The Real Deal New York

Hamptons Cheat Sheet: Sagaponack mansion’s price chopped down to $21.5M … & more

Aidan Gardiner — Tue, 14 Aug 2018 22:00:07 +0000

4.4-acre Sagaponack mansion’s price chopped down to $21.5M The ask for a 13,000-square-foot home sitting on 4.4 acres was reduced by $2.45 million, its first cut since it was listed for $23.95 million in June. The home, which was built in 2007, has nine bedrooms, 12 bathrooms, a double-height foyer, a large chef’s kitchen, a butler’s pantry, a wine cellar, a library, home theater and an elevator to all three floors. Outside, there’s a sunken […]

SL Green secures $66M mortgage for Adidas’ Soho space

Kevin Rebong — Tue, 14 Aug 2018 21:30:12 +0000

SL Green Realty secured a $65.6 million mortgage for a retail space in Soho. The approximately 5,200-square-foot commercial condo unit, at 115 Spring Street between Greene and Mercer streets, is currently occupied by an Adidas store. The footwear company signed a lease for the space in 2015, opening an “Originals” store that covers two floors. The lender is Korean investment firm Meritz Real Estate Asset Management, according to records filed with the city Tuesday. Before […]

Durst LLCs donate $160K to attorney general candidates

Kevin Rebong — Tue, 14 Aug 2018 20:45:15 +0000

Using eight different limited liability companies, the Durst Organization donated $150,000 to Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney’s campaign for New York attorney general. Six LLCs owned by the developer each contributed $21,000 to the Democrat, and a seventh threw in $14,000, Crain’s reported. An eighth LLC donated another $10,000. One of the companies also gave Public Advocate Letitia James — the current frontrunner for the Democratic nomination who is aligned with Gov. Andrew Cuomo — $10,000. […]

Citibank is nearing a deal to fund the Kingsbridge Armory conversion

Kevin Rebong — Tue, 14 Aug 2018 20:06:49 +0000

Citibank is close to funding the conversion of the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx. The bank is in “advanced talks” to finance the project that would create the world’s largest ice-skating complex, Crain’s New York reported. The deal would allow construction to commence on the $350 million redevelopment, which has been stalled. The city, which owns the armory, has refused to give Kingsbridge National Ice Center a lease until financing is secured, the report said. […]

WeWork is taking 7 floors at Jack Resnick’s 880 Third Avenue

Kevin Rebong — Tue, 14 Aug 2018 19:30:43 +0000

WeWork is taking seven floors at 880 Third Avenue in the Plaza District. The co-working firm signed a 15-year lease for just under 70,000 square feet, according to landlord Jack Resnick & Sons. Asking rents were in the $65 per-square-foot range. WeWork’s space will cover floors five to six and nine to 13. As part of the transaction, WeWork will get to occupy the outdoor terraces on the 12th floor and have its branding displayed […]

Vornado refis 4 Union Square South with $120M loan

Kevin Rebong — Tue, 14 Aug 2018 19:00:37 +0000

Vornado Realty Trust refinanced the retail building at 4 Union Square South with a $120 million loan from Wells Fargo, records filed Tuesday with city’s Department of Finance show. The debt replaced a previous loan that also came from Wells Fargo back in 2012. Vornado redeveloped the building in 2005 into a 200,000-square-foot shopping center. Key tenants include Whole Foods and Burlington Coat Factory, the latter of which occupies more than 90,000 square feet and […]

Columbia Property Trust in talks to buy Ares Management’s stake in Greenwich Village office project

Kevin Rebong — Tue, 14 Aug 2018 18:30:40 +0000

Columbia Property Trust is in talks to join Normandy Real Estate Partners on its Greenwich Village office project. The Atlanta-based real estate investment trust is in talks to buy Ares Management’s 50-percent stake in the project at 799 Broadway, Bloomberg reported. Ares began shopping the stake earlier this year at a price that valued the project at $250 million, as The Real Deal originally reported. Normandy has plans to demolish the six-story building on the […]

Introducing TRD’s tri-state quarterly issue

Kevin Rebong — Tue, 14 Aug 2018 18:05:01 +0000

The Real Deal is expanding our coverage of the tri-state area with a quarterly issue looking at the real estate markets in Long Island and the Hamptons, New Jersey, Westchester and Fairfield counties. Each issue will be divided into market-specific sections and packed with the data-driven reporting, analysis and profiles the industry relies on from TRD. The tri-state issues will be published in February, May, August and November of 2019 and 55,000 copies will be […]

Douglas Elliman acquires Vandenberg to boost townhouse business

Kevin Rebong — Tue, 14 Aug 2018 17:15:47 +0000

Douglas Elliman is doubling down on townhouses by acquiring Vandenberg, a boutique firm on the Upper West Side. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Elliman said Vandenberg’s founders and eight agents would make up a new townhouse team at the city’s largest residential brokerage. Vandenberg currently has 16 exclusives asking $150 million, including a “passive” townhouse at 53 West 71st Street, which is asking $13.49 million. Founded in 1990 by husband-and-wife team Dexter […]

Beijing-based Yihai Group plans 506-unit project in Flushing

Kevin Rebong — Tue, 14 Aug 2018 16:40:31 +0000

Chinese developer and school operator Yihai Group plans to build a 506-unit hotel and residential building in Flushing, a permit application filed Tuesday with the city’s Department of Buildings shows. The application indicates the developer wants to bring a 19-story 200,000-square-foot project to Flushing’s downtown, with 360 hotel rooms on floors two through seven and 146 residential units on the floors above. Retail is also planned for the property, according to the plans. Architect Raymond […]

WATCH: These are the 5 wealthiest people in US real estate

Kevin Rebong — Tue, 14 Aug 2018 16:05:50 +0000

Money comes and money goes, but who wouldn’t want a little more of it? For most of us, the grass is always greener. When it comes to the world’s wealthiest, the grass is fortunately very green. That being said, The Real Deal took a look at the top five richest people in U.S. real estate, according to Forbes’ billionaires’ list.

