The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Biz, labor call on Corey Johnson to save Industry City rezoning

Posted: 17 Aug 2020 03:00 PM PDT

Organized labor and business leaders are pushing City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, who is expected to run for mayor, to save the controversial rezoning of Industry City. In a letter to Johson, representatives from 17 groups, including the Real Estate Board of New York, the Building & Construction Trades Council of Greater New York and 32BJ SEIU, urged support of the rezoning, pointing to the project’s promised delivery of 20,000 new jobs. The proposal has

August brings no sign of the rent apocalypse

Posted: 17 Aug 2020 02:45 PM PDT

Tenants across the country are largely still paying rent despite high unemployment and waning government aid, a new report found. About 87 percent of apartment households made a full or partial rent payment by Aug. 13, according to the National Multifamily Housing Council’s Rent Payment Tracker. That was only a 2-point drop from the same period a year ago, when the economy was humming. NMHC surveys 11.4 million units of professionally managed apartment units across

Condo at the Oosten tops Brooklyn’s list of priciest contracts

Posted: 17 Aug 2020 02:10 PM PDT

Brooklyn’s luxury market saw strong deal activity despite a slip from the prior week. Last week, 15 deals went into contract for a combined value of $39 million, according to Compass’ weekly luxury report on contract activity for properties asking $2 million or more. That was down from 18 deals valued at nearly $55 million during the first week of August. Last week’s deals consisted of 10 condos, four townhouses and one co-op unit. The

Nearly 1 in 6 FHA mortgages are delinquent

Posted: 17 Aug 2020 01:15 PM PDT

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to devastate the economy around them, an alarming share of people holding America’s most accessible and affordable mortgages are behind on payments. Around 16 percent of Federal Housing Administration mortgages were in delinquency in the second quarter, according to Bloomberg. That’s the highest percentage in delinquency going back at least four decades to records starting in 1979. FHA mortgages are generally made to first-time homebuyers and low-income borrowers with credit

Not your father’s distress: Down market could be opportunity of a lifetime or a big letdown

Posted: 17 Aug 2020 12:55 PM PDT

This story was originally published in May 2020. As the coronavirus pandemic bore down on the economy, veteran investor Tom Barrack emerged as one of the loudest voices urging a lifeline for the real estate industry. Barrack, the head of Colony Capital and a longtime friend of President Donald Trump, penned a series of much-discussed blog posts and took to the airwaves, warning that the real estate industry could collapse. His alarm hit close to

What new projects are underway in NYC? Check out TRD’s 3-D development map

Posted: 17 Aug 2020 11:30 AM PDT

After months of inactivity, New York City’s new development market is starting to pick up. In order to keep up with the pipeline, check out The Real Deal’s 3-D New Development map. The interactive map is your key to data on every residential and commercial development across New York City’s five boroughs. You can explore projects by clicking directly on a building, or entering in an address in the search bar. You’ll be able to

SJP’s former townhouse tops luxury contracts in Manhattan

Posted: 17 Aug 2020 11:00 AM PDT

A townhouse that once belonged to Sarah Jessica Parker was the priciest property to go into contract last week in Manhattan. The Greenwich Village home, which features six bedrooms, seven bathrooms and seven fireplaces, was last asking $18.25 million — down from $22.9 million when it was listed in 2017. The deal was one of nine luxury contracts brokered last week in Manhattan, a slight bump up from six the week before, but a sharp

Gyms can reopen next week: Cuomo

Posted: 17 Aug 2020 10:28 AM PDT

New Yorkers may be able to get a workout in starting next week, but only if their gym abides by some strict standards. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday that gyms can reopen at 33 percent capacity as soon as Aug. 24, if they have an HVAC system that follows strict guidelines and the facility undergoes an inspection within two weeks. Other retailers, including offices, stores and restaurants, have not had to abide by the same

Landlords who go easy on small biz tenants might get a tax break

Posted: 17 Aug 2020 09:50 AM PDT

Some local lawmakers are proposing legislation that would give landlords tax breaks if they provide more lenient leases to small business tenants. Councilmembers Brad Lander and Keith Powers, state Sen. Brian Kavanagh and Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou have teamed up to push the measure, according to the New York Daily News. Under the proposal, the state legislature would authorize New York City to provide landlords 10-year property tax abatements if they renegotiate leases, including overdue rent

RXR inks lease for major food hall at Starrett-Lehigh

Posted: 17 Aug 2020 08:06 AM PDT

A Chicago-based hospitality giant has committed to open a massive food hall at RXR’s Starrett-Lehigh Building, the New York Post reported. The hospitality collective, called 16” on Center, or 16OC, has signed a 13,000-square-foot lease in the historic Manhattan building at 601 West 26th Street. The food hall is to open in the second quarter of 2021 and will feature a collection of sit-down and takeout counters sourced and curated by 16” on Center. The

SL Green moves to foreclose on Thor’s 590 Fifth Ave

Posted: 17 Aug 2020 07:05 AM PDT

SL Green Realty, which has been looking to its loan books for cash in recent months, is foreclosing on a Fifth Avenue office tower. Joe Sitt’s Thor Equities has defaulted on a $25 million mezzanine note on 590 Fifth Avenue from SL Green, according to Business Insider. The real estate investment trust has scheduled a foreclosure auction on the 19-story, 100,000-square-foot building for Oct. 15. Thor had reportedly tried to reposition the building’s store space

Museums get green light to reopen in New York City

Posted: 17 Aug 2020 06:05 AM PDT

New York City museums now have the green light to reopen starting Aug. 24. Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s go-ahead comes roughly a month after the city entered Phase 4 of reopening from the pandemic lockdown in mid-July, according to the Wall Street Journal. Cuomo had postponed the reopening of museums, gyms, indoor dining and movie theaters, citing concerns about the safety of indoor activities. The state’s overall infection rate has remained low in the past few

What tenants are paying at HNA’s 245 Park Avenue

Posted: 17 Aug 2020 05:00 AM PDT

When HNA Group paid $2.2 billion to acquire 245 Park Avenue in 2017, it put an exclamation mark on the company’s precipitous rise from a regional Chinese airline to a major global conglomerate. But just a few months later, shifting political winds in China started to put pressure on HNA’s finances, and the 44-story office tower was back on the market in less than a year, as part of a $4 billion fire sale. Two

“Slowly marching to our graves”: Restaurants, landlords fear winter will bring chill to open-air dining

Posted: 17 Aug 2020 04:30 AM PDT

Since opening ilili in 2008, restaurateur Philippe Massoud had expanded his upscale Lebanese eatery to three locations around Manhattan. But Covid cut deeply into his business — as it did with thousands of others across the city — forcing Massoud to close two locations and exit those leases. He has managed to keep his Flatiron District venue alive after spending nearly $20,000 on pricey umbrellas, planters, tables and chairs to take advantage of the city’s

Landlords fear Covid’s impact on climate law

Posted: 17 Aug 2020 04:00 AM PDT

As office landlords install hospital-grade air filters to lure tenants back, some worry they are putting the city’s emissions targets out of reach. The building emission reductions required under Local Law 97 — the centerpiece of a May 2019 legislative package known as the Climate Mobilization Act — could conflict with owners’ efforts to keep their buildings virus-free. “The more outside air you bring in, the higher rated your filter is, the more energy you