The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Bank of China issues $500M to Vornado in refi of 640 Fifth Avenue

Posted: 07 Jun 2019 04:02 PM PDT

Vornado Realty Trust landed $500 million from the Bank of China for three of its retail properties, including 640 Fifth Avenue. In April, the real estate investment trust sold a minority stake in its Fifth Avenue and Times Square retail portfolio— which includes the office and retail tower at 640 Fifth — in a deal that valued the assets at about $5.6 billion. Vornado transferred 45.4 percent common equity interest in the portfolio to a […]

Hedge funder John Griffin was behind record $77M townhouse deal

Posted: 07 Jun 2019 03:37 PM PDT

Hedge funder John Griffin is the buyer behind a record-breaking $77 million townhouse deal that closed this week. The founder of Blue Ridge Capital, who got his start at famed investor Julian Robertson’s Tiger Management, purchased the mansion from financier Philip Falcone and his wife, Lisa, Bloomberg reported. The Falcones purchased the double-wide property for $49 million in 2008 from Penthouse magazine founder Bob Guccione. They reportedly spent millions of dollars on a massive renovation […]

China Oceanwide takes out $175M loan against supertall Seaport site

Posted: 07 Jun 2019 03:00 PM PDT

China Oceanwide Holdings got a $175 million loan for its supertall development site near the South Street Seaport. Midtown-based alternative asset manager DW Partners provided the debt for the property at 80 South Street, according to records filed with the city Friday. Representatives for China Oceanwide and DW Partners could not be immediately reached for comment. China Oceanwide bought the site from the Howard Hughes Corp. in 2016 for $390 million. It was an all-cash […]

With sights set on Miami, Sapir looks to sell NYC dev site

Posted: 07 Jun 2019 02:32 PM PDT

As Alex Sapir shifts his focus to Miami, his firm is looking to sell a Madison Avenue site. Sapir Corp. is seeking $23 million for 218 Madison Avenue, according to sources familiar with the deal. A four-story mixed-use building occupies on the property, which is on the corner of East 38th Street. Alex Sapir and his former partner Rotem Rosen bought it for $18.5 million in 2015 with plans to build a luxury residential building. […]

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

Posted: 07 Jun 2019 02:00 PM PDT

Here are some real estate events taking place next week! From June 10 to June 12, the CRE Finance Council is holding its Annual Conference at the New York Marriott Marquis, 1535 Broadway. Come to this event to network and hear discussion on how the commercial real estate industry can adjust to recent waves of regulation. Kunal Singh of JP Morgan Chase and A.J. Sfarra of Wells Fargo will be among the speakers at the […]

Will Long Island’s Belmont Park project ever move forward?

Posted: 07 Jun 2019 01:30 PM PDT

The New York Islanders were eliminated from the playoffs in early May, and an even bigger prize for the National Hockey League team hangs in the balance. A crucial environmental review to allow the Islanders and their development partners to build a brand-new home is nearing completion. The most recent iteration — a 19,000-seat arena, 250-room hotel and 435,000 square feet of retail space on state land near the famous Belmont Park horse racing track […]

Blackstone turning its attention to European industrial real estate

Posted: 07 Jun 2019 12:44 PM PDT

On the heels of its blockbuster industrial deal in the United States, Blackstone Group is turning its attention to warehouses in Europe. The private-equity giant is assembling $6.8 billion worth of its European warehouse properties into a new company that it ultimately will list publicly or sell, according to Bloomberg. The firm is in the process of hiring an executive to run the new company, which will focus on last-mile properties and bets on continued […]

TRD exclusive: Ahead of consensus, Senate mulled watered down rent regulation reform package

Posted: 07 Jun 2019 12:15 PM PDT

Just one day before the state Senate said it reached a consensus on the nine-bill rent regulation package, officials were still considering proposals that would significantly water down some of the proposed measures. Among the alternate proposals were reforms to Major Capital Improvements and Individual Apartment Improvements — rather than the complete elimination of the programs — and a dramatically different version of the “Good Cause Eviction” bill, the piece of legislation that landlords fear […]

CRE scorecard: Manhattan office leasing through March 2019

Posted: 07 Jun 2019 11:35 AM PDT

OFFICE LEASING IN MANHATTAN Midtown office leasing continued to rise in April, totalling 1.85 million square feet, a 38 percent increase from the month before. The availability rate stayed flat at 10.7 percent, while the average asking rent hit an all-time high of $88.20, breaking a record set in 2008. The largest deal in Midtown was inked by financial and insurance giant AIG, which picked up 320,237 square feet at 1271 Sixth Avenue. Leasing activity […]

