The Real Deal New York

WATCH: Michael Cohen’s real estate friends, and their ties to Trump

Lexi — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 21:48:49 +0000

On Friday, as the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan revealed new details of a months-long criminal investigation into Michael Cohen, President Trump’s attorney hung out with some friends on a Manhattan sidewalk. But they weren’t just any friends. Among the group smoking cigars were real estate executive Rotem Rosen and Jerry Rotonda, former CFO of Deutsche Bank’s private wealth management business in the Americas. The Real Deal’s senior reporter Konrad Putzier appeared on CNN’s […]

Durst’s 825 Third is no longer on the market

Lexi — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 21:20:23 +0000

The Durst Organization’s building at 825 Third Avenue is no longer up for grabs. The company was shopping the 40-story tower earlier in the year but has taken it off the market, according to Crain’s. Durst had hoped to find an investor to take over the office building and pay it rent but was unable to do so. The investor would likely have needed to make tens of millions of dollars in upgrades to find […]

The head of Landmarks is resigning

Lexi — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 21:00:20 +0000

Meenakshi Srinivasan, the head of the Landmarks Preservation Commission, will resign and transfer to the private sector, City Hall confirmed Thursday. Appointed by Mayor Bill de Blasio to the helm of the city agency in 2014, Srinivasan has chaired an 11-member group and overseen 3,800 building designations for historic protections. “It’s been an intense, challenging, and incredibly rewarding experience,” she said in a statement, adding that she intends to do more “hands-on project-based work” in […]

Dreams do come true: Cuomo to receive Moses-themed “Master Builder” award

Lexi — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 20:30:06 +0000

“Those who can, build. Those who can’t, criticize.” Those were the words of Robert Moses, interchangeably New York’s unelected “construction coordinator” or “master builder” who is perhaps more responsible for the organization of New York’s modern built environment than anyone else. It’s in the spirit of Moses that the Building Trades Employers Association, a trade group for contractors that has increasingly embraced union-free construction work, will present Governor Andrew Cuomo with its first ever “Master […]

Black applicants twice as likely as whites to get denied for mortgage loans: study

Lexi — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 20:00:16 +0000

A stark racial disparity still exists when it comes to receiving mortgage loans. Although overall mortgage applications are getting denied at their lowest rate in the past 20 years, black applicants are still twice as likely as white applicants to get denied for a conventional loan, according to a new study from Zillow. The overall share of applicants denied for conventional mortgages has dropped to 9.8 percent, a sharp decrease from its 18.1 percent rate […]

National Cheat Sheet: Construction costs jump 4.2% nationwide … & more

Aidan Gardiner — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 19:30:07 +0000

Construction costs jumped 4.2% nationwide The average cost of construction climbed throughout the United States last year, with Los Angeles seeing the largest increase, at 7.59 percent, according to a study by construction consultancy firm Rider Levett Bucknell. Chicago saw a 5.35 percent increase while New York City saw an uptick of 3.29 percent. There’s no evidence that the new taxes on steel and aluminum imports contributed to the spike, despite fears, the study noted. [TRD] […]

Lender on distressed Harlem site is already cashing out after auction win

Lexi — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 19:10:47 +0000

Shortly after buying a distressed Harlem development site at an auction late last year, RWN Real Estate Partners is selling it to Happy Living Development, one of the competing bidders. The site at 300 West 122nd Street — where developer Hans Futterman spent years trying to build a 12-story, 127-unit condominium – fell into the hands of its lender in November when Ari Shalam’s RWN won with a winning bid of $48.6 million. That same […]

Japanese UN Mission signs lease deal at 605 Third Avenue

Lexi — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 18:40:02 +0000

The Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations is moving out of United Nations Plaza. The Mission will move into Fisher Brothers’ 605 Third Avenue, where it has signed a lease for about 50,000 square feet, according to the Commercial Observer. It will leave 866 United Nations Plaza early in 2019 and take up the 27th, 28th and 29th floors at the Fisher Brothers building. The Japanese government signed a lease for 15 years, […]

Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier 6 developers land $400M+ in new financing

Lexi — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 17:50:03 +0000

The development team tapped to build a pair of residential buildings at Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 6 landed $411 million in construction financing. RAL Companies, Vanke U.S. and Oliver’s Realty Group secured a $251 million construction loan from Bank of the Ozarks, the Commercial Observer reported. The developers also locked down $160 million in joint-venture equity from a source that was not identified. The developers plan to build a 28-story, 126-unit luxury condominium tower next […]

A mini revolution: The strategy behind YotelPad’s first East Coast hotel-condo project

Lexi — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 17:20:18 +0000

For its first micro-unit hotel-condominium on the East Coast, the Yotel chain chose a market that is awash in new development: Miami. But the chic London-based hotel brand, which focuses on international hub cities and up-and-coming urban neighborhoods, sees an opening for its planned location in downtown Miami, which is gentrifying and redeveloping, said Yotel CEO Hubert Viriot. “Miami has always been appealing to us. It’s a hub for the U.S., Central and South America, with a […]

Pakistan International Airlines refis Roosevelt Hotel with $105M loan

Lexi — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 16:50:55 +0000

The Pakistan International Airlines has leased or owned the Roosevelt Hotel since 1979 and has several times since sought to get rid of it. And sans sale, the overseas owners refinanced the debt on the property, records filed with the city Thursday show, with a $105 million loan from JPMorgan Chase. JPMorgan Chase’s refinancing replaced $140 million in previous debt on the hotel issued by Wilmington Trust, a subsidiary of M&T Bank. PIA did not […]

Preservationists seek to stop changes to landmarking process

Lexi — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 16:20:19 +0000

Preservationists aren’t happy with a proposed rule change that would allow more applications to go through the Landmarks Preservation Commission without a public hearing. Nine of the city’s largest preservation organizations filed a joint letter criticizing the proposal, saying it doesn’t allow for enough transparency in the landmarking process, Curbed reported. “Like environmentalists or dance enthusiasts, preservationists are not a monolithic mass. We agree on certain core principles but our individual focus is often nuanced […]

