companies, they better be on their knees for Amazon. Especially for Newark, ESPECIALLY.
Dumbass gov, did he even read the package?
This is not a distribution facility. It does not matter how close you are to how many people.
It is a HQ. Amazon specifically asks how the location will attract professionals from outside of the location.
Typical freaking Jersey. All mouth, no reason or listen. LOL. Braying donkey.
Oh Boy, has Christie won any converts to NJ? I know he was pushing for some development deals with willing corporations. Just overcoming the “wanna move to Jersey??” question would be the first task.
Menendez’ judge not throwing out the charges, they stand.
It is a HQ. Amazon specifically asks how the location will attract professionals from outside of the location.
NY metro is home to many many many retail-focused positions today, we have a relatively strong labor pool of not only retail executives, but retail and distributions-focused IT, legal, and other support staff. Amazon would have no problem at all attracting reverse commuters out of NYC.
NYC labor pool is one of the strongest on the east coast, given they won’t locate inside of Manhattan – that leaves, what? Westchester, Brooklyn (yeah I know it’s NYC), or NJ.
Long Island? I doubt it.
Central Jersey is too far.
Don’t disagree Grim.
My point is different. The Gov is integral to spearheading any successful bid (and already weeks behind NY in picking a location to back).
He finally comes out with a decision by tweet, linked above, and……it is pitching distribution…..
2nd largest seaport!
7 rail lines!
40% of Americans one day away!
Yeah, run with that. People always want to do business with partners who can’t even listen. Rather than address the question that was asked for which, I agree, Newark actually has a pretty good answer.
A campus of 50,000 in downtown Newark? Where or where could you put it and all the cars that would go with it?
In his defense…he sent several tweets. I only posted one of them.
One of the others spoke about the Universities (and therefore the labor pool)
@GovChristie
Newark is home to six colleges and universities, including @Rutgers_Newark and @NJIT, and the region boasts dozens of institutions that produce a total of more than 100,000 career-ready graduates each year. @Amazon HQ2 #newarknjisprime
From the Amazon RFP. Page 1. Yes, the front fcuking page lol. The four preference criteria:
In choosing the location for HQ2, Amazon has a preference for:
Metropolitan areas with more than one million people
A stable and business-friendly environment
Urban or suburban locations with the potential to attract and retain strong technical talent
Communities that think big and creatively when considering locations and real estate options
And if one were really ambitious and made it page 2 paragraph one of the RFP, the 50,000 jobs will “likely be broken down into the following categories: executive/management, engineering with a preference for software
development engineers (SDE), legal, accounting, and administrative.”
Idiots. Keep pushing the docks, four weeks late. Can’t make this stuff up. Amazon only tells you explicitly on page one and two how to win this project.
Relax your sphincter man. The guy sent a tweet. It’s not the proposal sent to Amazon.
We covered the Amazon RFP weeks ago. Our braying governor is on his last legs, no way he is going to get billions from the legislature for this with three weeks until the election. This is all about the election Phil Murphy cannot come out in favor of billions in Tax incentives when he is campaigning on soaking the rich.
If the State and Newark can seriously get their act together I would add them to my short list of names. Big ‘if’.
Juice, mass transit on site is a core preference.
They break down the stats for the current HQ in the RFP. Eye popping one for me is 233,000 hotel nights generated by visiting Amazonians and guests. Using a 365 day year (includes Christmas Eve, etc) that is 638 incremental rooms EVERY NIGHT. Wow.
“Relax your sphincter man. The guy sent a tweet. It’s not the proposal sent to Amazon.”
Eh, tax day. Not in a good mood. I hate this State and the mass majority of idiots who populate it lol. Can’t wait til I’m sprung.
I don’t think the rail lines Christie mentions are freight lines.
Between Newark Penn and Newark Broad Street you have about 6-7 passenger rail lines.
Montclair-Boonton Line
Hackettstown Line
Gladstone Line
Raritan Valley Line
Northeast Corridor – with Acela service to DC.
NJ Coast Line
That’s 6, Path would be 7
re: “mass transit on site” It simply does not exist in Newark.
Amazon employees ride on fleets of buses both private and public to bring workers in from the burbs of Seattle. There is no bus going to Newark from Wayne New Jersey or most any other town. You would have to ride a bus from most NJ towns to PORT AUTHORITY in Manhattan and then a bus back out to Newark (or any other town that could land Amazon in NJ).
There is nowhere near Newark Penn to build a campus for 50,000 to leverage the trains.
https://www.google.com/maps/search/map+newark+penn+station/@40.7311341,-74.1704026,1689m/data=!3m1!1e3
Wayne has two stops on the Montclair-Boonton line with service to Newark Penn.
Got it grim, agree. As I mentioned I have a hard on for anything Jersey today lol.
The state and Newark need to get their proposals together quickly. Amazon set a October 19th deadline for responses. Where in Newark would HQ2 go, and how can build and finance phase 1 of HQ2 buy Amazon’s 2019 deadline?
Does Amazon know, the trains are SRO and have the reliability of a broken clock?
If Amazon was to locate in NJ, they should do it in Trenton. They could move right into all of the state government buildings that are doing nothing anyway.
