The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Real estate titans … and their toys

Posted: 25 Dec 2018 01:00 PM PST

There were live camels, trapeze artists, a 12-minute fireworks display and an enormous birthday cake carved in the shape of a Chinese temple. Blackstone boss Stephen Schwarzman’s 70th-birthday party, hosted at his Palm Beach mansion in February, drew dozens of high-profile guests including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, art dealer Larry Gagosian and billionaire businessman David Koch. Many of them cheered as Gwen Stefani crooned “Happy Birthday” at the end of the night. The party, which […]

The anatomy of construction corruption

Posted: 25 Dec 2018 12:00 PM PST

In New York City’s $45.3 billion construction industry, it’s a network of middlemen that choreographs the rise of buildings. From supply companies to electrical workers, developers rely on a consortium of professionals to assign contracts and oversee the flow of millions of dollars — sometimes with little to no oversight. “There are hundreds and hundreds of products, hundreds of different workers on the job. It’s a large undertaking,” said Barry LePatner, a construction attorney and […]

How loyal is LeFrak?

Posted: 25 Dec 2018 11:00 AM PST

The typically genial real estate developer Richard LeFrak seemed downcast as he sat for an interview in his West 57th Street office early last month. He rubbed his face and grumbled about the topic of conversation: his friend Donald Trump. “Can we talk about my real estate now?” he asked. “The agreement was that we wouldn’t talk about Donald.” For the record, there was no such agreement. But the billionaire’s eagerness to sidestep the topic […]

Blockchain’s real estate break

Posted: 25 Dec 2018 10:00 AM PST

In September, REcoin, a startup that billed itself as the “only cryptocurrency backed by real estate,” was busted for fraud by the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission. The Las Vegas-based startup had planned to use blockchain technology — a growing list of public records that are encrypted and linked across a network of computers — to support its currency. It launched an initial coin offering (ICO), the equivalent of an initial public offering for digital […]

Macklowe vs. Macklowe

Posted: 25 Dec 2018 09:00 AM PST

Just after 5 p.m. on a recent Wednesday, Linda and Harry Macklowe packed up to leave the Tribeca courtroom where, for the previous seven hours, paid experts had testified in their $2 billion divorce. Linda exited first. Steeling herself for the tabloid photographer lying in wait, she stretched her lips into a wide, static smile. Harry — known to regale reporters with “take my wife”-style jokes — hung back, tapping away on his phone. “Asshole,” […]

The dismantling of Forest City Ratner

Posted: 25 Dec 2018 07:00 AM PST

In early 2003, Bruce Ratner walked into City Hall with a proposal to build the largest public-private real estate development New York had seen in more than two decades. The plan — based on a design by Frank Gehry — was to erect a sports-and-entertainment arena along with 4,500 apartments and 2.1 million square feet of commercial space on (and around) an underused rail yard along Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. During Ratner’s presentation, a senior […]

Who earned and who got burned in Manahttan’s luxury resales market?

Posted: 25 Dec 2018 05:00 AM PST

When Jets owner Woody Johnson accepted a $77.5 million offer for his Upper East Side apartment in October 2014, he hit on a euphoric moment in the New York City real estate market. The Johnson & Johnson heir’s apartment at 834 Fifth Avenue was one of three sales that broke the co-op price record that year. Just three years later, however, his sister Libet’s estate is trying to sell her Upper East Side townhouse and […]