The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Busted elevator in your townhouse? DOB offers owners amnesty to get devices up to code

Posted: 01 Mar 2019 03:45 PM PST

One month after a woman was trapped in an elevator on the Upper East Side for three days, the city is giving owners of private elevators a chance to get their devices up to code without getting into trouble. The Department of Buildings announced on Friday that it will give owners a free pass for the next 90 days. They can request an inspection and test for a registered or unregistered elevator — and apply […]

Here’s the latest pricey closing at 220 CPS

Posted: 01 Mar 2019 03:30 PM PST

Another pricey condo at closed at Vornado Realty Trust’s 220 Central Park South — for $22.5 million. The anonymous buyer is listed as 412391 Realty LLC, according to records filed with New York City’s Department of Finance. Unit 38A was asking $22.1 million, according to the offering plan. The 3,114-square-foot home, which has three bedrooms, sold for $7,226 per square foot. The closing is the latest in a string of high-priced deals at the building. […]

Adam Hochfelder is in trouble again over fraud allegations

Posted: 01 Mar 2019 03:00 PM PST

Notorious Manhattan developer Adam Hochfelder is back in court and in trouble once again over fraud allegations. Hochfelder appeared in Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday, where he was charged with scheme to defraud, according to the New York Daily News. He was expected to plead guilty to the misdemeanor charge on Friday. Hochfelder’s attorney, Marc Agnifilo, told the News that he “borrowed money from acquaintances under circumstances that were less than honest and then paid […]

The We Company laid off as many as 300 employees this week

Posted: 01 Mar 2019 02:28 PM PST

The We Company, the SoftBank-backed co-working giant that was last valued at $47 billion, laid off as many as 300 employees this week, The Real Deal has learned. That’s about 3 percent of its workforce and the biggest number of layoffs since its inception. The company formerly known as WeWork has conducted layoffs globally, across its three divisions: WeWork, WeGrow and WeLive, according to sources. Asked to comment, the We Company, which says its headcount […]

Florida banks increase scrutiny over Venezuela transactions amid U.S. sanctions

Posted: 01 Mar 2019 02:00 PM PST

Florida banks are feeling the sting of the recent sanctions imposed against the government of Venezuela’s embattled president, Nicolas Maduro. In the past, Venezuelans have ranked as one of the largest foreign buyers of luxury real estate in Miami. Over the past two years, however, those numbers have dropped significantly as Venezuela has descended into economic and humanitarian turmoil. Now, banks in the state are having to spend an increasing amount of time reviewing and […]

These were NYC’s top office leases in February

Posted: 01 Mar 2019 01:30 PM PST

No particular sector dominated New York City office leases last month, with large deals being inked by everything from tech companies to marketing firms to fragrance companies. All in all, February’s top office leases made up less square footage than January’s. The top 10 office lease deals totaled 1 million square feet, fewer than January’s top 10 leases, which totaled 1.5 million square feet. Last month’s top ten office leases also totaled less than the […]

Editor’s note: The great whiplash

Posted: 01 Mar 2019 01:00 PM PST

Call it Ping-Pong politics. The people who thought Donald Trump’s election would be a boon for business might want to think again. With the federal government moving so far right, it has hastened a leftward backlash in American big cities, New York included — and it’s already having major implications for real estate. Amazon’s decision to back out of New York for its HQ2 was just the start, as we explore in this month’s issue. […]

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

Posted: 01 Mar 2019 12:15 PM PST

This upcoming week is loaded with real estate events worth checking out! On March 5, Bisnow is holding its NYC Opportunity Zones Summit for 2019 at 32 Old Slip from 7:30 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. Come and network and hear discussions about how to take advantage of Opportunity Zones, along with what areas will be most impacted by them. Steve Glickman, Founder & CEO of Develop LLC, and Andrew Barrocas, CEO of MNS, are among […]

REBNY rallies members to fight proposed cap on rental broker fees

Posted: 01 Mar 2019 11:30 AM PST

The Real Estate Board of New York is urging its members to sign a petition against a proposed bill that would dramatically slash rental broker fees. An email blasted out by the co-chairs of REBNY’s Residential Board of New York asks its members to help “fight Intro. 1423, the proposed legislation that would put residential agents out of business.” The message refers to a bill put forward by Manhattan Council member Keith Powers, which seeks […]

The Real Deal’s March issue is now available to all subscribers

Posted: 01 Mar 2019 11:00 AM PST

The Real Deal’s March issue is now live, and digital subscribers to TRD are getting the first look at what’s inside. Subscribers now have access to stories including: An inside look at Amazon’s abrupt exit from Long Island City How REBNY and the broader real estate industry are responding to New York’s political shift Can Ziel Feldman unload units at one of the city’s most high-stakes condo projects? A ranking of the most prolific architecture shops […]

Amazon launching new supermarket brand

Posted: 01 Mar 2019 10:30 AM PST

Amazon is planning to launch a new line of grocery stores in several major U.S. cities. The first store is set to open in Los Angeles as early as the end of the year, as the e-commerce giant grows its footprint in the food business, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The company has reportedly already signed leases for at least two other locations slated to open early next year. […]

Lone Star sells Long Island garden apartments for nearly $500M

Posted: 01 Mar 2019 09:30 AM PST

Lone Star Funds, which just sold a $1.1 billion portfolio of garden apartments to Kushner Companies, just sold another group of properties on Long Island for nearly $500 million. Fairfield Properties and Maryland-based real estate investor FCP paid $472.5 million to purchase the seven-property portfolio spanning 1,496 units, the buyers told The Real Deal. “The locations fit perfectly into our portfolio,” Fairfield managing partners Gary Broxmeyer and Michael Broxmeyer said in a joint statement, adding […]