Newark airport is #1 in three things. It has the most expensive usage fees for the planes, the airline tickets are the most expensive in the country and the delays are the worst in the country. As cool as it sounds. You’d have to be a fool to locate your headquarters in Newark.
Heck, look what happened to Zappo’s when they thought it would be such a great publicity stunt to setup in downtown Las Vegas.
https://qz.com/875086/five-years-in-tony-hsiehs-downtown-project-is-hardly-any-closer-to-being-a-real-city/
There is an 18 acre clear lot on Raymond Blvd for sale, that’s a start. I bet you could assemble (through eminent domain) – at least a 25-30 acre parcel.
Here you go, I managed to put together around 40 acres, semi-contiguous. There are some major logistics to work out, however.
https://njrereport.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/AmazonHQ.png
I could probably push this to nearly 60 acres.
I think New Jersey state government has one nimble political play left to save themselves.
Legalize Marijuana, just like CO, et al. Suddenly $14K in property taxes doesn’t seem all that bad when you can just spread out in a chaise lounge in your backyard smoking a fine spliff…legally.
Grim, don’t even need that much land.
If I’m marketing an ‘urban’ city (Newark) I would go with its strengths and go up. A city block should hold 1000 or so employees. Need 50 stories. Two buildings times 25?
Especially with Newark I would stick with the redeveloped core. While a bunch of land is great, that parcel is in no mans land. Nothing walkable. No transit. God only knows what’s there when you turn a shovel.
That is all aside from the sh!tshow that development around the Pru was, with a fight over every sliver (some still ongoing I believe). And that was with the backing of one of the city’s favorite sons, a billionaire looking to actually invest in hometown.
The political free-for-all that would occur around this project is sure to stop it dead in its tracks for years. Bezos doesn’t need that. I suppose that is why business friendly and outside the box thinking are included as criteria.
Again, though,if I’m NY/NYC I propose Roosevelt Isl.
CornellTech is there. Give Amazon a piece of the north part of the island. Need transportation for all those people, tram won’t do it lol. Two buildings, or one tall one, surrounded by the island green. Don’t know what clearance is required over the East River but build a space-age, Musk-esque transparent subway like tube from a dedicated new stop in Manhattan to a ‘reception’ platform right on the 15th floor or so in the buildings. All very cool and 21st century.
Wins hands down.
I think they should pitch that American Dream behemoth as the new HQ for Amazon. Hey, doesn’t that bldg have it’s own indoor ski slope. A natural fit.
Wait until Bezos sees the dump of a terminal at Hoboken!! World class transportation system blah blah!! This Past September was one of the worst for on time performance of NJ transit trains!! And their definition if on time is loose!!
4:33…..Damn Homie.
Ex jersey Amazon type employees would not be caught dead in that barren desolate waste land!!
Downtown urban core?
Going to be fun when the local residents protest eminent domain being used to clear a city block for re-development. Kicking out the poor to give land to the man.
Horizon BCBS has most of that 20 story building, I don’t think they have many more than 5000 employees there. So – you’ll need 10 of those.
Don’t know the dimensions of a Newark suburban block. Know for manhattan there can be about 1000-1200 people per commercial floor on a block based on elevator capacities, fire codes, etc.
Re: the poor, the Man, etc. Exactly part of the reason the ‘non-urban’ cities are expanding at the expense of second and third tier ‘urban’ cities. None of those issues.
Amazon is trying to attract younger, CS types. Sealing them hermetically between highways for the workday ain’t gonna get them there.
Don’t know Newark well enough, but there ought to be at least two locations in private hands close enough to the core that a combined State/City could work with. The State has the bag of goodies, exemptions, abatements, development funds, etc up the wazoo. I’d have to be a brain dead landowner to not listen to a combined Amazon/State/city proposal. Sell to them at real market value and have the developer/State/city throw in a floor for free in perpetuity in your name as vig, triple net for sublease. Done deal. Upper floor.
I believe the Amazon RFP expressed desire for a 100 acre lot, which is going to be hard to deliver pretty much anywhere that meets the other requirements.
Camden side of Philly is probably a possibility for a single large contiguous lot that could be transformed into something impressive.
Toys R Us has a mind-blowingly gorgeous 200 acre campus they might consider parting with. They might be acquired somewhat cost effectively right now.
Or give them a parking lot next door. Much better.
There was a huge dustup over lots when the Pru went in, only settled years after the building opened. No wonder. Have it from someone reliable that the lot across from the entrances on Lafayette grosses $15m annually. Want to guess the margin on that lol?
It was an either/or. Buildings of 500k ft sq or greenfield site of 100 acres pad ready. Or a third category that was combination of both.
keeping everyone warm, how they get best deal lol.
Newark, demolish the empty Bears stadium and EmDo everything up to NJPAC. You can even throw the PAC in to sweeten the deal. You already have the light rail running from Broad St to the large carpark.
Somebody already has the redevelopment rights to the stadium, it’s slated to be demolished soon.
The fcuking sales tax in downtown Chicago is 14.50%?
Are you sh!tting me?
Communists!
For Chi Boi and his nemesis pumpkuny:
https://g.co/kgs/35BuX4