The Real Deal New York

Alex Sapir’s massive Opportunity Zone site in Miami hits the market

By Katherine Kallergis — Wed, 16 Oct 2019 19:30:33 +0000

Sapir Corp. and its partners planned to build a 1.7 million-square-foot project on an assemblage of land north of downtown Miami. But the Israeli real estate firm is now looking to sell the property. The site, at 1768 Northeast Second Court, is in an Opportunity Zone, which would give a buyer substantial tax incentives. The property is in the Edgewater neighborhood of Miami, near the Arts & Entertainment District. Sapir Corp. Chairman Alex Sapir said he’s

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Trump exaggerated building values to get financing, tax documents show

TRD Staff — Wed, 16 Oct 2019 19:00:45 +0000

Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former personal secretary, testified in March that Trump inflated property values in order to get financing, and a comparison of his tax returns and loan records by ProPublica shows how. In documents provided to the lender for two of the buildings, Ladder Capital, the rent rolls were inflated to double what was reported in Trump’s 2017 tax returns. At one building, occupancy figures were reported that were well above what was

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TRD reporter on CBS-2 discusses landlords keeping rent-regulated units empty

TRD Staff — Wed, 16 Oct 2019 18:30:23 +0000

After the sweeping changes to the rent law in June, multifamily landlords are reconsidering their usual practice of renovating rent-regulated apartments that become vacant. The law slashed financial incentives to improve individual units as well as to make building-wide upgrades, and eliminated rent increases that stem directly from vacancy. Some real estate attorneys have cited cases of landlords keeping apartments vacant as they push legislators to change the new law. The Real Deal reporter Georgia

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WeWork abandons Seattle co-living plan, Barneys bidding begins: Daily digest

TRD Staff — Wed, 16 Oct 2019 18:00:27 +0000

Every day, The Real Deal rounds up New York’s biggest real estate news. We update this page in real time, starting at 9 a.m. Please send any tips or deals to tips@therealdeal.com This page was last updated at 2 p.m. Video produced by Sabrina He Big hotel owners cheer de Blasio’s special-permit plan. Highgate Hotels President Mahmood Khimji, BD Hotels’ owner Richard Born and Fitzpatrick Hotel Group CEO John Fitzpatrick called for the City Council to approve

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Data Alert! Crunching the numbers on Manhattan condo inventory

By Kevin Sun and Yoryi de la Rosa — Wed, 16 Oct 2019 17:30:02 +0000

New development condo report Manhattan • Inventory expanded as developers filed more units than were purchased • Developers filed six plans with a total of 130 units • The state approved one plan with 10 units valued at $4.8 million • Buyers purchased 107 units valued at $426 million Supply Demand

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Here are the week’s top luxury sales

TRD Staff — Wed, 16 Oct 2019 16:46:39 +0000

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

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Brokerages on rental application fee cap: “It hurts”

By Erin Hudson and Sylvia Varnham O’Regan — Wed, 16 Oct 2019 16:00:45 +0000

Since lawmakers clarified last month that agents and brokerages can only charge up to $20 for the preparation of rental applications, the pain has been felt acutely by some. The cap, which was part of the rent law passed in June and applies to brokerages and agents representing landlords, claimed its first victim last week when Nooklyn founder and CEO Harley Courts stepped down amid backlash over the firm’s slashing of commissions and delaying of

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Facebook facing off with Apple over space in Vornado’s Farley Building conversion

TRD Staff — Wed, 16 Oct 2019 14:32:09 +0000

A pair of tech giants are battling it out over some prime office space in New York. Facebook and Apple are both interested in leasing space at Vornado Realty Trust’s conversion of the massive James A. Farley Post Office, according to the New York Post. Facebook has been in talks for 740,000 square feet of space in the project since at least September, but Apple has more recently decided it wants to lease all four

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Father’s harrowing tale puts hotels’ liability in spotlight

By Kathryn Brenzel — Wed, 16 Oct 2019 12:30:36 +0000

David Johnson was in Central Park on a Sunday afternoon this spring when his daughter called from her room at the Lexington Hotel to say goodbye. She intended to commit suicide. According to Johnson, he frantically called the hotel 11 times before someone picked up and heard his warnings — and when he arrived at the front desk, he found no action had been taken and was advised to wait his turn. It got worse,

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The Closing: Steven Holl

By Kathryn Brenzel — Wed, 16 Oct 2019 11:30:14 +0000

Famed architect and watercolorist Steven Holl founded his company as a two-person practice in Chelsea in 1977. The firm has since grown to 40 people across two offices, one around the corner from Hudson Yards and the other in Beijing. Steven Holl Architects has completed more than 60 projects in the U.S., China, Japan and other countries. Holl and his colleagues worked on the $41 million Hunters Point library, which opened in September — nearly

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Tenant coalition sets agenda: tax the rich and house the poor

By Georgia Kromrei — Wed, 16 Oct 2019 10:00:45 +0000

Tenant advocates who won a sweeping overhaul of New York’s rent law have a new target — the entire housing market. Housing Justice for All, a statewide coalition of tenant groups, will unveil demands Wednesday for next year’s legislative session that include “good cause” eviction, $3 billion in state funding for public housing and the elimination of rent increases for major capital improvements and the tax abatement formerly known as 421a. There’s more. The group

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WeWork bonds hit low, new LLC legislation went farther than intended: Daily digest

TRD Staff — Tue, 15 Oct 2019 21:55:45 +0000

Every day The Real Deal rounds up New York’s biggest real estate happenings, 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. This page was last updated at 5:55 p.m. Video produced by Sabrina He MGM Resorts International is selling the Bellagio on the Las Vegas Strip. A joint venture controlled by Blackstone Group real estate investment trust

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What, We Worry? Execs remain confident in WeWork-anchored Brooklyn project

By Eddie Small — Tue, 15 Oct 2019 20:30:07 +0000

WeWork’s recent troubles were largely out of sight and out of mind at the launch event for a massive office project at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The completion of Rudin Development and Boston Properties’ Dock 72, a 16-story, 675,000-square-foot project, marks Brooklyn’s first ground-up commercial development in more than a decade. WeWork — whose CEO Adam Neumann stepped down amid the startup’s botched initial public offering — is anchoring the development, with 222,000 square feet

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Big building owners prevent city from dumping container-pickup in trash-collection reform

