The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Bank of America leads $1.6B refi for tower named after it at One Bryant Park

Posted: 31 Jul 2019 02:00 PM PDT

One Bryant Park is getting a $1.6 billion refinancing spearheaded by Bank of America. The deal will combine a $950 million commercial mortgage-backed securities loan from Bank of America and $650 million of prior public-assisted financing from 2009, according to the Commercial Observer, citing information from a Kroll Bond Rating Agency report. Bank of America’s portion of the financing will replace and expand a prior CMBS mortgage from it and JPMorgan Chase for $650 million, […]

City Connections founder David Schlamm’s reflections on real estate — and life

Posted: 31 Jul 2019 01:30 PM PDT

The head of City Connections Realty has no regrets. David Schlamm, 61, has made a few mistakes, but they’ve made him a more confident decision-maker. In 2004, his boutique brokerage was one of the first in New York City to adopt a high-split “100 percent commission model.” The move made waves in a market where larger, better-known brokerages maintained lower splits in the name of building their brand. The best split today at City Connections […]

Stocks lower after Fed rate cut, luxury retailers flock to Meatpacking: Daily digest

Posted: 31 Jul 2019 01:00 PM PDT

Every day, The Real Deal rounds up New York’s biggest real estate news. We update this page at 9 a.m., 12 p.m., and 4 p.m. ET. Please send any tips or deals to [email protected] This page was last updated at 4 p.m. The Federal Reserve cut interest rates for the first time since 2008. But chairman Jerome Powell’s comments suggested that this wasn’t the start of a rate-cutting cycle, sending the main stock indexes lower. […]

Owners of illegal Marrakech Hotel settle with city for $275K

Posted: 31 Jul 2019 12:30 PM PDT

Residents of an Upper West Side complex had long complained that their landlord was illegally running their building as the budget “Marrakech Hotel.” Now, the city has reached a settlement with Hank Fried, owner of the building at 2688-2690 Broadway. After an investigation by the city’s Office of Special Enforcement, Fried’s firm, Branic International Realty, was found to have transformed the residential building into an illegal hotel. The agreement prevents the landlord from operating the […]

This East End icon might finally be closing in on a sale

Posted: 31 Jul 2019 11:30 AM PDT

More than three years after a 14-acre slice of restaurant and retail space at the easternmost end of Long Island hit the market seeking $52.5 million, a sale could now be on the horizon. An agreement appears close to being finalized that will transfer control of Gosman’s Dock in Montauk to Merkourious “Mike” Angeliades, owner of Long Island City-based construction firm M.A. Angeliades, 27east reported. The tentative deal would include all of the Gosman family’s […]

Free and clear: Vornado pays off debt at 220 CPS

Posted: 31 Jul 2019 11:00 AM PDT

Steve Roth has called 220 Central Park South the “most successful” condo project anywhere, and now Vornado Realty Trust’s uber-luxe development is debt free. The real estate investment trust said Tuesday that it’s paid off the remainder of a $950 million loan it got from Bank of China to construct the $1.4 billion tower, which cost a hefty $5,000 per foot to build. With a projected sellout of $3.25 billion, and more than $1 billion […]

Faith Hope Consolo’s team preserves the Queen of Retail label

Posted: 31 Jul 2019 10:15 AM PDT

After Faith Hope Consolo died unexpectedly late last year, the @FAKEhopeconsolo parody Twitter account that skewered the real estate industry with biting posts changed its name. The anonymous author still Tweets out hot takes on industry goings-on under the name “Click My Bricks.” But at Douglas Elliman, the self-described Queen of Retail’s brand name lives on. The brokerage’s Faith Consolo team has decided to keep the team moniker (sans the middle name) and selected a […]

The Daily Dirt: Can esports save retail?

