The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Tom Brokaw lists 56-acre Westchester estate for $6.3M

Posted: 12 Jun 2018 04:45 PM PDT

Beleaguered newscaster Tom Brokaw’s 56-acre estate in Pound Ridge, N.Y., has hit the market, asking $6.3 million. The family compound, which sits on the edge of a private lake, includes a 4,000-square-foot main house, plus a pool house and caretaker’s cottage. The NBC legend — who was accused in April of sexually harassing two women — bought the estate at 43 South Bedford Road his wife, Meredith Auld, for around $4.25 million in 1998, according […]

Revealed: Condo project on East Village gas explosion site

Posted: 12 Jun 2018 03:35 PM PDT

The first set of renderings are out for the condominium project at the site of a 2015 gas explosion in the East Village. Morris Adjmi Architects is designing the seven-story building at 119-121 Second Avenue, according to EV Grieve. Developer Nexus Building Development Group’s project will have 21 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments and a retail space. Amenities will include a fitness room, a common terrace and an outdoor recreation space. The developer purchased the […]

Vornado, Stellar land $675M refi for Independence Plaza

Posted: 12 Jun 2018 03:12 PM PDT

Vornado Realty Trust and Larry Gluck’s Stellar Management refinanced their Tribeca rental tower Independence Plaza with a $675 million mortgage from an unnamed lender, Vornado announced Tuesday. The seven-year loan has a fixed interest rate of 4.25 percent, according to the press release. Gluck bought the 1,327-unit tower at 80 North Moore Street in 2003, borrowing $575 million to turn the property into luxury rentals. By early 2011, the debt had fallen out of balance, […]

Hamptons Cheat Sheet: Vichinsky brothers reign supreme in ranking of East End’s top brokers … & more

Posted: 12 Jun 2018 01:15 PM PDT

Vichinsky brothers again rank first in TRD’s annual list of East End’s top brokers Zachary and Cody Vichinsky of Bespoke Realty secured the number one spot on TRD’s annual list of East End’s top brokers for the second year in a row, pulling in $247 million in sales between April 2017 and March 2018. The brothers said they committed themselves to pitching homes to the wealthiest clients, but are also benefiting from an improving market […]

Blackstone triples fundraising goal for REIT

Posted: 12 Jun 2018 12:45 PM PDT

Blackstone Group is tripling its fundraising goal for the real estate investment trust it started last year. The company said in its initial filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it planned to raise $5 billion for Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust but now says it will raise an additional $10 billion on top of this, according to the Wall Street Journal. The change is due to how quickly the REIT has been […]

RXR and Walton Street Capital now want to sell 237 Park in full

Posted: 12 Jun 2018 12:15 PM PDT

As the city’s investment-sales market slowed to a crawl last year, Walton Street Capital attempted to sell its 49 percent stake in one of Midtown’s trophy buildings, 237 Park Avenue. After a few months passed without a deal, the Chicago-based private equity firm took it off the market, and, along with partner RXR Realty, opted for a refinancing of $850 million. The move proved to be one of the prime examples last year of owners […]

Park Slope becomes one of NYC’s priciest nabes and more of the biggest trends in resi right now

Posted: 12 Jun 2018 11:45 AM PDT

Home sales value and volume tumble New York’s residential market is still grappling with a hangover as the city saw year-over-year declines in total sales for the third consecutive quarter. Total transaction value citywide dipped 16 percent, to $10.3 billion, in 2018’s first quarter, according to the Real Estate Board of New York’s Residential Sales Report. That marks the largest annual drop since the third quarter of 2009. Home sales volume also shrank, by 10 […]

Madison’s 561-unit Queens resi complex rejected by community board

Posted: 12 Jun 2018 11:02 AM PDT

Madison Realty Capital’s vision for a large residential complex in Woodside, Queens suffered a setback Monday when Community Board 2 rejected the developer’s bid for a zoning variance. The advisory vote follows Council Member Robert Holden saying he wouldn’t support the rezoning, according to the Sunnyside Post. The vote rejected a zoning variance that would allow for two buildings — of 17 stories and 14 stories — at 69-02 Queens Boulevard. Current rules allow developers […]

Prepare your inboxes for The Real Deal’s national real estate news roundup

Posted: 12 Jun 2018 10:25 AM PDT

The Real Deal’s National Weekly Roundup features the top real estate news from the biggest cities in the U.S. The newsletter includes a must-have mix of market analysis, breaking deal news, inside info on what’s happening on the brokerages scenes across the U.S. and much more. Sign up here to join 200,000 subscribers, including residential and commercial brokers, developers, lenders, general contractors, architects and other industry professionals. Please note: If you are using a company […]

Larry Gluck’s Stellar buying another Hamilton Heights building

Posted: 12 Jun 2018 09:53 AM PDT

Larry Gluck’s Stellar Management is purchasing another rental building in Hamilton Heights for $26.5 million, sources told The Real Deal. Stellar is in contract to acquire the building at 3430 Broadway, near West 140th Street. The property contains 57 apartments, along with 5,500 square feet of retail, according to property records. The six-story building spans 73,000 square feet overall, putting the purchase price at about $364 per square foot and about $465,000 per door. The owner […]

