The real estate industry spent millions of dollars trying to prevent Zohran Mamdani from becoming mayor. The effort failed.
Meanwhile, some working in the industry made comparatively modest donations to Mamdani’s campaign.
The latest campaign finance filings show that after the election, some of those donors and others in the industry contributed to the mayor-elect’s transition efforts, giving at least $40,900 between Nov. 5 and Nov. 30. That represents less than 2 percent of the $2.6 million Mamdani took in during that time.
Representatives for Mamdani indicated that donations through Dec. 5, which go beyond the city’s filing period, have reached more than $3 million. The funds, according to the representatives, help pay for staff and operations as Mamdani prepares to take office.
The real estate-related donations include anyone who identified themselves as working in development, construction, architecture, property management or brokerage.
A number of these real estate donors previously gave to Mamdani’s campaign, including Beachwold Residential CEO Gideon Friedman, who donated tens of thousands of dollars to a pro-Mamdani political action committee ahead of the election. Washington, D.C.,-area developer Joseph Kaempfer, developer Craig Harwood and LCOR’s David Sigman all contributed to Mamdani’s campaign ahead of the general election and also donated to transition efforts.
Friedman and Kaempfer each gave $3,700, while Harwood gave $2,000 and Sigman $250.
Albany-based developer Faraz Khan and New Jersey investor Mustafa Ladha each contributed $3,700.
JRT Realty’s Jodi Pulice, who donated $400 to former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s mayoral campaign before the primary, contributed $2,000 to Mamdani’s transition. JRT previously worked as a subcontractor on the city’s commercial leases, which became the subject of a legal fight this year.
In May, the Department of Citywide Administrative Services issued a request for proposals seeking up to five brokerages to represent the agency on leasing and buying office properties.
Two weeks ago, Mamani named 24 people to his transition committee on housing. Members hailed from housing organizations, unions, Yimby groups, tenant groups and private real estate companies. We don’t yet know who the mayor-elect will tap to lead the city’s housing-related agencies.
What we’re thinking about: Who would you like to see lead the Department of Housing Preservation and Development? City Planning? The Department of Buildings? Send a note to kathryn@therealdeal.com
A thing we’ve learned: Housing groups warn that four bills that set various requirements for city-funded housing would increase the Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s budget needs by $545 million per year. In a letter to City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and Council member Rafael Salamanca, who chairs the Committee on Land Use, the New York Housing Conference, Citizens Housing and Planning Council and others urged against passing Intros. 958, 1433, 1437 and 1443. Three of the bills set citywide minimum percentages for city-funded housing, creating floors for the amount of homes affordable to extremely and very low-income tenants, two- and three-bedroom units and homeownership units. Another caps the percentage of studio apartments built in senior housing projects.
The housing groups argue that those measures, along with a separate bill that would set minimum construction wages on certain city-funded projects, would increase HPD’s budget needs by $1.3 billion. Supporters of the wage bill, known as the Construction Justice Act, have objected to estimates of that bill’s cost, saying that they grossly overshoot the potential added cost.
The clock is ticking for all of these bills, as the last City Council meeting of the year is slated for Dec. 18.
Elsewhere in New York…
— Port Authority police captured a horse at the entrance to JFK’s Terminal 1 on Sunday night, after receiving reports that the runaway animal was seen on the JFK Expressway, Gothamist reports. The equine, known as Sundance, had escaped from Curly’s Cowboy Center in Southeast Queens, located less than a mile from the airport.
— Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and his wife, Rama, will move into Gracie Mansion next month. “This decision came down to our family’s safety and the importance of dedicating all of my focus on enacting the affordability agenda New Yorkers voted for,” Mamdani said in a statement on Monday.
Closing Time
Residential: The top residential deal recorded Monday was $21 million for a condominium unit at 70 Vestry Street. The Tribeca condo unit is 3,200 square feet and last sold in 2023 for $15.5 million. Compass’ Jared Schwadron has the listing.
Commercial: The top commercial deal recorded was $488.4 million for 35 Hudson Yards. Related Companies and Oxford Properties sold a 38-story portion, which includes retail, office and hospitality space, to Japan’s Mori Trust, per reports.
New to the Market: The highest price for a residential property hitting the market was $10.8 million for a condo unit at 1165 Madison Avenue. The 2,700-square-foot condo at The Bellemont last sold in 2023 for $8.8 million. Compass’ Dane Gray and Caleb Loftus have the listing.
Breaking Ground: The largest new building permit filed was for a proposed 92,273-square-foot, nine-story mixed-use building at 1383 Brooklyn Avenue in East Flatbush. Claudia Goudas of EQ Architecture is the applicant of record.
— Joseph Jungermann