Bringing down the (open) house: Cops play spoilsport at Makowsky’s megamanse

Lexi — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 15:45:26 +0000

What happens when you mix a mansion asking $188 million, a brokers’ preview and social media? In Bel-Air at least, that’s a recipe for a police-led shutdown. After what was meant to be a brokers-only open house at Bruce Makowsky’s spec home got raucous Tuesday, police intervened and shut the event down, sources in attendance told The Real Deal. Brokers, and some civilians who had caught wind of the event, were asked to leave the […]

Construction is back on at Pier 55—for real this time

Lexi — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 15:15:40 +0000

Construction at Pier 55 is back on, and it might actually not get bogged down with lawsuits this time. Work on the project has recommenced after years of controversy and delays, according to Curbed. After Barry Diller and Diane von Furstenberg announced that they were launching the park years ago, the City Club of New York repeatedly blocked work on it with lawsuits. Douglas Durst was eventually revealed as the funder behind some of those […]

Mobster Al Capone’s former Miami Beach mansion asks $15M

Lexi — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 14:45:34 +0000

What would Big Al think? The former home of the late Al Capone just hit the market for $14.9 million. The Prohibition-era gangster bought the home in 1928 after being released from Alcatraz, and he died at the property in 1947. Now, after a multimillion-dollar renovation, MB America, a wealth and investment management company representing a wealthy Italian industrialist family, wants to sell the bayfront estate at 93 Palm Avenue. Miami-based MB America paid $8 […]

NYC’s resi firms are spending millions to look young and sexy. Will rebranding work?

Lexi — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 14:15:13 +0000

“Established in 1873” has gravitas. It conveys longevity and experience. But when executives at Brown Harris Stevens sat down with designers from Pentagram last year, they decided it wasn’t enough. In a bid to show its embrace of a changing and increasingly tech-driven market, BHS debuted a new tagline — “Bold, honest, smart” — on Tuesday, becoming the latest brokerage to debut a new look over the past year. On Monday, Halstead Property, which like BHS […]

Developers in London are finally cutting prices. And sales are rising.

Lexi — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 13:45:30 +0000

Take note, New York City developers: London home sales are going up following a decision by developers to lower asking prices for the first time in years. The last time developers across the pond lowered asking prices was in 2010, according to Bloomberg. During the first quarter, about 6,900 homes under construction were sold, which is the most in three years. Institutional investors interested in rental properties bought about 30 percent of the homes. Rising […]

Barone Management plans a warehouse for the little guys

James Kleimann — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 13:06:28 +0000

One developer plans to build a warehouse in Long Island City for small businesses that have been squeezed out by e-commerce and logistics tenants who are gobbling up the city’s “last-mile” space. Barone Management plans to build a three-story, 88,000 commercial building at 9-03 44th Road, and will partition warehouse space into units between 2,000 and 3,000 square feet. “I think at least half of my warehouse tenants will be contractors that service New York […]

Simon Baron, Quadrum bet that LIC co-living project will disrupt rental industry

James Kleimann — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 12:30:16 +0000

UPDATED on Thursday, April 19 at 10:54 a.m.: How does a developer increase rental income while reducing rental costs for tenants? The answer, apparently, is to hope tenants don’t mind cramming into smaller spaces so long as there’s a pool, dog spa and a golf simulator in the building. Simon Baron Development and Quadrum Global’s new 43-story, 467-unit rental building at 29-22 Northern Boulevard features 14 floors of co-living units, which they claim is the […]

Westchester & Fairfield Cheat Sheet: Fairfield luxe homes sitting on the market 20 percent longer than in 2017 … & more

Aidan Gardiner — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 12:00:35 +0000

Fairfield luxe homes are sitting on the market 20% longer than in 2017 Douglas Elliman’s report on the first quarter of 2018 finds that the inventory of luxury homes in Fairfield County — those priced at the top 10 percent of all stock on the market — was up almost 6 percent from the same time last year, but those homes were sitting on the market 20 percent longer than they were last year, now […]

NYC’s hotel sector is getting a mini boost

Lexi — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 11:30:10 +0000

From the April issue: Manhattan’s hotel industry got a much-needed boost when its gold-standard metric turned a corner at the end of 2017. Revenue per available room — known in industry lingo as RevPAR — rose in 2017’s fourth quarter for the first time in more than two years, according to a report from PricewaterhouseCoopers. Citywide, the trend stuck into January and February, the most recent months on record, with RevPAR increasing 4.8 and 3.6 percent, […]

Brooklyn condo sellouts reach highest value since 2007

Lexi — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 11:00:08 +0000

Brooklyn condo sellouts have hit their highest value in more than a decade. Developers filed plans for 62 projects with 1,089 units worth a total of about $1.18 billion during the first quarter of this year, according to a data analysis by The Real Deal. This combined sellout value was the highest since the second quarter of 2007, when developers filed plans for 95 projects with 1,274 units worth a total of about $1.22 billion. […]

Partners Group, Atlas buy out Square Mile at Factory Building in $400M deal

kp@therealdeal.com — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 00:59:36 +0000

Square Mile Capital sold its stake in the Factory Building in Long Island City to Partners Group and Atlas Capital Group in a deal valuing the property at $400 million, sources told The Real Deal. Square Mile and Atlas previously owned a combined 51 percent stake in the 1 million-square-foot office-and-retail property, sources said. Atlas kept its interest and partnered with asset manager Partners Group to buy out Square Mile, increasing its overall stake in […]

Manhattan resi listing prices drop 10.9%

Lexi — Wed, 18 Apr 2018 22:20:01 +0000

Residential Sales | Town Residential Between April 5 and 12, the average listing price for Manhattan homes stood at $2.2 million, a 10.9 percent drop compared to the same time last year. The average price per square foot in borough conformed to the decline, decreasing by 3 percent year-over-year to $1,749. During the period, the borough had 6,282 homes in its inventory, a 9 percent hike from last year. Sales | Olshan There were 25 […]

Subscribe to TRD’s China Watch newsletter

Kerry Barger — Wed, 18 Apr 2018 22:00:34 +0000

As you’ve learned from The Real Deal’s reporting, Chinese players have been pulling out of the U.S. property market amid a government crackdown on capital flight. The news and views on what’s happening change constantly, so TRD launched a weekly newsletter to keep you in the loop. Delivered every Tuesday morning, China Watch captures all the news on Chinese investments — and divestments — across the U.S. Subscribe today.

