Blackstone raises $10.9B for real estate
The Blackstone Group, the private equity firm, has closed a real estate opportunity fund with total capital commitments of $10.9 billion. The company said the fund, Blackstone Real Estate Partners VI, was the largest real estate fund it ever raised. Blackstone has previously invested in real estate owned by Equity Office Properties, Hilton Hotels Corp. and Wyndham Hotels.
Ex-Property Shark CEO launches new Web venture
Ryan Slack has left his job as CEO of PropertyShark.com, the Brooklyn-based online property Web site, to start a new online networking venture for real estate professionals. The new company, MyDealBook.com, will hold an official launch party this month in New York, and Slack plans to expand it to other big U.S. cities and then overseas. The new venture was formed originally as a subsidiary of PropertyShark.com, but is now an independent entity. Slack said funding will come from his own finances.
Marketing company moving HQ from Miami to NYC
The exclusive sales and marketing agent for Trump Soho Hotel Condominium is soon opening its first New York City office. By June, Prodigy International, which is also co-marketing Andre Balazs’ William Beaver House, is moving its Miami headquarters to a second-floor, loft-style office at 72 Greene Street in Manhattan.
Sotheby’s expanding in Europe
Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates said it entered licensing agreements to expand in Germany, Italy and four other European markets as part of a plan to grow its overseas real estate business. The agreements come at a critical time for the Parsippany, N.J.-based Sotheby’s International, a division of Realogy Corp., as the weak U.S. dollar and tight credit in the U.S. real estate market is forcing brokers to look overseas for new buyers. The agreements call for 25-year licensing deals in Hamburg and Westphalia, Germany; Venice, Italy; Greece; the Czech Republic; and Slovakia.
New Wiki site wants to wikify real estate
A new Wiki Web site aims to be the Wikipedia of residential real estate and hopes that brokers who use it won’t be too self-promotional. As of early last month, 157 New York agent profiles were listed on the Real Estate Wiki site, www.realestatewiki.com. The nonprofit launched in January and features thousands of entries, ranging from broker listings to frequently asked questions and definitions of real estate terms. Real Estate Wiki, founded by about 20 real estate professionals, is divided into two categories: one for consumers and one for the pros. It functions like Wikipedia, where anyone can post and edit entries.
Trulia teams with Google StreetView
Trulia’s property search engine began offering a street-level view function provided through Google maps. Google’s StreetView images can be used to view additional details of a property and the surrounding neighborhood. The Google feature is available in more than 30 U.S. cities, including all of Manhattan, Brooklyn’s downtown and major streets, and major streets in Queens and the Bronx. Real-time updates to the images are being made as more locations are included, Trulia said in a statement.
Goldman teams up with developer on $100M investment fund
Goldman Sachs is teaming up with L&M Development Partners and launching a $100 million urban investment fund aimed at mixed-income housing and other projects in New York and other U.S. cities. Goldman’s Urban Investment Group has worked with Westchester-based L&M in the past on New York projects, including the Aspen, a mixed-income apartment building in East Harlem, and the Kalahari, a new 249-unit luxury condominium on 116th Street.