The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

City breaks off talks with Gilmartin’s group to jointly rezone former Amazon site

Posted: 03 Sep 2020 03:38 PM PDT

The city pulled out of negotiations with a group of private developers on a plan to rezone the site once slated to be Amazon’s campus in Long Island City. Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration scuttled the talks with a group including MaryAnne Gilmartin’s company and Bruce Teitelbaum over disagreements regarding infrastructure work at the site, Politico reported. “We remain committed to Long Island City’s future as a thriving mixed use community. That means supporting proposals

Hedge fund manager arrested for fraud in Neiman Marcus bankruptcy

Posted: 03 Sep 2020 02:20 PM PDT

A hedge-fund manager has been arrested and charged with fraud in connection to Neiman Marcus’ bankruptcy. Dan Kamensky, the founder of Marble Ridge Capital LP, has been charged by New York prosecutors with securities fraud, wire fraud, extortion and obstruction of justice, according to the Wall Street Journal. Neiman filed for bankruptcy in May, and announced in July that it would permanently shutter its flagship store in Hudson Yards. Kamensky’s tensions with the high-end department

We’re firing it up: TRD’s Labor Day sale is here

Posted: 03 Sep 2020 02:00 PM PDT

Summer 2020 is coming to a close. This year Labor Day may not mean big family gatherings or end-of-summer parties. But one thing that won’t change: TRD’s Labor Day Sale. Now through Monday, September 7, you can take 35% off any digital or digital plus print subscription with the promo code FIREDUP. And your subscription comes with a full array of benefits, including: Unlimited access to all of our news and analysis Fewer ads, more

PIMCO warns of danger in Fannie, Freddie privatization

Posted: 03 Sep 2020 01:00 PM PDT

Pacific Investment Management Company, one of the world’s largest bond investment firms, said the housing market could be in trouble if Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s privatization plan goes forward — and it could lead to another government bailout. In a letter Monday, PIMCO warned that if the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s plan to end government conservatorship of Fannie and Freddie proceeds, “mortgage rates will increase, homeownership will likely suffer, and the national mortgage rate

After $1.5B loss, Brookfield Property Partners buys back $426M of stock

Posted: 03 Sep 2020 12:35 PM PDT

Burdened with debt and non-paying tenants, one of the biggest mall operators in the country just poured $426 million into its own stock. Brookfield Property Partners (BPY) bought back 35.5 million shares at a fixed price of $12 per share, according to documents filed with the SEC today. BPY’s share price has not been north of $12 since early June. Brookfield funded the buyback by drawing from a $1 billion equity commitment from its parent

Torgalkar out as CEO of Extell: sources

Posted: 03 Sep 2020 12:16 PM PDT

Sush Torgalkar has stepped down as CEO of Extell Development, The Real Deal has learned, less than two years after taking the top job at one of New York’s most active luxury residential developers. In an Aug. 31 email seen by TRD, Torgalkar said he plans to launch a real estate investment firm, Sage Hall Partners, to focus on deals in the New York area. He will remain a senior advisor at Extell, which was

TikTok, Clarice: Why the government’s moves against Chinese firms could hurt real estate

Posted: 03 Sep 2020 11:30 AM PDT

Daniel Chang’s phone wouldn’t stop lighting up. It was the night of Aug. 6, shortly after President Trump signed an executive order banning the ubiquitous Chinese social media platform WeChat. Chang, a prominent broker at Sotheby’s International Realty, said his longtime Chinese clients rushed to swap phone numbers and email addresses, worried they would lose contact. “A lot of people cannot fanqiang using a VPN,” he said, using the term for scaling the “Great Firewall”

Nearly 70% of CEOs expect to downsize offices: KPMG

Posted: 03 Sep 2020 11:05 AM PDT

The pandemic has drastically changed the way CEOs around the globe see the future of work. More than two-thirds said they may reduce their office footprint in the coming years, according to a recent survey. Out of 315 CEOs answering the survey published in KPMG’s “2020 CEO Outlook: Covid-19 Special Edition,” 69 percent checked the “We will be downsizing office space” box. The rapid shift to working from home might have been rocky at the

Thanks, millennials: Younger generation props up mortgage market

Posted: 03 Sep 2020 10:30 AM PDT

The purported laziest generation in history is propping up the mortgage market. Millennials made up 61 percent of home loans in July, up five percentage points from June, according to a report from mortgage software company Ellie Mae. Millennials are motivated to buy homes in part by the average interest rate having dropped to 3.25 percent — the lowest since Ellie Mae began tracking it. Mortgage rates have remained historically low as the Federal Reserve

Malls in New York City can open next week — but “no loitering”

Posted: 03 Sep 2020 09:50 AM PDT

Malls in New York City can reopen next week, but not for one of the prime activities associated with shopping centers: hanging out. Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday announced that shopping malls can reopen Sept. 9 at 50 percent capacity, but said “loitering” and “unnecessary congregating” will be prohibited. Malls in other parts of the state were allowed to reopen in July provided they had special air-filtration systems. The governor also announced that casinos can

