The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

J. Crew said it was bankrupt. Then its landlords forked over $130M

Posted: 10 Aug 2020 02:40 PM PDT

Bankrupt retailer J. Crew is saving $130 million in rent. The retailer, which has 492 stores including Madewell and outlet locations, has negotiated about $70 million in concessions this year and about $60 million next year from its landlords, according to Retail Dive. That includes waivers and rent deferrals, as long as sales are in line with projections. J. Crew had sought to exit leases through its bankruptcy proceedings, which began in May. Before it

Susan Sarandon’s Chelsea duplex among 6 luxury contracts last week

Posted: 10 Aug 2020 02:33 PM PDT

Just six properties in Manhattan above $4 million went into contract last week, the slowest start to August by deal volume in more than a decade. One of those homes belonged to Academy Award-winning actress Susan Sarandon. When she listed her Chelsea duplex in late July, the interest was immediate. But it may not have been all about star power. Spanning more than 6,000 square feet, with five bedrooms and an outdoor terrace, the home’s

Mid-market investment sales trickle to 1 deal

Posted: 10 Aug 2020 02:15 PM PDT

There was just one investment sale recorded in the $10 million to $30 million range in the city last week, as the five boroughs continue to slog through a rough period. The week before, just two properties in that price range traded. The lone mid-market sale last week was a 40-unit apartment building on the Upper West Side, at 229 West 105th Street. Delf Estates CEO Adam Kaufman sold the six-story, 42,000-square-foot building for $10

Brooklyn’s luxury deal totals rise for 3rd straight week

Posted: 10 Aug 2020 01:00 PM PDT

Close to $55 million worth of luxury homes went into contract in Brooklyn during the first week of August. Of the 18 deals that were signed, eight were townhouses, eight were condos and two were co-ops. Combined, the transactions are valued at $54.6 million, according to Compass’ weekly report of contracts signed at $2 million or more in the borough. It marks the third straight week that Brooklyn contract activity has increased. The final week

Former Knick scores unit at HFZ’s Upper West Side condo

Posted: 10 Aug 2020 12:35 PM PDT

Former NBA point guard and Spanish Olympic medalist José Calderón has picked up a home on the Upper West for $5 million. José Manuel Calderón Borrallo is listed as the buyer of a 2,432-square-foot condominium at the Astor at 235 West 75th Street, public documents show. The deal pencils out to $2,117 per square foot. The four-bedroom, three-and-half bath, features a wood-burning fireplace and a variety of marbles, including a bathroom that is “drenched in

SoftBank’s Marcelo Claure buys waterfront Miami Beach teardown

Posted: 10 Aug 2020 11:30 AM PDT

Marcelo Claure, a top executive at Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group, paid $11.1 million for a waterfront teardown on Miami Beach’s North Bay Road, The Real Deal has learned. Claure, CEO of Softbank Group International and executive chairman of New York-based co-working giant WeWork, bought the house at 5212 North Bay Road through a trust in his name, confirmed Nelson Gonzalez of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices EWM Realty. Gonzalez brokered both sides of the deal. Gonzalez said

UWS hotel settles with city over illegal short-term rentals

Posted: 10 Aug 2020 10:25 AM PDT

For some rent-stabilized tenants living at the Imperial Court Hotel, the hoards of temporary residents streaming through their building had made it feel like a party house. Loud music blared into the night; marijuana and cigarette smoke wafted under doorways and into their homes; rubbish piled up in the hallways, according to court filings. And so, in 2016, a group of five tenants sued the owners of the single-room occupancy hotel at 307 West 79th

Keller Williams reports 15% drop in sales in Q2

Posted: 10 Aug 2020 10:00 AM PDT

Keller Williams saw sales volume plunge and the number of new home listings fall, as the pandemic brought many parts of the country to a standstill in the second quarter. The brokerage’s North American agents closed 272,000 deals last quarter, for a total sales volume of $85.3 billion, down 15 percent from the same period last year, the company reported on Friday. Its listings in the U.S. and Canada dropped 23 percent, year-over-year, with agents