Blackstone Group’s Tony James wants more real estate

Kevin Rebong — Tue, 14 Aug 2018 15:20:38 +0000

The Blackstone Group‘s biggest business is its real estate division, so it’s only fitting that the firm’s vice chairman would look there when managing his own investments. Tony James recently hired Bill Helm for the newly created role of head of real estate investments at Jefferson River Capital, a family office that invests on James’ behalf. Jefferson River has yet to make a real estate investment, Bloomberg reported. The focus, initially, will be on multifamily, […]

Former Eastern Consolidated brokers Andrew Sasson and Chad Sinsheimer land at Ackman-Ziff

Kevin Rebong — Tue, 14 Aug 2018 14:55:45 +0000

Former Eastern Consolidated brokers Andrew Sasson and Chad Sinsheimer have found a home at Ackman-Ziff. The two brokers spent more than five years at Eastern Consolidated, brokering more than $500 million worth of deals in Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn. Eastern Consolidated shut its doors in July after nearly 40 years of business. Sasson and Sinsheimer, along with three of their previous team members, will join Ackmann-Ziff in the next couple of weeks as managing […]

Apollo expands at Solow’s 9 West 57th St.

Kevin Rebong — Tue, 14 Aug 2018 14:15:21 +0000

Apollo Global Management is adding to its space at Sheldon Solow’s 9 West 57th Street, the latest in a series of changes in the company’s office leases. The asset manager is increasing its space to 175,000 square feet from 135,000 square feet, the New York Post reported. The company is also moving to 3 Bryant Park, where it will sublease 70,000 square feet from MetLife. The move to Bryant Park is being funded by Apollo’s […]

The biggest threat to affordable housing right now? Climbing interest rates.

Kevin Rebong — Tue, 14 Aug 2018 13:33:48 +0000

Rising interest rates are putting a damper on efforts to build affordable housing across the U.S. According to developers, rates offered by national lenders have steadily increased in the past two years. Bridge Housing, one of the largest affordable housing developers on the west coast, told the Wall Street Journal that rates for both short- and long-term debt have been on the incline. “It makes the difference between feasibility and infeasibility,” Cynthia Parker, president and […]

Pension fund seeks to sell 590 Madison

Kevin Rebong — Tue, 14 Aug 2018 13:00:15 +0000

An Ohio-based pension fund is looking to sell 590 Madison Avenue, an office tower that could pull in as much as $1.3 billion. The 43-story building, known as the IBM Building, is owned by the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio, which purchased the remaining stake in the property three years ago, Bloomberg reported. Tech giant International Business Machines Corp. remains the building’s largest tenant, occupying about 120,000 square feet of the tower’s total 1.1 […]

Here’s what the $10M-$20M NYC investment sales market looked like last week

Kevin Rebong — Tue, 14 Aug 2018 12:30:29 +0000

In the world of mid-market New York City investment sales last week, Black Spruce bought three contiguous properties in Little Italy and Jonas Equities acquired a Flatbush apartment building. 1) Black Spruce Management bought three contiguous properties in Little Italy for $18.3 million. The buildings, at 185-189 Hester Street, are five-story structures with a total of 49 apartments and three commercial units. The assemblage offers 34,900 buildable square feet. The seller is the Garofalo family, […]

The NYC hotel construction boom is back

Kerry Barger — Tue, 14 Aug 2018 12:00:45 +0000

One out of five dwelling units currently under construction in New York City is in a hotel. That’s the highest proportion since 2013, according to an analysis by The Real Deal. This milestone reflects a combination of several factors. As the volume of active apartment construction has slowly trended downwards over the past two years, hotel construction has continued to show strong growth despite earlier signs of a slowdown and predictions of an impending demise. […]

Manhattan’s latest sales price decline, a new record for Downtown and more of the biggest trends in resi right now

Kevin Rebong — Tue, 14 Aug 2018 11:30:26 +0000

Red all over: Rents and sales fall in Manhattan The median sale price for a Manhattan apartment fell for the fourth straight quarter, down 9 percent year-over-year in 2018’s second quarter, according to a Halstead Property report. The average sale price fell too, by 4.3 percent, per City Realty, as did asking prices, by 3.4 percent, according to Maxwell Jacobs. Rents weren’t spared either, with a 2.9 percent year-over-year decline. All of the drag in […]

Legal defense fund? Michael Cohen lists condo at 111 Murray for rent

Kerry Barger — Tue, 14 Aug 2018 11:00:13 +0000

Michael Cohen — President Trump’s former fixer who is now under federal investigation — has listed his new apartment at 111 Murray Street as a $25,000-a-month rental. Cohen’s 19th-floor condo was listed Monday, according to StreetEasy, roughly four months after he bought the pad for $6.7 million. The sale was the first closing at 111 Murray, a Tribeca skyscraper that is being developed by Fisher Brothers, the Witkoff Group and Howard Lorber’s New Valley. The […]

SL Green agreed to pay off old lease to lure firm to One Vanderbilt

Kerry Barger — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 22:00:30 +0000

When the Carlyle Group agreed to move to One Vanderbilt, SL Green Realty sweetened the deal by offering to pay off the company’s old lease — a sum that could exceed $100 million. SL Green agreed to take over the global asset manager’s office lease at 520 Madison Avenue, which is set to expire in 2031, Crain’s reported. The Carlyle Group plans to move into One Vanderbilt in 2020. The existing lease could be worth […]

Keller Williams profit gets a boost from higher sales volume

Kevin Rebong — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 21:30:05 +0000

Keller Williams franchises raked in higher profits last quarter. The brokerage reported $98.3 billion in sales volume in the U.S. and Canada in the second quarter — up 8.7 percent from a year earlier. Franchisee owner profit rose 1.3 percent year over year to $70.3 million, according to a release from the company. The growth comes as the firm has been expanding its artificial intelligence-based assistant, Kelle. Through the service, agents can access listings, market […]

Dalan Management recaps Midtown South office buildings in $54M deal

Kevin Rebong — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 21:00:09 +0000

Dalan Management recapitalized a pair of Midtown South office buildings in a deal that values the properties at more than $54 million. Boston-based Marcus Partners paid $54.5 million to buy the adjacent 11-story buildings at 10-12 East 33rd Street from Dalan Management, a spokesperson for the buyer told The Real Deal. Following the sale, Dalan retains a minority stake in the buildings with an undisclosed equity investment in the joint venture with Marcus Partners. Marcus […]

Wharton Properties lands $50M loan to refi Garment District property

Kevin Rebong — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 20:15:29 +0000

Jeff Sutton‘s Wharton Properties just landed $50 million to refinance one of its retail properties in the Garment District. Germany-based Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen, also known as Heleba, provided the financing package, which includes $49.4 million in existing loans and $562,500 in new debt, according to documents filed with the city’s Department of Finance on Monday. The financing is for 29 West 34th Street, a three-story retail building whose tenants include Aldo and Geox. Sutton didn’t immediately […]

