The ink was barely dry on Zillow’s 2014 agreement to buy Trulia for $2.5 billion when the real estate behemoth got its first real challenge — from media titan Rupert Murdoch, no less.
Just 60 days after news broke that the two national residential-listings websites would merge, News Corp. announced its own massive acquisition: The $950 million cash purchase of Move Inc., which operates rival listings site Realtor.com…. [more]
April 2017 Issue
Inside the battle for StreetEasy’s soul
Three years after buying the NYC listings portal, Spencer Rascoff’s Zillow is rolling out controversial (but lucrative) programs that have led to all-out war with residential brokers. Is there a resolution in sight?
How an MLS slipped through NYC’s cracks
Mired in industry infighting, residential firms were never able to unite to create a consumer database — and now that’s coming back to bite them
It was like the meeting of the five families. In 2001, the dons of New York City’s … [more]
Construction in Trump’s crosshairs
The president’s hardline stance on global trade could cost developers, who’ve been increasingly tapping foreign suppliers for cheaper materials
When Synapse Development needed insulated windows for its 34-… [more]
Bracing for lien times
Liens from subcontractors could become more prevalent as the market turns, but some say it’s a broken system prone to abuse
It may take a village to raise a building, but it takes only one disgruntled subcontractor to ensnare a project in a legal tug-of-war. For One57, the 75-story luxury… [more]
Hotel union boss scores as political chameleon
One day an adversary and the next an ally, Peter Ward aims to tighten his grip on hotel development in the city
In New York, politics doesn’t just make for strange bedfellows. For the real pros, the rapid shift in partners can put an… [more]
Manhattan’s leasing elite
A ranking of the commercial brokers who clinched the most deals in a healthy but far from stellar market
Mega-office tenants often initiate a hunt for new space even if they plan to stay put. It’s an age-old strategy to gain leverage when it comes time to negotiate a… [more]
Rob Speyer’s heavy lift
The Tishman Speyer CEO has supersized his family’s company, but can he shoulder all the weight?
Rob Speyer — who took a big reputational blow during the last downturn — is doing everything he can to ensure he doesn’t get burned again. “When the inevitable correction comes,… [more]
The East Harlem crossover
As real estate players forecast a major transformation, development in the neighborhood faces several hurdles
East Harlem wears its heritage on its façades. In the heart of El Barrio, a James De La Vega painting at 104th Street and Third Avenue pays tribute to… [more]
The Closing: Robert Merck
The MetLife bigwig on his son’s stint in Afghanistan, powerwatching TV and his $67 billion portfolio
Robert Merck is the global head of real estate for MetLife, one of the largest commercial lenders in the U.S., with a $67 billion real estate and commercial… [more]
A&E takes its spot in the sandbox
The six-year-old multifamily investment firm is now in the same league as longtime industry giants, but is its aggressive strategy going too far?
Douglas Eisenberg, New York City’s fifth-largest residential landlord, insists… [more]
Beware double agents
New rules for residential brokers on both sides of deals in California have raised old issues in NYC
Albany has a clear warning for consumers facing brokers who represent both buyers and sellers on a residential real estate deal. “BE WARY OF DUAL AGENCY,” the New York Department… [more]
I’m too sexy for this … loan?
Strip club landlords don’t have a ton of options when it comes to financing, but it’s not a lost cause
The shopping corridors of Fifth Avenue, Soho and the Meatpacking District are lined with some of the city’s sexiest retailers. But there are tenants in other pockets… [more]
Bronx remains warm, even as NYC market cools
While developers and lenders have grown more conservative and some are pulling back in the borough, lower costs are still buoying investment interest
The South Bronx — a cluster of neighborhoods including Mott … [more]
More of the Javits Center, but not much else
Expansion plans miss an opportunity to integrate the convention center into the Far West Side
In the history of the world, has there ever been an architectural type as uninspired as the convention center? Even the… [more]
The $6 billion question
What would President Trump’s cuts to HUD really mean for New York housing?
During budget hearings in March, Shola Olatoye, chair of the New York City Housing Authority, relayed a sober message to the City Council’s housing committee. New York’s share of the… [more]
Rising rates lure foreign investors to the U.S.
Interest rate disparity draws foreign capital
When the Federal Reserve raised interest rates in March for the second time in three months, it signaled that the nine-year stimulus campaign launched during the financial crisis was nearing… [more]
Staging for the starter apartment
With sales slumping, brokers embrace a high-end strategy
When Corcoran’s Victoria Rei-chelt picked up a two-bedroom co-op listing on the Lower East Side last year, its décor comprised a single chair and a few ugly … [more]
Editor’s note: When every day feels like April Fools’
The truth is stranger than fiction these days. And satire is as hard to come by as getting Obamacare repealed. But in honor of April Fools’ Day, I’d like to… [more]
Features
As the East End gears up for summer 2017, a look at the market’s soft off-season, new high-profile pop-up restaurant and the latest mega trades
The prolific NYC architect on antique knickknacks, Japanese gift giving and turning his office into an art gallery
The head of Mirador on her New Age lifestyle, not eating lunch, and residing in one of her biggest clients' buildings
Real estate pros share picks for books on personal character, Holocaust survivors and Star Wars
