The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Brooklyn’s most active developer takes tumble in Israel

Posted: 20 Jul 2018 03:00 PM PDT

Boaz Gilad’s Brookland Capital had a rough week in Tel Aviv. Over the course of two days, the company’s bonds on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange lost 15 percent of their value, tanking into junk-bond territory. The price fell on Monday, nosedived on Tuesday, and ended the week with a loss of 8.6 percent. “It’s the cost of being a public company and has nothing to do with the strength of our company,” Gilad told […]

Flag Luxury lands $250M for NoMad Ritz-Carlton hotel

Posted: 20 Jul 2018 02:33 PM PDT

Paul Kanavos’ Flag Luxury Group landed a $250 million loan for a planned Ritz-Carlton hotel in NoMad. The building will be constructed on two adjacent parcels with the addresses 1185 Broadway and 29 West 28th Street. Flag Luxury filed permits for the property in 2016, with plans calling for a 164,400-square-foot building with 145 rooms. Construction is currently underway. The latest Department of Buildings filings for the building are for the installation of underground plumbing […]

Thor gives up ownership of UES building

Posted: 20 Jul 2018 02:00 PM PDT

Thor Equities has relinquished its ownership of 1231 Third Avenue, giving control of the building to SL Green Realty. The real estate investment trust had held a mezzanine loan against the building, although it was unclear how large this loan was and how long Thor had been in default on it, sources told Crain’s. SL Green also holds debt against Thor’s retail buildings at 597 and 590 Fifth Avenue. Thor had purchased the building at […]

At the desk of: James Davidson

Posted: 20 Jul 2018 01:30 PM PDT

James Davidson, 68, is a partner at SLCE Architects’ New York and London offices. The firm ranked as the city’s most prolific architect over the past five years, having worked on nearly 20.7 million square feet of new buildings, a March analysis by The Real Deal showed. SLCE often serves as an executive architect on projects designed by so-called starchitects — including Bjarke Ingels, Norman Foster and Robert A.M. Stern — but two-thirds of its […]

Real estate represents 17% of America’s GDP so SoftBank is planning accordingly

Posted: 20 Jul 2018 01:00 PM PDT

SoftBank doesn’t want to be called a kingmaker. At best, the Japanese telecommunications giant sees itself as a prince-maker that is using its $100 billion Vision Fund to back companies like WeWork, Compass, Katerra and others. But since real estate represents 17 percent of America’s GDP, SoftBank is planning accordingly, with an investment strategy that could be “at least somewhere around that size and scale,” according to Justin Wilson, an operating partner at the company. […]

Mark your calendars: These are New York’s top real estate events next week

Posted: 20 Jul 2018 12:30 PM PDT

There will be two new real estate events in New York City next week. On July 24, AmTrust Title is hosting its NYC Real Estate Forum from 8:30 a.m. to noon at CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue. Attend and discuss the residential real estate community. Ben Brash of Amirian Group, Jordan Shea of Douglas Elliman, Lior Aldad of Aldad and Aldad & Associates, Matthew Stenta of Popular Bank, Jacques Cohen of Compass, among others, […]

WeWork gets into the brokerage business

Posted: 20 Jul 2018 12:00 PM PDT

A year after launching a real estate investment fund, WeWork is launching a real estate advisory business that offers brokerage services. On Friday, the coworking company announced that it is piloting WeWork Space Services, which will represent companies and help them find office space outside of WeWork’s locations. Jason Bauer, who previously co-founded the brokerage Voda Bauer Real Estate, will head the venture. He is starting off with three agents, but hopes to grow that […]

Fundrise launches $500M Opportunity Zones fund

Posted: 20 Jul 2018 11:30 AM PDT

A crowdfunding startup is launching a $500 million investment fund to focus on developments in distressed areas that the federal government has made eligible for generous tax break. Washington, D.C.-based Fundrise plans to start its Fundrise Opportunity Fund next week. It wants to raise its target amount by the end of 2019, according to Bloomberg. The company specializes in small investments, with the minimum investment for the fund set at $10,000. The fund will target […]

Town sues entities tied to New Empire over unpaid fees at Turtle Bay condo

Posted: 20 Jul 2018 11:00 AM PDT

Town New Development is suing entities tied to New Empire Real Estate Development, claiming Bentley Zhao’s firm stiffed the brokerage out of $210,000 in consulting fees and a $2.2 million termination fee. The breach-of-contract suit, filed Thursday, is connected to Town’s work on 131 East 47th Street, where New Empire is planning a 122-unit condominium tower. According to court documents, Town is seeking money owed plus $5.45 million in damages. Town’s 2016 sales exclusive with […]

Qatari firm lands $290M loan for Times Square hotel

Posted: 20 Jul 2018 10:34 AM PDT

A company controlled by Qatar’s ruling family landed a $290 million loan for the 689-key Manhattan at Times Square hotel. The firm, Al Rayyan Tourism Investment Company (ARTIC), is a subsidiary of Al Faisal Holdings, which is operated by the ruling Al Thani family. The company acquired a 97 percent stake in the building for $535 million in 2015. At the time of the purchase, the company was rumored to be eyeing a full demolition […]

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

Posted: 20 Jul 2018 10:05 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 […]