By Erik Engquist — Tue, 15 Oct 2019 20:00:33 +0000

When the City Council introduced its controversial bill in the spring to remake the commercial trash-hauling industry, it made no mention of protecting a form of garbage pickup that’s used by hundreds of the city’s largest buildings. But after industry groups applied pressure, the city now plans to maintain the ability of office towers and other major trash producers to have their waste hauled off in containers rather than by the packer trucks that do

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By the numbers: Breaking down national housing agendas from the far left

By C. J. Hughes — Tue, 15 Oct 2019 19:00:41 +0000

Just a few months after New York passed historic reforms that infuriated landlords and thrilled tenants — with California following suit — several Congress members and presidential candidates are throwing their weight behind even more aggressive proposals. Mostly promoted by Democrats on the far left, those policies include the mid-September doozy from U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders calling for nationwide rent control under his $2.5 trillion housing plan. Despite more than two dozen states prohibiting limits

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Robert Shapiro gets 25 years in prison for massive Ponzi scheme

By Dennis Lynch — Tue, 15 Oct 2019 17:38:40 +0000

UPDATED, Oct. 15, 11:04 a.m.: When developer Robert Shapiro pleaded guilty in August to leading a $1.3 billion real estate Ponzi scheme, he faced up to 25 years in prison. On Tuesday, a federal court judge sentenced Shapiro to that maximum, closing the criminal chapter on what has been a two-year-long saga surrounding the massive fraud perpetrated by Shapiro’s now-defunct Sherman Oaks-based investment firm, Woodbridge Group of Companies. In all, more than 7,000 property investors

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Terra sells part of RealPlus stake to Corcoran and Elliman

By E.B. Solomont and Sylvia Varnham O’Regan — Tue, 15 Oct 2019 17:24:27 +0000

Four of the city’s top residential firms are teaming up on a shared listing system amid the industry’s long-running feud with StreetEasy. In a deal that was months in the making, the Corcoran Group and Douglas Elliman agreed to buy a partial stake in RealPlus from Terra Holdings, sources told The Real Deal. Terra, the parent of Brown Harris Stevens and Halstead, has owned 50 percent of the listings company since 2001. RealPlus founder Eric

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Join The Real Deal at its sixth annual Miami Showcase & Forum this week

TRD Staff — Tue, 15 Oct 2019 17:00:11 +0000

The Real Deal’s sixth annual South Florida Real Estate Showcase & Forum is shaping up to once again be the biggest industry event in the region. Mark your calendars for Thursday, Oct. 17 and join us at Mana Wynwood for a full day of programming, networking and viewing the latest real estate projects and products. Tickets can be purchased here Ben Carson, head of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, will be among

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Real estate scandal rocks the Vatican

TRD Staff — Tue, 15 Oct 2019 14:30:08 +0000

A new scandal is sweeping through the Vatican and, despite scant details, the center of the storm appears to be one of the Holy See’s property investments in London. An internal probe that’s led to at least five Vatican staffers’ suspension is focused on a Chelsea building that the Holy See bought Italian financier Raffaele Mincione, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Vatican bought out Mincione last year and the financier claims the building

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NYC’s bid to kill property-tax lawsuit back in court

By Erin Hudson — Tue, 15 Oct 2019 13:45:01 +0000

Another court showdown is on tap for the real estate industry’s lawsuit against New York City’s property-tax system. The plaintiff, an industry-backed coalition called Tax Equity Now New York, alleges the system discriminates against landlords and minority homeowners by overvaluing homes in the city’s poorest neighborhoods and undervaluing those in wealthy ones. The defendants — New York City and state — have been trying to get the suit dismissed for a year and, in a

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These were September’s top 3 residential sales

By Rich Bockmann and Sabrina He — Tue, 15 Oct 2019 12:30:51 +0000

Once the city’s most expensive listing, a luxury co-op at at 834 Fifth Avenue sold for $53 million to billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller. That and another condo sale at 220 Central Park South were some of the priciest residential property trades in September. Watch this video to see the full list.

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Is history repeating itself for Steve Croman and his renters?

By Kathryn Brenzel and Eddie Small Research by Ashley McHugh-Chiappone — Tue, 15 Oct 2019 11:30:40 +0000

In May, three New York University students moved into the cellar of a pre-war East Village apartment building, excited to have a small — yet highly coveted — outdoor space. Little did they know, they’d soon be forced out. Two months later, the college students received notice that a new property manager was taking control of the six-story building at 60 Avenue B. Within a few weeks, the city declared the apartment illegal and ordered

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Sweeping LLC law surprised even legislators

By Sylvia Varnham O’Regan — Tue, 15 Oct 2019 11:00:15 +0000

The outlawing of anonymous condo ownership in New York shocked the very lawmakers who passed it. And now the equally shocked real estate industry is trying to undo it. “We have to make noise,” said real estate attorney Adam Leitman Bailey, who is organizing an effort to exclude New York City from the law. “If we don’t make noise, nothing will happen.” It might be too late, given the suspicion surrounding multimillion-dollar purchases of apartments

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SoftBank looks to take over WeWork, NYC investigates WeLive: Daily digest

TRD Staff — Mon, 14 Oct 2019 22:25:46 +0000

Every day The Real Deal rounds up New York’s biggest real estate happenings, 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. This page was last updated at 6:25 p.m. Adobe is expanding to 109,000 square feet at 1540 Broadway. The software company renewed its 27,323-square-foot lease on the 17th floor of the building and added 81,972

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Crowdfunding: Crowded out?

