The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Sam Zell’s Equity Residential issues $400M in green bonds

Posted: 06 Dec 2018 03:10 PM PST

Sam Zell may be a bit skeptical about climate change, but he nonetheless may profit from it. Zell’s Equity Residential issued $400 million in green bonds, according to a company press release. The issuance, which the firm claims is the first ever for an apartment REIT, is for 4.15 percent unsecured notes that mature in 2028. The bonds are expected to generate proceeds of $396.7 million, which the company plans to funnel into green projects […]

Savanna purchases vacant DoBro lot next to Willoughby Street project

Posted: 06 Dec 2018 02:30 PM PST

Savanna has purchased a vacant lot in Downtown Brooklyn from the city for an unnamed price. The company bought 385 Gold Street from the city’s Economic Development Corporation, according to property records. The parcel has been earmarked for “public open space,” which typically refers to some type of parkland. The site is located adjacent to the 44-story, mixed-use project Savanna is planning at 141 Willoughby Street. The development will contain 124,000 square feet of commercial space […]

Allianz looks to take 30% stake in massive Terminal Stores deal

Posted: 06 Dec 2018 02:00 PM PST

L&L Holding Company and Normandy Real Estate Partners are about to get another partner on their massive Terminal Stores deal. Allianz Real Estate of America is closing in on a deal to take a roughly 30 percent stake in the building, according to sources familiar with the deal. L&L and Normandy had purchased the Chelsea building over the summer for about $900 million, triple its prior valuation. The move by Allianz would value the 1.2 […]

CRE scorecard: New York City investment sales through October 2018

Posted: 06 Dec 2018 12:45 PM PST

INVESTMENT SALES IN MANHATTAN AND BROOKLYN Manhattan’s recorded investment sales totaled over $3 billion in October, up 28 percent from September. L&L Holding and Normandy Real Estate Partners notched the top sale with their $880 million purchase of the full-block Terminal Stores building in Chelsea. Brooklyn rebounded from a slow September with $713 million in recorded sales in October, nearly equal to the rolling 12-month average. The largest deal in the borough was Vanbarton Group’s […]

These were the 10 largest Manhattan real estate loans in November

Posted: 06 Dec 2018 12:00 PM PST

The top 10 Manhattan loans recorded in November totaled $2.9 billion, with three loans worth more than $400 million for the first time this year. In another 2018 first, the top three loans were provided by three foreign lenders: Deutsche Bank, Bank of China and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank. 1) Deutsche Back – $750 million Macklowe Properties secured a $750 million construction loan from Deutsche Bank for One Wall Street. This replaces a $460 million […]

Another 520 Park penthouse sale has closed

Posted: 06 Dec 2018 11:30 AM PST

UPDATED, Dec. 6, 4:45 p.m.: Closings at Zeckendorf Development’s 520 Park Avenue keep rolling in — and the latest is another penthouse. The unit sold for $30 million, according to records filed with New York City’s Department of Finance. The anonymous buyer is listed in records as “520 Park Unit PH49 Investor, LLC.” The penthouse was previously listed at $36 million. The home spans about 4,300 square feet and has six bedrooms. The signatory for […]

Stagg Group planning 102-unit resi property in the Bronx

Posted: 06 Dec 2018 11:00 AM PST

Mark Stagg’s Stagg Group is planning a 102-unit housing complex in the Wakefield section of the Bronx. The firm on Thursday filed permits for a seven-story residential building at 761 East 233rd Street, between Byron and Barnes Avenues. Plans call for a 73,000-square-foot building on a 211-foot-wide lot. Amenities proposed for the property include a storage room, laundry room and a 52-car parking garage. There will also be a ground floor recreation area as required […]

Kushner Companies bought $13M of NJ beachfront that qualifies for Opportunity Zone tax breaks

Posted: 06 Dec 2018 10:30 AM PST

Kushner Companies will stand to gain significant tax benefits if it chooses to develop a piece of New Jersey beachfront located in an Opportunity Zone, a key feature of the Trump administration’s tax overhaul last year. The company has spent $13 million buying properties in New Branch, New Jersey, since the Opportunity Zones legislation was enacted, according to Bloomberg. The company reportedly bought the Bungalow Hotel for $9 million in May and purchased two single-family […]

Hundreds of Sears stores could survive in “last-ditch effort” to save chain

Posted: 06 Dec 2018 10:00 AM PST

Hundreds of Sears stores across the U.S. could be saved in what one analyst called “a last-ditch effort” by company chairman Edward Lampert to buy the company out of bankruptcy. Lampert’ ESL Investments already is Sears Holdings’ biggest shareholder and creditor. On Thursday, he outlined a $4.6 billion bid to take over the rest of the century-old retailer, according to Bloomberg. The company filed for bankruptcy protection in October, and said it would close another […]

Related’s Stephen Ross just picked up a condo in his firm’s luxury Tribeca development

Posted: 06 Dec 2018 09:25 AM PST

Related Companies’ chairman Stephen Ross bought a $6.9 million condominium on the fifth floor of his firm’s Tribeca development, property records show. The deal comes on the heels of a series of high-profile sales at 70 Vestry Street. In October, a unit Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady had reportedly been looking at sold for $25.5 million. Film producer Jack Heller picked up a $18.8 million apartment. And last year, the firm found buyers for its […]

