In an interview last Friday, Don Peebles, a real estate developer, told CNBC that he anticipated New York City to recover economically from the pandemic slowly.
The CEO of Peebles Corporation, which has owned a corporate office in lower Manhattan, said on “The Exchange,” that he thinks that the city of New York will need at least ten years or more to function like before fully.
“I think New York will ultimately come back. It’ll come back differently. It’ll be a different place, and it will be much more affordable… New York City can come back, if it becomes competitive and if we all recognize that we’ve got to go and compete with South Florida. We’ve got to compete with Nashville, Tennessee. We’ve got to compete with Austin, Texas, and Dallas, Texas. Absent of that, if we keep these blinders on, New York City’s hole is just going to dig deeper”
Don Peebles, real estate developer and CEO of Peebles Corporation
Peebles said that he believes that New York City is about to face more struggles moving forward, especially calling and maintaining new residents and businesses. Moreover, he said that other cities of the United States are more substantial since they offer a more tax-friendly environment.
There are recent rumors of Peebles considering running for the position of future mayor of New York City. On the latest interview, he addressed these rumors saying, “probably I will focus on my business, but we’ll see.” The next mayoral election for New York City is confirmed to happen in 2021. Mayor Bill de Blasio, who is currently the city’s mayor, only has a limited term as 2021 draws near.
The seminal events like the Great Recession, 9/11, and the crisis experienced fiscally during the 1970s are often topics for discussion related to New York City’s demise. However, with the coronavirus pandemic’s rise, Peebles argued that this had been the worst experience New York ever had.
New York City was once the epicenter of the United States’ Covid-19 outbreak. Until this time, the number of cases and severity has continuously grown. With the rising trends and devastating results of the health crisis, Peebles said, “There was an exodus out of New York before COVID. New York was becoming less competitive in terms of it becoming a business-friendly environment. It was less competitive and less attractive to high net worth individuals, and as a result of that, people were leaving.”
Because of the pandemic, Peebles concluded that many people say that they could work from anywhere. Looking through the perspective of a real estate developer, Peebles mentioned that markets such as South Florida are likely to see “massive growth.”
“New York City, I mean some major projects are selling now at 50% discounts for new construction. I think that shows some real stress.”
Don Peebles
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