By Sylvia Varnham O’Regan and Mary Diduch — Mon, 14 Oct 2019 19:00:03 +0000

Crowdfunding was once touted as the next big thing — a way for average investors to get into the lucrative world of real estate and a way for platforms to tap a new spigot of funding. The space took off around 2013, when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced new rules allowing private companies to sell securities to the general public. That one small change — which was tucked into the 2012 federal JOBS

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The Real Deal’s E.B. Solomont receives Front Page Award

By TRD Staff — Mon, 14 Oct 2019 18:00:08 +0000

The Real Deal senior reporter E.B. Solomont has won a Front Page Award from the Newswomen’s Club of New York. The organization, founded in 1937, recognizes the best journalism by women working in print, wire, broadcast and online media. Solomont won for her breaking-news story “Dottie Herman sells stake in Douglas Elliman for $40M.” Although Herman had already stepped back from the day-to-day operations at residential brokerage Douglas Elliman, the sale marked the end of

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SoftBank’s problem solver faces his biggest challenge yet: WeWork

By Katherine Kallergis — Mon, 14 Oct 2019 14:36:58 +0000

In late September, SoftBank Group’s Marcelo Claure took to Twitter to share his goals for the upcoming month. He wanted to beat his best running time, try a dish he had never had before, watch more soccer games, and figure out his daughter’s Halloween costume. A Twitter follower responded: Fix WeWork. Setting my goals for the month. What else should I add to my list for #October? ✅Beat my best running time ✅Try a dish

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Opendoor not looking to replace all agents — just some: CEO

By Matthew Blake — Mon, 14 Oct 2019 13:45:17 +0000

“I guess it’s good to be hated.” That was Opendoor CEO Eric Wu’s riposte to a question from Recode’s Kara Swisher about what real estate agents think of him. Opendoor is perhaps the startup most synonymous with iBuying, a practice that allows sellers to rapidly unload their homes online to companies that hope to make a profit off of reselling those homes. It’s a business that requires heaps of capital and has thin margins, but

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WATCH: What Happened to The Watchtower?

By Adam Pogoff and Eddie Small — Mon, 14 Oct 2019 12:30:58 +0000

One of Brooklyn’s largest pending projects is the redevelopment of the Watchtower site, which consists of five connected office and retail buildings along the Brooklyn waterfront. The architecture firm Gensler is designing the project, known as Panorama Brooklyn. The Real Deal’s Adam Pogoff interviewed company principals Amanda Carroll and Robert Fuller about the development. “It was very much an inward-facing complex,” Fuller said. “Our challenge was how to break down that barrier and sort of

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Lawsuit over WTC design is whittled down

By Erin Hudson — Mon, 14 Oct 2019 12:00:14 +0000

The copyright infringement suit over the design of One World Trade Center has survived an effort to kill it, but not by much. A recently unveiled judge’s ruling preserved three claims of a case that stems from an architectural student’s design years before 9/11 attacks that led to the massive tower’s construction. Georgia-based architect Jeehoon Park in 2017 sued four giants: architectural firm Skidmore Owings & Merrill, Tishman Construction and the tower’s developers, the Port

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A-Rod is coming for NYC and SoFla real estate

By Katherine Kallergis — Mon, 14 Oct 2019 11:30:41 +0000

Alex Rodriguez has seen both his professional and personal life covered exhaustively in newspapers across the country for decades now. But since retiring as the Yankees’ star third baseman in 2016 — and, according to Forbes, pocketing over $480 million during his 22-year, pro-baseball career — he’s become even busier. He’s now juggling regular media appearances with color commenting baseball games (he’s a broadcaster for Fox Sports and part of ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball team)

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The top 10 biggest real estate projects coming to NYC

By Eddie Small — Mon, 14 Oct 2019 11:00:42 +0000

A planned office project in Red Hook that Thor Equities decided to scale back was still large enough to top the list of the largest projects coming to New York in September. Joe Sitt’s firm had initially wanted to build an 800,000-square-foot office project at 270 Richards Street in Red Hook but has since decided to build a roughly 300,000-square-foot warehouse project there instead. The plan took the No. 1 spot on September’s list, followed

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WeWork’s first investor used his stock as collateral. Now his lenders are suing him

By David Jeans Research by Mary Diduch — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 21:20:45 +0000

WeWork’s first investor, who pledged his stock in the company as collateral on loans, is being accused of short-changing his lenders. Joel Schreiber, a landlord whose firm Waterbridge Capital owns a vast portfolio of buildings in New York, used his stake in WeWork and properties he owned to back loans totalling almost $3.3 million, which he later defaulted on, according to two lawsuits filed Thursday. One plaintiff, Vikram Kuriyan, says that he provided Schreiber with

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Tenants at “dozens of buildings” in LA receive eviction notices ahead of California’s new rent law

By Georgia Kromrei and Dennis Lynch — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 21:00:23 +0000

Landlords across Los Angeles have sent out scores of eviction notices in recent weeks, trying to get ahead of the “just cause” provision of California’s new rent control bill, which kicks in Jan. 1. “We’re dealing with dozens of buildings calling our hotline,” said Trinidad Ruiz, an organizer with the Los Angeles Tenant Union. And Katie McKeon, an attorney with the pro bono law firm Public Counsel, said it was “a massive uptick in no-fault

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No criticism here: Nicolai Ouroussoff, Cecily Brown buy E. Village house for $7.75M

By E.B. Solomont — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 20:30:04 +0000

Architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff has finally found a house he can live with. The notoriously prickly former New York Times critic and his wife, British artist Cecily Brown, closed today on a townhouse at 125 East 10th Street in the East Village, sources said. The purchase price was $7.75 million, confirmed Warburg Realty’s Jason Haber, who represented the seller. Ouroussoff and Brown did not have a broker. Located near the intersection of Stuyvesant and East

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NYCHA strikes air rights deal with developer, WeWork shuttering its pricey private school: Daily digest

TRD Staff — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 20:06:02 +0000

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 in real time, starting at 9 a.m. Please send any tips or deals to tips@therealdeal.com This page was last updated at 4:06 a.m. Video produced by Sabrina He NYCHA is selling air rights in Brooklyn to a developer. Jorge Madruga’s Maddd Equities is nearing a deal for 100,000 square feet of

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Watch: A-Rod on the benefits and pitfalls of being a celebrity investor

By Adam Pogoff — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 19:30:49 +0000

Alex Rodriguez has been investing in real estate for decades. He made his first purchase — a duplex outside of Miami that he needed a $48,000 downpayment for — when he was 22. But in the years since, the former Yankee third baseman, who is now 44, has built a sizable national real estate portfolio. He has thousands of units, all under the A-Rod Corp. umbrella, in U.S. markets like Chicago, North Carolina and Texas.