Silverstein plans Israel debut with $200M bond offering

Lexi — Wed, 18 Apr 2018 21:20:50 +0000

Larry Silverstein is the latest New York developer to head to the land of milk, honey and cheap financing. Silverstein Properties plans to debut on the Israeli market with a $200 million corporate bond offering, backed by a portfolio of eight Manhattan properties, including 7 World Trade Center and Silver Towers. The proceeds will go towards refinancing Silverstein’s planned 57-story tower at 520 West 41st Street, according to documents filed on the Tel Aviv Stock […]

HNA is selling billions in RE assets, but its execs still own $200M-plus in luxury homes

Lexi — Wed, 18 Apr 2018 21:00:11 +0000

One57, Time Warner Center, 2 River Terrace: These are some but not all of the luxury residences collected by the top executives of HNA Group, the colossal Chinese investment company that’s been selling off some of its most expensive commercial holdings. While the company is seeking to unload billions of dollars in overseas assets, its executives and the company itself own more than $200 million in residential real estate in and around New York, the […]

Tishman Speyer snags $380M financing package for 11 Hoyt, secures construction manager

Lexi — Wed, 18 Apr 2018 20:30:20 +0000

A trio of lenders provided Tishman Speyer with $380 million in construction financing for its Downtown Brooklyn condominium project at 11 Hoyt Street, sources told The Real Deal. JPMorgan Chase is the lender of record on a roughly $340 million construction loan, half of which Starwood Property Trust took on its books. A source said that real estate investment trust iStar also chipped in a $40 million mezzanine piece for the project, which sits adjacent […]

L+M and Omni propose $2B mixed-use complex in the South Bronx

Lexi — Wed, 18 Apr 2018 20:00:25 +0000

L+M Development and Omni New York have teamed up to propose a $2.2 billion, 2,000-unit housing complex for the South Bronx waterfront. The project, dubbed Alexander Landing, was submitted to the Empire State Development Corporation and would also include a charter school, a medical facility, retail, parking and open space, according to Crain’s. The plan is part of the RFP process for Harlem River Yards, meaning it will compete against a proposal from Related Companies, […]

Startup that allows agents to sell leads they don’t want raises $12M in funding round

Lexi — Wed, 18 Apr 2018 19:30:19 +0000

A real estate tech firm that sifts through agents’ online leads and lets them sell listings they don’t want just raised $12 million in a funding round. Startup company Agentology provides a “rapid response” service to agents, by using sales reps to vet buyer and seller leads and referring these leads to other brokers, who are willing to take the jobs. In return, the referring agent will receive 25 percent of the commission on a […]

Brookfield partners with CalPERS and CBRE on GGP acquisition

Lexi — Wed, 18 Apr 2018 19:00:42 +0000

Brookfield Property Partners brought on some big-name partners to help fund its acquisition of General Growth Properties. A CBRE subsidiary, the California Public Employee Retirement System and the TIAA affiliate TH Real Estate agreed to invest in certain GGP properties, Bloomberg reported. Brookfield announced in March that it agreed to buy the 66 percent it doesn’t already own of the mall-focused real estate investment trust for about $15 billion. At the time, the company said […]

Two Trees closes on $53M leasehold purchase of Gowanus site

Lexi — Wed, 18 Apr 2018 18:30:37 +0000

Two Trees Management has closed on the $53 million purchase of a leasehold for a Gowanus property that is currently home to a Lowe’s. The company acquired 118 Second Avenue, a property that spans 400,000 square feet and has the potential for a roughly 800,000-square-foot project, according to sources familiar with the deal. Forest City Ratner sold the Lowe’s site, and a TerraCRG team team led by Dan Marks, Ofer Cohen and Daniel Lebor brokered […]

DEP employee allegedly at center of $165M construction bribery scheme

Lexi — Wed, 18 Apr 2018 18:00:36 +0000

The former head of contracts and procurement at the city Department of Environmental Protection agency is at the center of a $165 million bribery scheme that funneled work to construction and engineering companies, officials allege. Ifeanyi “Manny” Madu allegedly provided information on DEP projects to three engineering firms — including the scope of the work and the names of the individuals who would be selecting the winning companies — before they were made public through […]

Sapir consolidating ownership at Nomo Soho hotel

Lexi — Wed, 18 Apr 2018 17:30:39 +0000

Alex Sapir is buying out most of the stake his partner Gerard Guez owns in the trendy NoMo Soho hotel, which is valued at more than $246 million. Sapir, who owns the 264-room hotel at 9 Crosby Street through his Tel Aviv-based Sapir Corp., paid an undisclosed figure to purchase Geuz’s 49-percent stake in the property, according to filings with the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. The deal gives Sapir 99 percent ownership of the 26-story […]

Here are the top 10 Chicago investment sales of the first quarter

Lexi — Wed, 18 Apr 2018 16:40:05 +0000

Starwood Capital and Slate Office REIT made their entries into the downtown Chicago office market during the first quarter, with the No. 2 and No. 3 sales of the quarter, respectively. The market for office investment sales had a strong start to the year, with more than $1.2 billion in deals, according to a report by NKF, which notes that 2015 was the only year in the past four in which office sales downtown hit […]

Buyer gets $20M loan for Harvey Weinstein’s Village townhouse

Lexi — Wed, 18 Apr 2018 15:00:28 +0000

UPDATED, April 18, 11:31 a.m.: Talk about a distressed asset. The buyer of disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein’s Greenwich Village townhouse took out a $20 million mortgage — signed by Bruce Karsh, chief investment officer at private equity giant Oaktree Capital Management. The Oaktree executive’s signature was on the loan from Bank of America, according to records filed with the city. The buyer bought the house on Bank Street for $25.6 million last month through an entity […]

WATCH: Is the mayor’s vacancy tax bad for the retail market?

