Sharif El-Gamal (photos by Ben Baker)Sharif El-Gamal is the chairman and CEO of Manhattan-based real estate investment firm Soho Properties. But he’s now internationally known as the developer of Park51, a community center and Islamic prayer space planned two blocks from the World Trade Center site. The building — labeled the “ground zero mosque” by critics, a name that El-Gamal says is incorrect — has sparked a worldwide firestorm. Opponents denounce it, along with El-Gamal… [more]
Bill AckmanSay what you will about “activist” investor Bill Ackman, but the man fighting what appears to be a losing battle for control of Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village does not give up easy. It took the founder of Pershing Square Capital six years to win a bet against the fortunes of bond insurer MBIA, during the course of which he was vilified by Wall Street and almost ruined. Yet in 2008, Ackman, then just 42,… [more]
While the first-time homebuyer tax credit and record-low interest rates drove home sales in Staten Island and nudged a comeback from the depths of the recession, that uptick has leveled off. But even in a tough market, somebody has to come out on top. This month, The Real Deal looked at the top residential firms on Staten Island, ranking them by number of agents, number of sales and listing volume in our first-ever snapshot of… [more]
Carlos Slim’s real estate portfolio includes shopping centers, hospitals, universities and undeveloped landNew Yorkers know him as the New York Times’ white knight, and the man who just dropped $44 million on the Duke Semans Mansion on the Upper East Side, but Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim has plenty of other real estate holdings outside of New York. While Slim has beefed up his New York real estate portfolio lately, he’s also made moves like gaining… [more]
It’s an odd time for new condo development to be making a comeback. The national economy is still in shambles, unemployment is high and getting a mortgage is still no picnic. And yet, industry experts are reporting unmistakable glimmers of life in New York’s long-suffering new condo market, which has struggled mightily since the financial crisis of 2008 and lagged behind the resale market on the recovery front. Buyers are showing a renewed interest in… [more]
Cipriani Club Residences at 55 Wall StreetOver the past two years, companies like SL Green Realty Trust and investor Sam Zell’s Equity Residential have trumpeted their purchases of distressed properties in New York City. Brokers have lauded them as savvy investors who managed to snap up multiple assets from sellers who overreached during the boom. But there are other companies, such as Irving Langer’s little-known Rainbow Estates Group in Brooklyn and Savanna Partners in Midtown,… [more]
016TRD1010… [more]
Uncertainty about the expiration of capital gains tax cuts at the end of this year has some New York City real estate owners selling now to beat a potential increase in their tax bill later. While Washington has been very publicly debating the upcoming expiration of the Bush-era federal tax cuts, most of the attention has been on the changes in how income is taxed. But those cuts under Bush also impacted taxation of capital… [more]
No one said bouncing along the bottom was going to be easy. Earlier this year, brokers were buoyed by the large volume of leasing in Manhattan, as well as big headline deals like the Service Employees International Union taking 276,000 square feet at 620 Sixth Avenue in Chelsea. But tempering that positive news were asking rents that continued to decline for most of the year. Now, those market trends appear to be reversing. Over the… [more]
At the Desk of Raphael de Niro… [more]
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