The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

No surprise here: Midtown’s office space is among the costliest around the world

Posted: 14 Dec 2018 03:00 PM PST

It’s almost no surprise — the cost to take office space in Midtown ranks among the highest in the world. To be exact, it costs $212 per square foot per year to occupy space in the Midtown submarket, according to a new third-quarter global office report from JLL. The firm used net effective rents and additional costs to figure out which office markets were the costliest. Midtown’s office market was just second only to Central […]

Carroll Gardens condo goes into contract for $4.5M, could set neighborhood record

Posted: 14 Dec 2018 02:45 PM PST

A penthouse in Carroll Gardens may soon set a record for priciest condo sale in the neighborhood. The top-floor unit at Avery Hall Investments and Aria Development Group’s 145 Carroll Gardens has gone into contract for $4.5 million, according to a source. The current record for the priciest condo sale in the neighborhood is held by a unit at 348 Sackett Street that sold for $4 million last May. Ryan Serhant’s Nest Seekers team brokered […]

Manhattan’s turbulent leasing market, Brooklyn’s bubble and more of the biggest trends in CRE right now

Posted: 14 Dec 2018 02:45 PM PST

Post-recession record nears for Manhattan office leasing market A Colliers International report showed nearly 4 million square feet of Manhattan office leasing activity in October, a 77 percent increase from the previous year. The strong showing, bolstered by several blockbuster deals, kept the market on track to hit a post-recession record in 2018. “In the third quarter, there were no leases closed over 100,000 square feet in Lower Manhattan,” said Franklin Wallach, managing director of […]

Peter Fine pays nearly $30M for East Harlem site along the Second Avenue subway’s next phase

Posted: 14 Dec 2018 02:30 PM PST

Peter Fine staked out a site along the path of the Second Avenue subway’s next phase. Fine — who earlier this year launched a new platform, Bolivar Development — paid $28.5 million to buy almost a full block along Second Avenue between 102nd and 103rd Streets in East Harlem where he plans to develop an apartment building with 160 rental units, sources told The Real Deal. “The subway is only going to help the market-rate rents,” Fine told […]

Tech firm in talks to take office portion of Aurora, Vornado’s Meatpacking District development

Posted: 14 Dec 2018 02:05 PM PST

Yext, an online brand management company, is in talks to take over the entire office portion of Aurora Capital Associates and Vornado Realty Trust’s 61 Ninth Avenue — the space formerly eyed for Aetna’s global headquarters. The tech company is looking to sublease 145,000 square feet from Aetna at the Meatpacking District building, Crain’s reported. Last year, Aetna had agreed to lease the office portion of the building, where the asking rents were $150 per […]

Friedland lands $84M in financing for 817-827 Madison Avenue

Posted: 14 Dec 2018 01:00 PM PST

Friedland Properties has received an $83.6 million mortgage from M&T Bank for 817-827 Madison Avenue. The financing appears to have been consolidated from two prior liens, according to property records. Friedland and M&T did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The six-story building is located on the Upper East Side by East 68th Street. Friedland purchased the property in 2004 for $90 million. Friedland and Rose Associates landed a $218 million loan in May […]

Analysis: New York is one of the worst states for getting info on broker violations

Posted: 14 Dec 2018 11:45 AM PST

New York State has a remarkably unwieldy system for recording disciplinary actions against real estate brokers, with low usability and confusing organization. But how much better are other states doing? The answer, it turns out, is a lot. In an analysis of equivalent public disclosure systems in six U.S. states with major real estate markets – California, New York, Florida, Texas, New Jersey and Illinois – the New York Department of State’s “Decision and Consent […]

Alchemy purchases 9-building Bed-Stuy portfolio for $25M

Posted: 14 Dec 2018 11:00 AM PST

Alchemy Ventures has made a big investment in Bedford-Stuyvesant, buying nine buildings in the neighborhood for just under $25 million, the company announced on Thursday. The properties are located at 879 DeKalb Avenue, 419 and 421 Marcus Garvey Boulevard, 654 Putnam Avenue, 319 Malcolm X Boulevard, 829 Halsey Street and 804, 808 and 814 Macon Street. They span roughly 52,000 square feet and contain 81 units. About half of the units are rent-stabilized, while the […]

Moinian Lands $132M in financing for 2 Washington Street

Posted: 14 Dec 2018 10:30 AM PST

The Moinian Group scored some new financing for its tower at 2 Washington Street in the Financial District, which is undergoing a partial residential conversion. Square Mile Capital is providing Moinian with $131.5 million in financing for the work at the 31-story North Building in the two-building, mixed-use complex called 17 Battery Park, according to a new city filing. The Moinian Group partnered with Collaborative Construction Management to undertake the conversion, which will provide 345 […]

New York arm of ACLU inks sublease at Rudin’s One Whitehall

Posted: 14 Dec 2018 09:40 AM PST

The New York Civil Liberties Union has new digs at Rudin Management Company’s One Whitehall Street. The organization is subleasing about 19,000 square feet on the third floor from financial services firm Janney Montgomery Scott, representatives for the NYCLU confirmed. This will be a second location for the New York arm of the American Civil Liberties Union, which already has a main office at 125 Broad Street. The organization needed the extra space to accommodate […]

