Amazon mulls new grocery chain, Douglas Elliman’s new marketing boss: Daily digest

Every day, The Real Deal rounds up New York’s biggest real estate news. We update this page at 9 a.m., 12:30 p.m., and 4 p.m. ET. Please send any tips or deals to tips@therealdeal.com

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Ann Cutbill Lenane (Credit: YouTube)

A Douglas Elliman broker has taken an ad out to help her find love. “I have managed to sell billions of dollars worth of New York City real estate, but the one thing I haven’t been able to get done is to find a wonderful single divorced dad to remarry,” Ann Cutbill Lenane says in the 30-second ad, which is up on YouTube. [TRD]

One commercial data firm’s strategy of securing “exclusive” partnerships is befuddling its competitors. New York-based Reonomy, which pools public data from other sources and repurposes it for its portal, announced its latest agreement with Black Knight to use its property-record data. But the partnerships have stirred confusion among Reonomy’s competitors, who have standing data sharing agreements with these data providers, and are unclear on whether they will be able to continue to access their commercial real estate data offerings. [TRD] 

Mortgage loans have hit a two-year high. Lenders made $565 billion worth of loans during the year’s second quarter, with falling rates making homeowners more eager to refinance, according to data from Inside Mortgage Finance. If the pace keeps up, originations could surpass $2 trillion for the third year since the financial crisis. [WSJ]

Stephanie Garbarini

Douglas Elliman has a new marketing chief. Fashion executive Stephanie Garbarini will join the firm as vice president of marketing in August, as the brokerage undergoes a companywide rebranding and launches a new digital platform for agents. [TRD]

125 Greenwich Street (Credit: StreetEasy)

A Florida developer is taking over 125 Greenwich’s defaulted debt. BH3 Capital Partners has purchased the senior debt on the struggling residential tower from United Overseas Bank, which had previously moved to foreclose on the $195 million loan it provided. It spells further uncertainty for the project’s sponsors, who have had a hard time meeting condo sale thresholds and defaulted on repaying loans. [TRD]

Compass makes new agents sign Silicon Valley-grade contracts. Specifically, Compass requires all newly hired agents sign an agreement that defines what proprietary, confidential data belongs to its competitors. The new-hire contract offers a rare glimpse at the guiding philosophy behind Compass’ internal playbook — and how its executives and legal counsel may be planning to fight Realogy’s accusations. [TRD]

A Whole Foods location (Credit: Wikipedia)

Amazon isn’t done with groceries after its Whole Foods purchase. The ecommerce giant has had mixed success with Whole Foods since buying it in 2017, and is now exploring adding a new grocery store chain to its offerings that would be designed for both in-store shopping, pickup and delivery. [NYT]

Michael Besen (Credit: The Besen Group)

Tenants at Michael Besen’s Chelsea building are going on rent strike. A handful of rent-regulated residents are going to withhold rent following a wave of cleanliness, health and safety concerns that arose in the wake of gut renovations at of 336 West 17th Street, which Besen bought in 2016. [Patch]

The building boom in New York could be exacerbating flooding. Factors such as densification leading to more impermeable surfaces, decades-old street gutters and climate change are all playing a role, and last week’s flooding has sparked a new wave of concerns about the Gowanus rezoning given the tendency of the neighborhood’s canal to flood.  [Gothamist]

Massive renovations are coming to a Bushwick public housing project. The New York City Housing Authority’s Hope Gardens complex in Bushwick is about to undergo a $391 million renovation effort that should take care of 1,315 units of housing across 61 buildings. Tenants have expressed concerns about getting displaced from their units during the work, which is being overseen by private developer Pennrose. [City Limits]

The towers are coming to Yorkville. It’s the latest New York neighborhood to see a boom in high-rise construction, thanks in part to the new stops on the Second Avenue subway. A dozen new luxury glass towers have opened or will soon open in the past five years, and 12 more are in development. The projects have sparked concerns from longtime residents, who say they are watching their neighborhood disappear. [NYT]

Manhattan’s luxury market saw 14 luxury contracts signed last week for a total of $89.6 million. Both numbers were up from last week, when the market saw 13 contracts worth about $75.3 million overall. The priciest deal was for a $12.5 million townhouse at 50 Sullivan Street, followed by a tie between two $8.95 million condos at 459 West 18th Street and 166 Duane Street. The properties spent an average of 470 days on the market and had an average discount of 15 percent from the original to the final asking price. [Olshan]

Brooklyn’s luxury market saw 16 contracts signed last week for a total of roughly $51.7 million. The market was up from the prior week, when 15 contracts were signed for about $44.3 million. The most expensive deal was for a condo at 171 Columbia Heights in Brooklyn Heights, which went for about $5.5 million, and the second priciest deal was for the townhouse at 289 Union Street in Carroll Gardens, which went for $4.8 million. [Compass]

A new audit shows NYCHA spent millions on repairs that should have been free. The agency did not make repairs or conduct inspections on roofs across the city and in some cases spent millions to maintain them even though they should have been covered under warranties, according to an audit from Comptroller Scott Stringer.[Curbed]

Compiled by Eddie Small

FROM THE CITY’S RECORDS:

New permit filings:

Peter Fine’s Bolivar Development pre-filed an application for a 141,561-square-foot, 11-story residential building at 261 East 202nd Street in Bedford Park in the Bronx. [DOB]

NYCHA pre-filed an application for a 165,361-square-foot mixed-use building at 373 East 183rd Street in Fordham Heights in the Bronx. [DOB]

Compiled by Mary Diduch