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Recalling Cecilia Benattar, the “toughest woman in real estate”

By Sabrina He — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 18:30:15 +0000

The fourth episode of “People Who Made New York City revisits the legacy of Cecilia Benattar. She developed the iconic General Motors Building on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue more than 50 years ago, when women in offices were mostly employed as secretaries. According to her son Simon Benattar, “she would walk through walls, and nothing could stop her.” Watch this video to find out how she made the GM headquarters happen. Voice-over by Sylvia Varnham O’Regan

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Kurz Real Estate joins eXp Realty

By Katherine Kallergis — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 18:00:35 +0000

Virtual brokerage eXp Realty is growing by nearly 200 agents in South Florida with the acquisition of Kurz Real Estate, The Real Deal has learned. It’s the latest move in Florida by Bellingham, Washington-based eXp, which entered the Sunshine State nine years ago. “We are one of the largest brokerages to merge with eXp. Ninety-eight percent of our agents are moving with us,” Kurz Real Estate owner David Kurz told TRD. Kurz made the announcement

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“I can talk about erections all day”: NAR tech consultant’s bizarre fireside chat

By David Jeans — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 17:20:27 +0000

Fireside chats — one-on-one discussions between industry players at conferences — are typically genial events. But one such discussion held at a real estate conference in Munich this week was anything but friendly. At Real Expo 2019, New York-based tech investor and consultant Duke Long assailed Morten Lund, the co-founder and CEO of Danish vacation-rental startup Poshtel International. “Anyone want to ask, other than ‘how fucking stoned are you right now,’” he said, when asking

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Here’s a look at Blackstone’s industrial plays after its record-breaking portfolio purchase

By Mary Diduch — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 16:32:33 +0000

After Blackstone dropped almost $19 billion on an industrial portfolio in June — the biggest portfolio deal ever — the private equity giant’s industrial activity hasn’t let up. In the months following that deal with Singapore-based GLP, Blackstone’s industrial plays in the U.S. have ranged from one-off property acquisitions to a partial selloff of that newly-acquired portfolio. In another show of its interest in the sector, Blackstone also launched its own logistics firm overseas. The

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WeWork is investing again with fundraise for proptech

By Eddie Small — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 15:55:37 +0000

WeWork has apparently recovered enough from its attempted initial public offering rollout to invest again. The coworking company recently took part in a $4.6 million venture round for the commercial real estate startup company Jones, Jones announced on Thursday. Hertz Ventures led the round, and other firms that took part included JLL Spark, MetaProp Ventures, GroundUp Ventures and 500 Startups. Jones focuses on developing software to help commercial real estate companies handle and simplify the

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OneKey MLS launches in NY with 47K listings

By E.B. Solomont — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 12:15:09 +0000

For years brokers in the New York metro area have longed for a multiple listings service. And now it’s launching 42,000 subscribers deep. Realtors in Westchester and Long Island last year merged their systems into the New York MLS, which they’ve now renamed “OneKey,” they said Thursday. The platform currently has 47,000 listings stretching from the Catskills to Montauk, including the five boroughs of New York City, one of the only major U.S. cities without

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Ranking NYC’s top real estate law firms

By Eddie Small — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 11:30:24 +0000

The calls began almost as soon as the new rent laws passed. Overnight, the sweeping regulations — which Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed in June — vastly restricted what landlords could do with rent-regulated apartments. And those landlords, crushed from a stinging political defeat and given no grace period to adjust to the new rules, turned immediately to their lawyers. Luise Barrack, managing member of the law firm Rosenberg & Estis, said her firm started fielding

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Compass opens Long Island City office as new-development sales surge

By Sylvia Varnham O’Regan — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 11:00:50 +0000

Compass has opened an office in Long Island City as sales prices in Queens hit record highs. Located at 21-50 45th Avenue, the office will have 70 agents, including its “Real Market Team,” whose listings include a $3.75 million penthouse in Hunters Point. The firm is also exclusively marketing the One Sixteen building in Rockaway. And it was marketing the Ispica Astoria at 25-63 38th Street, which it says is now sold out. The move is

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The latest in Harry Macklowe’s divorce: Linda’s appeal killed in court

By E.B. Solomont — Thu, 10 Oct 2019 22:06:34 +0000

Linda Macklowe’s attempt to appeal a divorce judge’s ruling in her bitter divorce with Harry Macklowe was shut down. In a ruling Thursday, the New York appellate division said the judge in the developer’s contentious divorce last year properly valued both his real estate assets and the pricey art collection he owned jointly with ex-wife. The developer’s share of the profits at 432 Park Avenue is $2.5 million, according to the court. After the ruling,

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WeWork exec insists co-working isn’t a fad, Global Holdings drops $400M on NoMad tower: Daily digest

TRD Staff — Thu, 10 Oct 2019 21:00:02 +0000

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 in real time, starting at 9 a.m.. Please send any tips or deals to tips@therealdeal.com This page was last updated at 5 p.m. WeWork exec tells lenders co-working isn’t a fad. At a conference in New York, WeWork executive Candice King said lenders shouldn’t create discriminatory loan policies against landlords

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Hamptons builder pleads not guilty to assaulting Andrew Saunders

By Rich Bockmann — Thu, 10 Oct 2019 20:40:41 +0000

Hamptons luxury homebuilder Jeffrey Collé pleaded not guilty to an assault charge in an East Hampton courtroom Thursday after he and broker Andrew Saunders got into a fistfight last week. Collé pleaded not guilty to one charge of assault in the third degree, people familiar with the matter told The Real Deal. The judge in the case granted an order of protection barring Collé from being in the presence of Saunders and his wife. A

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Retail exec sells Fifth Avenue co-op to Chanel heir for $19M

By Mary Diduch — Thu, 10 Oct 2019 20:31:11 +0000

A retail dealmaker sold a full-floor Fifth Avenue co-op with views of Central Park and downsized to another unit in the building. Gilbert and Shelley Harrison sold their long-time 11th-floor apartment at 993 Fifth Avenue for $19 million, according to a public record filed with the city Wednesday. Its new owner is recorded as Nathaniel Wertheimer, apparently the son of Alain Wertheimer, co-owner luxury fashion house Chanel. Compass’ Arline Tarte had the listing. (Tarte did

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At the desk of: Martin Piazzola

By Sylvia Varnham O’Regan — Thu, 10 Oct 2019 18:30:22 +0000

Martin Piazzola started his career as an accountant, but he quickly realized it wasn’t a good fit. “It was too predictable,” said the AvalonBay Communities executive, whose 22nd-floor Midtown Manhattan office overlooks the city. After earning an MBA from New York University in 1987, he worked briefly for the now-defunct Xerox Realty Corp. before being recruited by Park Tower Realty, where he analyzed potential ground-up office development projects in New York and Washington D.C. (He