Posted: 31 Jul 2019 08:30 AM PDT

For years now, experiential retail has been trumpeted as the future. A new trend is taking that idea to a new level. What better way to revive a struggling shopping mall or hotel than by bringing in a bunch of adults to play — and watch others play — hours and hours of video games? Apparently, Super Smash Bros. competitions are the way of the future. Retail landlords are looking to esports (eSports or e-sports) […]

Chelsea Hotel owners donate to de Blasio campaign while seeking approval from City Hall

Posted: 31 Jul 2019 08:00 AM PDT

While seeking approval from the City to renovate the Chelsea Hotel, the owners of the famed hotel were making donations to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s campaign. Chelsea Hotel owners Ira Drukier and Richard Born pooled together a total of $57,400 in political donations to de Blasio’s campaign and PACs from August 2018 to June 2019, The City reported. The checks were signed by Drukier, Born, their employees and an LLC that the pair control. At […]

Elie Hirschfeld sells UES penthouse for $34M

Posted: 31 Jul 2019 07:30 AM PDT

Elie Hirschfeld’s Hirschfeld Properties has taken a slight loss on its investment penthouse at The Marquand in Lenox Hill. The firm parted with the luxe triplex at 11 East 68th Street for $34.2 million, according to a property record filed Tuesday with the New York City Department of Finance. The price translates to roughly $4,846 per square foot. Hirschfeld did not immediately return a request for comment. Hirschfeld shelled out $37.5 million to pick up […]

Who needs New York? Garden State multifamily portfolio trades for $146M

Posted: 31 Jul 2019 06:45 AM PDT

A seven-property multifamily portfolio in Northern New Jersey has been sold to an unnamed international investor for $146 million. CBRE vice chairman Jeffrey Dunne, who brokered the deal on behalf of Roseland-based Murnick Property Group, told The Real Deal that the transaction closed Tuesday and attracted more than 33 offers. Dunne noted that Class B suburban apartment buildings are beginning to garner interest from New York investors in light of recent rent reforms that have roiled New York’s […]

Tri-State house hunting: NBA star edition

Posted: 31 Jul 2019 05:30 AM PDT

Less than a month after Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving shocked the National Basketball Association world by signing $305 million worth of contracts with the Brooklyn Nets, the two superstars are in the market for some Tri-State real estate. NJ.com, citing VillageGreenNJ.com, noted earlier this month that Irving, who grew up in West Orange, New Jersey, has relocated to his hometown instead of the nearby South Orange, as some other outlets had mistakenly reported. Several […]

Here’s what the $10M-$20M NYC investment sales market looked like last week

Posted: 31 Jul 2019 05:00 AM PDT

Transactions in Brooklyn dominated New York City’s recent mid-market investment sales. Here are the deals that were filed last week, according to The Real Deal’s sweep of city property records. Gedaliah Zlotowitz’s Mesorah Publications and Sefercraft parted with 4401 Second Avenue, a two-story industrial building in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, for $18.5 million. The buyer was a limited liability company managed by Chaim Rosenwasser, and the deal included a nearby vacant lot and 214 44th Street. […]

New rents laws mean big changes for some brokers in the multifamily biz

Posted: 31 Jul 2019 04:30 AM PDT

With New York’s new rent laws jolting the real estate business, commercial and residential brokers that focus heavily on multifamily properties are feeling the pressure and quickly changing tactics. Two brokers, speaking on the condition of anonymity, singled out Rosewood Realty Group and Ariel Property Advisors as firms that could be hit especially hard by the host of new tenant protections — as both have been entrenched in areas with a heavy supply of rent-stabilized […]

Here’s what a Fed rate cut would mean to the US housing market

Posted: 31 Jul 2019 04:00 AM PDT

UPDATED, July 31, 5:27 p.m.: What kind of difference could a quarter of a point make? Plenty, according to some real estate developers and industry pros who say the Federal Reserve’s expected interest rate cut on Wednesday — which would be the first since 2008 — will make deals more profitable by lowering borrowing costs. (The Fed on Wednesday afternoon lowered the target range for the benchmark rate by 0.25 percent, to 2.0-2.25 percent.) Commercial […]