The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

New York, Miami show strong demand for self-storage properties

Posted: 31 Dec 2018 03:30 PM PST

A stream of self-storage properties coming online across the U.S. has been answering demand from smaller markets, along with some big cities like New York. Overall development activity for the properties increased in December compared to November, according to a new report by Yardi Matrix. The large amount of new construction slightly pushed down asking rents on individual units. Demand for the properties was highest in secondary markets including Orlando, Florida; Portland, Oregon; Nashville, Tennessee […]

New York’s biggest real estate stories of 2018

Posted: 31 Dec 2018 03:00 PM PST

A remote city in the Philippines and the diamond mines of Sierra Leone aren’t the places one usually looks to for New York real estate stories. But those are just a couple of spots where The Real Deal uncovered its biggest stories of the year. Our reporters were the first to track down some of the most significant development plays and property trades, they broke the news of Town Residential closing shop and tried to […]

Long Island Cheat Sheet: Developer iStar’s Long Beach apartment block battle continues; construction jobs rise … & more

Posted: 31 Dec 2018 02:30 PM PST

Nassau judge blocks developer’s proposed Long Beach apartment towers Developer iStar Financial’s bid to reverse a revocation of its permit to build two oceanfront 15-story luxury apartment towers by the Long Beach Zoning Board of Appeals was rejected by Nassau County Supreme Court Judge Stephen Bucaria, Newsday reported. Bucaria ruled on Dec. 13 that developers did not get the necessary building permits for the so-called Superblock project. The $350 million plan would bring 522 apartments and 11,000 […]

Where are we in the cycle? Some experts say luxury condo market will remain ice cold in 2019

Posted: 31 Dec 2018 02:00 PM PST

Entering 2018, Mike Pappas predicted developers would start lowering prices on luxury condos to accelerate absorption in an increasingly oversupplied market. Looking back on the past 12 months, the Keyes Company founder and CEO expects the trend to continue in 2019 as the current cycle winds down with little new construction starts this year. “There was a lot of delivery of units in 2017 and 2018, and it will continue into 2019,” Pappas said. “There […]

Dottie Herman sells stake in Douglas Elliman for $40M

Posted: 31 Dec 2018 01:30 PM PST

UPDATED: Dec. 31, 5:40 p.m.: Douglas Elliman CEO Dottie Herman — who partnered with Howard Lorber 15 years ago to buy New York City’s largest residential brokerage — is selling her stake in the firm for $40 million. Herman will retain her spot on the management team, according to Elliman’s parent company, Vector Group, which is purchasing her 29.41 percent interest, it said Monday afternoon. Vector, which is controlled by Lorber, already owned 70.59 percent […]

Meet the architects bringing NYC’s biggest 2018 projects to life

Posted: 31 Dec 2018 12:30 PM PST

New York’s most prolific architect of the past five years kept up the pace in 2018. SLCE Architects is working on the most new construction — in terms of square footage — in the city. The firm previously topped The Real Deal‘s annual ranking of architecture firms, which identified companies that designed the most square footage of new buildings in the five boroughs between Jan. 1, 2012, and Jan. 31, 2018. In a new analysis, […]

Amazon planning expansion of Whole Foods throughout U.S.

Posted: 31 Dec 2018 12:00 PM PST

Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods last year had the real estate world wondering if the brick-and-mortar grocer would move more toward an e-commerce model or stick with its stores. Whole Foods now says it is planning to build new stores and expand to new markets throughout the United States, according to the Wall Street Journal. Amazon is seeking to bring Whole Foods to more suburbs and locations that would bring customers within the company’s two-hour delivery […]

Here are the week’s top luxury sales

Posted: 31 Dec 2018 11:30 AM PST

Each week, The Real Deal and CityRealty look back at Manhattan’s priciest apartment sales.

The best of: TRD editors share their picks for the top stories of 2018

Posted: 31 Dec 2018 11:00 AM PST

The Real Deal’s coverage reached all corners of the real estate industry in 2018. From the Opportunity Zones craze and residential brokerage’s existential crisis, to a developer who’s become the poster boy for gentrification in Chicago and even the mid-term elections, TRD reporters and editors didn’t skip a beat. Here’s a look at some of the top stories we reported in 2018, as selected by TRD’s team of editors. Stuart Elliott, Editor-in-chief | Kushner unfiltered, […]

Rabsky lands $134M refi for LIC resi project

Posted: 31 Dec 2018 10:30 AM PST

Simon Dushinsky and Isaac Rabinowitz’s Rabsky Group received about $134.2 million from Berkadia to refinance its Long Island City apartment complex on Purves Street. The financing package for the development, known as Halo LIC, also includes a gap mortgage for about $8.1 million, according to property records. Rabsky purchased the Halo LIC site at 44-35 Purves Street in 2013 for $32.2 million, and it’s the company’s first project in the neighborhood. The complex has 284 […]

Taxes not included: Duty-free mogul pays $27M for 220 CPS pad

Posted: 31 Dec 2018 10:00 AM PST

An entity controlled by the president of Duty Free Americas bagged a sponsor unit at 220 Central Park South for $26.5 million, according to records filed with the New York City’s Department of Finance on Monday. Leon Falic, who’s behind the corporation “220 CPS 32A LLC,” paid $26.5 million for the 3,700-square-foot apartment, records show. The unit at Vornado Realty Trust’s luxury tower was originally priced at $25 million, and sold for just under $7,200 […]

