The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

The Newmark-RKF deal still hasn’t closed. Here’s why

Posted: 15 Aug 2018 03:30 PM PDT

Newmark Knight Frank didn’t finalize its purchase of RKF on the expected closing date of July 1 because the latter couldn’t get the required 85 percent of its brokers and agents to sign contracts. RKF brokers balked at Newmark’s policy requiring that a percentage of commissions be paid out in company stock, Commercial Observer reported. Newmark awards brokers 10 percent of commissions through restricted equity units, but that is a problem for the bulk of […]

Reverse psychology? Prices raised at 111 West 57th ahead of sales launch

Posted: 15 Aug 2018 03:00 PM PDT

The luxury market may be limping along, but the developers of 111 West 57th Street are raising prices. The markup affects a dozen apartments in the Steinway part the supertall condominium, according to an amendment to the offering plan filed with the New York Attorney General’s office recently obtained by The Real Deal. The 60-unit project is comprised of the landmarked building that was home to Steinway’s piano showroom and an ultra-skinny tower designed by […]

Westchester & Fairfield Cheat Sheet: $100M assisted living and health center hybrid facility planned for Norwalk … & more

Posted: 15 Aug 2018 02:32 PM PDT

$100M assisted living and health center hybrid facility planned for Norwalk A Norwalk property where a YMCA once stood will soon be home to a health center and assisted living facility, the Fairfield County Business Journal reported. Norwalk Hospital, its parent organization Western Connecticut Health Network and Maplewood Senior Living plan to build a five-story hub at 370 West Avenue for an estimated cost of approximately $100 million. “This proposed project supports our growth strategy […]

David Guetta buys Setai Miami Beach unit from Richard LeFrak

Posted: 15 Aug 2018 02:00 PM PDT

David Guetta has a new Miami Beach getaway at the Setai in Miami Beach that he purchased from New York developer Richard LeFrak. Property records show the French DJ and music producer paid $9.5 million, or about $3,800 per foot, for unit 3709 at 101 20th Street in late June. LeFrak sold the 2,521-square-foot, three-bedroom corner unit to What a View LLC, managed by real estate agents Michael Wiesenfeld and Anita Zelda Freud. The unit […]

Save the (rain) date: TRD’s annual golf outing rescheduled for Oct. 15

Posted: 15 Aug 2018 01:30 PM PDT

The Real Deal’s eighth annual golf outing unfortunately succumbed to the hands of a soggy summer day. But rejoice! We’ve rescheduled for Monday, Oct. 15, 2018 at the Muttontown Club. The details remain the same — the day will kick off with a breakfast at 10 a.m., and golfers will hit the links at noon. A semi-formal dinner will follow at 5 p.m. Reservations for all sponsors and foursomes will be carried over to the […]

WeWork just inked the largest co-working deal of 2018

Posted: 15 Aug 2018 12:45 PM PDT

WeWork just signed one of the largest co-working lease deals in Manhattan so far this year. The firm inked a 258,344-square-foot lease at TH Real Estate’s 21 Penn Plaza in Midtown, The Real Deal has learned. The transaction covers 10 floors of the 16-story building, with WeWork floors three, four, five, six, nine, 11, 12, 15, 16 and 17. The company’s new outpost will have private offices, conference rooms and events spaces. Granit Gjonbalaj, WeWork’s […]

Credit manager signs lease for full floor at Global Holding’s 875 Third Ave

Posted: 15 Aug 2018 12:30 PM PDT

Credit manager CIFC Asset Management is relocating its Park Avenue offices to just shy of 30,000 square feet at Global Holdings’ 875 Third Avenue. The company, which has $18 billion in assets under management, signed a lease for the full 24th floor at Global Holdings’ Midtown East office tower, the landlord confirmed to The Real Deal. The 10-year deal came with a starting rent in the mid-$70s per square foot, according to CompStak. CIFC, currently […]

RXR launches $500M fund targeting Trump tax plan’s “opportunity zones”

Posted: 15 Aug 2018 12:00 PM PDT

Scott Rechler‘s RXR Realty has a half-billion plan to profit off the Trump tax cuts. The real estate developer is planning a fund set on investing in “opportunity zones,” a new feature of the tax code passed by Congress late last year that allows investors to defer or avoid capital gains taxes when they invest in designated under-invested areas. Bloomberg reported RXR plans to raise the $500 million fund primarily through high net-worth individuals. According […]

And a side of fries: McDonald’s to spend $6B updating restaurants nationwide

Posted: 15 Aug 2018 11:30 AM PDT

McDonald’s is making a supersized effort to modernize its restaurants across the country. The ubiquitous fast food joint and its franchisees plan to spend $6 billion renovating and updating its U.S. restaurants by 2020. Much of that will be spent incorporating tech and infrastructure to cater to new trends in fast food, the Associated Press reported. The new restaurants will feature digital self-order kiosks, digital menu boards, new counters to allow for table service, and […]

Breaking Ground plans 152-unit resi building in the Bronx

Posted: 15 Aug 2018 10:45 AM PDT

Housing nonprofit Breaking Ground filed permits for a residential building in the Bronx. The permits are for an eight-story building with 152 units at 448 East 143rd Street, according to the Department of Buildings. The plan calls for about 74,000 square feet of residential space and roughly 15,000 square feet for a community facility. Earlier this year, Breaking Ground filed plans for a 126-unit apartment building in Brownsville, Brooklyn. The eight-story building at 845 Howard […]