Minrav Development aims for $57M in sales at Yorkville condo

Posted: 20 Jul 2018 09:30 AM PDT

Yehuda Mor and Lior Carucci’s Minrav Development is looking to sell 21 condominium apartments for a total of $57 million at 427 East 90th Street in Yorkville, an offering plan filed this month with the New York State Attorney General’s office shows. The Israel-based development company first filed building permit applications to replace a limousine garage with apartments in 2017. Isaac Stern & Architects is designing. The $57 million projected sell out means apartments will […]

Cushman plans to raise $750M with IPO

Posted: 20 Jul 2018 09:05 AM PDT

Cushman & Wakefield plans to raise $750 million through its initial public offering at a valuation of $6 billion, including debt. The global brokerage expects to set its pricing range on Monday and start its roadshow, people familiar with the company’s plans told the Wall Street Journal. The pricing is expected to set Cushman’s market capitalization somewhere between $3 billion and $4 billion. Cushman last month filed the preliminary prospectus for its IPO, revealing that […]

Behind Brookfield’s development tear

Posted: 20 Jul 2018 08:30 AM PDT

Brookfield Property Partners develops all over the world, but earlier this year the company found a new corner of its sandbox to play in. The Canadian giant signed a contract in April to buy a sprawling, seven-building development site in Mott Haven for $165 million. The 1.3 million-square-foot, 1,300-unit megaproject — assembled by Keith Rubenstein’s Somerset Partners and the Chetrit Group — is one of the most ambitious developments the Bronx has ever seen. The […]

Could baby boomers spur a housing bust?

Posted: 20 Jul 2018 08:00 AM PDT

Will baby boomers turn into party poopers when they unload their homes in large numbers starting in the next decade? Could they create an indigestible oversupply in the market that lowers home prices and frustrates sales? That’s a sobering scenario outlined by two new, provocative studies. One, from Fannie Mae’s Economic and Strategic Research group, warns that the “beginning of a mass exodus looms on the horizon,” where “homeownership demand from younger generations is insufficient […]

The battle for Flatiron: The Office Group and WeWork are facing off at the iconic building

Posted: 20 Jul 2018 07:30 AM PDT

The Flatiron Building, one of New York City’s oldest and most iconic skyscrapers, is available for leasing, and two of the world’s largest flexible-office companies are bidding to move in. WeWork and London-based The Office Group will go head-to-head in their advance on the 180,000-square-foot building, which would serve as an enticing location for co-working spaces. The negotiations with building owner Sorgente Group were first reported by the Financial Times. A move to the Flatiron […]

Is Manhattan’s commercial property sales slump over?

Posted: 20 Jul 2018 07:00 AM PDT

It appears Manhattan commercial property sales are emerging from a two-year slump. More than $22.5 billion in sales of office towers and apartment complexes were sold in the first half of 2018, a 34 percent increase on the same time the previous year, according to Bloomberg. Citing a recent Cushman & Wakefield report, the outlet stated the sales figure is still far short of an early-2015 high of $38 billion. The two-year low is believed […]

De Blasio administration announces affordable housing record — again

Posted: 20 Jul 2018 06:15 AM PDT

The city financed the construction and preservation of a record 32,116 affordable housing units last year, surpassing a previous record from nearly three decades ago. It was the second time the administration had announced the record, the first time being in January, when it cited a lower figure of 24,500 units. Of the updated number, more than two-thirds were preservation deals that renegotiated contracts with landlords to grant low-cost financing in exchange for rent caps, […]

National Cheat Sheet: Compass to license its tech, WeWork goes vegetarian … & more

Posted: 20 Jul 2018 05:45 AM PDT

Non-core market real estate firms can now license Compass’ technology Compass has started to offer its technology to other real estate firms, starting with Leading Edge Real Estate Group, which has two offices in Massachusetts. Firms that secure a deal with Compass will be able to use the brokerage’s search and marketing tools, among other services. But right now, Compass is only licensing its tech to firms in non-core markets. “This new venture … provides […]

Covert poaching operations

Posted: 20 Jul 2018 05:00 AM PDT

Richard Steinberg, a longtime Warburg agent who recently defected to Douglas Elliman , was on vacation in Jamaica when he finally decided it was time to make a professional move. “I was at a bar and I had a few drinks and I said to my wife, ‘First thing on Monday I’m calling my friend at Douglas Elliman and asking for a meeting,’” recalled Steinberg. When Steinberg did call his friend — a longtime golf […]

Will the Gowanus rezoning be what developers hoped?

Posted: 20 Jul 2018 04:30 AM PDT

Rezoning Gowanus has been on the agenda of developers and politicians alike for a decade. As a result, investors have paid what many saw as speculative prices for land up for rezoning. And one-third of the 130 properties along the coveted, albeit polluted, Gowanus Canal have traded hands over the past decade, according to a study by DNAinfo last year. Although rezoning efforts are still in a nascent stage, prices keep climbing. For example, Kushner […]

I played Ryan Serhant’s new game over the last 48 hours so you don’t have to

Posted: 20 Jul 2018 04:00 AM PDT

“Million Dollar Listing New York” star and top broker Ryan Serhant called me into his office, handed me money and told me if I want to be successful, I had better buy new clothes. Then he told me to get a haircut. This was my first day in the world of “Agent Empire: New York,” a new mobile game where charm, personal appearance and a full stomach can — hypothetically — set you on the […]