The 10 most notable New York real estate lawsuits of 2018

Posted: 31 Dec 2018 09:30 AM PST

Don’t like the deal? See you in court. At least that’s the approach some real estate execs took this year. Brokers, investors and developers all went downtown to complain in 2018, introducing us to new characters like Hudson Yards’ “Coffee Boy #1” and new problems like a “stigmatized” building that hasn’t even been built yet. But stakes were much higher in 2018 than with the usual commission spats and partnership pedantics. This year saw real […]

Omnibuild planning two-tower Bronx complex

Posted: 31 Dec 2018 09:00 AM PST

Peter Serpico’s Omnibuild Inc., one of New York City’s top builders, pre-filed plans to construct a two-building mixed-use complex in the Bronx. The complex, at 290 East 149th Street, would stand 85 feet tall, according to the new filing with the city’s Department of Buildings. The plans call for 123 residential units and about 146,000 square feet of total building space. A three-story mixed-use building currently stands on the site. It’s unclear from filings and […]

Manhattan luxury market has “typically dreary” close to the year: Olshan

Posted: 31 Dec 2018 08:30 AM PST

The last week of the year was slow and “typically dreary” for Manhattan’s luxury real estate market, according to the latest report from Olshan Realty. The borough saw just five contracts signed last week at $4 million and above, split between one co-op and four condos. The units went for about $73.7 million overall. The priciest deal last week was a unit at Harry Macklowe and CIM Group’s 432 Park Avenue, the 10th time of […]

The Chinese real estate tycoon in self-imposed exile at the Sherry-Netherland speaks out

Posted: 31 Dec 2018 08:00 AM PST

Chinese billionaire and dissident Guo Wengui is increasingly worried about his future following the conviction of one of his friends. Guo recently spoke to the New York Post from his $67 million penthouse at the Sherry-Netherland on Fifth Avenue, where he has been living while seeking political asylum. His friend and former top Chinese intelligence official Ma Jian was convicted last week for allegedly taking bribes from Guo and has been sentenced to life imprisonment. […]

Brooklyn’s luxury market hit a holiday lull: Stribling

Posted: 31 Dec 2018 07:30 AM PST

It turns out that Christmas week isn’t the most popular time to buy expensive real estate in Brooklyn. The borough’s luxury market was incredibly slow last week, with just four contracts signed for a total of about $9.5 million. The properties were split between three townhouses and one condo, and they went for an average price of roughly $2.4 million, according to the latest report from Stribling & Associates. The firm defines the borough’s luxury […]

All Year bonds downgraded in Tel Aviv after steep declines in value

Posted: 31 Dec 2018 07:00 AM PST

All four of All Year Management’s bond series were downgraded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange last week, as multiple New York-based developers have seen their bonds fall at unprecedented rates. Two of the bonds closed the week with sky-high yields of 24.9 and 22.3 percent. And at the time of publishing, the bonds reached 25.5 and 22.4 percent, respectively. The remaining two bonds, one of which is secured by a first position on the […]

These were the top 5 development site trades of 2018

Posted: 31 Dec 2018 06:15 AM PST

Build, baby, build! This year saw major development sites trade hands, some with major plans like Disney at 4 Hudson Square and Brookfield Property Partners in the South Bronx. Here’s a look at the top five land trade deals of 2018: 1. 4 Hudson Square | $650 million Buyer: Walt Disney Company Seller: Trinity Church Real Estate Brokerage: Eastdil Secured When Walt Disney sold ABC’s Upper West Side headquarters to Silverstein Properties, it needed a […]

“We head into 2019, beaten, battered”: Manhattan just had its slowest year for condo, co-op sales in almost a decade

Posted: 31 Dec 2018 05:30 AM PST

Co-op and condo sales in Manhattan fell to their lowest level since 2009 this year. Sales dropped 12 percent compared to 2017 and 22.5 percent compared to their peak in 2013, according to the Wall Street Journal. Inventory has been going up for several years and is likely to continue rising during the spring. The sharpest falloff occurred in sales of new luxury condos, the Journal’s analysis showed. Median condo prices dropped by 6.5 percent, […]

Starrett lands more than $77M in state loans for Coney Island resi project

Posted: 31 Dec 2018 05:05 AM PST

Starrett Corp.’s development arm has snagged roughly $77.1 million in construction financing for a 200-unit rental property in Coney Island. The New York State Housing Finance Agency provided the loans to Starrett and the Sea Rise Housing Development Fund Corporation, according to property records. Starrett filed plans in July to build a roughly 160,000-square-foot project on Coney Island at the corner of Neptune Avenue and West 33rd Street. The building will stand 14 stories tall […]

Down but not out: A look at the top retail brokerages in Manhattan and Brooklyn

Posted: 31 Dec 2018 04:30 AM PST

When the discount store Five Below opened a flagship location on Fifth Avenue last month, it caused something of a stir in the Manhattan retail world. The brand, which sells all of its goods for $5 or less, does not exactly fit in with luxury retailers like Gucci and Prada that have given the strip its high-end reputation. But times, they are a-changing. “It would have been harder years ago for a discounter to get […]

Here are the 10 biggest portfolio sales of 2018

Posted: 31 Dec 2018 04:00 AM PST

Earlier this month, The Real Deal took a look at the largest single-property investment sales of 2018. Now, TRD is rounding up the top 10 portfolio deals of the year. The 10 largest sales combined for a value of more than $4.5 billion, and included multifamily and commercial properties. This ranking includes partial-stake sales, but only if the buyer took a majority interest. And development sites were excluded from the list (TRD is running a […]