The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Placester, tech platform for real estate professionals, slashes staff amid shakeup

Posted: 07 Dec 2018 03:30 PM PST

Real estate tech platform Placester, which was valued at $200 million last year, has laid off more than 100 employees in a companywide restructuring that will return it to “development mode.” Changes at the Boston-based firm that provides mobile services to real estate professionals, included its top executive. Its original CEO and co-founder Matt Barba will return, according to Inman. He had been replaced by Omar Hussain earlier this year. Hussain arrived at the company […]

Gucci inks longer term lease in Soho

Posted: 07 Dec 2018 03:15 PM PST

Gucci has extended its lease in Soho for at least 10 years. The company signed a short-term lease at 375 West Broadway last year, its first location in the neighborhood. Now, Gucci has extended its lease in the 10,000-square-foot space for a decade or more, Crain’s reported. The details of the lease were not immediately available, but asking rents in Soho in the third quarter were an average of $417 per square foot, according to […]

REBNY to hike dues 20% for commercial brokers and property owners

Posted: 07 Dec 2018 02:54 PM PST

The Real Estate Board of New York will raise dues on commercial brokers and property owners by 20 percent next year, sources told The Real Deal. REBNY’s executive committee voted in mid-November to increase dues on its commercial-brokerage and owners-and-builders divisions starting in 2019, according to a record of the meeting. Sources told TRD that the trade group informed members of the dues-increases Friday. Representatives for REBNY were not immediately available for comment. It wasn’t […]

Another sponsor unit at 432 Park is off the market

Posted: 07 Dec 2018 01:45 PM PST

The latest sponsor unit to close at 432 Park Avenue sold for $15 million. Apartment 41C at CIM Group and Macklowe Properties’ project closed this week, according to records filed with New York City’s Department of Finance. It was listed for $17.2 million. The anonymous buyer is listed in records as “432 Park Unit 41C LLC.” The signatory, attorney Brian Cohen at Goulston & Storrs, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. The condo spans about […]

“The time to sell is now”: One Sotheby’s agent letter to Miami condo owners stirs anger

Posted: 07 Dec 2018 12:30 PM PST

When Miami broker David Landau opened a letter at his Brickell on the River North condo late last month, it had an alarming message to residents. A new construction project would be rising fast, and their view of the water would soon be gone. With the One Sotheby’s International Realty letterhead written on the top, the note read: “Warning!!! The Related Group is planning to build on the property next to Brickell on the River […]

Industrial development slowing slightly nationwide, after strong growth: report

Posted: 07 Dec 2018 12:00 PM PST

The number of industrial buildings coming online nationally slowed slightly in the first nine months of 2018, after several years of strong growth. A total of 237 million square feet of new industrial space was delivered across the country from January through September, down slightly from 243 million square feet year over year, according to a new report by Avison Young. The slowdown follows a major growth period for industrial development across the country, with […]

Normandy, Drake Street refi LIC warehouse-to-office conversion with $75M Deutsche loan

Posted: 07 Dec 2018 11:30 AM PST

Normandy Real Estate Partners is moving ahead with the next phase of one of its warehouse-to-office redevelopments in Long Island City, where investors are looking to cash in on the spillover effect from Amazon’s planned move to the neighborhood. Normandy, along with co-investor Drake Street Partners, scooped up a $75 million loan from Deutsche Bank to refinance the former printing plant they’re redeveloping at 47-11 Austell Place, representatives for the project told The Real Deal. […]

EB-5 visa program extended… until Dec. 21

Posted: 07 Dec 2018 11:00 AM PST

The federal EB-5 visa program received another extension as part of the larger federal spending bill, this time until Dec 21. EB-5 had been set to expire on Dec. 7. Congress now has two weeks to decide whether to extend again or shut down the controversial green card initiative. The program gives foreign investors the opportunity to obtain a green card if they invest at least $500,000 in a project and create at least 10 […]

TH Real Estate, Taconic buy 440 Ninth Ave for nearly $270M

Posted: 07 Dec 2018 10:35 AM PST

TH Real Estate and Taconic Investment Partners have closed on their $269 million purchase of 440 Ninth Avenue on the Far West Side. Japanese investor Unizo Holdings sold the property as part of the unloading of its Manhattan portfolio worth more than $1 billion, according to Commercial Observer. TH and Taconic plan to renovate the lobby, elevator and mechanical systems at the 18-story, 411,000-square-foot building. MetLife Real Estate Investors financed the deal with a $137 […]

Heatherwood plans another luxury rental project in Williamsburg

Posted: 07 Dec 2018 10:00 AM PST

A seven story luxury rental apartment building is planned for Williamsburg, offering more inventory to the area that will be ready after the L train reopens (hopefully) in 2020. Heatherwood Luxury Rentals is behind the 104,000-square-foot project at 134 Hope Street, which would contain 100 residential units, according to city Department of Buildings filings. Heatherwood co-owner Douglas Patrick did not respond before deadline. Heatherwood has increasingly added large rental developments to its portfolio. Its 57-story […]

City Council wastes no time suing city over Two Bridges developments

Posted: 07 Dec 2018 09:30 AM PST

Just two days after city planners green-lighted a quartet of new apartment towers to be developed in the Two Bridges section of Manhattan, the City Council and Borough President Gale Brewer followed through on their pledge to sue in order to stop the projects from going forward. The Council and Brewer filed their lawsuit in Manhattan state Supreme Court Friday against the Department of City Planning, the City Planning Commission and Mayor Bill de Blasio’s […]

Give the gift of TRD this season!

