The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Construction company Trade Off accuses union of conspiring to put it out of business

Posted: 26 Oct 2018 04:06 PM PDT

Nassau-based Trade Off has accused a construction union of conspiring to put the company out of business, in part, by rewarding current and former employees who file “frivolous” complaints against it. The nonunion company filed a lawsuit against Local 79 this month claiming that the construction and general laborers union pressured its current and former employees to file various complaints against the company. The suit also claims that a union organizer instructed employees to create […]

Schorsch REIT sued for providing “misleading” information to shareholders

Posted: 26 Oct 2018 03:30 PM PDT

Shareholders of Nicholas Schorsch-controlled REIT American Finance Trust are suing over an IPO that wiped $1 billion off the company’s market value. The REIT, which started trading on the Nasdaq on July 19, opened at $13.15 per share and closed at $15 per share. On Oct. 14, the company’s stock price closed at $14 per share, 40 percent lower than its net asset value of $23.56 per share. The plaintiffs, led by a certain Terry […]

Family affair: Howard Lorber buys 620 Park Ave co-op for wife

Posted: 26 Oct 2018 03:07 PM PDT

Howard Lorber purchased an apartment at 620 Park Avenue for his wife, in a deal brokered by his son. The Douglas Elliman chairman paid $11.7 million for the three-bedroom co-op on the building’s 10th floor, according to property records. Lorber said his wife, Thea Hallman, would move into the apartment, after she had been looking to move out of her apartment on 15 East 69th Street. She is also on the deed. “She went and […]

Manhattan tech leasing tops 1M sf for 9th consecutive year

Posted: 26 Oct 2018 02:30 PM PDT

According to this week’s market reports, Manhattan tech leasing topped one million square feet for the ninth consecutive year and bad landlords cost taxpayers $300 million per year. Residential Rentals | Regional Plan Association Bad landlords, defined as property owners who cut corners on maintenance and harass tenants, make up just two percent of owners in the city. However, in spite of their status as a minority, they have a significant impact on the city’s […]

City Skyline Realty threatened to call Child Protective Services on rent-stabilized tenants, lawsuit says

Posted: 26 Oct 2018 02:00 PM PDT

Tenants of three rent-stabilized apartments in Harlem are suing their landlord for allegedly threatening them with losing custody of their children. Plaintiffs Reyna Reyes, Aida Salustio and Alicia Garcia are all tenants at 505 West 135th Street in Harlem, which is managed by City Skyline Real Estate, according to the lawsuit. The tenants maintain that City Skyline, led by Douglas Peterson, has been trying to get them to move out by intimidating and threatening them, […]

Domio acquires Reserve Rentals, bringing “apartment hotels” to Chicago

Posted: 26 Oct 2018 01:15 PM PDT

A New York-based startup that aims to “professionalize the AirBnB space” by renting out apartments like hotel rooms acquired Chicago-based Reserve Rentals, extending its reach to eight American markets. Domio paid about $1.4 million to acquire the Chicago company and its stable of 32 units across 10 buildings, co-founder and CEO Jay Roberts said. The deal also offers an “earn-out” between $2 and $3 million based on performance, potentially bringing the total transaction volume to […]

After 40 years, the city is updating its RFP process for homeless shelters

Posted: 26 Oct 2018 12:30 PM PDT

The city updated its RFP process for homeless shelters for the first time in 40 years as Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration works on its plans to revamp the shelter system. The Department of Homeless Services released a new, open-ended request for proposals to help guide providers who are pitching locations for one of the 90 new shelters City Hall plans to open by 2022, Crain’s reported. “To achieve fundamental institutional reform, these kinds of […]

These were the 10 biggest Queens deals during the third quarter

Posted: 26 Oct 2018 12:00 PM PDT

Astoria and Long Island City may get most of the attention, but the largest Queens deal during the third quarter was in Jackson Heights. RockFarmer Properties’ $55.9 million buy of a retail-and-office building 82-11 37th Avenue took the top spot on last quarter’s list, according to data from Real Capital Analytics. Other notable deals included Merchants Hospitality’s purchase of the Z NYC Hotel in Long Island City and the Hakimian Organization’s purchase of a Woodside […]

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

Posted: 26 Oct 2018 11:30 AM PDT

Next week brings a few new real estate events! On Oct. 31, Baruch College and ICSC are hosting their 2nd Annual ICSC-Baruch College Joint Conference from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at Baruch College, 55 Lexington Avenue. The theme of this year’s event is “The Changing Landscape for Retail.” Kenneth Bernstein of Acadia Realty Trust will provide the keynote. On Nov. 3, the Commercial Observer is hosting its 3rd Annual Fall Financing Commercial Real Estate […]

Cornell expanding at Feil Org’s 570 Lex

Posted: 26 Oct 2018 10:45 AM PDT

Cornell University’s Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management has signed a 10-year lease for 570 Lexington Avenue. The school will occupy 19,500 square feet of space in the building, where it is already the biggest tenant, according to Commercial Observer. It will span the entire seventh floor and bring the school’s total footprint to almost 90,000 square feet. Cornell already has space on the ninth through 12th floors of the Feil Organization’s 50-story building. […]

Miami’s condo market of the future will be less about “cycles and roller coaster rides”: TRD panel

Posted: 26 Oct 2018 10:00 AM PDT

A shortage of developable land and a credit crunch means Miami’s luxury condo market will see significantly fewer new projects break ground next year. “There are a lot of properties that continue to be marketed that still haven’t come out of the ground,” said Louis Birdman, who is developing Zaha Hadid’s luxury One Thousand Museum. “I don’t think that you are going to see much come out of the ground in 2019. As lenders look […]

Which is better at valuing your home — you or a computer program?