Long Island Cheat Sheet: Huntington pulls contract with Bohemia-based architects over fees … & more

Aidan Gardiner — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 19:30:39 +0000

Huntington pulls contract with Bohemia-based architects over fees The Huntington Town Board revoked the contract it had with Bohemia-based DCAK-MSA Architectural and Engineering PC — doing business as Savik and Murray — which had been hired to design the James D. Conte Community Center in Huntington Station. Town officials said the firm was charging excess fees and didn’t advance the project beyond the conceptual phase. Patchogue-based BBS Architects, Landscape Architects and Engineers PC will take over the project, […]

Luxury listings stay put as buyers come ready for a bargain

Kevin Rebong — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 18:45:14 +0000

Luxury apartments keep lingering on the market. As inventory grows and a buyer’s market creates the opportunity to extend negotiations, high-end properties are moving at a sluggish pace. In this environment, it’s sellers and developers who are quick to course correct and adjust pricing that have an advantage, brokers said. “Longer days on the market and more negotiability — the two go hand-in-hand,” said Donna Olshan, head of Olshan Realty. In the last week of […]

Wells Fargo under investigation for alleged role in low-income housing tax credit fraud

Erica Press — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 18:00:39 +0000

Wells Fargo is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice for allegedly colluding with affordable housing developers nationwide to drive down the prices of low-income tax credits – potentially defrauding hundreds of millions of dollars from the federal program. Among the banks, Wells Fargo is the largest buyer of the tax credits. The San Francisco-based bank said last year that it had invested $9 billion into the program over the previous five years. Banks […]

Here are the week’s top luxury sales

Kevin Rebong — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 17:15:12 +0000

Each week, The Real Deal and CityRealty look back at Manhattan’s priciest apartment sales.

Brookfield secures option to buy land under 666 Fifth

Kevin Rebong — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 16:30:57 +0000

Brookfield Asset Management secured an option to buy the land under 666 Fifth Avenue from Kushner Companies as part of a deal to lease the office tower for 99 years, according to the memorandum of lease. The option to buy the so-called fee interest becomes available “at certain limited times and circumstances during the term of the lease,” the memorandum reads. It wasn’t immediately clear under what times and circumstances the purchase option is permitted. […]

EXp Realty revenue soars as the virtual brokerage’s agent count doubles

Kevin Rebong — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 16:00:44 +0000

EXp Realty’s massive growth push is paying off. The virtual brokerage’s revenue soared as the company’s been adding agents and growing transaction volume. In the second quarter, revenue for eXp World Holdings, the parent company of eXp Realty, climbed to a record $130.5 million, versus $39 million a year earlier. Net loss was $1.9 million, compared with a net loss of $2.1 million in the second quarter of 2017, according to the company’s statement. At […]

HUD is looking to make big changes to fair-housing enforcement

Kevin Rebong — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 15:30:24 +0000

The Trump administration wants to use federal grants as leverage to get communities to reconsider their zoning codes to allow for more housing development. It’s a shift in policy at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which under the Obama administration focused on integrating lower-income housing into wealthy neighborhoods, the Wall Street Journal reported. HUD Secretary Ben Carson said restrictive zoning rules have limited home construction, thus driving up prices and making it […]

Chicago brokerage chief Steve Baird on Compass, what it takes to survive the brokerage apocalypse and more

Kevin Rebong — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 15:01:10 +0000

To a company that’s been around for 164 years, what looks to others like an existential crisis is just more sand in the hourglass. That was the message Steve Baird kept coming back to during an hour-long sitdown with The Real Deal. The CEO of Baird & Warner lends his company’s longevity to its adaptability, having morphed from a commercial brokerage to a land developer to one of the largest home sellers in the Chicago […]

Anthony Bourdain’s Time Warner Center apartment hits the rental market

Kevin Rebong — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 14:30:08 +0000

Anthony Bourdain’s Time Warner Center apartment is now available as a $14,200-per-month rental, two months after the celebrity chef committed suicide. The two-bedrom, two-bathroom pad has hardwood floors and floor-to-ceiling windows with views of the Hudson River, according to TMZ, which first reported on the listing. The New York Post identified the condominium as unit 64F, which property records show sold for $2 million in 2004. Bourdain in 2010 told Fodors.com that he liked to […]

Joe Moinian is shaking up his strategy at Hudson Yards

Kevin Rebong — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 14:00:58 +0000

In August, Joe Moinian watched yet another potential anchor tenant for his planned Hudson Yards tower slip through his fingers, when the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer agreed to move into a rival project next door. It’s a drill the developer has become all too familiar with. In the past several years, tenants have enthusiastically flocked to Manhattan’s Far West Side. Companies such as Coach, Time Warner, the National Hockey League and mega-asset manager BlackRock have […]

In the most expensive housing market on earth, demand for micro-apartments is on the rise

Kevin Rebong — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 13:30:48 +0000

Rising home prices in Hong Kong have buyers turning to tiny apartments. The world’s least-affordable housing market saw transaction volumes for residential units no bigger than 300 square feet jump 52 percent during the first eight months of the year compared to the same time in 2017, according to data from Picacorp Properties cited by Bloomberg. Those 300-square-foot spaces are smaller than two parking spaces, and now make up 12.4 percent of total apartment sales […]

Manhattan’s luxe resi market slowed to a dozen contracts last week: Olshan

Kevin Rebong — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 13:00:26 +0000

Manhattan’s luxury residential real estate market saw just 12 deals signed at $4 million and up last week, according to Olshan Realty’s weekly market report. That was the lowest total since the first two weeks in January, and down from 17 contracts signed during the same week a year ago. The week’s priciest contract went to the townhouse at 4 Sutton Square, which had an asking price of $12.99 million. That’s a reduction of roughly […]

BTIG Partners inks 65K sf lease at EQ Office’s Park Ave Tower

Kevin Rebong — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 12:32:57 +0000

Financial services broker-dealer BTIG Partners is moving its trading floor to the Plaza District with a 65,000-square-foot lease at EQ Office’s Park Avenue Tower. The company, founded in 2002, signed a 15-year deal for the second, third and fourth floors in the base of the office tower at 65 East 55th Street, sources told The Real Deal. BTIG also took space on the ground floor for a private entrance, giving the company a building-within-a-building at […]

WATCH: Here’s why NYC probably won’t be getting a megatall any time soon

Jhila Farzaneh — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 12:00:10 +0000