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Goodbye bankruptcy, hello construction loan: Breakthrough for Tribeca hotel project

By Kevin Sun — Thu, 10 Oct 2019 17:30:06 +0000

After years of headaches, the long-delayed luxury hotel project at 456 Greenwich Street has finally secured a construction loan and is emerging from bankruptcy. The partnership entity, CBCS Washington Street LP, received confirmation for a reorganization plan in bankruptcy court earlier this week, court filings show. The plan includes a three-year, $135 million construction loan commitment from South Korea’s Hana Financial Investment. “The project can see the light again,” said Joshua Caspi of Caspi Development,

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Nooklyn CEO steps down after firm slashes agent commissions

By Sylvia Varnham O’Regan — Thu, 10 Oct 2019 16:51:33 +0000

The CEO of startup brokerage Nooklyn is stepping down amid turbulence over the company’s decision to cut agent commissions and alter its payment structure. Harley Courts, who founded the Brooklyn-based company in 2010, is stepping down and taking a leave of absence, according to an email sent to staff Thursday by Courts’ business partner, Moiz Malik. Noble Novitzki, Nooklyn’s chief people officer, will take over as CEO, effective immediately. The announcement comes after Nooklyn said

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Newsroom news: The Real Deal LA brings on 2 veteran journalists

By Hiten Samtani — Thu, 10 Oct 2019 16:00:24 +0000

A 157-acre mountaintop parcel asks $1 billion but sells for $100,000. A cavernous airplane hangar built by Howard Hughes is now home to thousands of Googlers. A $500 million mansion whose developer insists will be for “normal dudes.” These are the real estate stories of Los Angeles, a city that constantly bewilders, delights and astonishes. Understanding and chronicling the unique trends and quirks of this market is a formidable task, and I’m delighted to announce

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Here are the week’s top luxury sales

TRD Staff — Thu, 10 Oct 2019 14:30:07 +0000

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

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Rents tick up and concessions fall amid broader economic uncertainty

By Erin Hudson — Thu, 10 Oct 2019 13:45:27 +0000

New York’s strong rental market is winning off the back of sluggish sales. Rents increased year over year this September in Manhattan and Brooklyn to $4,336 and $3,366, respectively, while concessions fell, according to Douglas Elliman’s September report, authored by appraisal firm Miller Samuel. In Manhattan, the share of new leases signed with an owner paying broker fees and concessions was 34.3 percent, down from 37.4 percent in the same period last year. In Brooklyn,

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Queens sale prices set record despite signs of trouble

By Erin Hudson — Thu, 10 Oct 2019 12:30:01 +0000

In the Queens residential market, something’s got to give. Douglas Elliman’s third-quarter sales report found median and average sales prices in the borough reached record highs at $600,000 and $651,216, respectively. The increases came despite the number of sales falling year-over-year for the eighth straight quarter and inventory continuing to balloon. In Brooklyn, prices for the market as a whole dropped, but co-op sales set a new record as year-over-year median and average sales prices

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From fluff to buff: Rapid Realty’s Anthony Lolli is back in business with new body transformation show

By Rich Bockmann — Thu, 10 Oct 2019 12:00:38 +0000

Anthony Lolli trimmed down his real estate empire when he sold Rapid Realty last year. And since then, he’s done the same to his waistline. Lolli over the past nine months has gone from flab to fit, shedding more than 100 pounds as he’s transformed himself through diet and exercise. And now the former brokerage chief is working as an executive producer on an Amazon Prime series about fitness. “When you’re in business you’re eating

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How mobile homes became a billion-dollar, recession-proof industry

By Georgia Kromrei — Thu, 10 Oct 2019 11:30:59 +0000

Mobile homes are no longer just a necessity for the poor. They’ve increasingly become a must-have for some of the world’s richest private equity players. A 2016 investor pitch from manufactured housing owner and operator RHP Properties boasted that its portfolio of 33,000 lots — stretching across seven states — had “low cash flow volatility and steady year-over-year rent increases” as well as minimal capital expenditures. The pitch apparently worked on Brookfield Asset Management, which

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Flipped off: The inside story of Coca-Cola’s botched building sale

By David Jeans and Rich Bockmann — Thu, 10 Oct 2019 11:00:22 +0000

UPDATED, Oct. 10, 2019, 1:44 p.m: Coca-Cola’s real estate division must be feeling flat. The soft-drink giant had sold its iconic building at 711 Fifth Avenue in August to Nightingale Properties and Wafra Capital Partners for $909 million. But last month, in an unusual twist, Wafra sold its stake in a deal valuing the property at $937 million. Coca-Cola had left tens of millions of dollars on the table. Making matters worse, the new buyer was

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Exiled Chinese billionaire’s $300M lawsuit dismissed

By Georgia Kromrei — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 22:26:18 +0000

A judge dismissed a $300 million lawsuit against Chinese developer SOHO China and principal Shiya Pan, according to court documents filed today. New York Supreme Court Judge Paul Goetz dismissed a complaint brought by Guo Wengui, an exiled Chinese billionaire and real estate developer who alleged he had been unjustifiably sued by Soho two years ago. The judge found no indication that the 2017 lawsuit had been “perversely utilized” by Soho for any other goal

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Workable City, Rabina Properties pick up Greenpoint loft complex for $33M

By Mary Diduch — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 22:20:22 +0000

A Greenpoint loft complex that had long been known for building violations traded hands for $33 million. Workable City Development and Rabina Properties partnered to buy 239 Banker Street, securing $24 million in financing from M&T Bank, according to property records filed with the city Wednesday. The four-story, 69-unit rental complex had once been a factory and was illegally converted into apartments. Josh Rabina, president of the family-run investment and development firm Rabina Properties, confirmed

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Whistleblower lawsuit accuses carpenters’ union of brushing off claims of corruption, fraud

By Kathryn Brenzel — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 21:00:50 +0000

A former investigator with the New York City District Council of Carpenters claims he was fired after complaining about selective investigations of corruption in the union. Peter Marsalisi, who worked as a senior investigator with the union’s inspector general’s office, claims that union officials discouraged him from investigating certain cases “involving fraud, corruption and criminal activity.” For the union, which has been under federal supervision for more than 20 years, the inspector general’s office is

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Here’s what the $10M-$30M NYC investment sales market looked like last week

