The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Amid NY rent reforms, NJ brokerage touts opportunities across the Hudson

Posted: 16 Jul 2019 03:00 PM PDT

A month after handling the $59 million sale of a 232-unit portfolio in Union County, New Jersey, local brokerage Gebroe-Hammer Associates announced this week that it had closed $820 million in first half multifamily sales. The Livingston-based firm said in a statement that is has outpaced its peers both regionally and nationally due to the strength of the Garden State’s multifamily sector, one that it believes is poised for even more growth as a result […]

What you need to know about landlords’ challenge to New York’s rent law

Posted: 16 Jul 2019 02:55 PM PDT

Landlord groups kick-started their fight against New York’s new rent law on Monday, filing a lawsuit that claims the measure violates the U.S. Constitution. It’s not the first legal action to argue that rent stabilization rules fly in the face of private property rights. Back in 2012, the Supreme Court declined to hear a case brought by Manhattan landlords James Harmon Jr. and Jeanne Harmon, who alleged that restrictions on rent increases represented an illegal […]

Realogy’s explosive suit against Compass may be “seriously misguided:” antitrust expert

Posted: 16 Jul 2019 02:47 PM PDT

Compass is no newcomer to courtroom drama. Since 2014, the SoftBank-backed brokerage has been slapped by 10 separate lawsuits accusing the company of engaging in aggressive tactics to expand in new markets that range from outright law-breaking to unethical behavior. In the explosive lawsuit filed last week, Realogy accused the $4.4 billion brokerage of using “unfair business practices and illegal schemes” to gain market share and beat out its competitors before colluding to raise prices. […]

Stephen Ross trades Central Park for Hudson Yards. Here’s a peek at his other homes

Posted: 16 Jul 2019 02:39 PM PDT

Stephen Ross once credited himself as being one of two New Yorkers who lives and works in the same building, the second being now President Donald Trump. As the Related boss and Miami Dolphins co-owner trades up, taking a penthouse unit at the company’s Skidmore Owings & Merrill-designed 35 Hudson Yards, he will retain that accolade (his development firm bought an office condo next door, at 30 Hudson Yards). But first, he’s letting go of […]

King of the hill: Manhattan tops list of priciest place to rent in US

Posted: 16 Jul 2019 02:15 PM PDT

Here’s a case for New York state’s recently-passed and highly controversial sweeping rent reform law: A new report shows that Manhattanites pay the highest prices for monthly rent in the U.S. The average monthly rent of a Manhattan apartment totaled $4,190 in June, nearly $500 more than the next highest city, San Francisco, according to a new report from RentCafe. Boston was third at $3,509. While the Manhattan prices were far and above the priciest, […]

CRE scorecard: New York City investment sales through May 2019

Posted: 16 Jul 2019 12:15 PM PDT

INVESTMENT SALES I N MANHATTAN AND BROOKLYN Manhattan investment sales rebounded in May with $3.46 billion in deals recorded, making it the busiest month of the year so far and 40 percent above the 12-month average. The top sale of the month went to Google, which picked up the Milk Building across the street from Chelsea Market for $592 million from Jamestown Properties. Meanwhile, Brooklyn’s investment sales market slowed down to a two-year low in […]

Former New York Giants quarterback drops back ask for New Jersey home

Posted: 16 Jul 2019 11:30 AM PDT

Former New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms is once again looking to sell his 20-acre estate in Northern New Jersey. Simms, who weighed in this week on his former team’s brewing quarterback controversy, relisted his 10,180-square-foot home at 930 Old Mill Road in Franklin Lakes for $5.3 million on July 2. NJ.com noted that the new asking price is about $3 million less than what Simms sought when he first put the home on the market […]

With new rent law, Brooklyn landlord sues to escape contract for rent-stabilized buildings

Posted: 16 Jul 2019 10:45 AM PDT

A Brooklyn landlord is trying to back out of a contract to buy two Bronx apartment buildings, arguing that the “cataclysmic” changes to New York’s rent law make the deal impossible to complete. An entity tied to J. Wasser & Company and Martin Templer filed a lawsuit seeking to cancel its contract to buy 465 East 167th Street and 1178 Washington Avenue, which collectively have 38 rent-stabilized units. The complaint, filed in state Supreme Court […]

Developer startup favorite Honest Buildings acquired by software company Procore

Posted: 16 Jul 2019 10:20 AM PDT

UPDATED, July 16, 1:50 p.m.: Construction management software company Procore has acquired Honest Buildings, a startup favored among institutional developers, the companies said Tuesday. The acquisition signals confidence in the growing construction tech sector, where major real estate players are putting their capital. Last year, investment in construction tech companies totaled $6.1 billion, almost double what was invested in 2017 and a stark rise from the $350 million invested in 2016. Already, 2019 is on […]

