The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

JLL lures more top Cushman brokers

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 03:40 PM PDT

JLL has lured more top-producers from Cushman & Wakefield following the departure of Bob Knakal. Stephen Palmese, Brendan Maddigan, Winfield Clifford and others are jumping ship, Crain’s reported. Knakal, whose new title at JLL is chairman of investment sales, was let go from Cushman in June, just before his contract was set to expire. Three years ago, Knakal and former partner Paul Massey sold their firm for $100 million to Cushman. Now, almost all the […]

Amazon Go’s cashier-free store expansion could cost mega-bucks

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 03:30 PM PDT

Amazon’s plans to roll out 3,000 of its cashier-free stores in the next three years could come with a $3 billion price tag. The Seattle-based e-commerce behemoth this week opened its first Amazon Go shop outside of its hometown, and wants rapidly to dramatically expand its brick-and-mortar retail footprint nationwide. The first store excluding Seattle opened this week in Chicago, and it already has plans for locations in New York and San Francisco, Morgan Stanley […]

80 Flatbush moves forward — but not without modifications

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 03:20 PM PDT

A controversial twin-tower development at 80 Flatbush Avenue that will soar hundreds of feet above brownstones in Boerum Hill has been given another green light. The City Council’s Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises unanimously approved the project during a hearing Thursday after the developers shrunk the project by 130,000 square feet and cut down its tallest tower from 986 feet to 840 feet, according to Crain’s. “[The project] has presented a number of unique challenges,” […]

This 3D zoning software may change how city developers plan projects

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 03:10 PM PDT

New York’s Department of City Planning is partnering with Florida-based Gridics to test the company’s 3D zoning and planning software. The program allows users to click on any lot within a 3D rendering of a city, and instantly create hypothetical buildings within the parameters of what local zoning allows. By visualizing the zoning code, Gridics hopes to make it more understandable. Under the agreement, the agency’s reviewers will use the software to test development proposals […]

Six Sigma faces allegations of financial mismanagement at West Chelsea site

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 03:00 PM PDT

UPDATED, Sept. 20, 7:37 p.m.: Six Sigma NYC’s condominium development in West Chelsea is in peril amid allegations from the project’s lender that company founder Jason Lee has been skimming money off the budget through a kickback scheme. The development firm took the dire step of putting the under-construction project at 435 West 19th Street into bankruptcy earlier this month in order to avoid a foreclosure auction, court records show. Six Sigma’s lender on the project, […]

Lalezarian lands $220M financing package for West Chelsea resi complex

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 02:29 PM PDT

Lalezarian Properties landed a $220 million financing package for 507 West Chelsea, a three-building complex that spans 10th Avenue between 28th and 29th Streets. The new debt replaces $165 million in bonds that New York State Housing Finance Agency provided in 2013, according to mortgage documents filed with the city Thursday. Wells Fargo acquired $135 million in previous bonds and assumed $85 million in newly issued debt from HFA. The complex, designed by Avinash K. […]

Even the world’s wealthiest people don’t go all-cash

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 02:15 PM PDT

A growing number of super-wealthy people are ditching the all-cash home buy. Rather than dipping into their equity, David Koch, Beyoncé and Jay-Z, and Daryl Katz, the billionaire owner of the Canadian hockey team Edmonton Oilers, each have bought homes in recent years with massive bank loans. The trend has been attributed to real estate prices rising parallel to record-low interest rates, according to the Wall Street Journal. There are reportedly 233 outstanding housing loans […]

Chinese developer lands $137M refi for world’s tallest Holiday Inn

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 02:00 PM PDT

Almost a year after Jubao Xie put the world’s tallest Holiday Inn up for sale, the Chinese developer refinanced the property at 99 Washington Street with a $137 million mortgage. Ladder Capital issued the 10-year, non-recourse, interest-only, fixed-rate loan, which replaces a $135 million mortgage from Bank of China. Mission Capital Advisors’ Beau Williams, Ari Hirt, Steven Buchwald, Alex Draganiuk and Jamie Matheny brokered the deal. Xie developed the 50-story, 492-room hotel in Manhattan’s Financial […]

Starwood sells $835M multifamily portfolio to CapitaLand

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 01:45 PM PDT

CapitaLand has touched down in the United States multifamily market in a big way, courtesy of Starwood Capital. The Singapore-based investment firm acquired an $835 million portfolio of 16 properties across the U.S. from Miami Beach-based Starwood. The portfolio includes 3,787 residential units at a price of around $220,000 per unit. CapitaLand announced the deal Thursday but did not disclose the seller. Records show the properties are owned by entities tied to Starwood. Starwood could […]