By Eddie Small Research by Nicholas Severin — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 20:00:54 +0000

Commercial condo units changed hands at a medical building in Midtown, and Toby Moskovits moved forward with her first project in the South Bronx. Here are the two New York City mid-market investment sales that were made public last week. 1. The medical company Surgicore purchased five commercial condo units at 305 East 47th Street in Turtle Bay for $17 million, according to property records. The firm bought the Manhattan properties from Thorne Lau Chin

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Kuwaiti royal was defrauded of $160M investment in Mountain of Beverly Hills: lawsuit

By Matthew Blake — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 19:00:34 +0000

The drama surrounding the 157-acre Mountain of Beverly Hills didn’t end when the land was sold in foreclosure for a fraction of its sky-high asking price. Now, the interior minister of Kuwait has filed suit, claiming he was defrauded out of a $163 million investment in the property by its former owner. Khaled Al-Sabah alleges that Victorino Noval — who owned the Mountain before it was seized in foreclosure — duped him into thinking he

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Manhattan foreclosures soar 118%, driven by mortgage defaults

By Eddie Small — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 18:15:46 +0000

Residential foreclosures in Manhattan and Staten Island are skyrocketing — but the other boroughs are having better luck. Foreclosures in Manhattan and Staten Island saw 118 percent and 183 percent year-over-year increases, respectively, during the third quarter, according to a new report from PropertyShark. Even though the increase by percentage in Manhattan was very sharp, the increase by raw numbers was more modest. The borough saw 48 property foreclosures during 2019’s third quarter, up from

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NYC is banking on Common to deliver affordable beds

By Erin Hudson — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 17:30:12 +0000

New York City is jumping into bed with two co-living firms to build affordable housing. The city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development said Tuesday it will work with Common and Atlanta-based PadSplit — along with each firm’s development partner — to create co-living units. The announcement is the result of a pilot program HPD launched last year, dubbed ShareNYC, offering developers public funds to create income-restricted units in co-living buildings. HPD selected three proposals

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The Daily Dirt: Changes to rent law raise concerns at Nooklyn

By Kathryn Brenzel — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 15:15:54 +0000

A change to the state’s rent law has raised some questions about a brokerage’s financial health. In response to New York’s new rent stabilization law — which caps rental application fees at $20 — Nooklyn made a few changes. For one, the startup brokerage cut its fees from $100 to $9.29. To make up for this loss in revenue, Nooklyn also chopped brokers’ commissions and implemented a longer payment schedule. Though brokerages across the city

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Trump’s tax returns, Amazon gets into proptech: Daily digest

TRD Staff — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 13:18:15 +0000

Every day, The Real Deal rounds up New York’s biggest real estate news. We update this page in real time, starting at 9 a.m. Please send any tips or deals to tips@therealdeal.com This page was last updated at 9 a.m. Produced by Sabrina He President Trump faces another hurdle in shielding tax returns. A federal judge in Manhattan rejected the president’s defense that he is immune from criminal investigation. Prosecutors are seeking eight years of tax returns

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These highly leveraged real estate firms could feel the squeeze in a downturn

By Rich Bockmann — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 11:30:52 +0000

To back its risky instant home-buying program, Zillow Group opened two credit lines with Credit Suisse and Citibank over the past 14 months totaling $1 billion. The revolving debt pushed the Seattle-based company’s borrowing to a record level as its earnings fell nearly 75 percent in the first half of 2019 to just above $26 million. Zillow then doubled down last month, when its executives announced plans to sell $1.1 billion in corporate bonds to

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a downturn appeared first on The Real Deal New York.

More rent-law fallout: Landlords back off “absentee” tenants

By Georgia Kromrei — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 11:00:31 +0000

Cases brought against rent-stabilized tenants who allegedly live elsewhere have become a thing of the past. The reason is the new rent law, according to its proponents and critics alike. Rent-stabilized apartments are required to be a primary residence. But enforcement is largely left to landlords, who can go to court to evict a tenant not living in a unit full-time. Landlords’ reward was a 20 percent rent increase and the chance to make renovations

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California passes landmark rent control law

By Dennis Lynch — Tue, 08 Oct 2019 22:50:04 +0000

California has become the third state in the nation to pass rent control legislation. On Tuesday afternoon, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law the sweeping measure, which aims to strike at the heart of California’s housing crisis. Assembly Bill 1482 sets rent caps and implements “just cause” eviction rules meant to combat rent gouging and landlords who force tenants to vacate in order to raise the rent on a unit. The governor signed the measure —

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Not betting on iBuying would be an “existential threat”: Zillow CEO

By Pat Maio — Tue, 08 Oct 2019 21:47:09 +0000

Since returning in February to lead the company he founded 14 years ago, Rich Barton is muscling Zillow into the crowded instant-homebuying market, setting the listings giant on the course for a major overhaul. The iBuying craze offers sellers a chance to quickly offload their property to Zillow, giving sellers fast access to cash to buy other homes. It’s a business with extremely thin margins, and requires the company to set aside massive amounts of

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Brokerage slashes agent commissions, delays payments after rent law change

By Sylvia Varnham O’Regan — Tue, 08 Oct 2019 20:50:38 +0000

At 10:23 p.m. on September 17, agents at the startup brokerage Nooklyn got an unwelcome email from the firm’s tattooed co-founder Harley Courts. “APPLICATION FEE CHANGES!” the subject screamed — with a red siren emoji. “As of last Friday, the laws have changed and we can now only charge the cost of running a credit report to our renters,” Courts wrote, referring to a decision by the state about how the new rent law applies

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Real estate bigwigs get into fistfight at Hamptons hotspot

By Rich Bockmann — Tue, 08 Oct 2019 19:21:02 +0000

Two East End real estate bigwigs got into a bare-knuckle brawl at a Hamptons hotspot last week. Andrew Saunders, founder and CEO of the brokerage Saunders & Associates, and Jeffrey Colle — the luxury homebuilder known for developing homes for the likes of Jay-Z and Beyonce — got into a “violent fistfight” at the East Hampton Grill Thursday evening, sources told The Real Deal. One source said the incident ended with the two men rolling

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Power lunch: Barry Sternlicht, Ziel Feldman and Aurora execs talk shop at Pastis

