The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Real estate stocks slide as Trump slams door on stimulus

Posted: 06 Oct 2020 03:25 PM PDT

Real estate stocks sank with the broader market Tuesday after President Trump said his administration would no longer negotiate an economic stimulus bill to buttress the economy. Until “immediately after I win.” The announcement, which arrived via Twitter, sent markets into a tailspin hours after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that any “recovery will be stronger and move faster” if the government supports the economy “until it is clearly out of the woods.” On

Kim Cattrall lists her “outside the glam” refuge in East Hampton

Posted: 06 Oct 2020 03:00 PM PDT

Kim Cattrall is looking to part ways with her longtime beachfront cottage in East Hampton. The “Sex and the City” actress is asking $3.25 million for the home, according to the New York Times. The property is less than a half-acre and sits in the Springs peninsula, which juts out into Gardiners Bay. While small, the property includes a 1,232-square-foot house and a standalone studio. Cattrall called the property her refuge “outside the glam.” Cattrall,

Ex-Turner Construction exec cops to bribery charge

Posted: 06 Oct 2020 01:35 PM PDT

Another former Turner Construction executive has pleaded guilty in a bribery scheme that allegedly siphoned more than $15 million from Bloomberg LP, one of the company’s clients. Vito Nigro, a project superintendent, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to grand larceny for inflating subcontractor bids on Bloomberg projects, filing bogus change work orders and misappropriating unused funds, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. announced. As part of an agreement with prosecutors, Nigro faces no more than 3

Covid hotspots must lock down tomorrow: Cuomo

Posted: 06 Oct 2020 01:26 PM PDT

Certain areas of the state will once again shut down as clusters of Covid-19 cases grow in the city and beyond. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced today a three-step plan over the next two weeks to limit the spread of coronavirus. Limitations will vary depending on proximity to hotspots. “There is no one that can say ‘I couldn’t see this happen,’” Cuomo said during the briefing, referring to his repeated warnings over the past six months.

Houlihan Lawrence shakes up C-suite

Posted: 06 Oct 2020 01:00 PM PDT

Real estate brokerage Houlihan Lawrence has made some big changes to its C-suite. President Liz Nunan has been named CEO, replacing Chris Meyers, who retired in March, the company announced in a release. Nunan has spent 20 years with the firm and in 2018 was made COO, then president in 2019. John Canniffe, who most recently helmed the Real Estate Board of New York’s Residential Listing Service, has joined Houlihan Lawrence as COO. Before that

Hotels pivot to office space to stanch losses

Posted: 06 Oct 2020 12:00 PM PDT

Hotels across the country are pivoting to become offices as a way to survive the pandemic. In New York, the 607-room InterContinental Times Square was transformed into housing for doctors and nurses treating coronavirus patients in the spring. Then it started to offer rooms as offices. And now the hotel will offer office space on a suite-by-suite basis, according to the New York Times. At the 226-unit London West Hollywood in Beverly Hills, beds were

Wolkoff’s firm still on hook for $6.7M in 5Pointz whitewashing, judge rules

Posted: 06 Oct 2020 11:25 AM PDT

The U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition by the late Jerry Wolkoff’s development firm to revisit a ruling over the whitewashing of graffiti artists’ work at the iconic 5Pointz warehouse. The court’s decision to not rehear the case means developer G&M Realty — which painted over the street art at its warehouse in 2013 to pave the way for a new project — will pay $6.7 million to the affected artists, Law & Crime reported.

Airbnb slams door on Halloween-night rentals

Posted: 06 Oct 2020 11:00 AM PDT

Airbnb banned one-night rentals over the upcoming Halloween weekend in an effort to prevent parties — and thus, possible outbreaks of the coronavirus. The home-sharing company announced that it will bar one-night rentals on Oct. 30 and 31 to “protect our hosts and the communities they live in,” according to Business Insider. In order to rent a place over the Halloween weekend, reservations must begin on Oct. 29 or end on Nov. 2, depending on

Fifth Wall targets $118M raise for European proptech fund

Posted: 06 Oct 2020 10:15 AM PDT

Fifth Wall, the venture capital firm that’s backed Opendoor, States Title and Industrious, is looking overseas for its next hit. The Los Angeles-based firm is currently raising a $118 million European fund to invest in proptech startups. Although the fund is not yet closed, investors so far include the real estate arm of BNP Paribas, the French bank; Pontos, a Finnish family office; MOMENI, a German real estate developer; and Azora, a Spanish investment manager.