LIHC strikes deal with city to preserve more than 650 affordable apartments

Posted: 15 Aug 2018 10:03 AM PDT

LIHC Investment Group, one of the largest affordable-housing owners in the country, secured a deal with the city to preserve affordability for more than 650 Section 8 apartments in neighborhoods such as Williamsburg, the Lower East Side and Upper Manhattan. The city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development granted Maine-based LIHC Investment tax abatements under the state’s Article XI that puts a new, 40-year regulatory agreement on six buildings, the property owner said. “This deal […]

A drone program for real estate — here’s how it could save lives

Posted: 15 Aug 2018 09:15 AM PDT

In 2016, falls resulted in 384 of 991 construction worker deaths in the United States, according to federal government figures. But some entrepreneurs are proposing a new tool for construction inspections that could lower the number of worker fatalities: drones. The New York Times reported that the drones are being put to work on construction projects worldwide, safely taking care of quality-control and inspection jobs in place of human workers. The trend coincides with a […]

New York landlords are committing to go green — with some wiggle room

Posted: 15 Aug 2018 08:30 AM PDT

Some of New York’s most prominent developers are vowing to go green. Companies including SL Green Realty, Vornado Realty Trust and Related Companies have signed on to a plan to cut energy use in the city’s larger buildings by 20 percent by 2030. Brookfield Property Partners, the Durst Organization and Rudin Management have also agreed to participate, Bloomberg reported. The plan would include the more than 50,000 buildings in the city of at least 25,000 […]

Howard Lorber and real estate pals to raise money for Trump at Hamptons manse

Posted: 15 Aug 2018 07:45 AM PDT

President Trump will head to his friend Howard Lorber‘s sprawling Southhampton residence on Friday for a re-election fundraiser, and more New York real estate moguls will follow him. Lorber, whose Vector Group owns Manhattan-based brokerage Douglas Elliman and development firm New Valley, will host a luncheon for the Trump Victory fund, a joint fundraising committee of the Republican Party and the Trump campaign. According to a person familiar with the fundraiser who spoke to The […]

Follow TRD’s Deal Sheet on Instagram!

Posted: 15 Aug 2018 07:05 AM PDT

The Real Deal’s Deal Sheet is on Instagram! Our latest social media channel features snaps of retail and office leases, financing acquisitions and commercial and residential sales around the city, giving you an insider’s look at what’s happening around the industry. Shaya Sonnenschein and Shaya Ackerman of Meridian Capital Group represented the owner, Marx Development Group. The loan was issued by Mack Real Estate Credit Strategies. #commercialrealestate #nycrealestate #trdny #trddealsheet #nyc #nycloans #trdloans A post […]

Tiffany will pay up to $250M to renovate flagship store

Posted: 15 Aug 2018 06:33 AM PDT

Jewelry store Tiffany & Co. announced on Tuesday a major renovation and expansion plan of its flagship Manhattan store at the Trump Organization‘s 6 East 57th Street, located directly next door to Trump Tower. Bloomberg reported the 10-floor shop’s overhaul could end up costing $250 million. Construction is set to start next year and conclude by the fourth quarter of 2021 During the renovation, Tiffany will temporarily shift some of its operations into space left […]

Kiwis only: New Zealand bans foreigners from buying homes

Posted: 15 Aug 2018 06:03 AM PDT

The median home price in New Zealand has surged more than 57 percent since 2010 and now the Kiwi nation has decided to do something about it: ban outsiders from buying their homes. The Wall Street Journal reported New Zealand’s parliament approved new regulations on Wednesday that prohibit currently existing residential properties from being purchased by foreigners. “This Government believes that New Zealanders should not be outbid by wealthier foreign buyers,” trade minister David Parker […]

Brooklyn councilman wants to cut Alloy’s 80 Flatbush down to size

Posted: 15 Aug 2018 05:41 AM PDT

Alloy Development and partners are planning a 986-foot tall residential skyscraper for 80 Flatbush, near Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn. But the local city councilman on Tuesday indicated he’d like to see the builders go back to the drawing board. “I consider it a transitional block,” Councilman Stephen Levin said at a hearing according to Crain’s, “and therefore this is something we are going to have to try and reconcile over the next couple of weeks.” […]

Will the student housing boom last?

Posted: 15 Aug 2018 05:00 AM PDT

As more investors have funded housing near universities, overbuilding has been a danger for some property owners. Investors are being more cautious as some backers have seen their bonds downgraded. Real estate fund managers raised $1.9 billion, through July, for student housing projects globally, the same amount as they raised in all of 2017, according to a report in Bloomberg. Portfolios are trading at high prices, too. As a part of Greystar Real Estate’s $3.2 […]

Manhattan’s retail correction, Bay Area tech firms lease 3.4M sf in NY and more of the biggest trends in CRE

Posted: 15 Aug 2018 04:30 AM PDT

Retail landlords adjust to new norm Retail rents across Manhattan continued to fall in 2018’s second quarter, but leasing activity is picking up as landlords come to terms with the market, according to a report from Cushman & Wakefield. “We’ve seen more velocity,” said Steve Soutendijk, a retail broker at the firm. “There’s definitely been a shift in landlords’ expectations.” Along Madison Avenue, where rents fell by 9.2 percent year over year, 16 new stores […]

Why Brendan Aguayo, Brooklyn’s top agent, thinks the borough still has room to grow

Posted: 15 Aug 2018 04:00 AM PDT

Brooklyn is booming, and top agent Brendan Aguayo doesn’t think the boom will slow down anytime soon. When Brendan Aguayo was growing up in Park Slope, his mother’s friends viewed Fifth Avenue as the neighborhood’s Mason-Dixon line. Things are different now. “People have been talking about Fourth Avenue since 2002 when they rezoned the avenue,” he said. “But If you look at the pipeline that’s happening on that avenue and things that are happening within […]