Jho Low’s old pad at the Time Warner Center is officially up for sale at $30M

Posted: 16 Jul 2019 08:39 AM PDT

Accused Malaysian fraudster Jho Low’s penthouse at the Mandarin Oriental is officially on the market. Low is the accused mastermind of the $4.5 billion “1MDB” scandal, in which he is charged with misappropriating funds from Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund and using it to fund movie productions, lavish parties, yachts, and, of course, to buy real estate in New York City and Los Angeles. In May, a federal judge allowed lawyers for Low and the U.S. […]

Developers, construction industry lobby to legalize drones in NYC

Posted: 16 Jul 2019 07:45 AM PDT

Did New York City ban drones in… 1948? Yes, according to the current interpretation of a 71-year-old law that restricts the take off and landing of “aircraft” to Port Authority-designated locations, i.e. airports. As the commercial drone industry has taken flight in other U.S. cities in the wake of a 2016 rule change from the Federal Aviation Administration, real estate leaders say this rule is now holding NYC developers back. “The laws on the books […]

Deutsche Bank shrinks footprint at future Columbus Circle home amid global downsizing

Posted: 16 Jul 2019 07:00 AM PDT

As it cuts 18,000 jobs worldwide amid a dramatic restructuring, Deutsche Bank is also scaling back on its future office space at Time Warner Center, more than a year before it’s scheduled to move in. The German investment bank has exercised an option to return two floors at the building to the Related Companies, the New York Post reported citing sources. Though the two floors account for just 60,000 out of the company’s 1.1 million-square-foot […]

George Michael’s former lover is squatting at his $6.2M mansion and destroying the place: family

Posted: 16 Jul 2019 06:30 AM PDT

George Michael’s ex- Fadi Fawaz has smashed up the windows of the late singer’s home in London in a supposed attempt to renovate the property. The 46-year-old has been living in the home, valued at $6.2 million, since finding the singer dead from heart disease in 2016, according to the London Free Press. He has ignored legal letters from Michael’s family and maintains that Michael gave him permission to live in the home before he […]

Broadway shows, restaurants see major losses from Midtown’s Saturday blackout

Posted: 16 Jul 2019 06:00 AM PDT

Saturday is one of the busiest nights for Broadway theaters, and box offices took a major hit from this Saturday’s five-hour Midtown blackout, which led to 26 out of 30 Broadway shows being cancelled. Broadway grosses for the past week were down $7 million – or nearly 20 percent – year over year, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing trade group the Broadway League. Meanwhile, restaurants in the area saw tens of thousands of dollars […]

Why Compass treated Stribling different

Posted: 16 Jul 2019 05:30 AM PDT

For Compass’ first acquisition in New York City, integration has been anything but typical. On Monday, three months after the deal was announced, the SoftBank-backed brokerage shuttered Stribling.com and began redirecting users to a new landing page for “Stribling at Compass,” the banner under which former Stribling agents will continue to work with founder Elizabeth “Libba” Stribling and former president Elizabeth Ann Stribling-Kivlan. A dropdown menu for Stribling at Compass includes Stribling Marketing Associates, the […]

New York’s multifamily market had its slowest first half of the year since 2011

Posted: 16 Jul 2019 05:00 AM PDT

New York’s slow multifamily market has continued to plague the real estate industry through the first half of the year, with the number of deals hitting their lowest point since 2011, according to a new report from Ariel Property Advisors. Overall, the city saw about $3.4 billion worth of sales across 169 deals and 238 buildings from January through June, respective declines of 47, 24 and 50 percent compared to the second half of 2018. […]

Who are Jeff Bezos’ new neighbors?

Posted: 16 Jul 2019 04:30 AM PDT

Developer Robert Gladstone’s luxury condo 212 Fifth Avenue got a major boost last month when Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos closed on an $80 million deal for three units in the building. The day news of the sale broke, Madison Equities, Gladstone’s firm, declared the 48-unit building completely sold. Property records show that condos in the building were priced from $3.7 million — for a two-bedroom on the 12th floor — to $51.5 million for the […]

Bain Capital teams up with SKW Funding to target $500M in distressed debt

Posted: 16 Jul 2019 04:00 AM PDT

UPDATED, July 16, 9:17 a.m.: Bain Capital, which is raising a new $3 billion debt fund, is teaming up with Manhattan-based SKW Funding to target $500 million in troubled real estate debt. The new partnership will target distressed and non-performing loans across the country with a focus on the greater New York City area, SKW Funding principal Ayush Kapahi told The Real Deal. “In this environment, it’s just faulty business plans,” that will drive acquisitions, […]

RSA, CHIP file lawsuit challenging New York’s new rent law

Posted: 15 Jul 2019 09:15 PM PDT

In a highly anticipated federal lawsuit filed late Monday night, landlord groups challenge New York’s newly minted rent law based on alleged illegal taking of private property and violation of due process rights. The Rent Stabilization Association and the Community Housing Improvement Program, along with seven individual landlords, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, alleging that the rent law approved last month violates the U.S. Constitution’s Fifth Amendment, […]