Posted: 07 Dec 2018 09:00 AM PST

‘Tis the season to spread joy throughout the real estate industry, and how better to do it than with a digital subscription to The Real Deal? GIFT TRD Help the insiders on your list stay a step ahead of the game with subscription benefits including: – Unlimited online access to stories and videos published across The Real Deal’s network of sites from all your devices – Get the news first: Read all of TRD’s magazine […]

Wealthiest woman in China named co-chair at development firm Country Garden

Posted: 07 Dec 2018 08:30 AM PST

The richest woman in China just got a promotion. Yang Huiyan has been named co-chair at development firm Country Garden Holdings Co., where she will help her father and the company’s founding chairman Yeung Kwok Keung run the business and oversee investments, according to Bloomberg. The publication’s Billionaires Index has named her the richest woman in China thanks to her 57 percent stake in development firm Country Garden. Yang started at the company as a […]

NYCHA might split itself up into five different agencies

Posted: 07 Dec 2018 08:00 AM PST

NYCHA might break itself up to save itself. The city’s beleaguered housing authority is considering splitting up into five agencies—one per borough—to try making its challenges more manageable, according to the New York Daily News. It is one of multiple options being discussed as city officials and federal prosecutors try coming up with a deal that will please a federal judge who has rejected their plans for reform so far. Judge William Pauley had already […]

House tax bill contains early holiday gifts for homeowners

Posted: 07 Dec 2018 07:30 AM PST

December is mega-tax-bill time on Capitol Hill, when legislation loaded with gifts and goodies for special-interest constituents moves ahead for action before the end of the year. House Republicans have unveiled their 2018 version — nearly 300 pages worth — and it has goodies galore: Write-offs and tax-credit deals for racehorse owners, “motorsports entertainment complexes,” TV and film producers, mine-rescue team trainers, two-wheeled electric vehicles, Indian coal facilities, economic development in American Samoa and a […]

PHOTOS: Brookfield celebrates retail division with annual ICSC bash

Posted: 07 Dec 2018 06:30 AM PST

Brookfield Property Partners, just one $6.8 billion deal away from becoming the city’s largest commercial landlord, celebrated the retail side of the its business Wednesday night with the company’s annual party coinciding with the ICSC shopping-centers convention. Some of the biggest names in retail gathered at Brookfield’s Manhattan West megaproject, which sits just a few blocks away from where the site of International Council of Shopping Centers’s annual convention at the Jacob K. Javits Convention […]

The best-capitalized renter at Vornado, Stellar’s 80 North Moore St. just signed a lease extension

Posted: 07 Dec 2018 06:00 AM PST

Students at P.S. 150 in Tribeca will not have to change buildings anytime soon. The school has spent decades on the bottom floors of Independence Plaza, but parents found out in October that the city’s lease for the space had expired, and the school would need to move into another school for the next academic year, according to the Wall Street Journal. Parent leaders had protested the move, and city officials were ultimately able to […]

Watch: What happened to this $72M UES townhouse is key storyline in billionaire’s divorce case

Posted: 07 Dec 2018 05:30 AM PST

When a divorce gets ugly, real estate is often at the center of it. For David and Libbie Mugrabi, it’s even more dramatic. Libbie claims her estranged art collector husband stole their $72 million marital love nest, by transferring ownership to a trust controlled by his brother. Check out this video for more.

National Cheat Sheet: Compass hires CTO, Brookfield set to buy Forest City … & more

Posted: 07 Dec 2018 05:00 AM PST

Compass taps AI expert to be new chief technology officer Nine months after Compass’ chief technology officer left to start his own company, the SoftBank-backed brokerage has picked a new one. Before landing at Compass, Joseph Sirosh was the CTO of artificial intelligence at Microsoft and the vice president of Amazon’s global inventory platform, where he helped build up the the e-commerce company’s machine learning applications. Sirosh and Compass’ engineering team will develop AI-powered products […]

Will EB-5 stay alive?

Posted: 07 Dec 2018 04:30 AM PST

The failure of the planned New York Wheel, a giant Ferris Wheel planned on Staten Island, was a gut punch for the controversial EB-5 program. But it was not the only blow EB-5 has faced lately. That federal program — which provides green cards to foreigners who invest a minimum of $500,000 in qualifying real estate developments — is seeing serious setbacks. And developers may need to start weaning themselves off the capital source once referred to […]

These were the top 10 outer borough loans in November

Posted: 07 Dec 2018 04:00 AM PST

The largest outer borough loan last month was once again in Long Island City. The top loan in November was for $275 million for Tishman Speyer’s 28-10 Queens Plaza South, better known as the “JACX” office complex. Queens had four spots on the top 10 overall, while Brooklyn had five, the Bronx had one and Staten Island had none. The loans were worth about $1.4 billion overall, and every loan in the top five cracked […]