The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Rolan Shnayder, loan officer at Citizens Bank, dies at 44

Posted: 26 Mar 2019 03:30 PM PDT

Rolan Shnayder, a partner and senior loan officer at Citizens Bank, died on Saturday at age 44 after a roughly six-month battle with pancreatic cancer. Ace Watanasuparp, an executive vice president at Citizens, said Shnayder’s battle with cancer was an inspiration to the entire real estate community; he still tried to come into work as often as possible after his diagnosis. “Throughout his fight against pancreatic cancer, we saw the real estate community come together as one,” […]

Happy Living lands $138M construction loan for once distressed West Harlem site

Posted: 26 Mar 2019 03:15 PM PDT

Happy Living Development is ready to move forward with a big project in Harlem, on a site that fell into default in 2017. The Crown Heights-based company, led by Levi Balkany, landed a $138 million construction loan from Madison Realty Capital for its mixed-used project at 300 West 122nd Street, Commercial Observer reported. Richard, Ryan and Adam Horowitz of Cooper-Horowitz negotiated the debt. The site’s previous owner, Hans Futterman, defaulted on a $37 million loan […]

In sting linked to Robert Kraft, authorities seek to confiscate SoFla condos

Posted: 26 Mar 2019 02:45 PM PDT

Authorities in Martin and Palm Beach counties are looking to seize South Florida condos owned by people involved in a day spa prostitution probe. The property targeted by law-enforcement officials includes a condo near the beach in Jupiter that is partially owned by Hua Zhang, owner of the Orchids of Asia Day Spa, where Jupiter police charged more than 25 men with soliciting prostitution, including New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and John Havens, the […]

Real estate funds have a record amount of cash – but nowhere to put it

Posted: 26 Mar 2019 02:33 PM PDT

Private real estate fund managers don’t know what to do with all the cash they’re sitting on. This month, the total amount of dry powder in closed-end private property funds reached a record $333 billion, according to Preqin. Typically, closed-end funds pledge to spend investor money within three to four years, but managers have been struggling to find attractive investments, the Wall Street Journal reported. As of June, closed-end real estate funds launched in 2013 […]

Big rent-stabilized landlord sees backlash over facial recognition

Posted: 26 Mar 2019 01:30 PM PDT

A massive multifamily owner who plans to install facial recognition scanners at a rent-regulated complex in Brooklyn is facing the ire of residents who fear they could be surveilled. Tenants at Nelson Management’s 700-unit Atlantic Plaza Towers in Brownsville filed an objection to the installation with the state’s Division of Housing and Community Renewal in January, Gothamist reported. Brooklyn Legal Services’ Tenants Rights Coalition, which is representing the tenants, told the publication that it was […]

New Jersey Cheat Sheet: Montclair residents object to ‘megamansion,’ Garden State cancels cannabis bill vote… & more

Posted: 26 Mar 2019 01:00 PM PDT

Montclair megamansion proposal meets vigorous opposition Some residents from the township of Montclair are in an uproar over a proposal to erect a 60,000-square-foot mansion adjacent to the Eagle Rock reservation in Essex County, according to NorthJersey.com, which noted that if built, the “Lloyd Estate” would be larger than the White House and rival President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. The outlet reported that Turkish billionaire Melih Abdulhayoglu, founder of Clifton-based cybersecurity firm the […]

Tish James, developer reach $100K settlement over lack of disclosure at 11 condo projects

Posted: 26 Mar 2019 12:30 PM PDT

Developer Louis Greco has reached a $100,000 settlement with the New York Attorney General’s office for not disclosing in filings that he was a principal sponsor at 11 different condominium developments, an issue Greco characterized as a misunderstanding. Attorney General Letitia James announced the settlement with Greco and his wife Linda Greco on Tuesday. He failed to identify himself as a principal of condos at 90 William Street, 80 Leonard Street and 516 West 47th […]