By E.B. Solomont — Tue, 08 Oct 2019 18:45:30 +0000

It was drizzling when four development pros recently wedged into a half-moon-shaped banquette at Pastis in the Meatpacking District. Amid the din of an animated lunch crowd, The Real Deal sat with Starwood’s Barry Sternlicht, HFZ Capital’s Ziel Feldman and Aurora Capital’s Bobby Cayre and Jared Epstein, listening in during their unscripted conversation. Keith McNally’s iconic French bistro — a trendy eatery favored by celebrities and New York foodies — reopened after a five-year hiatus

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Supreme Court ruling could radically change development on the Florida Keys and beyond

By Robert Silk — Tue, 08 Oct 2019 16:00:54 +0000

The Florida Keys, with their strict limits on growth, have long been a property rights battleground. But while Keys governments have thus far mostly had their way in the courts against disgruntled property owners, a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling has the potential to be a gamechanger in the high-stakes disputes over the future of Florida’s southernmost string of islands. “You will see more cases. Many more cases,” said Key Largo attorney Andrew Tobin, who

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The Daily Dirt: Who needs City Hall?

By Kathryn Brenzel — Tue, 08 Oct 2019 15:00:25 +0000

The de Blasio administration doesn’t want to rezone Morningside Heights. That isn’t stopping a community group from pursuing zoning changes anyway. Last month, the Department of City Planning rejected a community-led proposal to rezone the Manhattan neighborhood, which is all of 15 blocks. The community group, the Morningside Heights Community Coalition, argues that something must be done to rein in massive development that is out of step with the character of the neighborhood. The neighborhood

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WATCH: TRD interviews the Property Brothers, smashes a bunch of stuff

By Adam Pogoff and Eddie Small — Tue, 08 Oct 2019 12:00:52 +0000

October 3 was demolition day with “Property Brothers” Drew and Jonathan Scott at The Break Bar in Chelsea. TRD reporter Eddie Small stopped by the tavern to chat with the identical twins about their favorite things to destroy and break a few things himself with crowbars and sledgehammers. Watch the video above.

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How much are NYC hotels hurting?

By Dennis Lynch — Tue, 08 Oct 2019 11:30:53 +0000

During a recent earnings call, Starwood Property Trust CEO Barry Sternlicht broached a touchy topic in the real estate world: the possibility of a recession. The head of the $56 billion real estate investment trust told investors and analysts that “the only thing we have to worry about is a calamitous recession,” warning of a slowing economy largely thanks to the national political environment. Specifically, Sternlicht said Starwood needs to be “über-careful” in the hotel

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WeWork leases in Soho, Flatiron most at risk: report

By Eddie Small — Tue, 08 Oct 2019 11:00:28 +0000

WeWork’s recent struggles could put many of its leases in jeopardy. But according to a new report, its Soho and Flatiron deals are the most vulnerable if co-working rates drop. The company’s lease obligations are only 2 percent below market rate in Soho and 4 percent below in Flatiron, the report from Ackman Ziff says. The firm’s average rent in Manhattan is $58.91 per square foot, 20 percent below the average rate of $74.15. Its

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NYC seeks to rein in keyless technology in apartment buildings

By Kathryn Brenzel — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 21:45:48 +0000

City officials believe the key to regulating smart lock companies is, well, requiring traditional keys. A new City Council bill seeks to require landlords to provide tenants with physical keys to their apartments — as well as to exterior building entrances — that don’t rely on the use of technology. The measure also specifically defines a key as a “piece of shaped metal with incisions cut to fit the wards of a particular lock.” The

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Blackstone just sold off a 29M sf national industrial portfolio

By Mary Diduch — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 21:30:56 +0000

Fresh off acquiring one of the largest industrial portfolios in history, Blackstone has turned around and sold a piece of it. Blackstone unloaded a 100-building portfolio valued at $3 billion to Nuveen, the real estate investment arm of the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America, Nuveen announced Monday. Eastdil Secured advised Blackstone on the deal. The breakdown of the deal was not immediately clear and neither was its acquisition price. Nuveen said the portfolio

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WeWork’s rivals smell blood, Morningside Heights rezoning drama: Daily digest

TRD Staff — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 20:50:03 +0000

Every day The Real Deal rounds up New York’s biggest real estate happenings, 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. WeWork is backing away from multiple leases in Manhattan. The coworking giant has called off plans for Downtown locations at 120 and 250 Broadway and paused negotiations for Midtown locations at 5 Times Square, 340

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Top 10 NYC Building Demolitions of All Time

By Sabrina He — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 20:00:56 +0000

JPMorgan is set to complete the largest building demolition ever at 270 park avenue, which will be replaced by a taller JPMorgan Chase building in 2020. Demolishing a building is no easy task; you’ll either have to deconstruct it, which could take years, or demolish it via a large scale explosion that could significantly damage a building’s surroundings. Here’s a look at the 10 largest demolitions of all time. Voice-over by Adam Pogoff

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Behind Blackstone’s “capital strike”

By Georgia Kromrei — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 19:00:56 +0000

Blackstone had every reason to oppose the overhaul of New York state’s rent law in June. The private equity giant and its Canadian partner Ivanhoé Cambridge had poured more than $5 billion into buying and upgrading Stuyvesant Town–Peter Cooper Village — making them the largest owner of rent-stabilized apartments in the city, with 11,000-plus units, since 2015. And at the start of this year, Blackstone was fresh off of what seemed like a big win

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Here are some of the Big Apple’s recent luxury resi buys

By Mary Diduch — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 17:05:20 +0000

The prices of Manhattan apartments may have hit a four-year low because of the new mansion and transfer taxes on luxury homes, but some big deals are still getting done. Here are the details. Source: A TRD analysis of property records filed with the New York City Department of Finance from Sept. 25 to Oct. 7. 1.) Charles Zegar, one of the co-founders of Bloomberg, and Merryl Snow Zegar picked up two condominiums and a

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Here’s just how much the biggest Opportunity Zone projects stand to earn in tax benefits

By Francisco Alvarado — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 15:05:45 +0000

President Trump’s signature accomplishment, his 2017 tax bill, contained a special sweetener for his peers in the real estate development community: the Opportunity Zone program. Investors and developers financing real estate deals could get major tax breaks on their capital gains for up to a decade if they funneled those earnings to projects and businesses in roughly 8,700 low income communities throughout the country in designated “opportunity zones.” According to the Trump administration, the incentives

