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
Donald Trump (Credit: Getty Images)
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 for an investigation into alleged hush money. [NYT]
Amazon is getting into home entry. The retail giant invested an undisclosed sum in SmartRent, a two-year-old startup that provides keyless entry and other automation devices to owners of multifamily properties. The firm raised $32 million in June. [CO]
Cases to challenge tenant residency have declined since June (Credit: iStock)
Landlords back off “absentee” tenants. The new rent law has dissuaded building owners from enforcing a requirement that tenants use their rent-stabilized homes as their primary residence. Landlords who evicted these tenants previously could raise rents 20 percent and potentially much more, but the reform passed in June removed this incentive. [TRD]
More LinkedIn space, new observatory at the Empire State Building. The professional networking social media firm is taking an additional 188,653-square-feet in the 2.8 million-square-foot building, bringing its total footprint to 501,600-square-feet. The building is also opening a new observatory on the 102nd floor Saturday. [NYP, NYP]
Rental brokerage Nooklyn slashes agent commissions, delays payments. The Brooklyn-based firm responded to the new rent law by cutting rental application fees by 90 percent and changing how it pays brokers, some of whom are furious at the news. [TRD]
Singapore backs Blackstone’s $8.5 billion industrial portfolio buy. GIC, one of the country’s sovereign wealth funds, provided a $1 billion mezzanine loan to back the acquisition, which Blackstone made from Singaporean firm GLP. [CO]
The MTA will spend $5.5 billion for elevators at 70 stations. Transit advocates cheer the planned improvements to New York’s notoriously inaccessible transit system, but the high cost has prompted criticism. [NYT]
Brooklyn landlord must credit thousands of dollars to tenants. The New York attorney general announced that Coastline Real Estate Advisors would disburse $6,500 of rent credit to each of 82 rent-stabilized tenants who were harassed at four buildings. At one building a ceiling collapsed. [Bklyner]
Compiled by David Jeans