David Kramer

How f@*$ed is retail?

Pretty. It was already soft pre-pandemic. Going forward, we won’t do projects that have a sizable retail component, and we’re going to need to underwrite much less exuberant rent projections. Having said that, at much lower numbers, the city can still fill all the retail vacancies post-vaccine.

How flexible are you with negotiating rents?

I assume that’s a rhetorical question!

Has your “dead to me” list grown?

Most definitely. What’s the quote about someone’s true character coming out in adversity?

Are you in the market for financing?

Yes, for two projects that make sense in today’s world — a rental project in Westchester and student housing. And the financing world, I’m happy to report, still exists.

What would be the signs that things are NOT going to improve in 2021?

Trump wins. We go back to tracking hospital bed capacity. And Adam Gase is still coach [of the New York Jets].

What do you think will NOT go back to normal?

Handshaking.

What do you think the city and/or state should do to help both real estate and the city?

The city — every city — needs a cheap, rapid test that every business, school and Broadway show can utilize. And they’ve gotta cut the sh*t about private ownership of real estate.

I had hoped that the recession would help recalibrate the view of private development that existed pre-pandemic. The Amazon viewpoint, however — being ho-hum about job growth, development hasn’t been good for the city, no rent increases, etc. — hasn’t gone away. Just ask Andrew Kimball [CEO of Industry City in Brooklyn].

How do you think the November election will affect real estate? How do you see a Trump win? How do you see a Biden win?

Lord, help us if Trump wins. The Democratic Party will fall off the cliff to the left out of anger and frustration, and real estate will be attacked by every City Council member and state assemblyperson.

When Biden wins, hopefully, the Democrats will bring back SALT [state and local tax deduction], and if the corporate tax rate goes back to Obama levels, that’s extremely favorable for affordable housing developers who syndicate corporate tax credits.

LIGHTNING ROUND

Where’s your apocalypse bunker? Actually, my office is my safe space to get work done.

Favorite at-home quarantine foods? The Kramer family has been surviving the Age of Anxiety with chocolate babka from Bread’s Bakery.

Did you gain or lose weight during quarantine? I’m about the same. I exercise more, and also have more booze and dessert. So, it’s been a push.

Which TV show have you binged? “The Crown,” “The Last Dance,” ‘Money Heist,” “Unorthodox,” “The Vow.”

What restaurant did you go to when restaurants reopened? My favorite diner is Grand Canyon on Montague Street. It was one big step toward normalcy when I could go back there for breakfast. 

Mayor de Blasio: Best Mayor or Best Mayor EVER? Yes, everyone loves to kill him. I should point out, however, that he wanted to shut the city down a full week before it actually happened, which would have saved thousands of lives, not an insignificant point. And, as I write this, New York is the only big city in the country with a public-school system offering in-person classes — at least, in most neighborhoods, for now. So, let’s not treat him as such a one-note villain.

Where did you quarantine? I found New York City a super easy place to quarantine, as did my kids. We ate and drank as we pleased, you could literally bike up and down every street in town, and Rite Aid was still 24 hours.

Biden, Trump or Kanye? If Biden doesn’t win, I’m going to have to commute between the Hudson Companies and whatever country my wife moves to.