The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Redfin reports higher earnings, unveils program that cuts out buyers’ agents

Posted: 08 May 2019 03:30 PM PDT

Along with reporting higher revenue — and a net loss — for the quarter, Redfin unveiled a pilot program that allows consumers to make direct offers on homes through the company’s website. The initiative, dubbed Redfin Direct, is another blow to the traditional brokerage model. It began with a test run in Boston, said CEO Glenn Kelman, speaking at the company’s Wednesday earnings call. The program allows buyers to start the process of buying a home […]

Norwalk portfolio secures $53.5M for refinancing, contractor pleads guilty in $45M bid-rigging scheme and more Westchester & Fairfield real estate news

Posted: 08 May 2019 03:00 PM PDT

CBRE arranges $53.5M in refinancing for two Norwalk properties Los Angeles-based Thorofare Capital has provided $53.5 million in senior debt to refinance a multifamily portfolio in Norwalk, the Daily Voice Plus reported. The portfolio includes Berkeley at Waypointe on West Avenue and the Quincy Lofts on Orchard Street, which house a total of 198 units. Affiliates of Alex Brown Realty and the Belpointe Companies developed the two properties back in 2016, according to DVP. The […]

Construction workers get another 6 months to meet safety training requirements

Posted: 08 May 2019 02:45 PM PDT

For the second time since the new requirements were enacted, city officials have extended the deadline for construction workers to complete new safety training. The City Council on Wednesday granted workers another six months to complete at least 30 hours of training, meaning the new deadline is Dec. 1, 2019. The bill also gives the Department of Buildings the option to extend this deadline another six months, as long as the agency makes a decision […]

Common inks deal for second co-living building in Williamsburg

Posted: 08 May 2019 02:15 PM PDT

Co-living startup Common has tied up a deal to open its second location in Williamsburg as the company looks to scale up with new development deals. The Midtown-based company signed a lease covering all 10 residential units at the Loketch Group’s new development at the corner of Roebling and South 3rd streets in South Williamsburg. A spokesperson for Common said the new location – dubbed Common Marcy – was attractive, in part, due to its […]

Zell on Trump: The president’s tax documents showing massive losses “don’t tell much of a picture”

Posted: 08 May 2019 02:00 PM PDT

Billionaire developer Sam Zell, no stranger to controversy himself, sees nothing wrong with President Donald Trump’s tax returns, which according to a New York Times report showing when Trump’s businesses foundered, he paid almost no income tax for a decade. Zell said the documents “don’t tell much of a picture” of the health of Trump’s businesses, according to Bloomberg. The Times reported the documents showed Trump recorded $1.2 billion in losses between 1984 and 1995, […]

City Council approves package of 17 bills to strengthen tenant protections

Posted: 08 May 2019 01:30 PM PDT

The New York City Council on Wednesday approved a package of tenant protection bills, including one that requires landlords to make more disclosures when offering buyouts. The 17-bill package ramps up reporting requirements for landlords of rent-stabilized buildings and calls on city agencies to make such information available to tenants. City Council Speaker Corey Johnson said during Wednesday’s meeting that the package of bills was inspired, in part, by a series of stories in the […]

City Council gives green light for JMorgan’s new headquarters in Midtown East

Posted: 08 May 2019 01:11 PM PDT

The City Council unanimously approved the massive new headquarters for JPMorgan on Wednesday, the first project to take advantage of New York’s Midtown East rezoning. The Council approved the rezoning in August 2017, clearing the way for 6.5 million square feet of new office space to go up across more than 70 blocks in the neighborhood. JPMorgan then announced in February 2018 that it would stay and rebuild its global headquarters in Midtown. The new […]

Here’s what the $10M-$30M NYC investment sales market looked like last week

Posted: 08 May 2019 12:30 PM PDT

Transactions in Queens dominated last week’s mid-market investment sales world, according to property records filed with the New York City Department of Finance. Here are the details. 1.) BG 37th Avenue Realty LLC, an entity registered to the headquarters of supermarket chain Food Bazaar Supermarket, bought two one-story commercial buildings at 35-46 and 35-66 Junction Boulevard in North Corona for $25 million. Both selling entities — 148 Jamaica Ave. Company LLC and 40-16 National Associates […]

CRE scorecard: Manhattan office leasing through March 2019

Posted: 08 May 2019 11:45 AM PDT

OFFICE LEASING IN MANHATTAN Midtown office leasing bounced back in March, totaling 1.34 million square feet, a 35 percent increase from the month prior. The availability rate had a slight dip, to 10.7 percent, while the average asking rent rose past February’s post-2008 record, to $86.57. The largest deal in Midtown and the city overall went to the Bank of Montreal’s investment banking subsidiary BMO Capital Markets, which picked up 215,056 square feet on a […]

Starwood earnings down 30% as REIT writes off losses from regional malls

Posted: 08 May 2019 11:05 AM PDT

Barry Sternlicht’s Starwood Property Trust saw earnings fall by nearly a third at the start of the year as the company wrote down losses from struggling malls. The real estate investment trust, an affiliate of Miami Beach-based Starwood Capital, reported a year-over-year drop in net income of nearly 30 percent, down to $70.4 million, or 25 cents per share in the first quarter of 2019. The company’s core earnings totaled $82.9 million, down 47 percent […]

“My expectations were way too high”: Related CEO Jorge Pérez slashes price on his condo

Posted: 08 May 2019 10:30 AM PDT

The view from the throne is looking bleak for Miami’s condo king, Jorge Pérez. The Related Group CEO is slashing the price of a penthouse he owns at One Ocean to $10.95 million, a 45 percent discount off the original asking price of $20 million in 2016, according to the Wall Street Journal. He paid about $4.2 million for the roughly 3,600-square-foot unit, reserving the penthouse while the 50-unit building at 1 Collins Avenue in […]