Brokers place their bets: Where NYC resi agents are deploying their own cash — and what it says about today’s market

Posted: 26 Mar 2019 12:05 PM PDT

Over the past three years, broker Nadine Adamson has helped celebrities like Michelle Williams and Lake Bell double their money in the Brooklyn townhouse market. But the Brown Harris Stevens agent isn’t just dispensing investment advice; she’s also putting it to use. Adamson began investing in the early 1990s, when she bought a $225,000 Soho co-op after getting a cash infusion from an unexpected source: a $20,000 buyout on her rent-stabilized Greenwich Village apartment from […]

JLL expands Brooklyn footprint with two retail hires

Posted: 26 Mar 2019 11:30 AM PDT

JLL has hired its first retail brokers for Brooklyn, picking up a pair of agents from local outfit CPEX Real Estate. Ryan Condren was previously managing director of retail leasing at CPEX, having joined the firm in 2008. George Danut joined CPEX in 2010 and was promoted to director last year. The duo will focus on growing the firm’s Brooklyn retail advisory service offerings. JLL opened its first office in Brooklyn in 2016. “By joining […]

Here’s the latest high-priced closing at 220 CPS

Posted: 26 Mar 2019 11:00 AM PDT

The latest unit sold at Vornado Realty Trust’s 220 Central Park South went for $23.4 million. The anonymous buyer is listed as Fantastico New York LLC, according to records filed with New York City’s Department of Finance. The asking price was $22.7 million, per the condominium offering plan. Unit 40A spans 3,114 square feet and has three bedrooms. The purchase price comes out to $7,510 per square foot. Property records note that the sale was […]

For Travis County, Texas, Opportunity is definitely calling

Posted: 26 Mar 2019 10:40 AM PDT

Real estate investors and developers are raising hundreds of millions of dollars for projects in the thousands of Opportunity Zones scattered around the country. But not all areas offer the best return for investors. With that in mind, what are the top counties in the U.S. for Opportunity Zone investment? No. 1 is…Travis County, Texas, according to a new report by Commercial Cafe. With about 1.2 million residents, the area — which includes Austin — […]

Quinlan locks down $75M refi of Brooklyn Heights resi tower

Posted: 26 Mar 2019 10:10 AM PDT

Quinlan Development Group has refinanced another of its Brooklyn properties. The developer landed $75 million from TD Bank for its mixed-use building at 415 Red Hook Lane, known as the Lane at Boerum Place, according to documents recorded Tuesday with the city’s finance department. The deal includes a nearly $22 million gap mortgage and replaces debt from M&T Bank. TD Bank did not immediately return a request for comment and a representative from Quinlan was […]

Insurance premiums could rise as more extreme storms hit coastal markets

Posted: 26 Mar 2019 09:40 AM PDT

It’s no secret that coastal homes are becoming more vulnerable to extreme weather and other effects of climate change. But the cost of living on the coast has remained relatively stable in waterfront areas of Miami Beach and the Northeast. That’s partly due to an influx of capital in the insurance industry that has increased competition and kept premiums artificially low, Bloomberg reported. At the same time, homeowners in areas of the U.S. that will […]

Home-builder shares are bouncing back thanks to lower mortgage rates

Posted: 26 Mar 2019 08:47 AM PDT

After a year of decline, home-building companies are getting a boost. Shares of home-building companies are on track for their best quarter in seven years, the Wall Street Journal reported. The SPDR S&P Homebuilders exchange-traded fund — which includes building-products and home-furnishing companies — has soared 17 percent this quarter and is on pace for its best three-month period since 2012. Shares of Beazer Homes USA, BZH, Lennar, KB Home and D.R. Horton have all […]