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These were the top 10 outer-borough loans last month

By Eddie Small Research by Kevin Sun — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 12:45:14 +0000

Brooklyn and Queens dominated the list of outer-borough loans for September. Brooklyn projects accounted for most of the top 10 loans last month, although the two largest were for developments in Queens. The No. 1 spot was $1 billion in financing for Tishman Speyer’s Jackson Park project, followed by a $500 million package for Ruby Schron’s Queens portfolio. Overall, the list was split between seven projects in Brooklyn and three in Queens. No Bronx or

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Developer behind Woolworth conversion planning Billionaires’ Row office tower

By Rich Bockmann — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 12:30:25 +0000

The Calvary Baptist Church on Billionaires’ Row is trying to get out of the hotel business. The church shares an elevator with the threadbare Salisbury Hotel on 57th Street, which it has owned and run for nearly a century. And it’s just one of many gripes the church has with its building, which sits along what’s now a prime stretch of the Manhattan street. “The current space does not provide for the church’s needs,” Todd

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New York developers hit restart button in Israel. But has the game reset?

By Kevin Sun — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 11:30:50 +0000

When Silverstein Properties announced plans to raise roughly $50 million on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in early February, many eyebrows were raised. Israeli bonds issued by New York developers and other American companies had been in free fall since November 2018, when Boaz Gilad’s Brookland Capital suspended trading and announced that it would miss an $11 million principal payment due before the new year. Similar disclosures from other firms fueled the uncertainty, and the

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These were the 10 largest Manhattan real estate loans in September

By Kevin Sun — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 11:00:13 +0000

The top 10 Manhattan loans recorded in September totaled just over $3 billion, roughly equal to August’s total. The top two loans went to two Midtown properties just a block away from each other — the Coca Cola and Crown Buildings at 711 and 730 Fifth Avenue. (Note: loans are ranked by the amount recorded in city property records, which exclude mezzanine and other subordinate debt.) 1) Coca collateral – $625 million Nightingale Properties and

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Manhattan rezoning forges ahead — without the de Blasio administration

By Kathryn Brenzel — Fri, 04 Oct 2019 22:26:50 +0000

Last month, the de Blasio administration rejected a proposal to rezone Morningside Heights. Now, a community group — with the help of the City Council — is moving ahead without the agency. The Morningside Heights Community Coalition is advancing plans to rezone the neighborhood despite the Department of City Planning’s reservations that changes won’t create much affordable housing. City Council Speaker Corey Johnson has pledged to direct the council’s land-use staff to put together a

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Shaya Boymelgreen sells waterfront estate in Miami Beach

By Katherine Kallergis — Fri, 04 Oct 2019 21:00:26 +0000

UPDATED, Oct. 7, 10:15 a.m.: Sarah Boymelgreen, the wife of a well-known developer, sold her Miami Beach estate for $9.3 million, property records show. Boymelgreen is married to Shaya, an Israeli-born New York developer who was temporarily banned from selling condos in New York alongside his partner, Lev Leviev’s Africa Israel Investments, in 2014. Sarah Boymelgreen, via 4539 Pinetree LLC, sold the five-bedroom, 6,311-square-foot house at 4539 Pine Tree Drive to Miami Hills LLC, a

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Nightingale and Wafra strike $570M deal, Barneys finds potential buyer: Daily digest

TRD Staff — Fri, 04 Oct 2019 20:35:43 +0000

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 in real time, starting at 9 a.m. Please send any tips or deals to tips@therealdeal.com This page was last updated at 4:35 p.m. Video produced by Sabrina He The results of an $864,000 study to determine if an abandoned MTA rail spur could be repurposed have been delayed. The Systra

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

TRD Staff — Fri, 04 Oct 2019 20:30:35 +0000

Here are a couple of events worth checking out next week! Host: NYU Date: October 10 Time: 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. NYU’s Schack Institute of Real Estate is holding its Third National Symposium of Women in Real Estate at the Grand Hyatt New York, 109 East 42nd Street. This event will offer networking opportunities and panel discussions featuring women in leadership roles from across the industry. Margaret Anadu of Goldman Sachs will be the

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The Closing: Steven Holl

By Kathryn Brenzel — Fri, 04 Oct 2019 19:45:31 +0000

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NYC, LA and San Fran are priciest places to rent in US…by far

By Dennis Lynch — Fri, 04 Oct 2019 17:15:13 +0000

What’s the most expensive zip-code to rent an apartment in the U.S.? Manhattan. What’s the second most expensive zip-code to rent an apartment? Manhattan. What’s the third…you get the point. Manhattan had the top three spots for priciest zip-codes to rent in the U.S., according to a new report in RentCafe, and seven of the top 10. New York, L.A. and the Bay Area dominated RentCafe’s list — Boston is the only city outside of

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Investor and social media star Grant Cardone on why he’s buying real estate in SoFla — and not in NY or California

By Keith Larsen — Fri, 04 Oct 2019 16:30:59 +0000

At Marlins Park on Super Bowl weekend in February, thousands of aspiring entrepreneurs watch as a black Rolls-Royce SUV with tinted windows roars onto the stage amid a cloud of smoke. Over the loudspeakers, the song “Nuthin’ but a “G” Thang” plays as Snoop Dogg steps out of the driver’s seat. But his passenger is the real star of the day. Donning dark sunglasses along with a black sweatshirt with the words “10X” in gold

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FiDi landlord violated rent stabilization regs for years: lawsuit

By Eddie Small Research by Mary Diduch — Fri, 04 Oct 2019 16:00:07 +0000

This page was last updated Oct. 7 at 8 a.m. Two tenants at a building in the Financial District are suing their landlord over alleged violations of New York’s rent stabilization laws. Bruce Hackney and Timothy Smith, who live at 10 Hanover Square, are suing their landlord UDR Inc., saying it violated the 421-g tax benefits program, which provides tax breaks for landlords but also requires — according to a recent court ruling — that

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How the rent control debate is heating up

By Kathryn Brenzel — Fri, 04 Oct 2019 15:00:19 +0000

Rent control is having a moment. Debates about rent caps and other reforms are springing up across the country. Stories of rent control — though perhaps more fable than fact — date as far back as 150 B.C. In modern times, rent caps have been on the decline in the U.S., largely falling out of fashion after the 1980s. But lately, the policy has gained traction and is now the subject of at least one presidential campaign.

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