WeWork to focus on profitability, I.M. Pei’s townhouse listed for $8M: Daily Digest

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WeWork will now focus on profitability. As mass layoffs loom, company executives told employees Wednesday that the company will spend the next month focusing on a plan to shun growth and build its bottom line. It comes as the firm has received a multi-billion-dollar lifeline from its largest investor, SoftBank. [Bloomberg]

I.M. Pei’s Upper East Side home is on the market for $8 million. The famed architect, who is known for designing the Louvre’s glass pyramid in Paris, purchased the four-bedroom townhouse in 1973 for $215,000 and lived there with his wife, Eileen. [WSJ]

CoStar CEO Andy Florance (Credit: Getty Images, iStock)

CoStar reached a $10.75 million settlement with what’s left of Xceligent. The Bethesda-based real estate data giant had alleged its competitor stole thousands of images and proprietary information from its commercial listings platform. The agreement comes two years after Xceligent filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy, spurred by costs associated with the legal battle. [TRD]

150 West 48th Street and Sam Chang (Credit: Google Maps)

Sam Chang bought a massive Midtown site for $140 million. The prolific hotel developer acquired the vacant lot at 150 West 48th Street from the Rockefeller Group. He is expected to build a hotel that could span 276,000 square feet. [Crain’s]

Opportunity Zone investment is falling short of expectations. Some 103 OZ funds have raised just 15 percent of their goals, according to research from San Francisco-based accounting firm Novogradac & Co. The analysis found that of $22.7 billion the funds are seeking, they have raised just $3 billion. [WSJ]

A New York court’s greenlight of a class action against Big City Realty could change the dynamic of class action suits. (Credit: iStock)

A tenant class-action lawsuit against a Harlem landlord gets the green light. The landlord, Big City Realty, was accused in 2016 of inflating apartment improvement costs and rents in rent-stabilized apartments. The decision by the state’s highest court could have large implications for landlords and tenants. [TRD]

Tenants in a Bronx building have not had gas for 13 months. Gas was shut off to 1515 Selwyn Avenue after a fire last year and residents have demanded action — and even sued — their landlord, Abdul Khan, to no avail. [CityLimits]

Victoria’s Secret sues WTC landlord to exit lease. The embattled women’s clothing retailer has accused the owner of its would-be retail space at the World Trade Center of not readying the space, which it said was supposed to happen by October 2015. The lawsuit comes after the retailer said it would close 53 stores in the U.S. this year. [TRD]

Trump name removed from Central Park skating rinks. The president, who is deeply unpopular in New York, had displayed his name on the rinks for years, after his firm, the Trump Organization, took over management of the attractions. [NYT]

New York’s Paris Theater is set to reopen. Although it closed last month, the single-screen cinema in Midtown will show a Netflix film, Marriage Story, starring Scarlett Johansson and Alex Driver. Netflix negotiated with landlord Sheldon Solow to feature a limited run of the film, made by Brooklyn product Noah Baumbach. [Hollywood Reporter]

Former WeWork CEO Adam Neumann (Credit: Getty Images, iStock)

Adam Neumann scrambled for a $100 million loan days before SoftBank bailed him out. The former WeWork CEO had paid a deposit to Churchill Real Estate Holding for a loan to refinance a Chelsea development site. But those talks have stalled in recent days as SoftBank has committed to providing Neumann with as much as $1.7 billion as part of its WeWork takeover. [TRD]

Sbarro’s Times Square location has closed after 23 years. The family-oriented Italian restaurant failed to renegotiate its lease, but its owner David Karan said it would look for another storefront in the area. Its number of locations has been halved in recent years, and it went through bankruptcy in 2014. [Grub Street]

Compiled by David Jeans