The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

When will NYC really get back to work? September, experts say

Posted: 04 May 2020 05:17 PM PDT

As New York City prepares to slowly reopen, industry insiders say that most offices and small businesses are not close to doing so. Kathryn Wylde, president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City, which represents more than 100 of the city’s largest private companies, said she doesn’t expect most white-collar workers to be back in their offices until September. For restaurants, “they’ll be lucky to open by January 1, many of them,” she

Cadre’s new CRE fund will target opportunities emerging from pandemic

Posted: 04 May 2020 03:05 PM PDT

Cadre plans to launch a commercial real estate fund to target investment opportunities brought on by the coronavirus crisis. The new fund would allow the startup to deploy money quicker at a time when many commercial real estate firms are under pressure to shore up their finances and build liquidity, according to Bloomberg. It would be the first of its kind for Cadre, which has so far-billed itself as a way for individual investors to

The Weeknd’s former Tribeca rental hits the market

Posted: 04 May 2020 02:05 PM PDT

The Weeknd’s pricey rental at 443 Greenwich is up for grabs. The Grammy Award-winning singer, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, has rented penthouse D at the star-studded Tribeca condo since 2018. The unit is now up for sale asking $27.5 million and the listing notes the apartment is “available immediately.” Listing brokers Tal Alexander, Oren Alexander and Jared Schwadron of the Alexander Team at Douglas Elliman declined to comment. In an Instagram post, Tal

More than 7.5% of home loans in forbearance: MBA

Posted: 04 May 2020 02:00 PM PDT

The share of home loans in forbearance grew last week, a situation that could worsen as millions file for unemployment. Mortgages in forbearance plans made up 7.54 percent of servicers’ portfolios last week, according to figures released Monday by the Mortgage Bankers Association. That was up from 6.99 percent the week earlier and 5.95 percent for the week ending April 12. Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s chief economist, said the pace of new requests slowed but noted

CMBS debt relief inquiries fall in late April, but worst is yet to come, new report says

Posted: 04 May 2020 12:30 PM PDT

After facing a tidal wave of relief requests in the first half of April, loan servicers saw a dip in inquiries during the last two weeks of the month. But that probably won’t last. Over the two-week period ending April 26, the four largest commercial mortgage-backed securities master servicers (Wells Fargo, Midland, Keybank and Berkadia) received a total of 1,301 inquiries, less than half the prior two-week period’s total of 2,824, according to a new

Evictions have plummeted in Chicago. This property manager has pushed ahead with them

Posted: 04 May 2020 12:00 PM PDT

Covid-19 has brought nearly all residential eviction filings to a screeching halt in Chicago. In mid-March the Cook County Sheriff’s Office even stopped serving eviction orders after officers encountered a tenant who showed symptoms of the virus. But one of the few landlords still proceeding with evictions has been Mac Properties, the property management arm of Antheus Capital, which owns 5,000 units across the city. Mac has angered tenants in recent weeks by demanding they

Sonder investors bet $150M more on hospitality startup

Posted: 04 May 2020 12:00 PM PDT

Hospitality startup Sonder is in talks for a funding round between $150 million to $175 million, The Real Deal has learned. Fidelity and WestCap Group are leading the investment round for the San Francisco-based startup, which rents out hotel-style units for short-term stays. WestCap, a firm started by former Airbnb CFO Laurence Tosi, disclosed its investment with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in a Form D dated April 29. Founded in 2012, Sonder has

Elon Musk lists Bel Air properties after tweeting: “Will own no house”

Posted: 04 May 2020 11:45 AM PDT

Imagine no possessions. Elon Musk can. A week after the dreamer, billionaire iconoclast and Tesla co-founder tweeted his intention to sell off “almost all physical possessions,” Musk appears to be starting with his extensive Los Angeles real estate portfolio. Musk has listed two neighboring Bel Air homes, asking a combined $40 million, according to Bloomberg. He bought the houses in 2012 and 2013 for a total of $24 million, the first he purchased in the

Return of the iBuyers: Opendoor gets back to buying

Posted: 04 May 2020 11:30 AM PDT

Opendoor is back in businesses and ready for remote sales. The SoftBank-backed iBuyer, which suspended home purchases in March, said it will resume operations in Phoenix this week. To do so, the company will now do virtual tours. And it’s rolled out a new service called Home Reserve, where it will buy homes on behalf of customers who want to sell their old home first. Opendoor is one of several so-called iBuyers that purchase homes,

Cuomo provides details on when real estate, retail can reopen

Posted: 04 May 2020 11:20 AM PDT

Starting next week, New York will gradually start to reopen, with real estate businesses among the second phase of sectors permitted to open their doors. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Monday that real estate, retail, finance, insurance, administrative support and professional services will be among the second set of businesses to reopen as the state winds down his “New York On Pause” order. Construction and manufacturing businesses, along with select retail in the form of

Second Take: Pay cuts at the top of the RE food chain

Posted: 04 May 2020 10:45 AM PDT

With all the carnage in the real estate job market that has happened and is expected to happen, many leaders have announced that they will slash their own salaries in solidarity. But for those at the top, the salary is just a piece — often a small piece — of total compensation, as The Real Deal‘s E.B. Solomont and Eddie Small found in a new analysis. They chatted with Hiten Samtani about the story and

Goldman reactivates real estate platform in NYC with big DoBro buy

Posted: 04 May 2020 10:02 AM PDT

Goldman Sachs is buying one of Downtown Brooklyn’s newly-completed apartment towers — the bank’s first big New York City purchase as it revives its once-active real estate platform. The bank is in contract to buy the 19-story 1 Flatbush Avenue building from Slate Property Group and Meadow Partners for about $100 million, sources familiar with the transaction told The Real Deal. The purchase is just for the residential part of the building, and doesn’t include