Spaces inks lease for another big Manhattan co-working spot

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 01:30 PM PDT

Spaces, the co-working firm owned by Regus parent company IWG, just signed another big lease in Manhattan. The company is taking 99,000 square feet at the former Ford Motor Company building in Hell’s Kitchen at 787 11th Avenue, representatives told The Real Deal. The property is owned by the Georgetown Company and Bill Ackman, the activist investor. Spaces is taking two floors that include a dramatic, double-height space in the 10-story building between West 54th […]

Ironstate-led group lands $100M+ condo inventory loan in Murray Hill

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 01:15 PM PDT

CBSK Ironstate scored a $102.8 million condo inventory loan for the Lindley, a 74-unit project in Murray Hill, sources told The Real Deal. The 20-story building, located at 591 Third Avenue, has a total projected sellout of about $143 million, and was approved to start selling units in January 2017. It’s unclear how many units remain on the market. Deutsche Bank provided the financing to the developer, which is a partnership between David and Michael […]

The Real Deal South Florida’s fall issue is now available to our subscribers

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 01:00 PM PDT

The Real Deal’s latest quarterly issue is live, and digital subscribers to TRD are getting the first look at what’s inside. Subscribers now have access to stories including: – An alleged billion-dollar embezzlement and money-laundering scheme and the South Florida luxury properties involved – Our annual ranking of the tri-county region’s top real estate brokerages – A look at the biggest sources of foreign capital in South Florida real estate – An exclusive interview with Jules Trump Subscribe […]

You won’t believe how much dirt sells for in the world’s priciest market

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 12:30 PM PDT

If you thought land deals in New York were insane, have a seat. A plot of government land in Hong Kong is expected to fetch an eye-popping $13,000 a square foot, a record for the city and possibly the world. The 404,300-square-foot piece of land in The Peak, Hong Kong’s ritziest neighborhood, is expected to sell for $5.1 billion. At that price it would be the most valuable piece of land ever sold in the […]

Real estate agent sues NAR, Move Inc. over unsolicited texts from Realtor.com

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 12:00 PM PDT

A South Florida real estate agent is suing over unsolicited text messages sent through Realtor.com, and is seeking class-action status of the suit. Weston agent Courtney Silverman of the Keyes Company filed suit in the Fort Lauderdale division of the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida against the National Association of Realtors and News Corp. subsidiary Move Inc. The complaint alleges that the companies “engaged in systematic text-message-advertising campaigns, without regard for the law […]

Fumble: Times Square’s NFL Experience to close at end of September

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 11:36 AM PDT

Times Square’s NFL Experience will not last beyond the first quarter of the NFL season. The attraction, which spans 40,000 square feet and includes a 4-D roller coaster theater, will close on Sept. 30 after being open for just 10 months, according to the New York Post. The project—a joint venture between the NFL and Cirque du Soleil—was not able to meet its financial goals. The NFL did not provide a specific reason for the […]

Hurricane Florence damage toll could include nearly $1.5B of mortgages

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 11:00 AM PDT

Hurricane Florence-related damages could impact $1.49 billion worth of securitized commercial mortgages, according to a report from Morningstar Credit Ratings. The storm has been devastating North Carolina with flooding and record-breaking rainfall, and Morningstar found 189 properties backing 187 securitized loans in counties designated as disaster areas by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The state’s Cumberland and New Hanover Counties had the most exposure at $1.05 billion. Freddie Mac deals on multifamily properties account for […]

Across US, rising home prices and falling inventory led to fewer August sales: report

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 10:31 AM PDT

Rising home prices and dwindling inventory across the U.S. accounted for an August slowdown in the overall number of home sales. Existing home sales were down 1.5 percent last month, compared to the same period last year, according to a monthly report released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors. Meanwhile, prices of existing homes rose 4.6 percent last month, the report showed. Still, the downward trend in sales — which has been recorded for […]

Ivanhoe Cambridge buys longtime partner Callahan Capital

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 10:00 AM PDT

Ivanhoe Cambridge acquired its investment partner of six years, Chicago-based real estate private equity firm Callahan Capital Properties, the companies announced Thursday. The firms formed a partnership in 2012 and jointly own more than $10 billion in U.S. real estate. Ivanhoe Cambridge is the real estate investment subsidiary of Quebec’s public pension fund manager, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. Eastdil Secured helped arrange the acquisition. In New York, Ivanhoe and Callahan own 85 […]