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

Posted: 14 Dec 2018 09:00 AM PST

UPDATED, Dec. 14, 3:24 p.m.: There will be a few real estate events in New York City next week. On Dec. 18, the Apollo Business Consulting is hosting its “Jasmine Night” New York Financial Real Estate Christmas Reception from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Jasmine Restaurant, 216 East 49th Street. Come and network with financial and real estate industry veterans. On Dec. 19, iGlobal Forum is hosting its Breakfast with Real Estate Titans […]

The latest closing at 220 Central Park South is this $28.4M unit

Posted: 14 Dec 2018 08:30 AM PST

The latest unit to close at Vornado Realty Trust’s 220 Central Park South sold for $28.4 million. Unit 28A was purchased by an anonymous buyer, listed as “VVMB NY LLC,” according to records filed with New York City’s Department of Finance. The LLC’s addressed is associated with the DLA Piper law firm in Miami. According to the condominium offering plan, Unit28A spans about 3,700 square feet and was first listed for $24 million. Ultimately, the […]

These were the top 10 NYC retail leases in November

Posted: 14 Dec 2018 08:05 AM PST

Fitness centers dominated the top 10 retail leases list in November. Gyms and fitness centers inked six of the top 10 leases for the month, with Blink Fitness, owned by parent company Equinox Fitness, taking three of those spots. Health centers took two of the top spots. Overall, November’s top 10 deals totaled less than half of October’s in terms of square footage. The 10 biggest retail lease deals signed last month totaled 120,800 square feet, down […]

Rabsky Development hopes to bring 942-foot-tall building to DoBro

Posted: 14 Dec 2018 07:30 AM PST

Downtown Brooklyn could be getting another megaproject. Rabsky Development hopes to build a 942-foot-tall building with 902 apartments, 739,000 square feet of office space and a 640-seat public elementary school at 625 Fulton Street, according to Politico. The project would span 1.8 million square feet overall, and its public review process will start in January. The project would be the densest development in Brooklyn if it is approved as-is. Rabsky framed it as an attempt […]

How much can you afford to pay for a new home?

Posted: 14 Dec 2018 07:00 AM PST

New research sheds fresh light on one of the most frequently asked home-buying questions, especially for first-timers: With our annual income, what price house can we afford? Is there some handy rule-of-thumb? Decades ago, a commonly quoted price-to-income guideline was that you can afford a house that costs roughly two times your gross annual household income. So back then, if you and your spouse or partner earned a combined $50,000 a year, you could likely […]

Wanted: $415M in construction financing for Douglaston’s Hudson Yards project

Posted: 14 Dec 2018 06:30 AM PST

It’s not going to get built by itself. Douglaston Development wants a $415 million construction loan for its multifamily project at 601 West 29th Street. Jeffrey Levine’s firm plans to build a 58-story, 931-unit project at the site, with construction set to finish in 2022, according to Commercial Observer. His firm started the search for construction financing about a week ago. Greystone Bassuk is negotiating a possible debt deal. Douglaston signed a 99-year ground lease […]

Welcome to the New York housing slump

Posted: 14 Dec 2018 06:00 AM PST

The long-awaited slump in New York’s housing market has arrived. Home prices are heading down in the city itself and in its suburbs, according to Bloomberg. Buyers are pulling back thanks to years of price increases, the new federal cap on state and local property tax deductions and an increase in mortgage rates. Home sales are dropping throughout the country, and the appreciation rate is especially falling around New York. Prices across the country rose […]

Councilmember Gjonaj spent over $20K in taxpayer funds on contractors tied to campaign donors

Posted: 14 Dec 2018 05:30 AM PST

City Councilmember Mark Gjonaj spent $22,800 of Council money on firms linked with donors to his campaign during his first seven months on the job. The total includes $9,700 that his office spent at All Pro Design & Construction Corp., which has the same Bronx address as MP Realty Group Corp., where Gjonaj is listed as owner and president, according to POLITICO. Both firms are based at 970 Morris Park Avenue. The CEO registered at […]

National Cheat Sheet: Trump names new FHFA head, Cohen gets 3 years in prison, Sears shops stores … & more

Posted: 14 Dec 2018 05:00 AM PST

Trump picks Pence’s chief economist to lead Federal Housing Finance Agency The Federal Housing Finance Agency is getting a new director. President Donald Trump plans to nominate Mark Calabria, chief economist for Vice President Mike Pence, to lead the agency after current head Melvin Watt departs at the beginning of 2019. Prior to taking his current job, Calabria was a senior aide on the Senate Banking Committee and a deputy assistant secretary for regulatory affairs […]

At the desk of: Benjamin Levine

Posted: 14 Dec 2018 04:30 AM PST

From his window on the sixth floor of 7 Penn Plaza, Benjamin Levine has a direct view of Madison Square Garden, home to his favorite basketball team, the New York Knicks. Next to the window is a picture of the Knicks’ 1973 championship squad, a reminder to the long-suffering fan that the franchise can, in fact, win. The location of the office, which is filled with sports memorabilia, plus various toys and a papier-mâché cactus, […]

Divorce, Macklowe style: How an $82M stake in NYC properties will be halved

Posted: 14 Dec 2018 04:00 AM PST

Harry and Linda Macklowe’s 57-year marriage — and their bitter 14-week divorce trial — can be boiled down to this: one of New York’s most storied developers may keep a property empire in which his stake has been valued at $82 million, but he must pay his ex-wife $41 million for the privilege. In a 64-page decision on Thursday, Judge Laura Drager closed the book on one of real estate’s ugliest divorces, which shone a […]