Every day, The Real Deal rounds up New York’s biggest real estate news, from breaking news and scoops to announcements and deals. We update this page throughout the day, starting at 9 a.m. Please send any tips or deals to tips@therealdeal.com
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A data-engineering company is moving to 10 Grand Central. Crux Informatics is moving into the Marx Realty building and out of the Seagram Building at 375 Park Avenue, according to the Commercial Observer. It has inked a seven-year, 18,000-square-foot lease for the 18th floor of 10 Grand Central at $85 per square foot. Marx recently finished a $48 million renovation of the building. [CO]
Innovo Property Group has made another industrial purchase. The company is in contract to buy 511 Barry Street in Hunts Point for $55 million, according to Crain’s. The refrigerated warehouse spans about 135,000 square feet, and Innovo purchased it from Baldor Specialty Foods. [Crain’s]
Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son and Marcelo Claure (Credit: Getty Images)
SoftBank is bringing on Sprint’s former CEO to help turn around WeWork. SoftBank head Masayoshi Son has asked Marcelo Claure to take a more hands-on role at the company after the recent ouster of co-founder and CEO Adam Neumann. His exact role has not been specified, but he would focus on opportunities to cut costs and increase revenues. Senior WeWork executives Sebastian Gunningham and Artie Minson have been appointed co-CEOs of the company. [Bloomberg]
Staten Island could be the home of Donald Trump’s presidential library. Republican Staten Island Councilman Joe Borelli wrote to the administration urging it to build his library in the borough, which gave him 57 percent of the vote in 2016. He warned that “progressive Manhattanites will fight tooth and nail” if it was built elsewhere. “The law requires [Trump’s] records be maintained,” Borelli told the Post, “so it will be fun to see heads explode no matter where it gets built.” [NYP]
It takes DHCR years to deal with rent overcharge cases. A recent report from The City found that the state’s Division of Homes and Community Renewal takes an average of 24 months just to assign a rent overcharge case to an examiner. Processing the case after that can take an additional six to nine months. And given the new rent law that broadens tenants’ rights and gives them more time to file complaints, these delays could soon get even worse. [The City]
Forever 21 has filed for bankruptcy. It has landed $75 million in new capital from TPG Sixth Street Partners and $275 million in financing from lenders with JPMorgan Chase as the agent. The store had been one of the largest mall tenants still standing, so the filing could spell trouble for major mall owners like Simon Property Group and Brookfield Property Partners. It plans to close up to 350 stores overall but will keep operating its website and hundreds of stores in the United States. [Bloomberg, NYT]
There were 18 luxury contracts signed for about $128 million in Manhattan last week. This was an increase in sales and dollar volume from the week before, when 11 contracts were signed for about $94 million. The properties spent an average of 564 days on the market and had an average discount of 16 percent from the original asking price. [Olshan]
Brooklyn’s luxury market saw 17 contracts signed last week for a total of roughly $48.8 million. Both figures were up from the previous week’s 13 contracts signed for about $40.4 million. The average contract went for about $2.9 million, and the properties spent an average of 199 days on the market. [Compass]
Eliot Spitzer and Roxana Girand (Credit: Getty Images)
Eliot Spitzer got engaged to his longtime girlfriend Roxana Girand. The real estate scion and Girand, founder and president of Sebastian Capital, are also looking to buy two apartments in a building on the Upper East Side. [NYP]
RXR’s Seth Pinsky will be the new chief executive at the 92nd Street Y. Pinsky, who has worked at RXR for the past six years, is making the switch because he wants to return to civic life. He had previously served as president of the city’s Economic Development Commission. He will stay at the real estate firm until the end of the year and plans to remain involved as an advisor. [Crain’s]
The finance department’s failure to tax property deals is costing the MTA. That’s according to a recent audit of 179 tax returns between 2015 and 2017 from Comptroller Scott Stringer’s office found that the DOF did not collect about $500,000 from property transactions, a crucial source of money for the MTA. The DOF said the audit was flawed and that it recoups millions of dollars through its own audits. [NYP]
There are some conflict of interest concerns surrounding State Assemblyman Michael Blake’s Airbnb bill. Airbnb had paid $189,000 for lobbying efforts to political consulting firm Hilltop Public Solutions, which was also paying Blake as a political consultant at the time. However, Blake spokeswoman Krysten Copeland told the Times-Union that Blake “never worked with Airbnb during his time with Hilltop.” [Albany Times-Union]
A commercial trash collection bill could face a major change before the City Council votes on it. Council member Antonio Reynoso is considering amending the part of the bill that would require exactly one private trash collector in each of 20 zones across the city. The Department of Sanitation wants several carters per zone, to foster competition and provide some choice for building owners.The legislation aims to deal with worker-safety issues and environmental concerns, and would give environmentally friendly companies more points during the bidding process. [WSJ]