The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

REITs take a hit amid growing coronavirus concerns

Posted: 24 Feb 2020 03:05 PM PST

Real estate investment trusts were not immune from Monday’s global market sell — particularly hotel properties — a result of the growing fears surrounding the coronavirus and its potential to trigger a global economic slowdown. The S&P 500 fell 3.35 percent and the Dow Industrial Average plummeted over 1,000 points following news that the coronavirus, which has infected over 77,000 and killed over 2,500, was expanding in Italy and South Korea. REITs took a hit

BQE project would yield Brooklyn real estate boon: locals

Posted: 24 Feb 2020 02:30 PM PST

The Brooklyn-Queens Expressway has long been one of New York City’s most notorious eyesores, but a report released Monday sketches out a better future for the roadway — and for its surrounding real estate. The report, which the City Council released with the engineering and design firm Arup, rejects a plan to replace the Brooklyn Heights Promenade with a temporary highway during reconstruction of a deteriorating section. Instead it calls for a capped highway or

Hotel developer sues city over special permit plan

Posted: 24 Feb 2020 02:00 PM PST

As the de Blasio administration prepares to require special permits for hotel construction in yet another New York City neighborhood, one hotel developer has decided to take the fight to court — and one of the city’s most prolific hotel architects is supporting the effort. Morris Kalimian of ELK Investors filed an Article 78 petition Monday to block the city’s plan to require special permits in an area south of Union Square, until it conducts

Highlights from Day 1 of TRD’s Future City summit

Posted: 24 Feb 2020 01:20 PM PST

The second year of The Real Deal’s annual executive retreat kicked off at Baha Mar Resort in the Bahamas. Future City’s 2020 attendees — including Bentley Zhao of New Empire Real Estate, David Kramer of Hudson Companies, Doug Eisenberg of A&E Real Estate Holding, Young Woo of Youngwoo & Associates, Gil Dezer of Dezer Development and DR Dwyer of Related Companies — trickled into the resort Sunday, prepared for several days of networking and panels

Multifamily landlord runs for mayor in Nassau County

Posted: 24 Feb 2020 12:30 PM PST

While politicians in New York City rush to distance themselves from real estate, one landlord wants to join their ranks. Daniel Goldstein, managing partner of New York-based rental landlord E&M Management, is running for mayor of Lawrence, a Long Island village. “I’ve just had enough of the mayor,” said Goldstein. “When he first started, he was all right. Then the power went to his head and he became very arrogant.” The mayor, Alex Edelman, was

Sizing up Cuomo’s Penn Station plan by the numbers

Posted: 24 Feb 2020 12:00 PM PST

The latest proposal to expand Penn Station — given new urgency by Gov. Andrew Cuomo last month — includes plans to acquire a full city block to the south for an entirely new terminal with eight tracks. The governor now has his sights on West 30th and West 31st streets between Seventh and Eighth avenues for the “Empire Station Complex” megaproject. The proposed terminal would connect to both Penn Station and the Moynihan Train Hall,

Priciest contract of 2020 is outlier in slumping luxury market

Posted: 24 Feb 2020 11:45 AM PST

A pair of penthouses that went into contract for a reported $45 million last week marked the priciest signing of the year so far. The trophy units at Ian Bruce Eichner’s Madison Square Park Tower — a package deal totaling 13,060 feet — were first listed in 2014 for $77 million, then at $52 million. The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the deal, said the buyer was a wealthy individual from Asia. The signing

The price is right? CBS asking more than $1B for Sixth Ave HQ

Posted: 24 Feb 2020 09:45 AM PST

CBS is looking to get north of $1 billion for its Eero Saarinen-designed headquarters building on Sixth Avenue, aptly nicknamed Black Rock. The broadcaster, which merged with Viacom late last year in a $25 billion deal, announced in December that the company would look to sell the 52-story black granite skyscraper at 51 West 52nd Street, but pricing expectations were not known at the time. The marketing process for the tower recently kicked off, sources