Buzz cut: Embattled developer relists this LA mansion with $65M price chop

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 09:30 AM PDT

Embattled developer Robert Shapiro has relisted the famed Owlwood Estate in Holmby Hills, after having taken a chainsaw to the initial sky-high price tag. The 10-acre estate is now being floated for $115 million, down from the initial $180 million Shapiro wanted for it 14 months ago, according to the Los Angeles Times. A sale of around $115 million would still mean that Shapiro would get more than he paid for it. His firm, the […]

Software company sues Elliman over “Douglas” online platform

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 08:45 AM PDT

Four months after Douglas Elliman launched its new online agent platform, a Chicago-based software company is suing the brokerage for allegedly ripping off its technology. In a lawsuit filed in New York Supreme Court Wednesday, the company, Go One, claims that it is owed more than $208,850. According to the complaint, Go One had a handshake deal with Douglas Elliman to build an intranet system that would allow agents to share listings, store documents and […]

Who are real estate’s quiet money backers?

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 08:00 AM PDT

Back in 1980 — as oil prices were peaking in the aftermath of the Iranian Revolution — Israeli shipping magnate Sammy Ofer felt the itch to diversify his billion-dollar maritime empire. Enlisting his then 30-year-old son, Eyal, as his proxy, Ofer waded into New York’s real estate market, paying $800,000 for a brownstone on 42nd Street near Fifth Avenue that he quickly flipped for $1.8 million. Over the next three decades, the Ofers steadily expanded […]

Several NYC resi brokerages collaborating on new data platform

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 07:15 AM PDT

Some of the city’s most prominent brokerages are teaming up to use a new data platform. The group is leading the launch of NYC Buyer Graph, a tool that gives buyers, sellers and agents exclusive data to collaborate on deals, Inman reported. The platform was started by real estate technology company RealScout. The platform’s seven initial partners are Brown Harris Stevens, Douglas Elliman, Halstead, Bond Real Estate, Engel & Völkers, Stribling & Associates, and Warburg […]

What does $446M get you in Hong Kong? A teardown.

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 06:30 AM PDT

A stodgy home in Hong Kong’s exclusive Peak neighborhood just hit the market — for $446 million. If it sells anywhere near that price, the four-bedroom pad would be one of the most expensive sales in the world, according to Bloomberg. “It’s more about the land it’s on than the house itself,” Lawrence Brown, a senior consultant at Executive Homes Hong Kong, told Bloomberg. “The house is quite old. If they are going to pay […]

This modernist townhouse is back on the market after a price cut

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 06:00 AM PDT

The Sherman Fairchild Mansion is back on the market for $35 million — after a $5 million price cut and changing brokers. The 25-foot-wide townhouse at 17 East 65th Street, which made a cameo in Woody Allen’s “Hannah and Her Sisters,” spans 9,440 square feet, the New York Post reported. The five-bedroom home has an open floor plan, including a glassed-in courtyard and a three-story great room. It also has an office, wine cellar and […]

This prominent architect is listing his condo — in the building he designed

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 05:30 AM PDT

The architect who designed 207 East 57th Street in 2005 is putting his own condo in the building on the market. Ismael Leyva’s three-bedroom unit is listed for $4.79 million, the New York Post reported. The Corcoran Group’s Blu Toth has the listing. Leyva bought the apartment for $3.91 million in 2014. The unit on the 30th floor spans nearly 1,800 square feet. It comes with Venetian plaster and a chef’s kitchen custom-made in Vienna. […]

Architecture review: Bjarke Ingels is twisting convention at HFZ’s 76 Eleventh Avenue

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 04:30 AM PDT

Now it all seems so clear: We live in an age — or at least a season — of tilting and swaying buildings. Three such projects were either recently completed or are now racing toward completion. The first of these is the American Copper Buildings at 626 First Avenue, twin residential skyscrapers designed by SHoP Architects. Then there are the excellent towers at 10 and 30 Hudson Yards, which were designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox and […]

Finishing touches: Can art paint the picture developers need to move units?

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 04:00 AM PDT

Billboards for Greenwich West, a 167-unit luxury condo in Soho, will begin cropping up downtown before its sales launch next month. But instead of using traditional computer-generated renderings, the signs will feature custom work by a Brooklyn-based painter. One piece offers glimpses of life inside the building. Looking through the windows, there’s a young boy playing with toy airplanes; in another, a woman napping on the sofa. Against the backdrop of the orange sky, a […]