The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Trade groups request in-person filing for some real estate transactions

Posted: 01 May 2020 04:10 PM PDT

The Real Estate Board of New York and several other real estate organizations are calling on the New York State Court System to let in-person filing take place for certain real estate transactions. The letter, addressed to Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence K. Marks, claims that some real estate deals have not been able to close “for want of a county clerk to physically accept and record filings.” Some county clerk offices are not equipped to

Buyer of Realogy’s relo business feared broker was close to insolvency: lawsuit

Posted: 01 May 2020 03:45 PM PDT

The would-be buyer of Realogy’s relocation business called off the $400 million deal because it feared the brokerage giant was close to insolvency, according to court documents unsealed Friday. Realogy filed a complaint on April 27 claiming Madison Dearborn Partners and subsidiary SIRVA were using the coronavirus as an eleventh-hour excuse for backing out of the deal. The complaint also disclosed, however, that SIRVA believed the pandemic had a “devastating” impact on Realogy’s relocation business,

Second Take: The fate of rent-stabilized housing

Posted: 01 May 2020 03:30 PM PDT

When it comes to New York City’s rent-stabilized housing stock, landlords and tenants are usually on opposite sides of the table. But there are signs that even landlords are open to the idea of one-year rent freezes for the city’s really 1 million rent-stabilized units. The Real Deal‘s Hiten Samtani caught up with senior reporter Kathryn Brenzel to discuss the latest at the Rent Guidelines Board and the potential implications for New Yorkers.

Big shakeup at Colliers: Baxter, Cohen, Latham out

Posted: 01 May 2020 02:49 PM PDT

Richard Baxter, Yoron Cohen and Scott Latham, Colliers International’s top investment-sales trio, are leaving the firm, sources confirmed to The Real Deal. The news was first reported by Real Estate Alert. Reached by phone Friday, Cohen confirmed the departures, and said he was yet unsure of his future plans. “There are huge changes taking place in our business and the market,” Cohen said. “It will take a bit of time to see it sorted out.”

TRD Insights: Every commercial sale in NYC last week

Posted: 01 May 2020 02:00 PM PDT

New York City’s commercial sales market improved last week. Total transaction volume more than tripled from the week prior, from $77 million to $232.9 million. NYC’s Commercial Sales Last Week TABLEPRESS CODE: SOURCE: TRD analysis of Department of Finance sales For the seven days ending April 22, Brooklyn had the highest dollar volume of sales and the highest number of sales last week, totalling $112 million across 12 deals. Manhattan wasn’t far behind with $72.9

Small businesses in high-rent cities balk at PPP loans

Posted: 01 May 2020 01:45 PM PDT

Small business owners in high-rent cities like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago are finding the federal government’s $660 billion Paycheck Protection Program won’t pay the bills. Because just 25% of a loan award can go toward rent, mortgage interest and utility payments, some restaurant and shop owners in metro cities have decided not to apply, according to the Wall Street Journal. In order for the PPP loan to be forgiven, 75 percent of the

Cuomo press conference crashed by cancel-rent protesters

Posted: 01 May 2020 01:05 PM PDT

Gov. Andrew Cuomo acknowledged protesters calling for the cancellation of rent during his daily press conference Friday, but declined to say what he will do about tenants who can’t pay. “What we’re doing is, no one can be evicted for nonpayment of rent between now and June, period,” said Cuomo when a reporter asked about protesters demanding that rent be canceled and that billionaires be taxed more. “I get their argument,” Cuomo said, adding that

Harry and Meghan on the hunt for a mansion in the hills

Posted: 01 May 2020 11:15 AM PDT

A few weeks ago there were reports that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had purchased a home in Los Angeles. They turned out to be unfounded, but the British royals are apparently on the hunt for an L.A. abode. Harry and Meghan have concentrated their search on tony Westside communities including Beverly Hills and Brentwood, according to the New York Post. A source told the Post they’re shopping for a mansion in the $15 million

TRD Insights: RevPar rises with hotel occupancy rate

Posted: 01 May 2020 11:00 AM PDT

Hotels nationwide saw an uptick in revenue per available room over the last week. While the industry is still reeling from the effects of the coronavirus, numbers have picked up as states begin opening up for business, while still using hotels for healthcare workers, Covid-19 patients and the homeless. The latest numbers from hospitality research firm STR showed revenue per available room came in at $19.13 across the country for the week ending April 25.

TRD Insights: Data shows dramatic drop in home showings, pending sales since March

Posted: 01 May 2020 10:15 AM PDT

Social distancing and shelter-in-place orders across the country have complicated home showings and discouraged new listings. Two charts in a new report from venture capital firm Thomvest Ventures show just how dramatic the dropoff has been. The first graphic compares home showings in the early months of this year with the corresponding periods from 2019. It shows the first nine weeks of 2020 as unremarkable — by early March, the number of weekly showings was

Fortuitous timing: Columbia Property Trust is done selling properties

Posted: 01 May 2020 09:30 AM PDT

Having wrapped up a number of big deals shortly before the coronavirus crisis hit, Columbia Property Trust executives think the company is in a good position to weather upcoming economic uncertainty. The first quarter of 2020 saw the real estate investment trust sell off its last “non-core” assets — an office campus in suburban Pittsburgh and a corporate park in Pasadena — and complete team integration with recently acquired Normandy Real Estate Management. The company