Lexi — Wed, 18 Apr 2018 14:40:07 +0000

During one of his interviews with WNYC’s Brian Lehrer, Mayor Bill de Blasio said he was “very interested” in establishing a vacancy tax to penalize landlords who leave storefronts empty while seeking higher rents. The Real Deal’s digital editorial director Hiten Samtani recently sat down with Rafael Pi Roman of PBS affiliate WNET-13 to discuss this proposal, and while he acknowledged that retail was struggling in the city, he said that landlords insisting on […]

Related plots to influence Ladder’s board after seeing $1.5B bid rejected

Lexi — Wed, 18 Apr 2018 14:00:41 +0000

Related Companies just won’t take no for an answer. After the development firm’s asset management arm saw a bid for Ladder Capital rejected, it is now moving on to Plan B and take over the mortgage real estate investment trust by other means. Related is considering nominating new candidates to Ladder’s board in an attempt to get a deal approved, Bloomberg reported. Related Fund Management already owns 6.5 percent of Ladder’s shares and offered to […]

A NYC office brokerage startup just raised $7M in a Series A round

Lexi — Wed, 18 Apr 2018 13:30:29 +0000

Office brokerage startup SquareFoot raised $7 million in a Series A funding round, the company announced Wednesday. Rosecliff Ventures led the round. Peak Partners, RRE Ventures, Primary Venture Partners, Armory Square Ventures and Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator also chipped in. Founded in 2012 by Aron Susman, JLL veteran Jonathan Wasserstrum and Boxer Property veteran Justin Lee, SquareFoot hopes to make the search for office space more transparent by combining traditional brokerage work with an online platform. […]

Kushner finds new American restaurant to replace Guy Fieri’s American Kitchen

Lexi — Wed, 18 Apr 2018 13:05:09 +0000

It’s out with the Donkey Sauce and in with the Buffalo style cauliflower for Kushner Companies at the old New York Times Building. The Ribbon, the self-described “best Upper West Side restaurant featuring American cuisine with French and Italian influences,” agreed to lease a 16,500-square-foot retail space, where it will replace Guy Fieri’s unsuccessful take on American comfort food. Kushner Companies, which owns the retail condo at 220 West 44th Street, had been looking for […]

Architecture review: Tadao Ando’s “quiet” new condo building in Nolita

Lexi — Wed, 18 Apr 2018 12:38:24 +0000

From the April issue: On a clamorous corner along Kenmare Street in Nolita, the Japanese architect Tadao Ando has designed what he calls a “very quiet piece of architecture.” Developers Sumaida + Khurana and Nahla Capital’s nearly completed seven-story, seven-unit condominium building at 152 Elizabeth Street is the Pritzker Prize-winning architect’s first in New York City — and it is clear that Japanese delight in quiet subtlety has inspired this latest project. Other Japanese architects have brought a similar aesthetic to […]

ABC considers pulling a JPMorgan with dev site in Hudson Sq.

kp@therealdeal.com — Wed, 18 Apr 2018 12:01:00 +0000

Broadcaster ABC may follow JPMorgan Chase’s example and build a new headquarters in Manhattan. The Disney subsidiary is looking at a Trinity Church-owned development site at 4 Hudson Square, the New York Post reported. The lot, which includes an office building, could allow for a building of up to 1.2 million square feet. “They are looking at that property site and others with the criteria that it’s the best building to meet their 21st- century […]

Hamptons Cheat Sheet: Developer files $100M lawsuit over rejected East Quogue luxury golf course project … & more

Aidan Gardiner — Wed, 18 Apr 2018 11:30:33 +0000

Developer files $100M lawsuit over rejected East Quogue luxury golf course project The Discovery Land Company said the Southampton Town Board was “unconstitutional and unlawful” when it rejected the company’s “The Hills at Southampton” proposal in December, according to 25 East. The developer had hoped to build 118 luxury housing units and an 18-hole golf course on 600 acres. But the town shot it down in December, citing environmental concerns. The developer, in its lawsuit, demands the […]

After gut renovation, Leslie J. Garfield’s old townhouse asks $23M

Lexi — Wed, 18 Apr 2018 11:00:17 +0000

Veteran broker Leslie J. Garfield’s former West Village townhouse — which he sold for $7.65 million in 2015 — is back on the market following a two-year gut renovation and expansion. The Greek Revival townhouse at 313 West 4th Street is asking $22.9 million, or $4,320 per foot. Leslie J. Garfield’s Matt Lesser, Ravi Kantha, Matt Pravda and Christopher Riccio have the listing. The current owner is developer David Slaven of Maspeth-based Red Brick Properties, […]

Multifamily development drives March increase in housing starts

Erica Press — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 22:00:05 +0000

Construction starts exceeded expectations in March on the back of strong multifamily development. A federal report released Tuesday show that residential new construction rose by 1.9 percent to a 1.32 million annualized rate, around 50,000 more than the 1.27 million earlier predicted, according to Bloomberg. The typically volatile multifamily sector saw starts rise by 14.4 percent, reversing the 10.2 percent drop in February. A 19.7 percent increase in multifamily starts in January fueled that month’s […]

New York’s first soccer stadium could be coming to the South Bronx waterfront

Lexi — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 21:30:02 +0000

UPDATED, 10:05 a.m., April 18: Yankee Stadium’s days as the only major sports arena in the South Bronx could be numbered. A partnership led by Related Companies has submitted plans to Empire State Development for a massive new development on the South Bronx waterfront, according to YIMBY. The $700 million project would rise above rail yards in the borough and include a 26,000-seat soccer stadium, a 25,000-square-foot medical facility, 150,000 square feet of retail, an 85,000-square-foot […]

Kushner Companies’ 666 Fifth posts worst year since 2011

Lexi — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 21:00:10 +0000

Kushner Companies’ signature property at 666 Fifth Avenue had a no good, very bad year. The office tower, which is co-owned by Vornado Realty Trust, lost $25 million in 2017 after accounting for debt payments, Bloomberg reported, citing financial documents shared with investors Tuesday. That loss — the largest since 2011 — is largely due to the fact that the debt service on tower continues to outweigh the building’s net operating income. The interest rate […]

CW Realty, Joyland selling trio of Brooklyn buildings for $23M

Lexi — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 20:30:18 +0000

Cheskie Weisz’s CW Realty Management, Joyland Group and Meral Property Group are selling a trio of contiguous mixed-use buildings in Williamsburg for $22.5 million to the Sharrati family, according to sources familiar with the deal. The properties are located at 119-123 Kent Avenue and contain 17 apartments with three ground-floor retail units. The apartments were recently renovated to feature at least two bedrooms, along with washers and dryers. The sellers also sold the property’s inclusionary […]

Harounian patriarch accuses son of “looting” company assets to pay for mistresses, luxury cars

Lexi — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 20:00:15 +0000

A feud that’s divided a Great Neck real estate family took another dramatic turn this month when the patriarch sued his son for allegedly “looting” his company’s assets and diluting his shares in a Manhattan rental portfolio valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars. In a $90 million lawsuit filed in Nassau County Supreme Court, Jacob Harounian, 90, accused his son Mark of using the company accounts of JAM Realty and United Nationwide Realty […]

The Real Deal turns 15: hits and misses

Lexi — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 19:40:04 +0000

From the April issue: A look at a few big stories that TRD got right (and wrong).

