Real estate crowdfunding platforms are growing at a dizzying pace. Observers estimate that there are now well over a hundred crowdfunding platforms — websites that raise money for development projects from everyday investors— that are based in the U.S. and specialize in real estate. “When we first had industry meetings three years ago, real estate wasn’t even on the horizon,” said Richard Swart, a research scholar at UC Berkeley’s Haas… [more]
July 2015 Issue
Crowd favorites
NYC’s prominent crowdfunders are upending the status quo — and more changes are coming down the pike
Manhattan’s top agents benefit from fame, rising prices and personal branding
Ranking residential royalty
In the high-stakes world of Manhattan real estate, agents tend to fall into two camps — those brokering sales in glitzy new condo buildings and those dealing in resale units,… [more]
In the Hamptons: Big rents, bigger personalities
The dentist to the stars and other colorful characters looking to rent their homes for mega amounts
Celebrity doctors. Notorious lawyers. Philanthropists. Hedge funders. And, of course, real estate players. … [more]
Rodrigo Niño: Above the crowd
How Prodigy Network became New York’s most activecrowdfunding firm
Rodrigo Niño doesn’t quite fit in with his fellow crowdfunding entrepreneurs. At 45, he is older than most of his peers. And in a brazen defiance of the standard… [more]
Crowdfunding without the crowd
As small-time investors get pushed to the sidelines, the sector is looking less like the promised populist revolution
These are exciting times for Fundrise, the Washington, D.C.-based crowdfunding platform. After spending the bulk of its five years financing small-scale projects, the firm is currently working on its biggest… [more]
Crowdfunding: A short history
Tapping small-time investors is nothing new — it’s older than the Statue of Liberty
In the summer of 1885, readers of the New York World saw an unusual offering on the newspaper’s front page: its publisher, Joseph Pulitzer, asked them to donate a small… [more]
Chinese chess
Fast-growing Chinese firms are poaching top talent and assembling NYC teams from the ground up
The adage “all real estate is local” takes on new meaning when it’s uttered half a world away. As Chinese developers and investment firms ramp up their activity in New York City… [more]
The Israeli bond boom
NYC developers increasingly turn to land of milk and honey for low-interest capital
The $361 million the Moinian Group raised through a bond offering on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in May was the greatest confirmation of a growing trend … [more]
The Closing: Ron Moelis
The affordable housing developer on his most crucial life decision and not being a 'glamour guy'
Ron Moelis is CEO and chairman of L+M Development Partners, which he co-founded in 1984. L+M has been responsible for $4 billion worth of real estate development, construction and investment…. [more]
Banks takes baton
New REBNY chief takes over with key issues hanging in the balance
Steven Spinola’s departure at the end of last month as the president of the Real Estate Board of New York came at an awkward time for the industry — and for his replacement, John Banks. The changeover has, of course, been a long… [more]
Brooklyn: ‘Like a desert with no cactus’
Despite strong demand for condos, the pipeline in the borough is pumping out more rentals
Condo buyers in Brooklyn are in for a rude awakening for the next few years. While there are plenty of new development rentals to choose from, the pipeline of for… [more]
Residential market report: Buyers gain strength
Leverage shifts in upper price range as Manhattan inventory ticks up
For the better part of two years, sellers have dominated Manhattan’s residential market, while buyers clamored over limited and in some cases, nonexistent, … [more]
Can One Vanderbilt be a Midtown East catalyst?
Rezoning could spark new era of office construction near Grand Central
Manhattan office vacancies are low and prices keep rising. But while the fast-growing technology and media sectors colonize Midtown South, and new construction at the World Trade Center and Hudson… [more]
Flat, not crowded and very hot on 59th Street
Soo Chan’s latest synthesizes design ideas on the edge of Midtown
The little stretch of Manhattan along 59th Street from Park to Lexington is covered in scaffolding from three distinct projects. Two of these involve the recladding or restoring existing buildings…. [more]
The $10 billion question
Can office-sharing star WeWork, called a 'unicorn' in Silicon Valley for its skyrocketing mega valuation, survive a downturn?
When news broke in November that the shared-office provider WeWork raised $150 million from a number of high-profile investors, including Boston… [more]
Is 421a here to stay?