Zara Realty hit with suit from AG alleging tenant harassment, rent-stabilization violations

Posted: 01 Mar 2019 09:05 AM PST

UPDATED, 2:54 p.m., Mar. 1: Attorney General Letitia James and Gov. Andrew Cuomo are taking action against multifamily landlord Zara Realty for allegedly harassing tenants with illegal broker fees, rent increases and late fees. James’ office and the state’s Division of Housing and Community Renewal filed suit against Zara Realty on Friday for repeatedly violating New York’s rent-stabilization laws. The suit claims that the company “prey[s] upon their tenants, many of whom have limited proficiency in […]

Health care investor snaps up massive 70 Vestry unit at 19% discount

Posted: 01 Mar 2019 08:17 AM PST

The latest condo to close at Related Companies’ 70 Vestry Street is a sprawling combined unit that sold for $39.3 million. Unit 12S sold to “70 Vestry 12S LLC,” according to records filed with New York City’s Department of Finance. The unit, previously listed at $28 million, was later combined with Unit 11S — with an asking price of $48 million. The deal closed at at $4,707 per square foot, a 19 percent discount. The […]

More Americans are paying mortgages on time

Posted: 01 Mar 2019 07:30 AM PST

It’s a real estate and social barometer that doesn’t get a lot of publicity, but it’s important: More Americans are paying their mortgages on time today than they have in nearly two decades — maybe even longer. That’s a big deal, because when large numbers of owners do the opposite — stop paying on their home loans for months at a time — the entire economy feels the effects. Spiking delinquencies in 2007-2008 ushered in […]

Gap to close half of their locations & split Old Navy into separate company

Posted: 01 Mar 2019 07:00 AM PST

Old Navy will have to go it alone from now on. Owners Gap Inc are closing 230 of their branded stores, roughly half of all their locations, and splitting Old Navy into a separate publicly traded company. Most of the closures will be in the U.S. “Following a comprehensive review by the Gap Inc. board of directors, it’s clear that Old Navy’s business model and customers have increasingly diverged from our specialty brands over time, […]

Condé Nast subleases 50K sf at 1 WTC to cut costs

Posted: 01 Mar 2019 06:30 AM PST

Following a year of financial setbacks, media company Condé Nast is continuing to scale back its office space at 1 World Trade Center. The company, which owns brands like Vogue, Vanity Fair and the New Yorker, will sublease an almost 50,000 square foot floor to Ambac Financial Group, who specialize in offering financial guarantees, according to Crain’s. Ambac will relocate from their current downtown space at 1 State Street. The move comes after a year […]

Michael Stern targeting Opportunity Zones in New York and Florida

Posted: 01 Mar 2019 06:06 AM PST

Michael Stern is jumping on the Opportunity Zone bandwagon. His company JDS Development Group has invested at least $139 million in property purchases in Opportunity Zone sites in Brooklyn, Queens and Allapattah and Opa-Locka in Miami-Dade County, Florida. “Opportunity Zone money is starting to flow,” Stern told Bloomberg,“There are still some out there that are cautious. But I think we feel very confident that the rules of the game are firm enough us to engage […]

Clients of CRM Contactually wary of Compass takeover

Posted: 01 Mar 2019 05:35 AM PST

It’s only been a few days since Compass bought Contactually, a cloud-based customer relationship management system used by major brokerages including Sotheby’s International Realty and Berkshire Hathaway. And already clients of the CRM are expressing doubts about the future. Current Contactually users are worried about data privacy, the rate of Compass’ tech development and the potential conflicts of using a CRM owned by a rival company, according to Inman. “As Compass feels the pressure to start […]

Sales swap: Solow taps Corcoran Sunshine to take over marketing at 685 First Ave

Posted: 01 Mar 2019 05:05 AM PST

In a slow luxury condominium market, Solow Building Company is revamping its sales strategy at 685 First Avenue and tapping Corcoran Sunshine to take over marketing. The company has rebranded the project as One United Nations Park, with a new address of 695 First Avenue. Corcoran Sunshine is taking over sales from Citi Habitats, which will continue to handle leasing for 408 rental units in the building. Solow wouldn’t release numbers on how many units […]

National Cheat Sheet: Michael Cohen testifies about Trump’s real estate, Toll Brothers sees Great Recession-era numbers… & more

Posted: 01 Mar 2019 04:30 AM PST

Cohen testimony touches on Trump buildings, ‘Executive-2’ President Donald Trump inflated the values of his real estate holdings in New York so he could get a loan from Deutsche Bank, his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen testified on Feb. 27 in a congressional hearing, using the Trump Organization’s 40 Wall Street in downtown Manhattan as an example. “Find an asset that is comparable, find the highest price per square foot that’s achieved in the area […]

Ironstate’s Michael Barry on his firm’s aggressive expansion plans, rental concessions and the state of the condo market

Posted: 01 Mar 2019 04:00 AM PST

Ironstate Development Company has doubled down on new projects in both New Jersey and New York City at a time when many are thinking twice about breaking new ground. The Hoboken-based firm — behind such properties as the W Hoboken hotel, the Pod Brooklyn Hotel in Williamsburg and the Standard East Village in Manhattan (with partner André Balazs), among others — has more than $1 billion in development underway. The company, founded in 2001, has a […]