Blackstone, Brookfield, Starwood all reportedly interested in buying this hotel REIT

Erica Press — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 19:06:51 +0000

LaSalle Hotel Properties is reviewing a $3.6 billion takeover offer from Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, but there’s some big name prospective buyers champing at the bit for a shot at the investment trust. The list of suitors include Blackstone Group, Starwood Capital Group, Brookfield Property Partners, Park Hotels & Resorts Inc., and Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc., according to Bloomberg. They have or are in talks to sign nondisclosure agreements for access to a trove of LaSalle […]

Coming soon: The Real Deal’s annual National Retail Market Report

Kerry Barger — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 18:20:57 +0000

The Real Deal’s annual insider’s look at what’s unfolding in retail markets across the country will be available in May 2018. This year’s issue will include: -A ranking of top retail brokerages -An analysis of the shifting tenant mix in the biggest malls -A deep dive into the future of retail REITs -Comprehensive lists of the biggest retail leases and acquisitions -Reporting on who the new “Teflon” retail tenants are The issue will be distributed […]

Inside the dramatic battle for control of Eichner’s Flatiron condo tower

Lexi — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 17:35:06 +0000

Ian Bruce Eichner once allegedly handed a potential lender a copy of “High Rise: How 1,000 Men and Women Worked Around the Clock for Five Years and Lost $200 Million Building a Skyscraper.” The 1993 book expertly details how the developer built and lost a Times Square office tower as the real estate market turned in the late 1980s. The banker, astonished, vowed never to work with Eichner. But the developer’s many high-profile losses haven’t […]

Hurdlr makes play for real estate agents with business management app

Lexi — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 16:15:37 +0000

Another startup company has taken aim at the real estate business, to provide “front office” services to agents still using excel spreadsheets and paper to track their finances. Hurdlr, a Washington D.C.-based startup that provides an app for freelancers to monitor finances, mileages, taxes and other “back office” needs, revealed that it would shift the company’s attention to real estate, where it will provide agents with goal-setting features paired with its original income-tracking service. The […]

SKF Development planning 71-unit resi building in the Bronx

Lexi — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 15:45:05 +0000

Kim Tasher’s SKF Development is planning to bring another residential building to the Bronx, this time with 71 units in the Belmont neighborhood. The company filed plans with the city’s Department of Buildings on Tuesday for the eight-story building, which will span about 55,000 square feet. This will be split between about 46,000 square feet of residential space, about 8,000 square feet of commercial space and 699 square feet of space for a community facility. […]

Here are the week’s top luxury sales

Lexi — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 14:20:18 +0000

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

City Council wants to spend more in fight against Airbnb

Lexi — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 13:35:38 +0000

The City Council wants to give a financial boost to one of New York’s major anti-Airbnb tools. Speaker Corey Johnson has called for giving $2 million more to the Office of Special Enforcement in his response to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s budget proposal, according to Crain’s. The agency enforces state rules that ban transient occupancy, and the added funds would bring its budget to $6.8 million and allow it to increase its staff to 47. […]

Want to buy a house? Better make it quick

Eddie — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 13:00:29 +0000

People on the hunt for a new home will need to make their final decisions quickly. A new Zillow Group report found that the median home in the U.S. only took 81 days to sell in 2017. That includes the closing, which generally takes four to six weeks, which means the homes are only on the market for about 30 days. This is a new record dating back to at least 2010, when Zillow started […]

Blockchain real estate investing just got a $28M boost

kp@therealdeal.com — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 12:30:11 +0000

Blockchain technology startup Harbor raised $28 million in a new funding round led by Founders Fund, the company announced Tuesday. Harbor plans to build a blockchain-based platform that is compliant with U.S. laws and allows users to issue crypto-securities backed by real assets, including real estate, company shares and works of art. Andreessen Horowitz, Pantera Capital, Craft Ventures, Vy Capital and Valor Equity Partners, Future Perfect Ventures, 1confirmation, Abstract Ventures, Signia Venture Partners and Nicolas […]

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

Lexi — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 12:00:23 +0000

Updated: April 17, 10:27 a.m.: 1.) Rybak Development picked up a pair of East Village buildings for $12.3 million. The properties, at 24 1st Avenue and 99 East 2nd Street, contain a total of two apartments and three commercial units. The two contiguous buildings previously housed drag venue Lucky Cheng’s, which closed down after its owner, Hayne Suthon, died of cancer in 2014. The seller, Uriel Marrache, previously listed the buildings for $26 million, but […]

NYC vs. Silicon Valley

Lexi — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 11:30:41 +0000

From the April issue: In the grind of New York real estate, it can be a struggle to recognize what’s right in front of you. But the reality of technology companies moving in the city is undeniable — and Google’s $2.4 billion acquisition of Chelsea Market isn’t the only sign of growing demand for space. In 2017, tech firms signed leases for roughly 3.6 million square feet of space in Manhattan, accounting for almost 10 percent […]

DOS audits agents using inflated titles

Lexi — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 11:00:10 +0000

New York real estate agents better check their business cards. Four years after banning fanciful titles, state regulators are auditing licensees to make sure agents and firms aren’t playing fast and loose with honorifics. That means no “vice president” or “director” title for those who aren’t officers of the firm. A spokesperson for the Department of State confirmed the audit on Monday, but provided no further details regarding the scope of the inquiry. “Licensees found […]

Madison Advisory Group claims contractor on South Harlem condo conversion tried to extort extra funds by delaying project

Lexi — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 22:53:46 +0000

Madison Advisory Group claims a construction company working on its South Harlem condominium conversion caused nearly $5 million in damages to the project through a series of delays, shoddy work and by repeatedly trying to extort money from the developer. All Building Construction Corp. abruptly abandoned work at 318-320 West 115th Street in August 2016, after mismanaging the project in “a manner so incompetent — and in fact illegal — that it can hardly be […]

