The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Victor Group lands $30M condo inventory loan for the Getty

Posted: 06 Feb 2019 03:30 PM PST

Victor Group snagged a $30 million condo inventory loan for the remaining unsold units at the Getty building in West Chelsea. Investment firm Paragon Outcomes Management and Axos Bank – formerly known as Bank of Internet – provided the loan, according to a Paragon statement Wednesday. The loan for the project at 501 West 24th Street closed in January. To date, three of the seven units at Victor Group and Michael Shvo’s project have sold, […]

“I can’t do anything in this town today”: Steve Witkoff is fed up with New York development costs

Posted: 06 Feb 2019 03:00 PM PST

Steve Witkoff is among a growing number of New York developers who are up in arms over soaring land and construction prices. So now, he’s building elsewhere. “I can’t do anything in this town today,” Witkoff said at a construction and development forum hosted by accounting firm Anchin. “The land is too expensive.” He pointed to his firm’s development at 150 Charles Street in Greenwich Village as an example. Witkoff said the project, which started […]

Property owners, renters latest to sue SoCal Edison, Boeing over Woolsey Fire

Posted: 06 Feb 2019 02:30 PM PST

More than 100 property owners and renters are suing Southern California Edison and aerospace giant Boeing following the deadly Woolsey Fire, which caused an estimated billions of dollars in real estate damage. The lawsuit alleges the two companies’ failure to maintain vital infrastructure contributed to the November blaze, according to the Los Angeles Times. The Woolsey Fire killed four people and caused more than $5 billion in property damages when it ravaged northwest L.A. County […]

Rental insurance startup Jetty raises $25M in Series B

Posted: 06 Feb 2019 02:00 PM PST

The rental insurance startup Jetty has raised $25 million in a Series B funding round led by Khosla Ventures’ Keith Rabois, the company announced Wednesday. The investment brings the company’s total funding to more than $40 million. Jetty focuses on selling what it characterizes as rental insurance to city dwellers, and it’s in 46 states. Jetty also offers to serve as a guarantor on apartment leases in exchange for 5 to 10 percent of the […]

Westchester & Fairfield Cheat Sheet: Office vacancy rates fall in Fairfield, Robert Redford’s retail brand sets up shop in Westport … & more

Posted: 06 Feb 2019 01:30 PM PST

Report finds office vacancy rates falling in Fairfield County Fairfield County saw office vacancy rates decline at the end of 2018, as property owners became “more proactive in attracting tenants by lowering pricing objectives,” according to a fourth quarter commercial market report by Houlihan Lawrence. Greenwich was one place where leasing rates fell — the town’s rates dropped 22 percent in 2018 — although it also recovered 4 percent of occupancy in the second half […]

Abu Dhabi fund ups stake in Park Lane Hotel as part of 1MDB funds recovery

Posted: 06 Feb 2019 01:00 PM PST

Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co. increased its stake in the Park Lane Hotel as part of the U.S. government’s effort to recover monies tied to Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal. The sale came after fugitive Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, known as Jho Low, dropped his claims to the property in a forfeiture lawsuit, Bloomberg News reported. About $140 million for the interest in the hotel was transferred to the U.S. government around Dec. […]

Avery Hall lands $165M construction loan for DoBro condo tower

Posted: 06 Feb 2019 12:30 PM PST

Avery Hall Investments is ready to go vertical with a 122-unit condominium tower in Downtown Brooklyn now that it has landed construction financing. The Greenwich Village-based development firm landed a $165 million construction loan for its project at One Boerum Place, a source with knowledge of the financing told The Real Deal. The identity of the lender was not revealed, but it was described as a foreign pension fund. The floating-rate financing has a term […]

Hurry up and wait: Airlines strike deal for $344M expansion at JFK

Posted: 06 Feb 2019 12:00 PM PST

The growing renovation efforts at John F. Kennedy International Airport will no longer fit into the overhead storage bin. The Port Authority, American Airlines and British Airways have reached a $344 million terminal expansion deal at the airport. The project adds to a $13 billion expansion and renovation effort taking place at JFK over several years and will add more gates to Terminal 8, letting British Airways move there from Terminal 7, according to Crain’s. […]

“Combover” man bought 3 Chicago Trump Tower condo units with stolen millions, feds