New York is no doubt home to its fair share of towering skyscrapers — but what about those that reach nearly 2,000 feet into the sky, and sometimes more? At 1,792 feet tall, One World Trade Center comes close. But the city has yet to make room for the elusive “megatall” building, like the Burj Khalifa in Dubai and the under-construction Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia. There are many reasons for New York’s vertical problem, […]

Flipping the switch on home flipping

Kevin Rebong — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 11:30:21 +0000

For former Keller Williams agent Parish Pradhan, home flipping started as a side gig in 2014. That’s when he and a few buddies pooled their money to buy, rehab and flip a single-family home in Westchester County. At the time, no lender would take a risk on a first-time borrower. Four years and 17 deals later, Pradhan is still syndicating money from clients and friends to buy and sell homes in Westchester and Fairfield County, […]

Montefiore gets $1.2B in bonds

Kerry Barger — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 11:00:59 +0000

UPDATED, Aug. 13, 9:00 a.m.: Montefiore Health System just landed a $1.2 billion financing deal. The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) issued $685 million in bonds on a portfolio of the hospital system’s facilities in the Bronx, according to records filed with the city on Friday. And Montefiore issued $482 million in bonds on its own. DASNY provided a series of 2018 30-year revenue bonds, which were used to pay down […]

Why a $12M resort developer reinvented himself as a tiny home builder

The Real Deal Staff — Sun, 12 Aug 2018 18:56:27 +0000

Tiny homes have been heralded as one approach to affordable housing, but as zoning rules and various regulations have wrapped the housing model in red tape, the small homes have seemed less and less like a viable option. But for Randy Jones, the founder of building company Incredible Tiny Homes, the troubled market represents an opportunity so obvious it’s basically a “no brainer.” Jones, 58, got into the business after losing everything in Great Recession. […]

What the rampant, often celebrated vandalism of Bird scooters says about LA and tech

The Real Deal Staff — Sun, 12 Aug 2018 17:30:50 +0000

No one likes change, especially when it arrives by electric scooter. Bird scooters have become the symbol of tech companies’ arrival to the Southern California coastline known as Silicon Beach and the targets of residents’ wrath. Scooters are increasingly winding up broken, in flames, buried in the ocean or otherwise defiled in myriad different ways, as the Los Angeles Times reported. The various tactics for decommissioning the scooters, which were conceived by their maker, Bird, […]

Team behind Whistler Blackcomb test new resort concept

The Real Deal Staff — Sun, 12 Aug 2018 17:00:19 +0000

UPDATED August 13, 2018: Blend micro-units with Airbnb and U.K.-based yuppie hotel chain, Yotel, and the result would be Replay Resorts’ new ski resort, YotelPAD. The 144-unit condo building in Park City, Utah will function like a hotel with amenities including living room-like lounges, mini-movie theaters and fully-stocked gyms. But owners can opt to have their “pads” rented out by Replay. Most units are between 338 to 500 square feet in size and the largest units, […]

Ashkenazy gets go-ahead to double the rent at Barneys’ Madison Avenue flagship

The Real Deal Staff — Sun, 12 Aug 2018 16:31:23 +0000

A city arbitrator has ended the lengthy rent dispute between Barneys and Ashkenazy Acquisition, declaring the retailer’s new annual bill to be $30 million. The new rent represents double Barneys current rent and, with property taxes factored in, the figure is actually much higher, coming to an estimated total of $44 million per year, as the New York Post reports. The massive hike is still only half of what Ashkenazy had been seeking, however. The […]

Picture perfect: Photo company flush with VC money eyes U.S. real estate market

The Real Deal Staff — Sun, 12 Aug 2018 16:00:39 +0000

Photography startup Meero is coming to New York City armed with $60 million in venture funding. The company raised $15 million in a Series A round in September 2017 and raised an additional $45 million in a Series B eight months later. Backers include European funds such as Global Founders Capital, Aglaé Ventures, Alven, White Star Capital and Idinvest Partners. Meero runs a global online marketplace through which clients can book photographers and arrange shoots […]

Drew Barrymore unloads Hollywood Hills home for $17M

The Real Deal Staff — Sun, 12 Aug 2018 15:00:25 +0000

Drew Barrymore is parting ways with her longtime home in the Hollywood Hills. The actress sold an 8,000-square-foot residence for $16.5 million in a deal that transacted off-market last month, the Los Angeles Times reported. A Swedish LLC named Hillcrest AB is listed as the recorded buyer, property records show. Built in 1957, the home has 18 rooms, including four bedrooms, as well as a guest house and swimming pool. The two-story home also features […]

Family of 1920s mobster and bootlegger searches for lost real estate fortune

The Real Deal Staff — Sun, 12 Aug 2018 14:00:53 +0000

Rocco Perri’s family has been trying to track down the late mobster’s real estate fortune for years and accuses the Canadian government of keeping it from them. The 1920s mobster and bootlegger who ferried booze to Al Capone in Chicago was based out of the Canadian town of Hamilton until, as his living relatives believe, he fled Canada in the 1940s to build a legitimate real estate empire in the U.S. and Mexico, as reported […]

Why there’s growing interest in buying million-dollar ghost towns

The Real Deal Staff — Sun, 12 Aug 2018 13:00:21 +0000

Though John Voight lives alone on his sprawling 225-acre property, he’s part of a group of hundreds of Americans who’ve bought ghost towns. Churches and corporations are among other interested buyers with companies often buying the properties as a marketing strategy, while individuals often buy their vast empires of solitude to preserve history or launch a new enterprise, according to The Outline. “There is not a demographic out there that does not want to buy […]

RioCan REIT expects a “gold rush” once Canada legalizes pot this fall

The Real Deal Staff — Sat, 11 Aug 2018 18:00:49 +0000

RioCan REIT is expecting a ganja “gold rush” to hit Canada’s retail markets in a matter of weeks. The rosy outlook comes after Ontario’s premier Doug Ford said he was considering changing the province’s approach to distributing marijuana. The previous liberal government announced storefronts selling pot would be managed by government entities just as alcohol is sold in Ontario, however Ford has opened up the possibility of allowing private stores to enter the space, according […]

Engel & Völkers contractor tried to get out of DUI arrest by saying she’s a “clean, thoroughbred, white girl”

The Real Deal Staff — Sat, 11 Aug 2018 17:44:15 +0000

When South Carolina-based Engel & Völkers contractor was pulled over after running through a stop sign at 60 miles per hour, she offered police a string of offensive excuses. In police footage broadcast by CBS, Lauren Elizabeth Cutshaw can be heard pleading with officers not to send her to jail from the backseat of the police car: “I’m a pretty girl. Please, don’t make me go in there… I graduated from a really good university… […]