Goodbye, NRT. Hello, Realogy Brokerage Group

Posted: 24 Feb 2020 09:00 AM PST

Realogy is saying goodbye to its alphabet soup of names. Amid a company-wide consolidation, the real estate brokerage giant is renaming NRT, the business unit that includes Corcoran Group, Sotheby’s International Realty and Coldwell Banker. The new name will be Realogy Brokerage Group. Realogy will also rename TRG, its title insurance business, which will now be known as Realogy Title Group. It will not rename its franchise division, which is already called Realogy Franchise Group,

Another Cobble Hill townhouse is Brooklyn’s priciest contract last week

Posted: 24 Feb 2020 08:00 AM PST

A townhouse in Cobble Hill was the priciest residential deal to go into contract in Brooklyn last week for the second week in a row. The nine-bedroom unit at 234 Clinton Street went for slightly less than $6 million. It spans 5,500 square feet and went into contract at its asking price after 132 days on the market. Overall, Brooklyn saw 10 contracts signed for $2 million or more last week, split between six houses,

Evictions down 20% in parts of NYC where tenants get free lawyers

Posted: 24 Feb 2020 07:15 AM PST

Evictions in areas where low-income tenants received city-funded legal services funded dropped by almost 20 percent last year, according to an analysis from the nonprofit Community Service Society of New York. The drop took place in the 20 New York ZIP codes targeted by the 2017 Right to Counsel law, according to The City. The program is being expanded to provide free housing court legal services across the city by 2022, and the City Council

Inside WeWork’s $2M+ settlement over claims of drug use, sexual harassment

Posted: 24 Feb 2020 06:35 AM PST

A woman who formerly worked in WeWork’s real estate business sent a 50-page document to the beleaguered company in the spring of 2018 filled with explosive allegations of drug use, sexual harassment and pay discrimination. The document threatened a lawsuit against WeWork when it was in the midst of rapid growth and fundraising, according to Business Insider, which obtained a copy of it. WeWork then conducted an investigation that found credible evidence of drug use

The latest real estate billionaire? Zillow’s Rich Barton

Posted: 24 Feb 2020 05:30 AM PST

Zillow founder Rich Barton has become a billionaire. The listings giant CEO hit the milestone after strong results from Zillow’s risky new instant home-buying strategy caused shares to increase by 17 percent on Thursday, according to Forbes. The share price closed at higher than $64 for the first time since June 2018, putting the value of Barton’s 15.8 million shares at just over $1 billion. Barton owns the largest individual stake in Zillow, which he

Park Slope mixed-use property marks lone mid-market transaction this week

Posted: 24 Feb 2020 05:00 AM PST

There was just one deal made public in New York’s mid-market investment sales this week. Here are the details: An LLC linked to United Elite Group purchased a four-story mixed-use property in Park Slope for $13 million. The seller was Fourth New York Realty Co., which is based in Summit, N.J. The property is located at 69-75 Fourth Avenue, and the four adjacent lots span 6,190 square feet with 16 residential units overall.

The squeeze on resi brokerages is forcing consolidation, cooperation

Posted: 24 Feb 2020 04:30 AM PST

Corcoran is consolidating. Compass is making lay offs. Residential firms are going lean. Call it a sign of the times that these days brokerage executives show off their smarts by pulling out financial statements and reviewing expenses line by line. “Everybody is doing that right now,” said Steve Murray, president of Real Trends, which analyzes brokerage valuations. The question is whether they’re making the right choices on where to save versus splurge. Murray recalled one

Turf war: Union fights open-shop apprenticeship program

Posted: 24 Feb 2020 04:00 AM PST

Construction unions have long argued that their apprenticeship system produces better-trained workers than non-union shops provide. But now a New York construction union is fighting an open-shop group’s effort to replicate how organized labor trains its members. The turf war is over the New York chapter of the Associated Builders and Contractors’ application to certify an apprenticeship program to train carpenters, laborers, ironworkers, sheet metal workers and other tradespeople. The city’s laborers union, Local 79,