Security Moves Front and Center for Landlords After Manhattan Shooting

• Character attack: The Rudin Family is having their legacy called into question over the recent shooting at one of their Manhattan buildings.

• Condo minimum: The condo market has soften and the rising supply and falling demand is already starting to bring prices down.

• Ill will: A recent outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease has buildings in New York testing their cooling systems for the deadly disease.

• Upcoming webinar: How AI and data tools are transforming energy management in commercial real estate asset operations. Sign up

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Security Moves Front and Center for Landlords After Manhattan Shooting

On July 28, a gunman entered the lobby of 345 Park Ave., a prominent Midtown Manhattan office tower, and carried out a targeted shooting that left four people dead. Among the victims was 27-year-old Julia Hyman, an associate at Rudin Management, the family-run real estate firm headquartered on the 33rd floor of the building.

The incident marked a deeply tragic moment for one of New York City’s oldest private landlords. The Rudin family, now in its fourth generation of leadership, had recently celebrated a century as a NYC real estate dynasty. But the high-profile shooting at one of their properties has brought renewed scrutiny to building security and to the evolving responsibilities of modern landlords.

Rudin’s portfolio, spanning 13.7 million square feet, has long been considered a model of institutional stability. The firm has weathered market cycles, changing office trends, and the disruptions of the pandemic without fundamentally altering its relatively low-profile, family-run approach. This latest crisis, however, is less about operational continuity than about tenant confidence and public perception.

As details of the shooting emerged, so did new concerns about security protocols in trophy office buildings. The attacker reportedly entered the building to target the National Football League, a tenant at 345 Park Ave., whom he held responsible for what he believed to be a brain injury. After killing three people in the lobby, including an NYPD officer and a high-ranking Blackstone executive, the gunman took the elevator to the wrong floor. He then invaded Rudin’s headquarters and killed Hyman, the Rudin associate.

Rudin’s real estate peers say that little could have been done to prevent the rampage from a security perspective. Kathy Wylde, CEO of the Partnership for New York City, whose office is in a Rudin building, told Bloomberg the company is known to have the best management and security in its properties. “This has absolutely nothing to do with the quality or security of their building, and has everything to do with the failure of our national gun laws,” she said.

Still, the gunman’s ability to reach the executive floor has raised questions among some in the real estate community about access control, emergency preparedness, and response coordination in high-end office environments.

With gun violence now disturbingly common in American life, landlords have begun preparing for these situations long before this most recent tragedy. Building owners are beefing up security infrastructure and considering high-tech updates to surveillance systems, lobby screening procedures, and elevator access controls. There is also growing interest among some Class A landlords in integrated command centers that monitor activity in real time, an approach more common in airports or sports venues than traditional office towers.

For Rudin Management, the coming months may shape the next phase of its legacy. The firm now faces the question of whether to maintain its historically discreet posture or take a more visible role in addressing tenant and public safety expectations. Meanwhile, the rest of the commercial real estate industry, especially in New York, is reviewing its security procedures.

Overheard

Condos Are Falling Out of Favor as Costs Climb and Buyers Back Away

Condos aren’t selling like they used to. National condo prices have slipped 1.4 percent over the past year, while inventory continues to pile up—particularly in Southern metros where developers built aggressively during the last upswing. Once seen as a streamlined path to homeownership, condos are now sitting on the market longer, burdened by rising HOA fees, insurance premiums, and stricter post-Surfside safety regulations. In many cases, buyers are doing the math and opting out.

That’s creating a clear divergence. Single-family homes have managed to hold their value thanks to scarce supply, while the condo market is showing what happens when the math no longer works for entry-level buyers. Mortgage rates above 6.5 percent have dulled the appeal of paying top dollar per square foot, especially when you have to tack on steep monthly assessments and the prospect of future building-wide repairs. In places like Florida, where prices for property insurance have increased and many building retrofits are mandatory, buyers are increasingly deterred.

Many apartment dwellers are renting because they can't afford to buy with the current interest rates. If prices keep droppin,g ownership will become more accessible and could put negative pressure on rental demand. Cities that have the most new development now could be the ones that have the biggest multifamily slowdown in the years to come.

Buildings Still Struggle to Stop the Growth of Legionnaires’ Disease

A Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in Central Harlem has so far sickened 22 people and led to one death, according to the New York City Health Department. Health officials stress that the disease—caused by Legionella bacteria in warm water systems like cooling towers, hot water tanks, and AC condensers—is not contagious. Early antibiotic treatment can also be effective in preventing severe outcomes. As sampling of all operational cooling towers in the affected zip codes was completed, landlords with positive screening results were ordered to remediate within 24 hours.

For property owners, this outbreak serves as a stark reminder: effective water safety is non-negotiable. Neglecting the necessary prevention methods for this disease can be deadly. According to CDC and ASHRAE guidance, building operators should maintain hot water systems at or above 49 °C (124 °F) and cold supplies below 20 °C (68 °F) to deny Legionella its sweet spot for growth.

Further prevention includes flushing infrequently used outlets, removing dead‐legs in plumbing, and routinely disinfecting devices like cooling towers, decorative fountains, and hot tubs. While routine Legionella testing isn’t always required, it functions as a valuable early detection tool—especially in systems at higher risk—and builds a baseline for monitoring trends over time.

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