Shonda Rhimes buys Lenox Hill penthouse for $11.75M

Posted: 06 Dec 2018 09:05 AM PST

Shonda Rhimes, the powerhouse showrunner behind TV hits like “Scandal,” “How to Get Away With Murder” and “Grey’s Anatomy,” dropped $11.75 million on a penthouse at 765 Park Avenue, according to a city filing. The seller was Regina Mahon of Palm Beach, Florida. She could not be reached for comment. The unit was first listed in March for $14.75 million before being slashed to $12.5 million in June. Listing agent Mary Fitzgibbons at Brown Harris […]

Non-disclosure agreements, disclosed

Posted: 06 Dec 2018 08:45 AM PST

Last May, the chairman of New York REIT, a company that became notorious for having its dirty laundry aired in public, stressed the clandestine nature of a potential entity-level selloff of its $3 billion portfolio. The process “generated over 80 executed nondisclosure agreements,” company chair Randolph Read told investors on a conference call at the time. Those agreements, at least in theory, were designed to ensure the REIT would not have dozens of tongues wagging […]

Dubai’s biggest developer is struggling to win over investors

Posted: 06 Dec 2018 08:00 AM PST

Investors aren’t impressed with Dubai’s biggest developer. Shares of Emaar Properties PJSC, which developed the Burj Khalifa skyscraper, have plunged 39 percent this year, Bloomberg reported. It’s price-to-earnings ratio is at the lowest level since 2009. That’s thanks to a difficult local real estate market — as a supply glut coincides with lower demand. And a recovery doesn’t seem imminent, the report said. Emaar had the lowest quarterly profit in almost three years in the […]

British toy store Hamleys close to inking 15-year lease at 2 Herald Square

Posted: 06 Dec 2018 07:30 AM PST

The British toy store Hamleys is close to opening its first store in the U.S. at SL Green’s 2 Herald Square. The 258-year-old toy seller would lease about 30,000 square feet in the building, according to Commercial Observer. This would be split between about 11,000 square feet at grade, 15,000 square feet on the second floor and 4,000 square feet in the basement. The deal is likely to close at the beginning of 2019, and […]

Ralph Lauren snags $20M Hamptons home

Posted: 06 Dec 2018 06:50 AM PST

Fashion designer Ralph Lauren is in contract to buy an oceanfront home in Montauk. The property at 320 Old Montauk Highway belonged to late playwright Edward Albee, the Wall Street Journal reported. Lauren already owns homes on both sides of the property. Douglas Elliman’s Paul Brennan had the listing. The property was asking $20 million. The property spans nearly three acres — and includes 2,100-square-foot main house, a guesthouse and a pool house. It also […]

JPMorgan wants less public space at its proposed Midtown tower

Posted: 06 Dec 2018 06:09 AM PST

JPMorgan Chase’s new headquarters at 270 Park Avenue is expected to stand 70 stories tall and span 2.5 million square feet. But the financial giant wants to sharply reduce the amount of space set aside for the public. Under current rules passed in the Midtown East rezoning, the proposed tower requires that 10,000 square feet of space be set aside for the public. But the bank argued to the local community board on Wednesday that […]

Chinese investors sold $1B in US real estate in Q3

Posted: 06 Dec 2018 05:30 AM PST

Chinese investors keep retreating from the U.S. real estate market. They offloaded more than $1 billion in U.S. properties in the third quarter, the Wall Street Journal reported. Meanwhile, insurers, conglomerates and other big investors from the country purchased $231 million of property. “This has to do more with a change in how capital is permitted to behave rather than Chinese investors saying ‘I don’t like the U.S.’,” Jim Costello, senior vice president at Real […]

Investor Jay Schwimmer inks full-building lease for Moishe’s bakery site

Posted: 06 Dec 2018 05:00 AM PST

Investor Jay Schwimmer just inked a 21-year lease for the entire three-story East Village property that’s anchored by neighborhood institution Moishe’s Bake Shop, according to a city filing. Pearl Roth Realty Inc. owns the building, which is located at 115 2nd Ave. and is home to the long-standing bakery. The property, which sits near the corner of East 7th Street, was built in 1901 and spans 3,400 square feet, according to city data. Pearl Roth […]

The big pay paradox: REIT CEOs are getting major pay bumps — even as stocks tank and shareholders lose billions

Posted: 06 Dec 2018 04:30 AM PST

It’s a rough time to be an investor in a public real estate company, but a great time to be the CEO of one. Even as stock prices at several major firms tumbled over the past year — costing shareholders billions — senior executives at major commercial real estate firms continued to earn fat paychecks and stock options, a review of public filings by The Real Deal found. SL Green Realty CEO Marc Holliday easily […]

“Canary in the coal mine”: Home flipping falls nationwide to 3-year low, report finds

Posted: 06 Dec 2018 04:00 AM PST

Home flipping in the U.S. is down to its lowest levels in more than three years, the latest sign that the housing market is experiencing a slowdown. Investors flipped 45,901 single-family homes and condos in the third quarter, down 12 percent from a year ago, according to a report published Thursday by Attom Data Solutions. It was the lowest number since the first quarter of 2015. “Home flipping acts as a canary in the coal […]