Aby Rosen selling 345 PAS to medical fund manager Deerfield

Posted: 08 May 2019 09:45 AM PDT

Aby Rosen’s RFR Realty has found a buyer for 345 Park Avenue South, a month after his firm closed on its purchase of the Chrysler Building. Deerfield, a medical fund manager that oversee $8 billion in assets, tapped CBRE to secure a five-year $525 million loan for the acquisition and a conversion of the building to a medical lab, according to Commercial Observer. The sale price of the 12 story building wasn’t immediately clear. The […]

These were the top 10 outer borough loans in April

Posted: 08 May 2019 09:00 AM PDT

Downtown Brooklyn took the top two spots for April’s largest outer borough loans by extremely wide margins. The neighborhood took the No. 1 spot with a $429 million loan from Silverstein Capital and Otera Capital for 9 DeKalb Avenue and the No. 2 spot with a $330 million loan from the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America for 333 Schermerhorn Street. These were the only loans on April’s list to crack the $100 million […]

After pulling out of Australia, Purplebricks is now reviewing its US operations

Posted: 08 May 2019 08:22 AM PDT

Purplebricks, the U.K.-based firm that shook up the brokerage world with flat-fee commissions, has shuttered its operations in Australia and plans a full review of its U.S. business. Following rapid expansion yet poor returns, the company’s stock price has plunged 65 percent in the past year. Its U.S. and U.K. chief executives left the company in February and this week Michael Bruce, its founder and current global CEO, is also stepping down, according to Inman. […]

Michael Shvo partnership pays $130M for Beverly Hills development site

Posted: 08 May 2019 07:27 AM PDT

Michael Shvo’s buying spree continues. For the latest, the New York developer and his partners paid $130 million for a Beverly Hills development site. The team is planning a 300,000 square foot residential and retail complex at 9200 Wilshire Boulevard it said in a statement Wednesday. The seven-story building will have 54 luxury residential units and 6,000 square feet of retail space. It is a joint venture with Turkish developer Bilgili Group — led by […]

Qatari firm to buy Garment District buildings for $140M

Posted: 08 May 2019 07:00 AM PDT

A Qatari investment firm is in contract to buy two Garment District buildings for $140 million. Alduwaliya Asset Management is acquiring the 17-story 142 West 36th Street and 10-story 234 West 39th Street, according to the New York Post. The buildings, which span 119,203 square feet and 91,943 square feet respectively, were sold by Tod Waterman and USAA, who paid $118 million for the properties in 2015. Doug Harmon and Adam Spies at Cushman & […]

Trump posted more than $1B in losses from 1985 to 1994: report

Posted: 08 May 2019 06:15 AM PDT

In the decade following 1985, President Donald Trump reported losses of more than $1 billion to the Internal Revenue Service, generated in part by investments in real estate and an airline shuttle, according to the New York Times. Citing tax documents, the Times’ investigation details how Trump’s personal financial losses increased to $918 million in 1994 from $45 million in 1985 — a time period when he published “Art of The Deal” and was touting […]

Safe Harbor Equity launches $100M distressed debt fund

Posted: 08 May 2019 05:30 AM PDT

Safe Harbor Equity launched a $100 million distressed commercial real estate debt fund ahead of a potentially looming recession. The Miami-based private equity firm, which specializes in distressed commercial and residential real estate loans, is considering raising the fund up to $200 million, said managing director Ralph Serrano. The Safe Harbor Equity Distressed Debt Fund 3 will focus on acquiring distressed commercial mortgages primarily in South Florida, in addition to markets like New York, Texas, […]

These were the 10 largest Manhattan loans in April

Posted: 08 May 2019 05:00 AM PDT

The top 10 Manhattan loans recorded in March totaled $1.73 billion, just 4 percent up from the month before. RXR Realty topped the list with two big office refinancings that closed on consecutive days. 1. Pier reviewed – $375 million RXR’s first big April deal was for Pier 57, which Scott Rechler’s firm is redeveloping with Youngwoo & Associates. Nuveen Real Estate provided a 10-year, $375 million balance sheet loan for the property, $50 million […]

Has #MeToo changed real estate?

Posted: 08 May 2019 04:30 AM PDT

The sexual misconduct allegations against Richard Meier offer a telling case study for the #MeToo movement. In many ways, the mixed messages the case sent is indicative of how the movement has unfolded in the New York City real estate industry over the last year and a half. On the one hand, real estate firms are taking sexual harassment more seriously — not only because they’ve been forced to comply with new legislation, but also […]

Here’s what’s happening with Related’s $250M Opp Zone fund

Posted: 08 May 2019 04:00 AM PDT

Add Related Companies to the growing list of institutional investors that have launched a dedicated Opportunity Zone fund, all hoping to benefit from the popularity of the federal tax incentive program. According to public filings, the developer behind Hudson Yards is more than halfway to its goal of raising $250 million. It set up the fund last year through a limited partnership, but did not immediately start raising money. Related’s first filing in late February […]

Rent Guidelines Board votes in favor of increases on apartments, freeze on hotels

Posted: 07 May 2019 05:59 PM PDT

In a preliminary vote on Tuesday, the Rent Guidelines Board recommended a .5 to 2.75 percent increase for one-year leases and a 1.5 to 3.75 percent hike for two-year leases for both rent-stabilized apartments and lofts. The members voted 5 to 4 in favor of this proposal, put forward by chair David Reiss, which included a 10 percent allowance for sublets but didn’t call for a vacancy bonus. For hotels, tenant representative Sheila Garcia’s proposal […]