Salazar, Greenburger, Weaver, Belkin debate tenants’ rights on tonight’s TRD Talk

Posted: 04 May 2020 09:14 AM PDT

Buckle your seat belts. On tonight’s episode, TRD reporter Georgia Kromrei talks tenant and landlord issues with progressive powerhouse Sen. Julia Salazar, Time Equities CEO Francis Greenburger, Housing Justice for All’s Cea Weaver and Belkin Burden LLP’s Sherwin Belkin. TRD senior managing editor Erik Engquist said it best in a tweet Saturday: “This panel is really something to behold. Sherwin Belkin is a top landlord attorney, with endless stories about tenants abusing the system. Cea Weaver

Manhattan luxury contract signings fall to lowest level since 2009

Posted: 04 May 2020 09:03 AM PDT

Only one luxury property went into contract in Manhattan last week, a stunning nosedive not seen since the last financial crisis. The single transaction, documented in Olshan Realty’s weekly luxury report, further underscores how difficult it has become to cut deals in the middle of a pandemic, as brokers navigate virtual showings, leery buyers and an economy in freefall. In the six weeks since New York’s stay-home order came into effect, there have been just

TRD Insights: Here’s where people are complaining about social distancing the most in NYC

Posted: 04 May 2020 08:30 AM PDT

The temperature on Saturday, April 25, was a balmy 64 degrees, and many New Yorkers hit the streets to enjoy the pleasant weather. Meanwhile, their neighbors called 311 to complain about the lack of social distancing. Just as coronavirus-related inquiries have skyrocketed since the lockdown, complaints have as well. A new category for “social distancing,” which first appeared in late March, accounts for the vast majority of “Non-Emergency Police Matter” complaints received this month. While

Contractors predict a “quite horrible” 18 months for construction industry

Posted: 04 May 2020 08:01 AM PDT

Although contractors have slowly started returning to construction projects across the country, many predict that the industry will see a severe drop in demand later in the year. Contractors expect there to be a slump in new jobs as banks, developers and property owners remain cautious about an economic recovery, according to the Wall Street Journal. The slowdown would also impact industries that depend on construction such as manufacturers, machinery dealers and suppliers. Some banks

Brooklyn luxury market sees four contracts signed for second week in a row

Posted: 04 May 2020 07:30 AM PDT

Do four high-end contract signings in Brooklyn count as a busy week? At the moment, perhaps. The four deals were for two condos, a co-op and a townhouse, according to the latest report from Compass. The report looks at homes in the borough asking $2 million or more based on the last publicly available asking prices. The previous week’s report also found four such deals. In February, the weekly average was 18. The priciest listing

Common unveils property manager for workforce housing

Posted: 04 May 2020 07:00 AM PDT

Common, a company known for high-end communal living, is getting into the affordable housing business. The co-living firm revealed Monday that it has launched a brand geared towards workforce housing. The initial portfolio will be Class B and C multifamily buildings where renters earn 40 percent to 80 percent of the area median income, said Brad Hargreaves, Common’s CEO and co-founder. The new product is called Noah — for “naturally occurring affordable housing” (the acronym

J. Crew files for bankruptcy

Posted: 04 May 2020 06:15 AM PDT

It’s official: J. Crew has filed for bankruptcy. The major retailer announced that Chinos Holdings, its parent company, has filed for Chapter 11 protection, according to the New York Times. After weeks negotiating with lenders, J. Crew has agreed to give control of the company to major creditors including the hedge fund Anchorage Capital by converting $1.65 billion of its debt into equity. It will hold onto its Madewell brand and keep operating its e-commerce

Monty Bennett-tied companies to return $68M in PPP funds

Posted: 04 May 2020 06:05 AM PDT

Lodging companies connected to Texas hotelier Monty Bennett are returning more than $68 million in federal aid, after facing pressure for receiving the funds in the first place. One of the companies linked to Bennett, Braemar Hotels & Resorts, had reached a deal to sell a property in Florida to Starwood Capital Group for $120 million, but the company called off the deal after learning it would receive funding from the federal government’s Paycheck Protection

TRD Quarantine Cribs: Check out brokerage chief Bonneau Ansley’s stylish Atlanta home

Posted: 04 May 2020 04:30 AM PDT

In our new video series Quarantine Cribs, we’re bringing viewers inside the homes of the industry’s top pros. We’ll see vacation getaways, stylish studios and traditional townhomes while learning a little more about their social lives and side hustles during quarantine. Today, we’re visiting with top Georgia broker and founder of Ansley Atlanta, Bonneau Ansley. Ansley, who banked over $175 million in deals lat year, is staying safe at his stylish Buckhead home, which features

Not quite dead: Trio of mid-market deals in NYC last week

Posted: 04 May 2020 04:00 AM PDT

After a three-week stretch in which only two mid-market investment sales were reported in New York City, the sector showed signs of life last week with three deals between $10 million and $30 million hitting property records. Sales included three commercial condo units at an Extell Development property in Yorkville and an office building in Turtle Bay. Here are the details: 1. A Gramercy Park-based limited liability company purchased three commercial condo units at Extell

Petition: Landlords should go on “tax strike” to counter rent strike

Posted: 03 May 2020 08:18 PM PDT

In response to rent strikes, some landlords are threatening a strike of their own. An online petition headlined “Property Tax relief or Tax strike” has collected nearly 1,400 signatures supporting a call for landlords to withhold their New York City property taxes. The Change.org petition blasts politicians for enabling tenants to not pay rent even if they can. “We all know that there are tenants that can pay their rent, many of whom are getting