Worker killed at Lam Group construction site, Uber signs WTC lease: Daily digest

Every weekday The Real Deal rounds up New York’s biggest real estate news. We update this page at 9 a.m. and throughout the day. Please send any tips or deals to tips@therealdeal.com

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A construction worker was killed while riding an elevator at the Lam Group’s under construction hotel at 1227 Broadway. He was reportedly riding the elevator when he dropped his phone and was somehow fatally injured. Details on the incident were not immediately available.
[ABC]

A former deputy mayor is putting together a real estate firm. Sources told Crain’s that Alicia Glen, who stepped down early this year as deputy mayor for housing and economic development, has hired her former chief of staff Carolee Fink and deputy chief of staff Caitlin Lewis and has rented space on Court Street in Brooklyn. Before joining the de Blasio administration Glen led Goldman Sachs’ Urban Investment Group. [Crain’s]

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi and 3 World Trade Center (Credit: Uber and Wikipedia)

Uber secures lease at 3 World Trade Center. The ride-hail company will lease 300,000 square feet on the 43rd to 49th floors and reportedly move in by summer 2020. [CO]

Life in New York City’s thousands of sunless, illegal apartments. Many immigrants who come to America in search of a better life wind up in hazardous basement apartments, deprived of any light. [NYT]

New York Building Congress President & CEO Carlo Scissura (Credit: Getty Images, iStock)

Construction spending in New York City this year through 2021 is expected to reach $189.5 billion. A new report by the New York Building Congress estimates that spending will hit $61.5 billion by the end of this year, $65.9 billion in 2020 and $62.1 in 2021. Government-funded infrastructure is expected to make up the biggest chunk in the next three years. [TRD]

The state will investigate widespread deed fraud in Brooklyn. Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered the investigation after a New York Times report highlighted the longtime problem of deed theft in Brooklyn, where communities of color are targeted. [Curbed]

Equity Group president Sam Zell (Credit: Getty Images, iStock, Equity Apartments)

Sam Zell’s REIT decries rent control’s “chilling effect” on development. Equity Residential, which owns more than 9,000 apartments in New York, experienced a 50-basis-point drop in renewal increases on rentals after changes to the rent law in the second half of the year — as well as a $400,000 decline in application and late fees. [TRD]

Solstice Residential Group leases 11,000 square feet at 55 Broad Street. The residential property management company is planning to move its offices to the 30-story building from its location in Gramercy Park. [CO]

New York City has delayed the rezoning of 7 Brooklyn schools. The Education Department hit the pause button after concerns that low-income families were not adequately engaged in the process. Meetings have attracted families from affluent parts of the district expressing fear that their children would lose access to coveted schools. [Chalkbeat]

Newmark Knight Frank takes over as exclusive agent for Staten Island outlet mall. The NKF team, composed of Jeffrey Roseman, Marc Frankel and Drew Weiss, will take over as leasing agent at the newly opened Empire Outlets mall from local brokerage Casandra Properties. [CO]

Vacant iBuyer homes used by squatters for shelter, shooting up. As the instant-homebuying model has grown in popularity in recent years, its self-guided tours have created an opening for squatters. The recent arrest of a couple in Arizona who had set up in a vacant property sparked a discussion among agents about safety issues with the model. [Inman]

Has real estate crowdfunding lived up to the hype? Crowdfunding was once a darling of the startup space, but some early adopters have pivoted into other areas and VC backing has fizzled. [TRD]

From left: Noah Isaacs , David Lichtenstein and John Meadows

Bowery Valuation raises $8 million in funding round led by Lightstone. The tech-enabled appraisal startup, run by former appraisers Noah Isaacs and John Meadows, has raised $27 million since its launch in 2015. [TRD]

Blackstone Chief Financial Officer Michael Chae (Credit: iStock; Blackstone)

Blackstone reports boost in Q3 net income. Blackstone’s $779 million in net income from July through September was up more than 75 percent year over year. [TRD]