Posted: 06 Feb 2019 11:30 AM PST

A Hinsdale accountant — code name “Combover” — stole millions of dollars from a wealthy Chicago family and used the money for a luxurious lifestyle that included buying three condos in the Trump International Hotel & Tower. Those are the allegations prosecutors levied against Sultan Issa, who they say stole $55 million from his former clients. Issa served for years as the personal accountant to the family of Roger Weston of Winnetka, who sold GreatBanc […]

Developer behind $58M Ponzi scheme sells Manhattan properties at auction

Posted: 06 Feb 2019 11:00 AM PST

Westchester developer Michael D’Alessio, who pleaded guilty to fraud charges in November, sold multiple development projects at bankruptcy auctions over the last few months, court records show. Among them are two boutique Manhattan condominium buildings on the Upper East Side. A development at 227 East 67th Street, where D’Alessio’s Michael Paul Enterprises and its broker, Ryan Serhant, originally planned to sell five units for $28.5 million, sold for $15 million at auction. And 184 East […]

In growth mode, Knotel to move HQ to former New York Times Building

Posted: 06 Feb 2019 10:30 AM PST

When Knotel inked a lease in December at Columbia Property Trust’s 229 West 43rd Street, the flexible office space company planned to immediately sublease its full floor to other businesses. Those plans have changed, and now Knotel will be taking the entire 51,000-square-foot space for itself to serve as its new headquarters. Knotel will soon move out of its 14,000 square foot space at 137 Varick Street, which is being transformed into a campus for […]

As Brexit nears, London tops Manhattan as world’s most active office market

Posted: 06 Feb 2019 10:00 AM PST

Despite Brexit, or because of it? Investment in London’s commercial real estate stayed strong in 2018, with a total deal volume of $21 billion pushing London ahead of Manhattan to the top spot worldwide, according to Knight Frank’s 2019 London Report. A weak pound and enduring demand for London office space appear to have outweighed concerns over the U.K.’s calamitous exit from the European Union next month. The pound’s value has fallen 13 percent against […]

Here’s what the $20M-$30M NYC investment sales market looked like last week

Posted: 06 Feb 2019 09:30 AM PST

New York City investment sales transactions in the $20 million to $30 million range included the sale of two Williamsburg properties to Asana Partners. Here are the details, per public records filed last week with the city’s Department of Finance. 1.) Asana Partners picked up two commercial properties next door to each other, 66 and 70 North 6th Street in Williamsburg, for $29,500,000. The sellers were entities tied to investor Peter Eliou. In September, Asana […]

Follow The Real Deal’s Deal Sheet on Instagram!

Posted: 06 Feb 2019 09:00 AM PST

Shaya Sonnenschein and Shaya Ackerman of Meridian Capital Group represented the owner, Marx Development Group. The loan was issued by Mack Real Estate Credit Strategies. #commercialrealestate #nycrealestate #trdny #trddealsheet #nyc #nycloans #trdloans A post shared by The Real Deal’s Deal Sheet (@trddeals) on Jun 20, 2018 at 10:17am PDT The Real Deal’s Deal Sheet is on Instagram! Our latest social media channel features snaps of retail and office leases, financing acquisitions and commercial and residential […]

There’s more trouble ahead for Chinese developer of Oosten condo

Posted: 06 Feb 2019 08:30 AM PST

The Chinese developer behind Williamsburg’s Oosten condominium is on the hook for more than $250,000 in common charges, according to a new report. That puts the board’s finances in a tough spot, the New York Post reported. The board’s attorney, Adam Leitman Bailey, filed liens against 43 of the units for unpaid charges from October 2018 through Jan. 1, totaling nearly $253,000. The move adds to existing legal conflicts XIN Development, the U.S. arm of […]

Stayin’ Alive: Plans for the Brooklyn-Queens streetcar are inching forward

Posted: 06 Feb 2019 08:00 AM PST

The city is clearing the path for the $2.7 billion Brooklyn-Queens Connector to move forward, albeit slowly. Members of the Economic Development Corporation were expected to approve a contract for a consultant that would oversee the environmental review for the light-rail project on Wednesday, according to the Wall Street Journal. The contract went through at 10 a.m., and the land-use and planning consultant VHB was awarded it for up to $7.2 million. The contract should […]