Brooklyn developer Joel Braver planning gargantuan resi project in the Bronx

Posted: 07 Jun 2019 10:45 AM PDT

A massive residential project could be on its way to the Bronx from prolific Brooklyn construction boss Joel Braver. Braver’s firm Express Builders pre-filed plans on Wednesday with the city’s Department of Buildings for a roughly 293,000-square-foot residential complex at 1580 Story Avenue in Soundview. It would stand 19 stories and 197 feet tall, and include 562 residential units. Newman Design Architects will design the building. It’s the third-largest filing by square footage in the […]

Meet the hedge fund that’s buying Barnes & Noble’s 627 stores

Posted: 07 Jun 2019 10:00 AM PDT

Struggling bookseller Barnes & Noble has agreed to sell to hedge fund Elliott Management Corp. for $475 million in cash, following a Thursday auction for the company. Paul Singer’s distressed debt hedge fund was the top bidder at the auction. The deal is valued at around $683 million, including the assumption of debt, according to the Wall Street Journal. The future of the bookseller’s 627 U.S. stores remains murky. Elliott will pay $6.50 per share […]

It’s the economy, stupid: Luxury sales are hurting, but records are still being set

Posted: 07 Jun 2019 09:15 AM PDT

Call it a record number of records. Since January, when hedge funder Ken Griffin closed on the most expensive apartment in the U.S. for $238 million, price records in Manhattan’s luxury market have been set and re-set: Just this week, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos set a Downtown record with his $80 million triplex purchase at 212 Fifth Avenue. Farther uptown, an unknown buyer set a new townhouse record by shelling out $77 million for financier Philip […]

In Bel Air, development dirt spanning 258 acres gets 40% price chop

Posted: 07 Jun 2019 08:30 AM PDT

As the luxury real estate community was whispering about the record-breaking ask on the Mountain of Beverly Hills, the seller of another swath of undeveloped land was gearing up to market his crown jewel atop Bel Air. But at a much more feasible price. Senderos Canyon — which spans a whopping 258 acres — has been relisted for $75 million, down from its original $125 million ask in 2013, Bloomberg reported. That translates to about […]

Howard Hughes faces more backlash at Seaport. This time, it’s over toxic contamination concerns

Posted: 07 Jun 2019 07:00 AM PDT

Howard Hughes Corporation is again facing community backlash in the South Street Seaport again. But this time, it isn’t purely over a new development. A parking lot that the developer recently purchased at 250 Water Street may contain elemental mercury under the asphalt, according to the New York Times. The mercury remains would be leftover from a thermometer factory that existed on the site in the 1800s, and Howard Hughes applied to the state’s brownfield […]

The state is still moving on prevailing wage legislation, but the definition might not be as broad

Posted: 07 Jun 2019 06:15 AM PDT

Legislators in Albany may narrow the scope of a bill that would define which public works projects require higher wages. A new bill under consideration could include thresholds that vary by region, according to the Wall Street Journal. A New York City project could receive as much as $1 million in subsidies without requiring a prevailing wage, and a new commission would determine how much support a project could get from an industrial development agency […]

These were the top 10 outer borough loans last month

Posted: 07 Jun 2019 05:30 AM PDT

Downtown Brooklyn topped the list of outer borough loans for the second month in a row, although May’s top loan was not nearly as large as April’s. In April, the neighborhood topped the list with loans for $429 million and $330 million, but it grabbed the top spot in May with a loan for just $86 million from Union Bank to John Catsimatidis’ Red Apple Group for 81 Fleet Place. An $85 million loan from […]

WATCH: TRD breaks down the fight over rent reform in Albany

Posted: 07 Jun 2019 05:00 AM PDT

With just nine days left until the rent laws expire, negotiations are heating up in Albany as the real estate industry and tenant advocates jockey to influence lawmakers. Intense tenant protests on Tuesday outside the state assembly led to the arrest of 61 tenants from the Upstate-Downstate coalition. While dueling press releases from Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Speaker Carl Heastie attempt to shift the blame, Albany insiders say that the […]

The Manhattan agents with the highest dollar volume of listings

Posted: 07 Jun 2019 04:30 AM PDT

Listings, particularly on the high end, are not easy to unload. Nonetheless, landing a listing when the seller has yet to come to terms with a realistic price is often a necessary evil in the residential real estate world. This month, with help from real estate data firm LavaMap, which pulled thousands of active for-sale properties, The Real Deal ranked Manhattan’s top agents by their total dollar volume of listings in the borough. While the […]

Realtor.com boss is out

Posted: 07 Jun 2019 04:00 AM PDT

Ryan O’ Hara, who for over four years has spearheaded Rupert Murdoch‘s push into the real-estate listings space as chief executive of Realtor.com operator Move Inc., has left the company, News Corp. announced Thursday. “I am grateful to Rupert Murdoch, Robert Thomson and News Corp. for affording me the opportunity to lead five different businesses on two continents over two stints with this great company,” O’ Hara said in a statement. He is leaving to […]