Short-term deal has industry gearing up for next round of negotiations
Out of a seemingly perfect storm of gridlock, an incomplete, last-minute deal on rent regulations and the 421a tax abatement program emerged in Albany late last month. But a key… [more]
Setting up shop
How retailers from H&M to Coach make key NYC expansion decisions
There is no area of the city immune to the transformative power of retail. Any up-and-coming neighborhood with a new hip coffee shop speaks to that. But those retail locations… [more]
JLL’s big Manhattan surge
The commercial firm won more office-leasing gigs from landlords in the last year than any of its rivals
JLL won significantly more new Manhattan office-leasing assignments than any of its rivals over the past year. The commercial firm snagged more than three times as much office space as… [more]
Insiders provide a guide to the real estate marketplace
National Association of Realtors study arms sellers and buyers with key information
When the country’s largest real estate trade group bares some of its innermost worries, should homeowners, sellers and buyers pay attention? They will, if they want… [more]
Editor’s note: The race to not build NYC’s tallest building
New York City developers are known for constructing tall buildings as a testament to their egos. But in the current skyline race, developers are going out of their way not… [more]
Hot in the Hamptons
A look at the priciest home sales in five of the South Fork’s best-known towns
As the summer kicks into full gear, the residential market on Long Island’s East End continues to enjoy relatively robust prices, thanks to both the economy and the continued low… [more]
The Hamptons’ top luxury real estate agents
A ranking of the area’s biggest dealmakers by volume of listings
Like the constant flicker emitted from the Montauk Point Lighthouse, there are some things one can always depend on in the East End. Among these articles of faith… [more]
McMansion king goes big again
Hamptons developer Joe Farrell ramps up big-ticket homes after recession slowdown, but land shortage could crimp operations
Joe Farrell is back — back, that is, to building the super-sized, deluxe… [more]
Rental market didn’t meet the hype
Million-dollar pads sit empty as more people choose to buy in the Hamptons
After all the hype around record rental pricing in the Hamptons at the beginning of the season, some property owners who were hoping to bring in the big bucks for… [more]
A barn raising
East End builders are reinterpreting traditional forms in modern style
Mark Zeff spent a long six months negotiating the purchase of a cottage for himself near Gardiners Bay in East Hampton before the deal fell apart in 2013. So the owner of what was then an… [more]
Skyrocketing land prices rock East End
Dearth of available space makes for record demolitions as builders look for vacant property
There’s a new kind of home advertising in the Hamptons that doesn’t have sparkling adjectives and lush photos beckoning buyers. Instead the ads… [more]
Sag Harbor’s star turn comes of age
Luxury condos, restaurants and trendy new retail move into the once-sleepy village as some residents look to slow development
Getting a room at the much-awaited Baron’s Cove luxury waterfront resort in Sag Harbor may not be easy this summer. … [more]
Crowdfunding craze hits the Hamptons
After initial success in Westhampton, investors appear ready for more
Crowdfunding may have arrived in the Hamptons just a year ago, but its initial success has participants ready for more. After selling a $2.7 million bayfront house in West Hampton… [more]
Greenport gets its groove on
North Fork village attracts more trendy retailers, but most name-brand stores stay away
Heidi Kelso, a TV producer from Manhattan, opened her boutique Lido as a side business in Greenport in 2012. Selling a mix of resort wear, jewelry and home furnishings, Kelso, a first-time retailer, … [more]
Starchitects of the East End
Hamptons-based firm Bates + Masi rack up awards and say market is busier than ever
Award-winning minimalist architects Harry Bates and Paul Masi have designed dozens of homes on the East End of Long Island, where they both live. Their work — which includes Quail… [more]
East End celebrity moves
Hollywood stars, business execs and the media elite are buying and unloading pricey property, including a $140 million Georgica Pond estate
The Hamptons real estate market heated up over the past year with a listing of one of the most expensive properties ever to come to market in the wealthy, star-studded… [more]
Around Long Island
A look at the residential real estate markets in noteworthy towns outside the Hamptons
Perhaps best-known as the setting for Gatsby’s mansion in “The Great Gatsby,” Great Neck commonly refers to a bedroom community of nine villages and several unincorporated communities…. [more]
Editor’s Note
It’s the Hamptons, so the sun is shining, the waves are beckoning — and the ceiling on home prices can often seem as limitless as those blue, blue skies. In the inaugural issue of our Hamptons Market Report, we feature a town-by-town breakdown of the area’s most expensive sales,
… [more]
Supplement
Features
Developers to see boon as upgrades to NYC’s airports lurch slowly forward
The boutique developer on Nascar, marrying a model and his rooftop commute
The Sotheby’s CEO on dreams of being a spy, jet setting around the world and the Green Bay Packers
Insights from the desks of Victoria Rong Kennedy, Robert Dankner and Gregory Cola
New development is moving in, helping to change the neighborhood’s population
Featured News
Comings and Goings
Colliers International named Robert Taylor as senior managing director focused on corporate real estate services and tenant representation. He was previously a managing director at SRS Real Estate Partners. Colliers… [more]
We Heard
Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s announcement of a deal with legislators to extend the 421a tax abatement was greeted with this tweet from @LeonardLitwin: “So where’s the partay? Looking for an impromptu… [more]
The recent purchase of a swanky New York City condo in the name of Queen Elizabeth II got some members of the New Zealand government in a tizzy. An apartment… [more]
Where else but chashama’s annual gala might you see Douglas Durst don a technicolor dream jacket? The 20th anniversary event to raise money for the organization founded by Durst’s daughter, Anita,… [more]