Waterfront mansion sells for $50M, marking new Miami record

Posted: 06 Feb 2019 07:30 AM PST

A waterfront mansion on the exclusive Indian Creek Island sold for $49.9 million, setting a new record for single-family home sales in Miami. Property records show AVK Land Holding LLC, managed by Russian attorney Andrey M. Kaydin, sold the 10-bedroom, 14-bathroom home at 3 Indian Creek Island Road to Angouleme Holdings II Limited Land Trust, which could be the same trust as one managed by Qatari businessman Abdulhadi Mana Al-Hajri. The nearly $50 million deal […]

This NY lawmaker is going after Opportunity Zone incentives

Posted: 06 Feb 2019 07:00 AM PST

State Sen. Michael Gianaris was recently appointed to a board that could derail Amazon’s development plans in Long Island City. Now, he’s going after Opportunity Zones. Gianaris has introduced a bill that would make the tax break less valuable to real estate developers, Bloomberg reported. The lawmaker said the move comes after he was outraged to learn Amazon’s LIC campus would be in an Opportunity Zone. The program was intended to spur development in poor […]

Nest Seekers sues Compass’ Breitenbach over Montauk deal

Posted: 06 Feb 2019 06:40 AM PST

Nest Seekers International is going after a prominent Compass broker on the East End, alleging that he refused to cough up an agreed-upon commission for a Montauk hotel deal. For his part, the Compass agent, Matthew Breitenbach, said he has no involvement whatsoever in the deal and was blindsided by the lawsuit. In a complaint filed with New York Supreme Court Tuesday, Nest Seekers claims that one of its agents, Dylan Eckardt, was approached about […]

Sam Chang in contract to sell Garment District hotel

Posted: 06 Feb 2019 06:01 AM PST

Sam Chang’s McSam Hotel Group is in contract to sell its newly constructed Garment District Hotel to Magna Hospitality Group. The price for the 570-room hotel was undisclosed, according to PincusCo. The property at 338 West 36th Street has $185 million in debt.In the unlikely scenario that it would sell for just the debt, it would be on par with the fifth priciest Manhattan hotel sale last year. Last year, Magna also bought a hotel […]

Mayor taps city’s sanitation chief as interim head of NYCHA

Posted: 06 Feb 2019 05:30 AM PST

Mayor Bill de Blasio has chosen the city’s sanitation commissioner to temporarily run the troubled New York City Housing Authority. Kathryn Garcia will replace Stanley Brezenoff, who’s been interim chairman since last year, the New York TImes reported. Brezenoff was appointed amid the authority’s lead-paint scandal and will step down on Feb. 15. The appointment comes on the heels of the city’s deal with the federal government to have a monitor to oversee improvements to […]

Manhattan i-sales market hit 2-year high last year with $24B in deals

Posted: 06 Feb 2019 05:00 AM PST

The investment property sales market in Manhattan had a strong 2018, with large institutional deals driving dollar volume to its highest level since 2016. Overall, the borough saw $24.4 billion worth of activity across 501 transactions and 626 buildings, according to a report from Ariel Property Advisors. These were respective year-over-year increases of 33 percent, 2 percent and 8 percent. The large increase in dollar volume was driven by massive deals including Google’s roughly $2.4 […]

NYC’s residential bosses: Elliman overtakes Corcoran as the city’s top firm

Posted: 06 Feb 2019 04:30 AM PST

Surprise, surprise: A handful of New York City’s residential brokerages — including Douglas Elliman, Compass, Brown Harris Stevens and Nest Seekers International — saw their closed-deal volume skyrocket in 2018. But don’t read too deeply into anything; the showings were likely due to deals locked in pre-2018, before the luxury market started turning in earnest. In addition, a number of firms saw sales volume tank. And, transactions fell in every quarter of 2018 as buyers hesitated in […]

The top 10 biggest real estate projects coming to NYC

Posted: 06 Feb 2019 04:00 AM PST

A Bronx warehouse topped the list of largest projects in New York City last month. The Bruckner Boulevard project from Innovo Property Group and Square Mile Capital Management topped the list by a wide margin. It would span about 740,000 square feet, more than 300,000 square feet larger than the No. 2 spot, which went to a mixed-use building in Harlem from L&M Development Partners. The list also included two projects from Meir Babaev’s AB […]