NYC doorman sent sexually explicit, unsolicited photos to 6 women

The Real Deal Staff — Sat, 11 Aug 2018 17:30:42 +0000

A doorman was fired for sending sexually explicit photos and videos to six women who lived in the Tudor City Place co-op building where he worked. Jonathon Aviles lost his job at the end of July after one of the women, whom he had sent photos of his genitals and videos of himself masturbating, gathered enough identifying information that the building’s management confirmed he was the perpetrator, according to the New York Post. “We regretfully […]

Meet Prospect Height’s trash hoarder who owns $8M worth of NYC brownstones

The Real Deal Staff — Sat, 11 Aug 2018 17:00:37 +0000

Lisa Fiekowski considers collecting neighborhood junk her full-time job; property ownership is a part-time gig. She estimates it pays about $20 to $30 per hour and she often takes work home with her–packing the garbage into her 1993 Toyota Camry or one of her four brownstone homes that are collectively worth an estimated $8 million, according to the New York Post. Though Fiekowski calls it a “bad hobby” that mostly raises the ire of her […]

Do the math: Buy a parking space or start a real estate empire?

The Real Deal Staff — Sat, 11 Aug 2018 16:01:52 +0000

“If you have $300,000 and are willing to part with it for a little bit of concrete, cool–you’ve got a parking spot,” or you could use the same money to launch a small rental portfolio. Constantine Valhouli of real estate market research firm, Neighborhood X, ran the numbers after a “car condo” opened near his Cobble Hill home charging about $300,000 per spot plus taxes and maintenance fees. With parking spots selling for between $200,000 […]

Anna Kournikova’s former Miami Beach estate asks $14M

Erica Press — Sat, 11 Aug 2018 15:00:57 +0000

Anna Kournikova’s former Miami Beach estate is up for grabs. The current owners of the waterfront Mediterranean-style compound at 2345 Lake Avenue in the Sunset Islands are looking to sell the property for $14.25 million. Kournikova, one of the best-known tennis players, sold the property in 2012 for $7.45 million to Ricardo Teixeira, former president of Brazil’s Football Confederation. Teixeira’s wife sold the home to MB Lake Avenue Property LLC, which is controlled by Robert […]

Why a prestigious London hotelier is building a city in Ghana

The Real Deal Staff — Sat, 11 Aug 2018 14:00:01 +0000

The owner of The Westbury Hotel, British multi-millionaire real estate developer Azad Cola, is co-founding a town called Petronia in Ghana. The new city is to become a business hub for the oil, gas and mining industries in West Africa, according to Forbes. Petronia is to serve as a launch point for companies as they come to the country — oil was first discovered in Ghana in 2007. “We are creating a blueprint for emerging […]

In the spotlight: A brokerage of performers

The Real Deal Staff — Sat, 11 Aug 2018 13:00:38 +0000

After six years, Bohemia Realty Group is still singing and dancing through the streets of New York City staffed by a team of agents who largely come from backgrounds in the performing arts. Founded by actors, the brokerage has maintained a stage presence both in the competitive world of Manhattan real estate and as the go-to real estate group for new casts gracing the city’s many theaters, according to the New York Times. “Actors help […]

DOB says iconic Watchtower sign was illegal for half a century

Kevin Rebong — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 22:15:41 +0000

It turns out the iconic Watchtower sign — recently removed by a joint venture of CIM Group and LIVWRK Holdings — hovered above Brooklyn Heights illegally for half a century. According to the city’s Department of Buildings, the sign and the E.R. Squibb & Sons’ sign it replaced in 1970 were installed on the roof of 25-30 Columbia Heights illegally. For this reason, the DOB is preventing the building’s new owners from putting a new […]

Manhattan closed sales dropped nearly 21% in July

Kevin Rebong — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 22:02:01 +0000

According to this week’s market reports, Manhattan closed sales dropped 20.7 percent in July and Harlem posted the highest price growth in Manhattan. ResidentialRentals | MNSIn July, the average rent in Manhattan rose by 0.44 percent on a month-to-month basis to settle at $4,007. Harlem led the way in terms of price growth, with prices in the neighborhood rising by 4.32 percent compared to same time last year. The biggest bargains were non-doorman one-bedrooms […]

Lalezarian buys Sutton Place rental for $25M

Kevin Rebong — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 21:50:12 +0000

Long Island-based Lalezarian Properties bought a five-story apartment building in Sutton Place for $25 million. The property, at 222 East 56th Street, sits mid-block between Second and Third avenues. It contains 60 rental apartments and spans 30,600-square feet. The property has an allowed usable floor area of 112,980 square feet, according to PropertyShark. Kevin Lalezarian, a principal at Lalezarian Properties, confirmed the transaction. He said that the company plans to hold the asset long-term. The […]

Could co-working offices save malls?

Kevin Rebong — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 21:00:42 +0000

A new kind of co-working space is seeking to capitalize on two current market trends: the increasing number of freelance and remote-location workers, and the loss of tenants in the retail sector. The idea? To combine vacant retail space with co-working offices. Commercial real estate firm JLL conducted a nationwide study of 75 co-working offices occupying more than 1 million square feet of former retail space. The study found such new, specialty co-working spaces not […]

At the desk of: Brad Lander

Kevin Rebong — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 20:30:33 +0000

City Council member Brad Lander’s Brooklyn office is squeezed between a sleek fitness studio and a pharmacy stocked with everything from remote-controlled helicopters to baby clothes. But the home base of District 39’s elected representative can be spotted by a large faded poster bearing his name, which hangs over a set of nondescript double doors. The Democratic Council member and co-founder of the Council’s Progressive Caucus set up shop in his third-floor office on Fifth […]

The Inwood rezoning came with a surprise: commercial rent control

Kevin Rebong — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 20:00:08 +0000

The mayor is hoping to attract small businesses to Inwood through an element of the neighborhood’s rezoning. There’s a type of commercial rent control in the agreement between the de Blasio administration and local Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, Crain’s reported. New mixed-use developments receiving $2 million or more from the Department of Housing Preservation and Development must give commercial tenants a lease of at least 10 years “with limited rental increases,” the report said. It will […]

Developer behind Bedford Union Armory bringing 21-story rental tower to Jamaica

Kevin Rebong — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 19:30:13 +0000