LaSalle seeks $1B for latest value-add real estate fund

Erica Press — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 22:00:19 +0000

LaSalle Investment Management is looking for $1 billion for its latest value-add real estate fund. The firm, an arm of JLL, will call the fund — its eighth — LaSalle Income & Growth Fund VIII, according to Bloomberg. That billion-dollar target is almost twice the size of its previous fund, which raised $510 million and closed last year. That fund has spent around 80 percent of that amount. Like the previous fund, LaSalle Income & […]

Ray Yadidi is buying DKNY’s Midtown office

Erica Press — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 21:30:45 +0000

Ray Yadidi’s Sioni Group is in contract to buy DKNY’s Midtown office from JPMorgan Chase, Olmstead Properties and Jonathan Rose Companies for about $105 million, sources told The Real Deal. Yadidi, an active Garment District investor, signed a contract last week to acquire the 12-story, 160,000-square-foot office building at 240 West 40th Street, which is almost fully occupied by Donna Karan’s fashion label, sources said. DKNY, which was acquired in 2016 by G-III Apparel Group, […]

Taconic-led JV to develop Times Square-area rental tower

Lexi — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 21:10:07 +0000

Taconic Investment Partners and National Real Estate Advisors teamed up to gain control – via a long-term ground lease – of the 1199SEIU union’s Times Square headquarters, where the partners plan to build a $250 million rental tower. The joint venture plans to finalize a 99-year lease later this week for the parking lot at 311 West 42nd Street and the office building at 310 West 43rd Street, Crain’s reported. The 1199SEIU healthcare workers’ union […]

Day in the life of: Deborah Rieders

Lexi — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 20:50:02 +0000

From the April issue: Though a Boston native, Corcoran Group broker Deborah Lee Rieders considers Brooklyn her real home. As she put it, “the waterfront in Brooklyn was my stomping ground before any of these luxury condos were built.” Rieders first moved to the borough in 1989 to attend Barnard College in the city. She briefly left to get a master’s degree in design and photography from Rochester Institute of Technology and returned for good in […]

Indian steel tycoon’s family paid $25M for Trump International pad: sources

Lexi — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 20:25:18 +0000

A member of the Mittal family, whose patriarch Lakshmi Mittal heads the world’s largest steel producer ArcelorMittal, paid $25 million for an apartment at Trump International Hotel and Tower in Manhattan, according to sources familiar with the deal. It wasn’t immediately clear if Lakshmi himself or one of his relatives bought the 6,360-square-foot unit from Japanese real estate developer Katsumi Tada. The apartment sits on the 47th floor of the 52-story tower at 1 Central […]

California’s housing shortage is the biggest in the nation, by far

Lexi — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 19:30:27 +0000

Nearly half of U.S. states aren’t producing enough housing to keep up with growing demand and California is the biggest culprit, according to one measure of production over the last 15 years. A report by consulting firm ECONorthwest found California is short by 3.4 million units, accounting for more than half the 7.3-million-unit shortage nationwide, the Wall Street Journal reported. Nevada, Arizona, and Massachusetts also have significant shortages. The research was financed by a group […]

Where does Chicago stand in the foreign investment pecking order?

Lexi — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 19:00:32 +0000

The wave of Chinese money pouring into markets like Los Angeles and New York City was going to have one bright, shiny, 98-story beachhead on East Wacker Drive. But in January, Dalian Wanda Group, one of China’s biggest developers, put its 60 percent stake in the $900 million Vista Tower condo and hotel project up for sale. Dalian Wanda’s Vista Tower stake would make it the largest-ever sale of any Chinese interest in Chicago real […]

Average construction costs jumped nationally year-over-year

Lexi — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 18:30:49 +0000

Average construction costs across the U.S. rose 4.2 percent last year, with Los Angeles logging the largest uptick, according to a new report. Costs jumped 7.59 percent from January 2017 to January 2018, followed by San Francisco (6.23 percent) and Portland (6.05 percent), a report by construction consultancy firm Rider Levett Bucknell shows. New York City saw a 3.29 percent increase, putting it behind Las Vegas, Denver, Chicago and Boston. Chicago experienced a 5.35 percent […]

How a Time Warner Center condo finally sold after decade on the market

Lexi — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 18:00:00 +0000

A Columbus Circle condominium that appeared unsellable for the past decade, has finally sold for almost $12 million — almost half the amount of an earlier asking price. The 63rd floor unit in the Time Warner Center sold today to an anonymous foreign buyer in a cash deal for $11.99 million. The unit was first put up for sale in 2007 and has been re-listed no less than 10 times until it was finally bought […]

Long Island Cheat Sheet: LI home prices are up despite sluggish sales … & more

Aidan Gardiner — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 17:36:11 +0000

Long Island home prices up despite sluggish sales March home prices have climbed higher across Long Island even while sales have cooled, the Long Island Business Journal reported. In Suffolk County, the average price rose to $365,500 — about six percent higher than March 2017. Nassau saw a similar hop to $510,000 — about five percent higher than that same time last year. But the number of houses sold dropped to a total of only 2,692 for […]

City sues Airbnb over subpoena it rejected

Lexi — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 17:00:58 +0000

Update: Apr. 16, 3:22 p.m.: City Hall attorneys filed suit against Airbnb on Monday, after the company refused to acquiesce a subpoena for short-term rental records at 156 West 15th Street in Manhattan. Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Office of Special Enforcement was already seeking $1 million in damages from landlord Phillip Baldeo and an associate for leasing apartments for less than the 30-day minimum required by New York laws. The office subpoenaed AirBnb for records […]

Cuomo: Felder needs to state whether he’s pro-tenant or not

Lexi — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 15:45:32 +0000

As he gets pulled left, Gov. Andrew Cuomo is reportedly trying to pressure Sen. Simcha Felder of Brooklyn to rejoin state Democrats. If Democrats win the April 24 state Senate special election, the governor plans to introduce a series of policy changes, including stricter rent regulations such as vacancy decontrol, according to the New York Daily News. Other issues include gun control, criminal justice and campaign finance reform. One source told the newspaper that the […]

The SEC is investigating Guggenheim Partners over controversial real estate deals