Midtown East mansion with ties to shah of Iran gets another steep price chop

Posted: 01 May 2020 09:00 AM PDT

UPDATED, 1:15 p.m. May 1: First, it was asking for $50 million. Three years later, it was listed for $28 million. And now, the asking price for a Midtown East mansion at 29 Beekman Place has dropped to $11.45 million. The eight-story, 12,000-square-foot townhouse — previously owned by the sister of the late shah of Iran — has spent six years on the market. Now, Rosewood Realty’s Greg Corbin, Aaron Kline, Chaya Milworn, Branon Serota

Construction tech startup Procore shelves IPO

Posted: 01 May 2020 08:30 AM PDT

The latest coronavirus casualty is construction startup Procore, which has shelved its recent plans for an initial public offering. The news isn’t all bad for the California-based construction management software company. A private funding round has pushed its valuation to $5 billion. After filing paperwork in February for an IPO, the company completed a private funding round that raised more than $150 million, according to Bloomberg. The investors include Dan Sundheim’s investment firm, D1 Capital

Tonight on TRD Talks: Putting NYC back to work

Posted: 01 May 2020 07:45 AM PDT

Tune in at 5 p.m. tonight to hear the Partnership for New York City’s Kathryn Wylde, Ladder Capital’s Alan Fishman and Industry City’s Andrew Kimball discuss getting back to business with TRD senior managing editor Erik Engquist. With the Cuomo administration sketching out the path forward, many in the public and private sector are collaborating on how to restart New York’s economy. As president and CEO of the Partnership, whose membership includes the largest firms in

J. Crew nears bankruptcy, Brooks Brothers seeks buyer

Posted: 01 May 2020 07:15 AM PDT

J. Crew and Brooks Brothers are among the latest retailers on the brink of bankruptcy. J. Crew, which has 322 stores, is seeking $400 million in financing to fund operations during bankruptcy, CNBC reported. And Brooks Brothers is seeking to sell itself, a deal that could potentially be part of a bankruptcy filing, according to Bloomberg. J. Crew, whose holdings include retailer Madewell, was struggling before the coronavirus sent shoppers home in March. The company

“The day of reckoning is coming” warns Miami condo market expert Peter Zalewski

Posted: 01 May 2020 06:50 AM PDT

Miami condo market consultant and investor Peter Zalewski offered a dose of reality to viewers of The Real Deal’s webinar series. “Many of you have been talking up the market. The day of reckoning is coming,” he said during Wednesday’s episode of TRD Talks with Editor-in-Chief and CEO Stuart Elliott. “You’ve got a bunch of people looking to take down stuff, and they’re not going to be nice, and they’re not going to pay you

WeWork hit with another round of cuts

Posted: 01 May 2020 06:15 AM PDT

The cuts keep coming at WeWork. The beleaguered office-space provider on Thursday laid off employees in the sales, physical product and operations departments, Business Insider reported. The total number of layoffs was not immediately clear, but the latest round of pink slips follows hundreds of cuts in recent months. In November, after a failed attempt to go public, WeWork laid off thousands. There were two other rounds of cuts announced in March. WeWork’s CEO Sandeep

A decade later, Senegal buys $25M worth of condos near UN

Posted: 01 May 2020 05:30 AM PDT

The nation of Senegal just shelled out $25 million in a bulk condominium deal near the United Nations headquarters in Midtown East. It’s a far more complicated deal than meets the eye. Back in 2009, the West African nation picked up a vacant site at 227-235 East 44th Street for $23.9 million. It planned to partner with Glacier Global Partners to build a mixed-use office and condo tower on the site. But by 2013, things

TRD Insights: Risk of housing insecurity rises for black and Latino households

Posted: 01 May 2020 05:00 AM PDT

Black and latinx households are at heightened risk of housing insecurity from coronavirus-related layoffs, according to a new analysis from Zillow. The online real estate company examined unemployment data maintained by the Department of Labor and demographic data collected by the Census Bureau to break down the pandemic’s economic impact by race, industry and location. Across the United States, nonwhite households are overrepresented in industries that have been kneecapped by the coronavirus, including the food

NYCHA tenants with zero income pay zero rent

Posted: 01 May 2020 04:30 AM PDT

New York City Housing Authority tenants have many problems to deal with, but paying the rent if they lose their jobs probably won’t be one of them. The agency’s policy of keeping rent at 30 percent of a tenant’s income amounts to a built-in safety net for residents who suddenly find themselves unemployed during the coronavirus pandemic or any other time, according to the public housing authority. “When NYCHA residents lose full or partial income,

Escaping New York? Tax man is right behind you

Posted: 01 May 2020 04:00 AM PDT

Many New Yorkers have fled the city for upstate, Long Island or Florida to reduce their coronavirus risk and their stress. But their tax rates? Not gonna change. Tempting as it might be to pay the lower income taxes of their pandemic refuges, relocated residents should resist — especially if they earn a lot of money, experts say. “If you’re making $1 million or more and change your tax residence, chances are you are going