A joint venture between affordable housing developer BFC Partners and the NYC Partnership Housing Development Fund filed permits for a 21-story, 139-unit rental complex in Downtown Jamaica. Plans for the site, at 153-19 Jamaica Avenue, call for a 104,300-square-foot structure on a 13,000-square-foot lot, according to permits filed with the city’s Department of Buildings on Friday. The development would be split between 99,100 square feet of residential space and 5,200 square feet of commercial space. […]

Steve Roth is 220 CPS’ bouncer

Kevin Rebong — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 19:00:36 +0000

Douglas Elliman’s Jacky Teplitzky and her wealthy client couple were seated in the sales office at 220 Central Park South when an unexpected visitor showed up: Steve Roth. Roth didn’t introduce himself as he sauntered in. He is, after all, an industry legend, the head of an $18 billion-plus real estate company, and the guy who’s building the luxury condominium tower Teplitzky’s clients wanted to buy into. But they didn’t know him from Adam. He […]

Like a “kid in a candy store”: JLL’s digital chief on proptech’s potential

Erica Press — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 18:30:52 +0000

Between virtual reality and 3D-printed buildings, commercial real estate firms are increasingly showing off flashy new instruments they say will upend the industry. But more than any single gadget, JLL’s Vinay Goel says he wants to bring an information revolution to the real estate world. “We’re talking about how to build an employee experience where if someone is hot or cold, then instead of filing a ticket and having someone act on it, you have […]

Subscribers: Talk dirty money with TRDs editors & reporters on Aug. 23

Kerry Barger — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 18:00:57 +0000

The Real Deal is hosting a conference call with digital subscribers on Aug. 23 to discuss our recent story on the influx of dirty money into U.S. real estate. TRD’s managing issue editor Damian Ghigliotty will talk to reporters David Jeans and Will Parker about how the story on money laundering took shape, their trip to DC to report it out, some of the challenges the subject presented and tidbits from their reporters’ notebooks that […]

WeWork to take space in the West Village amid its mid-size tenant push

Kevin Rebong — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 17:30:43 +0000

WeWork is expanding its portfolio of locations aimed at mid-size tenants, closing a 25,000-square-foot lease at Centaur Properties’ 609 Greenwich Street in the West Village. The company, which has been signing smaller leases as it targets companies that want a distinct space , signed a deal for the fourth and fifth floors of the 16-story building, a source told The Real Deal. The transaction builds on the expansion of WeWork’s mid-sized portfolio in Manhattan. The […]

Mark your calendars: These are New York’s top real estate events next week

lucas — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 17:00:32 +0000

There will be three real estate events in New York City next week. On Aug. 15, Young Jewish Professionals is hosting its monthly Real Estate Investing & Development forum from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Union Square. Attend for dinner, cocktails and unique networking opportunities. Speakers will include Elie Rieder of Castle Lanterra Properties, Harry Gross of G-Holdings, Ira Fishman of HSP Real Estate Group, Scott L. Aaron of Socius Development Group, Spencer Garfield […]

Tower of power: A look at the big names buying at this Chicago condo

Kevin Rebong — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 16:30:41 +0000

A 7-foot-tall Chicago Bull, a candy company magnate and the richest man in Illinois walk into the lobby of a luxury Chicago condo tower. If you’re waiting for a punchline, don’t. There’s no joke here — just the possibility of what could happen once Omer Asik, Jason Heyward and Ken Griffin all have moved in to their units in the still-under-construction high-rise from JDL Development at 9 West Walton Street in the Gold Coast. The […]

Redfin’s Glenn Kelman warns of market “volatility” and “slowdown” ahead

Kevin Rebong — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 16:05:34 +0000

Days after Zillow took a beating for lowering its 2018 revenue projection, Redfin scaled back its own third-quarter forecast, citing “volatility” and a “significant slowdown” in recent weeks. The warning came despite growth in Redfin‘s second-quarter revenue, which rose 36 percent year-over-year to $142.6 million. Redfin’s net income for the quarter was $3.2 million, compared to $4.3 million during the second quarter of 2017. But CEO Glenn Kelman cautioned investors that the market was likely […]

Rotem Rosen to fund Hotel Indigo purchase with Tel Aviv bonds

Kevin Rebong — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 15:30:59 +0000

Rotem Rosen plans to raise up to $72 million in Israel to finance the purchase of a Lower East Side hotel. Rosen’s MRR Development went into contract in June to buy the Hotel Indigo for $162.5 million from Brack Capital and InterContinental Hotels Group. To fund the purchase, MRR filed a prospectus for a secured bond offer of up to $72 million in Tel Aviv with bondholders taking the senior position on the 294-key hotel. […]

Kassirer flips Upper West Side building to Akelius for $72M

Kevin Rebong — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 15:15:51 +0000

Isaac Kassirer flipped an Upper West Side building he bought from Thor Equities and Rockwood Capital for a quick profit to the local arm of Swedish real estate investor Akelius. Akelius Real Estate Management paid $72 million to buy the 68-unit 838 West End Avenue, the company announced Thursday. But that’s a premium of $7.5 million over what the 98,000-square-foot building at the corner of West 101st Street just traded for about two weeks ago. […]

‘Score Planner’ tool offers customized path to better credit

Erica Press — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 15:00:09 +0000

If you’re seriously thinking about buying a home in the months ahead, you almost certainly know how important your FICO credit score will be in getting a mortgage. And you probably know the score range you’ll need for the type of loan you want — somewhere in the low- to mid-700s for a conventional mortgage eligible for sale to investors Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, or a score in the mid to upper 600s for […]

The deal that wasn’t? BCTC says carpenters union didn’t reach agreement with Related

Kevin Rebong — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 14:10:23 +0000

Related Companies says there’s a deal with the city’s carpenters’ union at Hudson Yards — one of “historic” proportions. The Building and Construction Trades Council suspects there isn’t one. And the carpenters’ union is staying quiet. The latest dispute to play out between the developer and the BCTC circles around whether or not the New York City District Council of Carpenters reached an agreement with Related for more work at Hudson Yards. On Tuesday, the […]

WATCH: Here’s what could be in store for Eastdil if Wells Fargo sells the brokerage

Nathan Bickell — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 13:50:24 +0000

Will Eastdil Secured go the way of a private equity buyer? Or will a commercial brokerage swoop in and add the capital-markets powerhouse to its ranks? The Real Deal’s Danielle Balbi and Rich Bockmann sat down to discuss Eastdil’s potential suitors, as Wells Fargo gauges interest for the commercial brokerage while it looks to dispose of its non-core businesses. Balbi and Bockmann talked about recent broker defections, and whether the firm would remain specialized, or […]

