The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Manhattan vacancy hits new peak; Brooklyn stable

Posted: 13 Aug 2020 03:30 PM PDT

As leasing activity resumed in the city and inventories swelled, the vacancy rate in Manhattan’s rental market hit an all-time high in July of 4.33 percent. It was the third straight month of record vacancy, according to Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel’s monthly rental report, which has been tracking the market for 14 years. “With the lifting of some of the ‘shelter-in-place’ restrictions, new leasing activity surged month-over-month but still fell well short of year-ago

City, construction unions strike deal to hire low-income workers

Posted: 13 Aug 2020 02:40 PM PDT

The city and a construction union group have reached an agreement on hiring people from poor communities to work on city-owned projects. Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday announced a project labor agreement with the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York that guarantees unions will “prioritize referral” of workers who live in areas where 15 percent of the population lives below the federal poverty level or are residents of public housing. According

Mortgage refis will get a lot more expensive. The industry isn’t happy

Posted: 13 Aug 2020 01:45 PM PDT

Homeowners looking to refinance their mortgage are going to be in for a pricier ride. And mortgage and housing professionals, who’ve benefited from record low rates to do brisk business, are miffed. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae said Wednesday that they will charge an additional 0.50 percent, or 50 basis points, fee to lenders on refinance loans. That means the average consumer looking to refinance a home will soon be paying $1,400 more than they

Airbnb sues booking guest over unauthorized house party

Posted: 13 Aug 2020 12:30 PM PDT

Los Angeles and cities across California have been cracking down on short-term rental “party houses,” and now Airbnb is doing the same. The home-sharing giant has for the first time filed a lawsuit against a guest who it says violated its rules against unauthorized house parties, the Los Angeles Times reported. Three people were shot and wounded at the event in Sacramento County. Airbnb said the legal action is alleging negligence and violation of local

NYC neighborhoods and restaurants with the most social-distancing complaints

Posted: 13 Aug 2020 11:45 AM PDT

Since the state began reopening, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has repeatedly condemned “bad actors.” Photos of overcrowded parks and bustling restaurants have been circulating on social media for weeks. In July, hundreds of people partied in the streets of Astoria. On Long Island, investigators were called to probe a drive-in Chainsmokers concert where attendees stood shoulder-to-shoulder by the stage. While some establishments have attempted to find loopholes in state rules — one pub offered “Cuomo chips”

Bloomingdale’s sued for $2.5M in missed rent

Posted: 13 Aug 2020 11:00 AM PDT

Bloomingdale’s is getting into some heat with its landlord. The famed retailer began skipping rent payments in April and now owes nearly $2.5 million on its outlet at 2085 Broadway, the landlord alleges in a lawsuit. The lease for the store states Bloomingdale’s will pay the Stahl Organization $437,500 of fixed rent plus a percentage sales. Stahl is also suing its parent company, Macy’s, which is the guarantor on the lease for the 25,000-square-foot space.

Churchill Real Estate lines up $2B investment for residential lending

Posted: 13 Aug 2020 10:30 AM PDT

Churchill Real Estate has secured $2 billion to provide debt on residential real estate. The capital, raised from institutional and foreign investors, will go towards the real estate investment firm’s residential transition lending portfolio, the company announced in a release. Churchill specializes in debt, equity and distressed real estate. WATCH: Coffee Talk: Churchill’s Justin Ehrlich and Elliman’s John Gomes on NYC neighborhoods and doing deals during an election year “This transaction positions Churchill to expand

Home sales plunged across South Florida in Q2

Posted: 13 Aug 2020 10:00 AM PDT

Coronavirus took its toll on South Florida’s residential markets in the second quarter, with double-digit declines in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. Miami-Dade condo sales fared the worst, with sales dollar volume and closings falling by nearly half. Single-family home sales dropped by more than 30 percent in each county, year-over-year, according to the Miami Association of Realtors. Luxury brokers have pointed to an increase in home sales in waterfront markets such as Miami

The homes of Kamala Harris

Posted: 13 Aug 2020 09:30 AM PDT

Sen. Kamala Harris, Joe Biden’s nominee for vice president, may have a convenient commute should her running mate win the 2020 presidential election. Harris owns an apartment in Washington D.C., which she bought for $1.775 million in 2017. But for now, she and her husband, Doug Emhoff, reside in Brentwood, California, according to the Wall Street Journal. Emhoff, an attorney, bought the home for $2.7 million in 2012. Collectively, the politician’s homes are worth about

Insights in your inbox: The Real Deal newsletters

Posted: 13 Aug 2020 08:30 AM PDT

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Steiner Studios to build TV and production facility in Sunset Park

Posted: 13 Aug 2020 07:15 AM PDT

Steiner Studios, a film and television company with operations in Brooklyn Navy Yard, is planning a major expansion. Steiner has signed a pre-development deal to build a new studio at Bush Terminal in Sunset Park, according to the Wall Street Journal. The multi-million dollar deal at the city-owned site includes a 49-year ground lease with five 10-year extensions available. Doug Steiner, a Brooklyn-based developer and chairman of Steiner Studios, told the Journal that, “It’s hard

Here are the multifamily borrowers getting the most forbearance from Fannie & Freddie

Posted: 13 Aug 2020 06:15 AM PDT

Since late March, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been offering forbearance to multifamily borrowers hard hit by the coronavirus — on the condition that they do not evict any renters who have also felt the impact from the pandemic. New research from data company Trepp shows how many multifamily borrowers have taken up that offer — as well as the property types and geographical areas that have been hurt the most by Covid-19. While

Simon, Brookfield in talks to buy bankrupt J.C. Penney

Posted: 13 Aug 2020 05:45 AM PDT

Simon Property Group and Brookfield Property Partners are reportedly in advanced talks about buying J.C. Penney’s retail business. J.C. Penney filed for bankruptcy in May and said it would close 242 stores. Simon and Brookfield — two of the retailer’s biggest landlords — are now competing against other bidders to acquire the retail operations, and the Wall Street Journal reports that the pair is out front. According to the publication, private-equity firm Sycamore Partners offered

Federal aid dries up and eviction bans loom over landlords

Posted: 13 Aug 2020 04:30 AM PDT

Apartment owners like Jerry Waxenberg, whose firm owns several thousand units, are biting their nails over rent collections. Waxenberg said his Bronx-based company has lost half a million dollars in rent over the last five or six months. Though collections have improved from a low in March, when his firm collected barely 80 percent of normal levels, he said he’s “fearful they won’t be in August, because the subsidies are running out.” Enhanced unemployment benefits,

Neiman Marcus committed to 50 years at Hudson Yards. It lasted 16 months.

Posted: 13 Aug 2020 04:00 AM PDT

UPDATED, Aug. 13, 2020, 9:18 am: When Neiman Marcus signed a lease to take over a massive space in Hudson Yards’ mall, the luxury department store committed to an ambitious 50 years there. Sixteen months later, and with more than 17,000 days left on the lease, the embattled retailer walked away late last month, closing three other locations across the country at the same time, according to bankruptcy filings. Neiman was one of roughly at

Jeffrey Katzenberg sells Beverly Hills mansion for $125M

Posted: 12 Aug 2020 06:08 PM PDT

This aint no Quibi-sized deal. Jeffrey Katzenberg, the chairman of the short-form video content site and former boss of Dreamworks Animation, has sold his Beverly Hills mansion for $125 million, in one of the priciest-ever residential transactions in Los Angeles. Katzenberg and his wife Marilyn “had been looking to downsize for some time, and received an offer they couldn’t refuse,” a spokesperson for the executive told the Wall Street Journal, which broke the story. “They