Bob Knakal, Chairman and CEO of BKREA, has announced the recent release of The Knakal Land Index, a 41 year study of land sales in Manhattan, going back to 1984, the year in which Knakal started his illustrious career.
The Knakal Land Index is an intense study of the land sales market in Manhattan south of 96th Street on the east side and south of 110th Street on the west side, the most prime territory. With the skyline constantly changing in Manhattan, this is a market that reflects the moves made by those real estate developers who shape that very skyline.
"We have always said that we are not in the real estate business, we are in the information and relationship business", said Bob Knakal from his midtown Manhattan headquarters. "We have endeavored to have the very best and most insightful information in the industry so our clients can make the most informed decisions possible. Informed decisions lead to better outcomes", Knakal added.
The Knakal Land Index presents detailed information on 2,444 sale transactions, which are disaggregated into five property type buckets: 1) residential rental, 2) residential condo, 3) office, 4) hotel, and, 5) miscellaneous, which contains mostly education and healthcare properties. The fluctuations in land values are compared to a wide array of macroeconomic factors using proprietary AI models to determine which one, or group of them, is most predictive of future changes in the direction of values and the potential magnitude of those changes. Further, the integrity of the relationship between the numbers in the dataset is very high, given that Knakal has used an identical methodology for calculating the data since 1984.
"Land" is not something you normally think about Manhattan having a lot of. However, to create land in Manhattan, often older, underutilized properties are demolished to make way for new construction, so opportunities are sometimes not obvious. Knakal is widely recognized as the top development site broker in New York City due, in part, to his uncanny ability to sniff out the opportunities and maximize the site's value through a variety of mechanisms to increase the site's building density.
A summary of The Knakal Land Index's findings is presented in Bob Knakal's Ultimate Guide to Selling a Development Site for the Highest Possible Price, a 340 page coffee table book recently published by BKREA, which presents a comprehensive overview of the history of land sales in Manhattan. Not only is The Knakal Land Index's findings presented, but there are over 200 development sites presented, which Knakal has sold, with a short write-up on the deal, the price, a testimonial from the client and everyone's favorite - the before and after pictures, which vividly show how NYC has evolved. The Ultimate Guide also contains a summary of the seven nominations Knakal has received for the Real Estate Board of New York Most Ingenious Deal of the Year Award Contest. Knakal has won the award twice.
"In an age where everything is digital and fast, it is refreshing to see an old-school piece of research like this that really allows you to go under the hood of the car and see what's really there. Where have you ever seen anything like this that covers over four decades of such high-quality research?", said Robert Lobel, president of Bellrock Development, a long-time client of Knakal's. "It is easy to see why so many market participants consider Bob the 'King of land sales in New York', Lobel continued.
Helping clients make better decisions has always been a key objective of Bob Knakal's, and his recent activities are doing just that. "This in-depth research is not available anywhere else and it presents our clients with a significant advantage", Knakal said.
BKREA is an investment sales brokerage business located in New York City, which focuses on the sale of development, redevelopment and user buildings, which is owned by Bob Knakal. Over Knakal's career, he has sold over 2,388 properties in NYC, having a market value of approximately $24 billion.