Back for more: SoftBank invests another $1B in WeWork

Kevin Rebong — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 13:00:30 +0000

SoftBank agreed to invest another $1 billion in WeWork through a convertible note, the co-working company said Thursday. The announcement comes a year after SoftBank invested $4.4 billion in WeWork and its overseas affiliates at a reported $20 billion valuation. WeWork can use the money: it lost $723 million in the first half of the year alone while making $764 million in sales, Bloomberg reported. The co-working company previously recorded a loss of $933 million […]

Former broker alleging sexual harassment had a restraining order against her

Erica Press — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 12:30:53 +0000

A former Marcus & Millichap agent who is suing an executive from the brokerage for sexual harassment had a restraining order filed against her by the same man she accused, The Real Deal has learned. Newly obtained documents reveal that the woman, Adina Talkov Hemley, appeared to be pursuing a personal relationship with the Marcus & Millichap branch manager, Kevin Boeve. Court documents and emails show that Boeve, who works at the brokerage’s Ontario, California, […]

Realogy’s deal with StreetEasy fuels more criticism of Premier Agent

Kevin Rebong — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 12:00:35 +0000

StreetEasy‘s Premier Agent program is drawing a fresh batch of criticism from the city’s brokerages and agents. This time, the fuss is about a deal its parent company Zillow Group cut with Realogy. Last month, The Real Deal revealed that agents at Realogy — the conglomerate that owns the Corcoran Group, Citi Habitats and national brands like Coldwell Banker — receive email notifications when a Premier Agent is contacted by a prospective buyer about one […]

Is co-living growing up?

Kevin Rebong — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 11:30:53 +0000

Often thought of as home for kids who never grow up, co-living has had a tough go in New York — in name at least. During a panel last year, Stonehenge Partners CEO Ofer Yardeni offered up a biting appraisal of the product: “If you are a 35-year-old and you live in [WeLive or Common], you are a loser.” Since co-living debuted in earnest a few years ago, its operators have offered tenants furnished private […]

Is Wells Fargo targeting the right buyer pool for its sale of Eastdil?

Kevin Rebong — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 11:00:57 +0000

As part of a larger strategy to shed non-core assets, Wells Fargo is trying to offload one of the city’s top investment sales and capital markets brokerages, Eastdil Secured. But rather than market it to a brokerage that could bolster its business in either area, the San Francisco-based bank is reportedly turning to risk-taking private equity firms. It’s a buyer pool that’s proven interested in the past. TPG Capital, for instance, bought Cushman & Wakefield […]

The last rites: St. Patrick’s deal blocked by exclusive men’s club

Kevin Rebong — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 22:00:40 +0000

If there was a commandment for not coveting thy neighbor’s air rights deal, The Brook would face damnation. The exclusive private men’s club agreed to sell its unused development rights to the owners of 405 Park Avenue, scuttling a previous agreement with St. Patrick’s Cathedral and costing the church millions. Back in March the owners of 405 Park, MRP Realty and Deutsche Bank, reached a deal to buy 30,000 square feet of air rights from […]

National Cheat Sheet: Zillow stock plunges 15% in one day, Softbank’s IPO could be the largest ever … & more

Maya Rajamani — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 21:30:43 +0000

Zillow stock plunges 15% but its CEO says the company’s ‘long-term story is intact’ It wasn’t the best week for Zillow Group, which saw its stock plunge around 15 percent on Tuesday. The dip came a day after the listings giant announced that it would be getting into home-buying and mortgage origination — a move that may have worried investors, experts said. The company also lowered its revenue projection for the year. Despite Tuesday’s woes, […]

Here’s how investments sales fared in New York City in June

Kevin Rebong — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 21:00:53 +0000

Investment sales in Manhattan and Brooklyn Manhattan investment sales retreated in June, with just over $2 billion recorded. The figure was a steep decline from May’s $3.6 billion, but was right on the average of the past year. The top sale was Invesco buying the office condo at 1745 Broadway from SL Green Realty and Ivanhoe Cambridge for a reported $633 million (although in transfer documents the price was $596 million). In Brooklyn, buyers recorded […]

HJ Kalikow lands a $365M loan for 101 Park

Kevin Rebong — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 20:40:22 +0000

H.J. Kalikow & Co. secured a $365 million mortgage for 101 Park Avenue in Midtown. The new mortgage replaces a $300 million Bank of America loan from 2012, according to records filed with the city on Thursday. The new debt adds a $65 million gap mortgage, also provided by Bank of America, on the existing loan on the 46-story office tower. Last year, the American Kennel Club chose the building for its Museum of the […]

Johnny Carson’s former Malibu estate asking price trimmed by $16M

Erica Press — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 20:00:02 +0000

The Malibu home where “Tonight Show” host Johnny Carson once lived is now more affordable than ever. The 7,000-square-foot home on a bluff overlooking the ocean just slashed $16.3 million off its $81.5 million price tag it listed for last October — a 20 percent discount, according to the Los Angeles Daily News. The new listing price is $65.2 million. The current owners are fashion and film producer Sidney Kimmel and his wife, Caroline, who […]

NYC’s resi market hasn’t been in a funk like this since 2009. Here’s what’s gone wrong.

Kevin Rebong — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 19:30:15 +0000

New York’s residential market is still sliding. The city saw an 8 percent decrease, year-over-year, in overall transaction value in the second quarter, according to the Real Estate Board of New York’s quarterly residential sales report. It was the fourth straight quarter of declines — which hasn’t happened since the third quarter of 2009. Transactions in the second quarter totaled $12.3 billion, according to the report. Homes sales volume dipped 4 percent to 12,262 transactions. […]

Ravitch strikes deal with city to keep 325 units at Waterside Plaza affordable

Kevin Rebong — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 19:00:47 +0000

Richard Ravitch struck a deal with the city that will keep about a quarter of the roughly 1,400 units at his Waterside Plaza apartment complex affordable for another 75 years. In exchange, the city agreed to extend the ground lease on the Kips Bay property for another 99 years and reduce Ravitch’s rent payments, the New York Times reported. “It’s a good thing for everybody,” Ravitch said. “The city is pleased. The tenants are pleased.” […]

Tenant at 990 Sixth dodges eviction in test case for commercial tenant harassment law

Kevin Rebong — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 18:30:17 +0000