Jeff Sutton quietly sold most of Crown Building stake to Brookfield

Posted: 10 Aug 2020 09:48 AM PDT

High street retail in New York has been decimated this year as luxury stores remain largely empty. But one major investor made a move last year that fortuitously limited his exposure to the pain. Jeff Sutton quietly sold the majority of his stake in the retail portion of the Crown Building, the prized property that sits on Fifth Avenue and 57th Street, widely considered one of the best retail corners in the city. Sutton’s Wharton

Grounded: JFK’s $15B overhaul could be delayed years

Posted: 10 Aug 2020 09:00 AM PDT

The timeline for the massive overhaul of John F. Kennedy International Airport will likely be pushed back years because of plummeting passenger demand. The project, whose cost has soared to an estimated $15 billion, aims to unify the terminal layout, modernize operations and provide added gates to accommodate an expected one million more passengers a year, according to the Wall Street Journal. But the pandemic has changed all that, and the Port Authority of New

Reggaeton artist Ozuna drops $5M on Coconut Grove house

Posted: 10 Aug 2020 08:15 AM PDT

The “New King of Reggaeton” has a new castle. Juan Carlos Ozuna, known by his last name, closed on the house at 3812 Park Avenue in Miami’s Coconut Grove for nearly $5.5 million, under NibiruInternational LLC. Ozuna controls the company, which is named after his 2019 album, “Nibiru.” Property records show the seller is former NFL linebacker Jon Beason, who played college football for the University of Miami, and professionally for the Carolina Panthers and

Schools are racing to lease extra space for socially distanced classes

Posted: 10 Aug 2020 07:32 AM PDT

A church and a massive dim sum restaurant are among the spaces the city may lease to host socially distanced classes this fall. Mayor Bill de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza in mid-July announced the city would search for external spots for schools to use for instruction and programming. But now that Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday gave the green light to reopen schools in September, the hunt for space has ramped up, according

Numerous stores looted in Downtown Chicago following police shooting

Posted: 10 Aug 2020 06:51 AM PDT

Numerous stores were vandalized and looted along the Magnificent Mile and other parts of Downtown early Monday morning, as crowds descended on the area after Chicago Police shot a man following a confrontation in Englewood. The scene was reminiscent of the widespread looting that followed the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in late May. In response, Mayor Lori Lightfoot imposed a curfew that lasted into the first week of June. Monday morning’s violence

The last mile: Amazon in talks with Simon to convert bankrupt megastores into fulfillment centers

Posted: 10 Aug 2020 06:05 AM PDT

Amazon may soon take over the spaces of bankrupt retailers it has left in the dust. The e-commerce giant is in talks with mall owner Simon Property Group to turn anchor stores into distribution hubs, the Wall Street Journal reported. The main target for conversion appears to be Simon-owned stores formerly or currently occupied by J.C. Penny and Sears Holdings. The mall owner has 63 J.C. Penny and 11 Sears stores, and both department-store chains

TRD Insights: Gentrification happening fastest in least affordable cities

Posted: 10 Aug 2020 05:00 AM PDT

Want to identify the chief culprit behind gentrification in your neighborhood? Look no further than your city’s housing supply — or lack thereof. Metro areas with less affordable housing disproportionately drive high-income home buyers to lower-income neighborhoods, according to recent analysis from the Urban Institute, Washington-based nonpartisan think tank. One clear sign of gentrification is when people buying homes in a neighborhood have more money than the existing residents. Most low- and moderate-income (LMI) neighborhoods

The Closing: Hakeem Jeffries

Posted: 10 Aug 2020 04:30 AM PDT

It took Hakeem Jeffries three tries just to win one of 150 seats in the New York Assembly. Now he is in Congress, chair of the House Democratic caucus, a rising star in the party and a frequent guest on MSNBC. He was the lead Democratic sponsor of the bipartisan criminal justice reform signed into law by President Donald Trump in 2018. His 14th year in elected office has been the most intense. In January,

Collapses raise questions about safety-law exemption

Posted: 10 Aug 2020 04:00 AM PDT

Weeks before what would have been her younger sister’s 59th birthday, Lori E. Gold was unsettled by reports of crumbling buildings in New York City. Such news is disquieting for most, but for Gold, the reports have a personal sting: Her sister Grace, then 17, was killed in 1979 by a chunk of masonry that fell from an 12-story building on Broadway and West 115th Street. “It is unnerving. It’s mind-blowing,” she said. Last month,