Nearly two-thirds of New York restaurants expect to close

Posted: 03 Sep 2020 09:35 AM PDT

Most New York restaurants don’t expect to be taking orders next year. A stunning 64 percent of restaurants across the state said they are likely or somewhat likely to close by the end of the year, according to a survey by the New York State Restaurant Association. Of those likely to close, 55 percent said they will be forced to shut their doors before November. “It is painfully clear that without financial assistance, the restaurant

Subway shops forced to close, adding to MTA’s woes

Posted: 03 Sep 2020 09:00 AM PDT

Shops inside subway stations could once count a steady stream of foot traffic. But now, with ridership way down, many well-known retailers are shutting down, according to The City. “I just couldn’t see hanging on,” said Lou Moskowitz, owner of Record Mart inside the Times Square–42nd Street station. Moskowitz, whose father co-founded the store in 1958, closed it for good in June. “I was planning on going as long as I could,” he told The

Vornado goes after Elie Tahari for bailing on Fifth Ave lease

Posted: 03 Sep 2020 08:30 AM PDT

Elie Tahari allegedly bailed on its Midtown lease, and now landlord Vornado Realty Trust is seeking $14.8 million in future rent payments. The real estate investment trust filed a lawsuit in New York Supreme Court this week alleging Elie Tahari breached its lease by vacating its “commercial space” at 510 Fifth Avenue in July. The lawsuit does not specify whether the dispute is over the women’s clothing retailer’s ground-floor store or its fifth-floor headquarters in

Landlords claim parking garages owe $7.5M

Posted: 03 Sep 2020 08:00 AM PDT

UPDATED, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2020, 6:24 p.m.: Parking garages have emptied out as tourists and workers stayed home and about 420,000 residents fled the city. Now, one of the city’s largest garage operators is facing a barrage of lawsuits for unpaid rent. Landlords have hit Icon Parking and its affiliates with at least 16 suits since the start of the pandemic, alleging the companies owe them more than $7.5 million. Kamber Management, which made the

As stocks rally, real estate investors try to pick winners

Posted: 03 Sep 2020 07:20 AM PDT

Stocks have surged as the government and Federal Reserve has acted to stabilize corporate debt and sustain consumer demand. But returns for real estate investors have ranged from robust to wretched. Major U.S. indices climbed during August, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 reaching record highs Wednesday despite a slower than expected comeback in the labor market. Only 428,000 private-sector jobs were added to the economy last month, well below an expected 1.17 million. While

CRE gender pay gap is worse than five years ago: study

Posted: 03 Sep 2020 06:30 AM PDT

The gender pay gap in commercial real estate has widened in the past five years. A study from the Commercial Real Estate Women Network shows that women now make 10 percent less than their male counterparts in salaried roles and 56 percent less in commission and bonuses. Combined, the figures mean women make 34 percent less overall than men — almost 11 percent more than in 2015, the study found. CREW described the results as

Brad Lander calls for city to use land banks

Posted: 03 Sep 2020 05:46 AM PDT

New York City Council member Brad Lander thinks the city should take over distressed properties in order to prevent a rush of private development. Lander argued in an op-ed published in the New York Times Thursday that converting such properties for community use would help prevent a “feeding frenzy” from private developers. “We could acquire and hold these properties temporarily through a city-controlled land bank, based on legislation I’ve introduced, and then transfer them to

Simon Property Group livestreams merchandise in new partnership

Posted: 03 Sep 2020 05:00 AM PDT

Simon Property Group is going virtual. The nation’s largest mall operator is partnering with ShopShops, a livestream shopping app, according to the app’s founder and CEO, Liyia Wu. “With experience and a lot of hours put into this business, we’re able to persuade more brands, more major retailers to be able to collaborate or work with ShopShops,” Wu said during a World Retail Forum webinar Tuesday. “We’re working with Simon’s malls,” she noted. Once a

Here’s how much tenants are paying at One Manhattan West

Posted: 03 Sep 2020 04:30 AM PDT

The future of the office market may be in question, but at least one Manhattan tower looks well-positioned to weather any pandemic-related fallout. Brookfield Property Partners and Qatar Investment Authority’s One Manhattan West has a rent roll with a weighted average lease term of over 17 years, according to a presale report from rating agency DBRS Morningstar. The landlord last month refinanced the newly completed, 70-story tower with $1.5 billion in CMBS debt, and ratings

New York landlords and tenants blast CDC eviction ban

Posted: 03 Sep 2020 04:00 AM PDT

Jaime Cain, a real estate attorney in Rochester, New York, nabbed one of the first court dates for a pre-Covid eviction as trials slowly picked up after a months-long shutdown. But just two days before the scheduled conference, the federal government may have dashed those plans. “Is it still happening? Is it canceled? I don’t know,” Cain said of her day in court. Washington’s new eviction ban shocked landlords and tenants when it came not