Reference
NYC CRE Glossary
Plain-language definitions of every commercial real estate term used across sky-nyc.com. Each entry includes a real Skyline-brokered example showing how the term applies in NYC practice.
18 terms · 18 canonical Skyline examples
467-m (RPTL §467-m)
New York State Real Property Tax Law §467-m, the 35-year property-tax abatement enacted in 2024 for qualifying office-to-residential conversions in Manhattan south of 96th Street. Requires at least 25% of resulting units be affordable.
Skyline example: Vanbarton Group's $135M acquisition of 6 East 43rd Street to convert into 441 apartments (111 affordable) is one of Manhattan's largest 467-m conversions, financed by a $300M Brookfield construction loan.
Office-to-residential conversion pillar →ACRIS
NYC's Automated City Register Information System. The official record of every commercial and residential property deed, mortgage, and lien recorded in the five boroughs. Searchable at acris.nyc.gov.
Skyline example: Skyline's $976M+ closed transaction volume is sourced from ACRIS-recorded closing prices, not from broker self-reports.
Skyline methodology →Air rights / TDR
Unused buildable floor area on a property. NYC zoning allows the transfer of these rights (Transferable Development Rights) to adjacent or specifically-designated properties to enable taller construction.
Skyline example: Chelsea, Hudson Yards, and the High Line corridor have active TDR markets where Skyline has sourced both buyer-side and seller-side mandates.
NYC development sites pillar →BOV (Broker Opinion of Value)
A written estimate of a property's market value prepared by a licensed broker, supported by comparable-sale data. Faster and less formal than a state-licensed appraisal; commonly used by lenders, sellers, and 1031 buyers for transactional pricing.
Skyline example: Skyline provides confidential BOVs on Manhattan commercial properties within 5 business days, no obligation.
Request a BOV →Cap rate (capitalization rate)
A property's net operating income divided by its purchase price. Expressed as a percentage. Lower cap rates = higher prices relative to income (trophy assets); higher cap rates = lower prices (riskier or higher-yield assets).
Skyline example: Manhattan multifamily cap rates in 2026 typically range 5.5%-6.5% for free-market and 6.5%-8.5% for rent-stabilized inventory.
NYC cap rate calculator →Ground lease
A long-term lease (typically 49-99 years) where the tenant leases the land but constructs and owns the improvements. The landowner retains the land in perpetuity; at lease expiration, all improvements typically revert to the landowner.
Skyline example: Skyline brokered the $65M 99-year ground lease at 236 Fifth Avenue to Kaufman Organization in 2017 — one of NoMad's signature ground-lease transactions.
Ground lease NYC pillar →HSTPA (Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act)
The 2019 New York State legislation that fundamentally restructured rent-stabilization in NYC. Capped maximum rent increases, eliminated vacancy decontrol, and limited Major Capital Improvement (MCI) cost pass-throughs.
Skyline example: Post-HSTPA, Manhattan rent-stabilized cap rates expanded from ~4.5% to ~6.5-7.5% as the asset class repriced for the new regulatory regime.
NYC multifamily investment guide →J-51
A NYC property-tax abatement and exemption program for renovation and rehabilitation of existing residential and mixed-use buildings. Distinct from 467-m (which is for office-to-residential conversion of pre-1991 commercial buildings).
Skyline example: J-51 layered with rent-stabilization rules produces the lowest effective property-tax exposure for some NYC multifamily portfolios.
Multifamily investment guide →Leasehold position
The tenant side of a ground lease. Holds rights to operate and improve the property for the lease term but does not own the underlying land. Leasehold positions can themselves be financed (leasehold mortgages) and sold.
Skyline example: A leasehold position is typically valued via DCF on the remaining lease term, with reversion (loss of improvements at expiry) priced in as a terminal-value haircut.
Ground lease calculator →NOI (Net Operating Income)
A property's revenue minus operating expenses, before debt service and capital expenditures. The standard top-line metric for commercial real estate underwriting.
Skyline example: Skyline's NOI calculator differs from generic CRE NOI tools by incorporating NYC-specific opex normalization for rent-stabilized vs. free-market multifamily and the local real-estate-tax stack.
NYC NOI calculator →Off-market
A commercial real estate transaction conducted without public listing or broad marketing. The property is sold directly to a curated set of qualified buyers via broker relationships, preserving confidentiality, pricing leverage, and tenant relationships.
Skyline example: The majority of Skyline's $976M+ closed transactions have been off-market — including the $135M 6 East 43rd Street and $105M 101 Greenwich Street conversions.
Off-market real estate NYC pillar →PLUTO
Primary Land Use Tax-lot Output. NYC Department of City Planning's authoritative dataset of every tax lot in the five boroughs, including zoning, building class, FAR, lot size, and assessed value. Updated quarterly.
Skyline example: Every Skyline transaction page enriches the deal record with live PLUTO data for the property — zoning district, lot square footage, buildable FAR, and current building class.
Recent ACRIS comps →RPTT (Real Property Transfer Tax)
NYC's transfer tax on real estate sales. Commercial properties over $500K trigger the 3.025% RPTT rate (vs. 1.425% residential), plus a 0.65% NY State transfer tax. Stacks significantly higher than residential closing costs.
Skyline example: On the $135M 6 East 43rd Street transaction, NYC RPTT alone was approximately $4.08M — a closing cost item that materially impacts commercial deal IRR.
NYC closing-cost calculator →1031 exchange
A like-kind property exchange under IRC §1031 that defers capital-gains tax recognition when sale proceeds are reinvested in qualifying replacement property within 45 days (identification) and 180 days (closing).
Skyline example: Skyline routinely places 1031 exchange capital into Manhattan commercial replacement property, typically via off-market sourcing to meet the 45-day identification window.
1031 exchange calculator →Subordinated ground lease
A ground lease where the landowner's fee position is subordinated to the leasehold tenant's mortgage lender. Allows the tenant to obtain higher-leverage financing but exposes the landowner to lender foreclosure risk.
Skyline example: Most contemporary Manhattan ground leases are unsubordinated; subordinated structures are typically reserved for fee owners with significant tax-deferral or estate-planning incentives.
Ground lease complete guide →Rent stabilization
A NYC regulatory regime applied to multifamily buildings built before 1974 (and some post-1974 buildings receiving tax abatements). Caps annual rent increases via the Rent Guidelines Board and limits vacancy decontrol.
Skyline example: Post-HSTPA (2019), rent-stabilized buildings have repriced significantly. Skyline brokers both free-market and rent-stabilized multifamily portfolios with appropriate cap-rate and opex differentials.
NYC multifamily portfolio sales →Mansion tax
A NYC and NYS tiered transfer tax applied to residential property purchases above $1M. Brackets escalate from 1% (≥$1M) to 3.9% (≥$25M). Commercial property is taxed under RPTT instead.
Skyline example: Mansion tax is residential-only. The 6 East 43rd Street commercial-to-residential conversion was acquired as commercial (subject to RPTT) and will dispose of individual units residentially (subject to mansion tax depending on price).
NYC tax calculator →JLWQA (Joint Live-Work Quarters for Artists)
A NYC zoning designation specific to SoHo, NoHo, and TriBeCa loft buildings. Pre-2024 rezoning limited residential occupancy to certified artists; the 2024 SoHo/NoHo Neighborhood Plan substantially loosened the restriction.
Skyline example: The 2024 SoHo/NoHo rezoning materially improved residential-conversion economics on JLWQA-zoned buildings; Skyline has tracked the resulting transaction repricing across the SoHo retail and loft markets.
SoHo neighborhood pillar →Missing a term?
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