Lexi — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 15:15:31 +0000

The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating Guggenheim Partners over some controversial California real estate deals. The agency is looking into three transactions based in Los Angeles and a 2016 loan to BCBG Max Azria Group from ABS Capital, which two Guggenheim alums own, according to the New York Post. These deals include the sale of David Geffen’s Malibu compound to Guggenheim’s chief executive Mark Walter for $85 million and a $13.5 million mansion in […]

Brooklyn luxury market saw 18 contracts signed last week

Lexi — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 14:45:16 +0000

There were 18 contracts signed last week in Brooklyn’s luxury real estate market, split between nine houses, six condominiums and three co-ops. The deals between April 9 and April 15 worth $2 million or more went for an average price of about $2.8 million, and the total contract volume was about $51.2 million, according to the latest report from Stribling & Associates. Two deals tied for the priciest contract at just under $4 million. The […]

WeWork venture just spent a ton of money on this London office complex

Lexi — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 14:05:32 +0000

WeWork has money to spend on trophy properties, and spend they will. The co-working giant partnered with two other companies to purchase a warehouse/office complex in London for about $826 million. The move follows last year’s $850 million deal for a global headquarters on Fifth Avenue in New York. WeWork will now own 10 percent of Devonshire Square Estate in Central London, and the companies TH Real Estate and PFA Ejendomme A/S, a Danish firm, […]

Manhattan’s luxury market notched 25 contracts last week: Olshan

Lexi — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 13:35:39 +0000

Manhattan’s luxury residential market is off to its best spring in three years, with 25 contracts at $4 million and above recorded last week, according to Olshan Realty’s weekly market report. The borough saw 104 contracts signed in the last four weeks for a dollar volume of $849 million, the strongest start to spring since 2015. A triplex penthouse at celebrity-favorite 443 Greenwich Street went into contract with an asking price of $58 million. If […]

Is this the end of cheap money from China?

Lexi — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 13:15:49 +0000

China’s “cheap money” era may be coming to an end, as the amount of debt available in the country’s economy plunged more than $200 billion – or roughly 20 percent – during the first quarter of the year. The sudden credit crunch comes as the Chinese government looks to curb high levels of borrowing that have fueled the economy’s growth. “The fall in the outstanding amount of broad social financing is bigger than expected,” Ding […]

Zillow’s new initiative could change what it means to be a broker. Are brokers worried?

James Kleimann — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 13:00:16 +0000

With Zillow’s expansion of its “Instant Offers” program and its declaration that it would become a direct player in the market by buying and selling homes, brokers across the country took stock of what that might mean for them. The real estate listings giant, which has a market capitalization of around $10 billion, said it will begin buying up homes in Phoenix, with the aim of reselling the properties within 90 days. Agents who participate […]

Norman Sturner merges MHP with Miami’s Banyan Street Capital

Rich Bockmann — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 12:45:14 +0000

Norman Sturner’s MHP Real Estate Services sold a stake in the company for an undisclosed figure to Miami-based firm Banyan Street Capital, forming a joint venture with a combined portfolio valued at more than $3 billion. Sturner, MHP’s president and CEO, will hold the position of chairman of the combined companies, the Commercial Observer reported. He will focus on sourcing deals and leading the senior team. His son, MHP chief operating officer David Sturner, will […]

Here are New York’s top office leasing firms

Lexi — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 11:30:52 +0000

When News Corp and 21st Century Fox expanded their Midtown office footprints to a combined 1.2 million square feet in January 2017, it kicked off a hot streak for the Manhattan leasing market. And neither the market nor the brokerages that negotiated those blockbuster deals looked back last year. For CBRE — which represented News Corp and Fox in those dual deals — and Cushman & Wakefield, which represented the owners of 1211 Sixth Avenue, […]

REBNY considers major change to whisper listings agreement

Lexi — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 11:00:23 +0000

Faced with an uptick of “whisper listings” — for-sale properties that never officially hit the open market — the Real Estate Board of New York is taking a hard look at the rules governing how residential agents share information with each other. Members of REBNY’s residential board of directors are considering a proposed change to the universal co-brokerage agreement that would require agents to refuse a listing if the seller wants the property marketed privately, […]

Here’s the best-performing retailer in the world, which you’ve never heard of

The Real Deal Staff — Sun, 15 Apr 2018 19:51:22 +0000

The all-purpose apparel store is called V-Mart and it’s unlikely you’ve ever been there. But the Indian department store chain is the best-performing retailer in the world according to Bloomberg’s data, which only considers chains with a minimum market cap of $200 million. Since V-Mart’s IPO in 2013, its shares have gone up by a factor of 10 and this year alone its shares have seen a 47 percent jump so far. V-Mart’s local competitors […]

Push factor: Vancouver home sales fall as taxes on foreign buyers are implemented

The Real Deal Staff — Sun, 15 Apr 2018 19:24:34 +0000

The West Coast city’s efforts to stymie demand seem to have worked — at least so far. Houses in Vancouver are selling at a five-year low with total transactions falling nearly 9 percent in March compared with the month before, according to Bloomberg. Prices, however, still inched up by just over 1 percent compared to February and were up a whopping 16 percent higher than the same month last year. “We expect this market to […]

Amal and George Clooney are staying in “illegal transient hotel” in Soho

The Real Deal Staff — Sun, 15 Apr 2018 18:28:50 +0000

The latest celebrity couple to stay at a Soho rental recently raided by authorities seems to have no inkling as to the townhouse’s sordid past. The New York Post reports that the Sullivan Street property they’re renting is owned by Richard Fertig, a self-described “serial entrepreneur” who focuses on managing short-term rentals and seems to attract celebrity clientele — if its recent occupants are any indication. Last month, John Legend and Chrissy Teigen were staying […]

Here’s why industrial REITs are outperforming all others

The Real Deal Staff — Sun, 15 Apr 2018 17:12:10 +0000

Thanks to e-retailers like Amazon, industrial REITs are on the upswing. Though online shopping still only counts for under 10 percent of retail sales, the potential is already transforming supply chains, which starts with warehouses, according to Bloomberg. REITs like Prologis, Rexford Industrial Realty and Terreno Realty are doing notably well with returns over 16 percent over the past 12 months, allowing them to surpass both other industrial REITs, which had about 8 percent returns, […]

Caesars casino company inks non-gambling deal in Dubai

The Real Deal Staff — Sun, 15 Apr 2018 16:00:57 +0000

Caesars Entertainment is playing a new game. The casino company behind famous joints on the Las Vegas strip including, of course, Caesars Palace, is launching a new non-gambling venture — hopefully its first of many, according to the Wall Street Journal. Caesars’ new hotels in Dubai, where gambling is illegal, will be done in partnership with local developer Meraas Holding, which is owned by Dubai’s royal family, the patriarch of which is Sheikh Mohammed bin […]

Think you know where NYC’s biggest earners prefer to live?