Developer planning a 105-unit resi building in Flatbush

Posted: 12 Jun 2018 09:24 AM PDT

Developer Anshel Friedman is planning to construct a mixed-use building in Flatbush with 105 units. The building will stand seven stories tall at 2708 Snyder Avenue, according to plans filed Tuesday with the Department of Buildings. The project will span about 93,000 square feet overall, split between 71,800 square feet of residential space, 13,500 square feet of community space and 7,800 square feet of commercial space. It will replace a two-story community facility. Friedman did […]

Jet.com founder revealed as buyer of $44M penthouse at 443 Greenwich

Posted: 12 Jun 2018 08:54 AM PDT

Jet.com founder Marc Lore has been outed as the buyer of a $43.79 million penthouse at 443 Greenwich Street in Tribeca. The tech entrepreneur, who now heads U.S. e-commerce at Walmart, bought Penthouse A through an LLC and closed on the deal in April, the Wall Street Journal reported. The unit’s gross square footage spans 8,569 square feet, and the apartment features five bedrooms and its own private outdoor pool. The unit had been listed […]

Garment District rezoning process kicks off: What it means for landlords

Posted: 12 Jun 2018 08:00 AM PDT

The Department of City Planning on Monday kicked off the months-long process to change zoning rules in the Garment District. The agency certified a text amendment that will lift a 1987 zoning restriction in certain parts of the neighborhood. This marks the first step in the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP), which will take several months and culminate in a vote by the City Council. Earlier this month, the city revealed revised plans to […]

The Israeli debt game is getting crowded. Here’s a look inside the battle to win US real estate business

Posted: 12 Jun 2018 07:33 AM PDT

In 2014, Adam Mermelstein and Azi Mandel caught wind of a novel way to score cheap financing: they could issue millions of dollars worth of bonds on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange at far better rates than they would get from stateside lenders. “It’s made out to seem like a walk in the park,” said Mandel, co-founder of New York-based Treetop Development with Mermelstein. “You open the treasure chest and money comes pouring out.” The […]

Parks Department trying to avoid mowing lawn at new development

Posted: 12 Jun 2018 07:02 AM PDT

The Parks Department is alright with managing the green space in Greenpoint Landing, just as long as this doesn’t include mowing the lawn. Greenpoint Landing Associates, an affiliate of Park Tower Group and L+M Development Partners, is planning to build a waterfront park spanning 20,000 square feet as part of the massive Greenpoint Landing project. However, the developer wants the city to waive requirements saying the park needs to have grass due to a “parks […]

Virtual real estate can set you back $200K

Posted: 12 Jun 2018 06:48 AM PDT

A plot of land in Genesis City can go for as much as $200,000 — though interested buyers will need virtual-reality headsets to visit it. The blockchain-based real estate is made of 90,000 digital plots, Bloomberg reported. Not much is built in this high-stakes “SimCity,” though the Washington, D.C.-sized world is already divided into themed neighborhoods, including one inspired by “Blade Runner” and Las Vegas. There’s also, of course, a red-light district. Genesis City was […]

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump report $82M in outside income

Posted: 12 Jun 2018 06:12 AM PDT

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump reported at least $82 million in outside income while working as unpaid advisors to President Trump. This included $3.9 million that Ivanka made from her father’s investment in the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. last year, Bloomberg reported. She also received $2 million in severance from the Trump Organization, according to financial disclosure reports released by the White House on Tuesday. The New York Times reported that Ivanka and […]

Sam Zell apologizes for “p— on the block” comment about women

Posted: 12 Jun 2018 05:06 AM PDT

Sam Zell has apologized for using a vulgarity to describe women in the workforce during a discussion about gender diversity and the #MeToo movement last week. The chairman of Equity Group Investments spoke at the REITweek investor conference, and made headlines after a discussion with Steven Wechsler, CEO of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts, took a turn. After saying that he promoted women based on merit, Zell added: “I don’t think there’s […]

Here’s a look at the 5 leading candidates for New York AG

Posted: 12 Jun 2018 04:30 AM PDT

The city’s real estate industry has plenty at stake in November’s election for the next New York attorney general. On top of serving as the state’s chief legal officer, the AG greenlights the development and sale of condos and co-ops throughout the five boroughs. “It’s about striking the right balance in understanding what New York needs” when it comes to housing supply, said Mitchell Korbey, a partner at Herrick Feinstein. Erica Buckley, former chief of […]

New York has fined and suspended dozens of real estate agents. Here’s why consumers are left in the dark

Posted: 12 Jun 2018 04:00 AM PDT

Like many New Yorkers who have had bad experiences with real estate agents, Tanya Mejia took to Yelp in September 2014 to give brokerage Chrome Residential a one-star review. “Not only are these guys unprofessional, but they are crooks,” she wrote. “Do yourself a favor and stay clear of this company.” To retrieve a $2,000 security deposit from her broker, she then went to Small Claims Court and obtained a judgment against Chrome, which the […]