US new-home groundbreakings hit 8-month low

Posted: 26 Mar 2019 08:00 AM PDT

February saw new-home groundbreakings in the U.S. fall by 8.7 percent, the most in eight months, according to a government report released on Tuesday. The drop, which was steeper than expected, suggests buyers and builders are still wary despite higher wages and lower mortgage rates, Bloomberg reported. Developers are still struggling to build affordable properties as costs for materials and labor continue to rise. The decline in new construction was driven by single-family homes, which […]

Use TRD’s new 3-D development map to get a jump on the competition

Posted: 26 Mar 2019 07:20 AM PDT

 Trying to keep up with the latest projects underway in New York City? Check out The Real Deal’s new interactive map, where you can track more than 16,000 buildings in various stages of development across the five boroughs. This critical resource is for subscribers only, so if you haven’t joined us yet, sign up now. The map is updated daily by TRD’s data team and shows projects in every phase of development, from the moment plans […]

Albany reconsiders pied-à-terre tax, could tax real estate sales instead

Posted: 26 Mar 2019 06:30 AM PDT

Lawmakers in Albany are reconsidering a proposal to tax secondary homes, or pieds-à-terre, in order to fund the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s capital budget. The state is now considering a tax increase on real estate transactions instead, Politico reported, citing five sources close to the negotiations. One source said the pied-à-terre proposal isn’t dead yet but is “headed there.” It’s not immediately clear what a change in real estate taxes would look like. Gov. Andrew Cuomo […]

Realtor.com sparks panic among brokers with move towards phone-vetted lead-gen

Posted: 26 Mar 2019 06:01 AM PDT

Brokers across the country are deeply concerned by Realtor.com’s latest lead generation move, after learning that the company plans to replace its own lead generation service with Opcity’s concierge-based model. Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., which owns Realtor.com’s parent company Move Inc., acquired Opcity last August for $210 million. While Realtor.com’s lead generation model involves agents vetting and converting their own leads, Opcity verifies the lead first and then collects a referral fee from the agent. […]

The We Company’s revenue — and losses — both doubled last year

Posted: 26 Mar 2019 05:30 AM PDT

The We Company’s annual losses doubled to nearly $2 billion in 2018, the company said on Monday. The co-working giant’s revenue also more than doubled, to $1.82 billion, but heavy spending toward worldwide expansion led to losses of $1.93 billion for the year, the Wall Street Journal reported. We Company executives say that such heavy investment was necessary to build out new offices, which will make far more money than they cost to operate once […]

Condo owners at luxury Miami tower reach $32M settlement over failed robotic parking

Posted: 26 Mar 2019 05:00 AM PDT

When Brickell House opened in 2014, condo owners thought they were buying into an ultra-modern luxury tower with panoramic views of Biscayne Bay and a new state-of-the-art robotic car elevator that would bring them their cars within 10 minutes. Shortly after closing on their units, however, buyers realized the dream of hassle-free smart parking wasn’t to be: The technology flopped, the elevator’s manufacturer Boomerang Systems filed for bankruptcy and unit owners had to resort to […]

StreetEasy’s rough road: A look at where the Zillow-owned portal began and the tumult it’s faced

Posted: 26 Mar 2019 04:30 AM PDT

From the moment StreetEasy debuted in New York City 14 years ago, it was clear that the listings portal was a game changer. But after an information tug-of-war with the brokerage world, it became something of a de facto multiple listings service for an industry that was too territorial to create a proprietary one for itself. Now, what StreetEasy once offered for free, its public parent company, Zillow Group, has been monetizing at an increasing […]

WATCH: Inside Macklowe’s gut renovation of historic One Wall Street

Posted: 26 Mar 2019 04:00 AM PDT

It’s one of the largest office-to-condo conversions in New York real estate history. Macklowe Properties’ development of One Wall Street comes with unique challenges. The building’s landmarked limestone exterior has to be preserved, even while the interiors are gut-renovated and modernized to create 566 condominiums and 174,000 square feet of retail space. The Real Deal got a sneak peek inside the construction project. Built between 1928 and 1931, the Art Deco skyscraper designed by architect […]