The Daily Dirt: Realogy got a boost from Amazon. Will it last?

Realogy’s market cap jumped nearly 20 percent today. Amazon is probably (definitely) behind it.

At market close Tuesday, Realogy’s stock price reached $6.13 per share, an 18.57 percent uptick from Monday’s closing price. The conglomerate’s market cap hit $705.84 million, meaning a 19.22 percent jump from the previous day.  

This wasn’t just some miraculous turnaround for the corporation, whose share prices have been on a downward spiral this year. The increases followed news that Amazon and Realogy have formed a partnership, dubbed “TurnKey.” As part of the program, homebuyers are paired up with brokers from one of Realogy’s subsidiaries. Once the deal closes, Amazon provides homes products and services worth $1,000 to $5,000 (depending on the price of the sale). Initially, the program is launching in 15 markets, including Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver and Washington.

Though an Amazon team-up is certainly a boon for Realogy, the partnership isn’t likely a silver bullet for all of the company’s woes. Realogy’s gains Tuesday are paltry considering its recent losses. The company was once valued at more than $7 billion and saw its market cap sink below $1 billion for the first time in May. Despite Tuesday’s slight increase, its stock price is down nearly 74 percent year-over-year. Yikes.

At the same time, as noted by the Wall Street Journal, the deal with Amazon means Realogy is forgoing raising revenue through referrals or selling other services that Amazon will be providing. Realogy is also locked in a legal battle with rival Compass in a lawsuit that accuses the brokerage of “predatory” recruiting tactics. The day after filing the complaint against Compass, Realogy and its executives were hit with a lawsuit in New Jersey alleging securities fraud.

Two months after getting fired from the firm he founded, Robert K. Futterman was arrested in connection with a car crash in Southampton.

Futterman reportedly was charged with driving under the influence of drugs, in connection to a crash that sent a woman and her son to the hospital. Their conditions have not yet been made public.

The arrest comes just two months after Futterman was terminated from retail brokerage RKF, following reported “erratic behavior” that caused RKF’s parent company, Newmark, to prohibit him from going to the International Council of Shopping Centers’ annual retail expo in Las Vegas. At the time, a Newmark source referred to Futterman’s departure as “sad” and “a messy situation.”

Futterman was also arrested in August 2011 after he was pulled over in Bridgehampton for allegedly driving under the influence with his four children in the vehicle. A source told TRD at the time that he was under the influence of prescription sleep medication Ambien. Last week, Futterman was arrested on charges of boating while intoxicated following an accident near Marine Park. 

What we’re thinking about next: Well, Boris Johnson is Britain’s next prime minister. Since he’s tasked with his country’s exit from the European Union, is there anything we should watch out for in terms of how this will impact London real estate and other parts of the world? Send a note or story idea to kathryn@therealdeal.com

CLOSING TIME 

Residential: The priciest residential closing recorded on Tuesday was for a condo unit at 1010 Park Avenue on the Upper East Side, at $12.7 million. 

Commercial: The most expensive commercial closing of the day was for an apartment building at 800 Avenue H in Midwood, at $18 million. 

BREAKING GROUND

The largest new building filing of the day was for a 7,440-square-foot residential building at 223 Scholes Street in East Williamsburg. Xiaowen Zeng filed the permit application.

NEW TO THE MARKET

The priciest residential listing to hit the market was for a condo unit at 210 Pacific Street in Cobble Hill, at nearly $6 million. Halstead Real Estate’s Christopher Kromer has the listing.
— Research by Mary Diduch

A thing we’ve learned… 

Residents of a Chelsea loft building paid Extell Development $11 million for air rights to ensure the developer wouldn’t build a 145-foot tower that would’ve blocked their views. The cash, apparently, was only part of the deal — other conditions apply to the smaller office-retail project Extell ended up building, Kevin Sun reports. Gary Barnett agreed to only use the roof of his new building for events 12 times a year. Residents on the fourth floor of the loft building also reserve the right to demand that Barnett place “shrubbery or other decorative screening” on the roof. 

Top stories from our other markets:

NATIONAL

Former special counsel Robert Mueller will testify in back-to-back hearings before Congress on Wednesday to discuss the 400-plus page report that has elicited calls for impeachment from some Democrats and declarations of victory from President Trump and his supporters. At least a portion of the hearings will likely be dedicated to failed plans for a Trump-branded tower in Moscow, as well as meetings between Jared Kushner and a Russian bank. The report left many questions unanswered, including whether or not Trump instructed his associates to lie about the Russia tower.

CHICAGO

After a slight rebound in May, the number of home sales plummeted in June. Some 12,002 homes sold in the nine-county Chicago metro area last month, a drop of 11.6 percent year over year, according to the Illinois Association of Realtors. About 100 fewer homes sold in June than the previous month. The 11.6 percent drop is one of the biggest year-over-year slumps seen in any month this year. Only December had a bigger drop, with sales declining by 16.5 percent year over year. June was at least the seventh straight month with a year-over-year decline in sales.

LOS ANGELES

Tishman Speyer is now looking to refinance the Brickyard and Collective office campuses in Playa Vista for a combined $323 million. The developer was initially hoping to sell both properties. Sources said Tishman bought out Northwood Investors’ stake in the portfolio, and will be bringing two new investors in. In January, Tishman listed both properties, which together span 620,720 square feet. Bids were expected to range from $600 million to $650 million, sources said at the time.

MIAMI

A Chicago area developer scored a $50 million construction loan to build an office building at the former Motorola campus in Plantation.

Northbrook, Illinois-based Torburn Partners, led by Michael Burns, secured the loan from Wintrust Bank for the project at 1700 North University Drive in Plantation. The site is within an office park known as Plantation Pointe. Plantation Pointe totals 77.5-acres and encompasses 850,000 square feet that was formerly fully occupied by Motorola.