Posted: 26 Oct 2018 09:15 AM PDT

Do you have a pretty good idea of what your house is worth? Could you estimate within, say, 5 percent of what it’s likely to sell for? If so, would that make you more accurate about your home value than an estimate from a computer program loaded with recent sales data and algorithms? Maybe. Maybe not. Economists at the Federal Reserve recently completed a study that rated homeowners against computer programs — owners’ estimates of […]

Pitch Perfect: Brokers on the art of winning resale listings

Posted: 26 Oct 2018 08:30 AM PDT

From time to time, Lauren Muss flips open a folder on her desk called “lost exclusives.” The Douglas Elliman broker, who was among the top 10 agents in The Real Deal’s most recent ranking, said she likes to track how the ones that got away are doing. “Many brokers give a price to get the listing,” said Muss, who is marketing a co-op at 941 Park Avenue for $17 million and a townhouse on East […]

National Cheat Sheet: Sales of sites in Opportunity Zones up 80 percent … & more

Posted: 26 Oct 2018 07:45 AM PDT

Sales of sites in Opportunity Zones up 80% Properties within the designated Opportunity Zones across the country are seeing a marked rise in values. Sales of development sites in the 8,700 zones nationwide increased 80 percent in the first three quarters of 2018 year over year, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing data from Real Capital Analytics. The federal program was included in the passage of last year’s sweeping tax reform bill. It awards tax […]

Coming soon: The Real Deal’s 2019 Data Book

Posted: 26 Oct 2018 07:00 AM PDT

The Real Deal is preparing the 14th edition of its Data Book, the industry’s single most comprehensive collection of information on the New York-area real estate market. Included in the 2019 Data Book will be a ranking of the city’s most active transaction law firms; Manhattan’s top residential agents and Brooklyn’s top residential agents and firms. With a strong focus on various sets of data in NYC city, ranging from development to architecture to title […]

These are the main challenges to housing affordability in New York

Posted: 26 Oct 2018 06:30 AM PDT

A decade out from the financial crisis, housing affordability remains a thorny challenge in New York City. More investor purchases, fewer young homeowners and the threat of foreclosures are just a few of the factors affecting the city’s housing market, according to the Center for NYC Neighborhoods’ October report. In the post-crisis period, the number of homes purchased by investors annually has doubled, eating into the options available for prospective homeowners, the report said. A […]

Trump Group inks largest condo construction contract ever in South Florida

Posted: 26 Oct 2018 06:00 AM PDT

Trump Group has inked a $600 million contract with Coastal Construction to complete both towers and the amenity villa of The Estates at Acqualina in Sunny Isles Beach, The Real Deal has learned. The contract, signed Thursday and announced at TRD‘s Real Estate Showcase & Forum, ranks as the largest ever for a condominium project in South Florida. Earlier this month, Trump Group, led by Jules and Eddie Trump, scored a $558 million construction loan […]

Forest City’s former CEO Albert Ratner opposes the Brookfield deal

Posted: 26 Oct 2018 05:39 AM PDT

Forest City Realty Trust’s former CEO plans to vote against the Brookfield Asset Management acquisition, claiming the stock was undervalued and the acquisition process shoddy. In an open letter, Albert Ratner, who controls nearly 1 percent of Forest City’s stock, argued the $6.8 billion deal has the wrong price and wrong timing, the Wall Street Journal reported. Ratner argued it “resulted from a flawed process” and Forest City could have a higher value by waiting […]

These were the 10 biggest Brooklyn deals during the third quarter

Posted: 26 Oct 2018 05:00 AM PDT

Jehovah’s Witnesses properties are the gift that keeps on giving for Brooklyn. The largest deal by far for the borough’s third quarter was the resale of 90 Sands Street, according to data from Real Capital Analytics. RFR Realty and LIVWRK had purchased the building in September 2017 for $135 million before selling it to Breaking Ground for $170 million in August. The properties were split between three apartment sites, three development sites, two general sites, […]

At the desk of: Benjamin Joseph

Posted: 26 Oct 2018 04:30 AM PDT

When most real estate players think about Related Companies, it’s founder Stephen Ross or CEO Jeff Blau who comes to mind. But under them are a cadre of other high-powered executives shepherding through the developer’s monster projects. Benjamin Joseph, 44, is one of them. Joseph, an executive vice president, oversees the development of all the firm’s New York City residential projects. In his nearly two decades at Related, Joseph has worked on the construction of […]

Bomb threats prompt landlords, managers to ramp up building security

Posted: 26 Oct 2018 04:00 AM PDT

After pipe bombs arrived at the homes of multiple public officials, including to former President Barack Obama, and at CNN’s Columbus Circle headquarters, property owners and managers are ramping up security. Office buildings, at least larger ones, tend to have some safety measures already in place. But controlling postage threats in residential buildings can be complicated — packages can sit unattended in lobbies for hours and mail is delivered to individual boxes. Daniel Wollman, chief […]