A tenant at Vanbarton Group’s 990 Sixth Avenue was able to stave off eviction in a test case for the city’s new commercial tenant harassment law. Law firm Schulman, Blitz & Williamson was granted an injunction to continue its tenancy at the 25-story residential and office tower, also known as the Vogue Building. The firm sued its landlord in June, claiming that it was being harassed through “unnecessary construction” under the guise of a renovation. […]

The Collectors: The industry moguls who have amassed the biggest art portfolios

Kevin Rebong — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 17:15:34 +0000

Whenever Edward Minskoff sees the iconic image of a leather-clad Marlon Brando on a motorcycle, he thinks of the one that got away. Minskoff offered nearly $1 million in the late 1990s for Andy Warhol’s 1966 silkscreen, “Marlon,” which is based on a still from the biker film “The Wild One.” He was stunned when his offer wasn’t accepted. Minskoff claims that the art dealer misrepresented the situation and was actually not authorized to sell […]

Aetna consolidating NYC offices in Soho

Kevin Rebong — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 16:15:14 +0000

UPDATED, Aug. 9, 3:05 p.m.: Aetna, which earlier this year pulled an about-face on plans to move employees from Connecticut to the Meatpacking District, will be consolidating some of its existing New York City offices in Soho. The insurance company signed a lease for a little more than 100,000 square feet at Stellar Management’s One Soho Square, sources told The Real Deal. Aetna signed a lease for the top four floors at 161 Sixth Avenue, the […]

Trump administration scrutinizing HNA’s stake in 850 Third Avenue

Kevin Rebong — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 15:45:41 +0000

The U.S. government has questioned Chinese conglomerate HNA Group about its stake in 850 Third Avenue. The Committee on Foreign Investors in the United States, or CFIUS, had concerns about “unique facts and circumstances” regarding the location of the building, Bloomberg reported. HNA said it’s taking steps to address the concerns, the report said. The company didn’t provide details. The move comes after Congress approved expanded authority of CFIUS in August. The expansion gives more […]

Omni takes full floor at 909 Third Avenue

Kevin Rebong — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 15:00:41 +0000

Omni New York is heading to 909 Third Avenue. Mo Vaughn and Eugene Schneur’s real estate development firm signed a 10-year lease for nearly 33,000 square feet on the entire 21st floor of Vornado Realty Trust’s building, Commercial Observer reported. The asking rent was in the $70s per square foot, the report said. Omni, which primarily builds affordable housing, will be taking the space previously occupied by a division of the Interpublic Group of Companies. […]

Rich New Yorkers are flocking to Florida. But soaring prices might offset the tax perks

Kevin Rebong — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 14:34:27 +0000

The tax overhaul is fueling a luxury home boom in Florida. Prices for luxury properties in the state climbed 16 percent in the second quarter versus a year earlier, according to Bloomberg. And values for the top 5 percent of properties rose at the fastest pace in five years, even as prices in the rest of the Florida market increased only 7 percent. “The trigger is tax reform,” Jay Phillip Parker, CEO of Douglas Elliman […]

Tale of two boroughs: Rental concessions drop in Queens but double in Brooklyn

Kevin Rebong — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 14:00:35 +0000

It’s a tale of two boroughs: rental concessions drop in Queens and double in Brooklyn It took 16 months, but Northwest Queens finally saw a decrease in year-over-year concessions. The amount of new leases with concessions in the borough dropped from 40.8 percent last July to 32.3 percent this July, according to the latest report from Douglas Elliman. This was the first time in 16 consecutive months that concessions did not increase year over year. […]

City Council passes Inwood rezoning

Kevin Rebong — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 13:30:43 +0000

Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Inwood rezoning has passed. The City Council on Wednesday voted through the controversial plan that would allow more development and increase housing in the upper Manhattan neighborhood, Curbed reported. The council’s subcommittee on zoning and franchises last week approved a modified version of the plan, which excluded the “commercial U” of Broadway, 207th Street and Dyckman Street. It aims to bring 5,000 units of housing to the neighborhood. Parts of the […]

WeWork’s answer to Knotel is already spreading across Manhattan

Kevin Rebong — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 13:00:51 +0000

WeWork recently launched a new initiative to go after mid-sized tenants, and on Wednesday the co-working company shared an update on its progress. The company said it has signed leases for six spaces in Manhattan that it plans to use for the new product, dubbed “HQ by WeWork”: at490 Broadway, 149 Fifth Avenue, 115 East 23rd Street, 38 West 21st Street, 8 West 40th Street and 13-15 West 27th Street. A WeWork spokesperson said the […]

Another month, another decline: Manhattan’s rents stay soft

Kevin Rebong — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 12:20:26 +0000

The Manhattan rental market is stuck in a rut. The median net effective rent, which accounts for concessions, fell 1.3 percent year over year in July to $3,307, according to Douglas Elliman’s latest rental report. It was the seventh decline in eight months, the report said. “We’re at the top of the seasonal peak, or close to it, and it’s still the same story,” said Jonathan Miller, CEO of appraisal firm Miller Samuel and the […]

How political infighting is choking efforts to expose dirty money hidden in US real estate

Kevin Rebong — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 11:30:11 +0000

A Malibu mansion and Gulfstream jet were seized from the playboy son of the president of Equatorial Guinea, who pilfered hundreds of millions of dollars from his starving country. Authorities retrieved $100 million from a bank used by Hezbollah to wash money from drug trafficking. And a foreign not-for-profit is facing charges that it helped Iran evade sanctions by secretly investing in a Manhattan skyscraper. In each case, American shell companies masked the true identities behind […]

The Long View: Hudson Yards, Quayside and the return of the company town

Kevin Rebong — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 11:00:48 +0000

UPDATED, Aug. 9, 11:47 a.m.: In October 1966, Walt Disney recorded a video to unveil his plan for the city of the future. EPCOT — or Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow — would be a master-planned city built on company-owned land near Orlando, Florida. It would include elevated high-speed trains, a wheel-shaped street layout and a city center covered in a giant, climate-controlled dome. “I don’t believe there’s a challenge anywhere in the world that’s […]

De Blasio considering shift toward 100% market-rate development on NYCHA land

Kevin Rebong — Wed, 08 Aug 2018 22:00:29 +0000

Mayor Bill de Blasio is considering a shift in his administration’s housing policy toward 100-percent market-rate buildings on unused land owned by the cash-strapped New York City Housing Authority. So far, the mayor has been reluctant to allow such developments on NYCHA-owned land for fear that the policy would look too much like privatization. But sources said that given the challenges faced by the housing authority, the mayor is now considering opening the doors for […]