The Real Deal Staff — Sun, 15 Apr 2018 15:00:47 +0000

Harrison, New York is where many of the highest-earning people in the northeast U.S. prefer to live, among a population with an average annual income of $976,200. Based on a Bloomberg analysis of national tax filings, most of the northeast region’s wealthiest people live in New York’s tri-state area, but not in Manhattan or the city itself. Instead, they prefer the suburbs, with a healthy commute to boot. Of the top 20 zip codes with […]

China’s biggest developer threatens firings, fines unless sales are made

The Real Deal Staff — Sun, 15 Apr 2018 14:00:07 +0000

Country Garden Holdings is trying to fight looming housing market regulations with threats and incentives. As Chinese authorities crackdown on property speculation, which analysts predict will lead to less sales in 2018, the developer told its 4,000 staff to make sales happen or risk losing their jobs, according to an internal document obtained by Bloomberg. If homes are not sold within seven months of the land purchase, projects heads will be fired; if no sales […]

The success of Trump’s tax overhaul can be measured by Q1 shopping

The Real Deal Staff — Sun, 15 Apr 2018 13:00:17 +0000

Happy shoppers are one way to measure the effect of President Donald Trump’s tax overhaul apparently. The tax cuts were envisioned to trigger growth in the economy by allowing consumers to pocket more money — and spend it. This is good news for retailers who’ve seen sales slump for three quarters in a row — the largest running decline since 2015, according to Bloomberg. Now analysts are predicting that the decline in retail sales will end with […]

RE tech firms take note: China’s VC activity is on track to surpass the US

The Real Deal Staff — Sat, 14 Apr 2018 23:02:13 +0000

Silicon Valley is no longer the mecca for venture capital funding it once was; Chinese VC firms are stepping up and signalling they could surpass their American counterparts. An analysis by the Wall Street Journal found that the funding available from VC companies based in China has increased by 15 times since 2013, while U.S. funds only doubled. Of the $154 billion which was funneled into startups globally, 40 percent came from Asian investors, compared […]

Investors are NOT into Zillow’s plan to start flipping houses

The Real Deal Staff — Sat, 14 Apr 2018 22:15:54 +0000

After Zillow Group announced it was going to get into flipping houses, its shares plummeted 11 percent — a record one-day drop the company hasn’t logged in three years. The Financial Times reported shares fell by 11.1 percent following the Friday announcement that the real estate listings company would begin an “Instant Offers” business where it would acquire homes to be sold within 90 days, as The Real Deal reported. Zillow plans on rolling out […]

Despite failed crowdfunding effort, billionaire continuing with Toys “R” Us bid

The Real Deal Staff — Sat, 14 Apr 2018 21:32:42 +0000

Who wouldn’t donate to a billionaire’s GoFundMe campaign to save a bankrupt toy retailer? Most people, evidently, but the poor response to Isaac Larian’s crowdfunding campaign — it was supposed to bring in $1 billion and only raised $59,000 so far — is not slowing him down. Larian, the founder of MGA Entertainment which makes toys like Bratz dolls, told the Wall Street Journal he’s offered $675 million for Toy “R” Us‘ American stores and […]

Buyer of Rockefeller mansion revealed to be controversial ex-Clinton adviser

The Real Deal Staff — Sat, 14 Apr 2018 20:30:51 +0000

The late banker and philanthropist David Rockefeller’s house has a new owner who’s also got a background in charitable work. The buyer behind the $20 million sale is Doug Band, a former aide and adviser to Bill Clinton, according to the Wall Street Journal. He bought the house through a LLC. Band, 45, got his start as a Clinton’s White House aide and then continued working for the former president as an adviser until 2011, when […]

Big in Japan: RE funds have poured $15B into the market since 2014

The Real Deal Staff — Sat, 14 Apr 2018 17:45:12 +0000

Japanese real estate is racking up billions from foreign investors — and has been for years. Between January 2014 and September 2017 alone, real estate funds have sunk about $15 billion into Japanese property markets, according to Bloomberg, with expectation that, thanks to the Bank of Japan, investment yields will stay high relative to government bond. The staggering interest is consistent with the moves of Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the largest in the world, and […]

The City of Lights takes Airbnb to court

The Real Deal Staff — Sat, 14 Apr 2018 16:32:27 +0000

The City of Paris’ problem with Airbnb may seem to come down to the one thing many of its residents love to hate — tourists — but the legal dispute hits a far deeper nerve. The city is suing the short-term rental platform for refusing to uniformly incorporate the city’s registration system, which is designed to prevent rentals from lasting more than 120 days, into all its listings, the Wall Street Journal reports. (In Los […]

The three cities where rising homes values equal a six-figure salary

The Real Deal Staff — Sat, 14 Apr 2018 14:19:24 +0000

If you own a home in the tech hubs of San Francisco, Seattle or San Jose, values are appreciating at rates that can add up to a well-paid job — if you’ve played your cards right. According to a Zillow analysis, equity is houses in the three West Coast cities are increasing by more than $400 per day, with San Jose homeowners coming out on top with their home values rising by about $800 daily. […]

Fairmont forgives its “worst hotel guest ever” after sea gull, pepperoni incident

The Real Deal Staff — Sat, 14 Apr 2018 13:00:18 +0000

Things went from bad to worse for Nick Burchill one afternoon in 2001. He’d carted a suitcase full of spicy pepperoni across Canada as a gift for friends only to discover his hotel, the Fairmont Empress in Victoria, British Columbia, had no in-room refrigerators. So he did the only reasonable thing he could think of: he opened a window, laid out the meat and then decided to go for a five-hour walk. When he returned […]