Can the Port Authority bring NYC back? Tune in to TRD Talks Wednesday

Posted: 06 Oct 2020 09:30 AM PDT

Does the Port Authority matter to New York real estate? Absolutely, says Rick Cotton, the agency’s executive director. He plans to make that case Wednesday, Oct. 7 at 5 p.m. Eastern, when he is interviewed by senior managing editor Erik Engquist on TRD Talks Live. From redeveloping the place often heralded as the worst in New York — its Eighth Avenue bus terminal — to building an AirTrain link to LaGuardia Airport, the Port Authority

Join LA’s residential stars for a market discussion Oct. 7

Posted: 06 Oct 2020 08:30 AM PDT

On Wednesday, Oct. 7, TRD Associate Publisher Hiten Samtani will host an all-star panel of L.A luxury residential agents Tracy Tutor and Josh Altman of Douglas Elliman, David Parnes and James Harris of the Agency and Josh Flagg of Rodeo Realty, who is hosting the talk at his Beverly Hills residence. Collectively, these top agents have sold billions of dollars’ worth of some of the nation’s most prized properties. They will share sales strategies and

Manhattan CRE deals hit lows not seen since 2009

Posted: 06 Oct 2020 08:05 AM PDT

Commercial real estate sales in Manhattan have taken a major hit because of the pandemic. There were just 21 commercial real estate transactions in the borough in the third quarter of 2020, according to Bisnow, citing Avison Young’s quarterly report. That’s the lowest number of deals recorded since the third quarter of 2009, in the aftermath of the Great Recession. And even between the second and third quarter, sales slid by 30 percent, according to

Thomson Reuters looks to sell stake in Times Square HQ

Posted: 06 Oct 2020 07:31 AM PDT

Thomson Reuters is considering selling its stake in its Times Square headquarters. The media company hired an advisor to solicit interest for the 50 percent stake it owns in the 885,000-square-foot building at 3 Times Square, Bloomberg News reported. Pricing information wasn’t available, but at $800 per square foot the 32-story property could be worth roughly $700 million. A spokesperson for Reuters told the publication that the company “regularly engage[s] with advisers to ensure that

NAR’s motion to dismiss broker fee lawsuit shut down

Posted: 06 Oct 2020 06:45 AM PDT

A federal judge has denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit over broker commissions on residential real estate deals. A U.S. District Court judge threw out motions from the National Association of Realtors and some of the nation’s largest brokerages to dismiss the lawsuit, Inman reported. The judge ruled that the plaintiffs’ allegations show that they would have paid lower commissions if the current broker rules had not been in place, and that the rules

These are the best office chairs for your WFH setup

Posted: 06 Oct 2020 06:30 AM PDT

Note: These items are independently selected by our team. However, TRD may receive a commission when you purchase products through affiliate links. For those of you still perfecting your home office set-ups, we rounded up some of the most popular ergonomic office chairs. The thought of sitting in these will make your work week a little less foreboding — or, at the very least, a lot more comfortable. Let your office chair be the throne

VTS debuts real-time data for commercial leasing

Posted: 06 Oct 2020 06:00 AM PDT

As companies wrestle with the return-to-work question, VTS is arming landlords with a new tool: data that captures fluctuating supply and demand in real time. The New York startup said VTS Data, which launched today, is a first-of-its-kind product for investors and owners, who have historically relied on anecdotal information and dated market reports. “The commercial real estate market is a living, breathing thing, like the stock market,” said VTS co-founder and chief strategy officer

Bronx scores only mid-market deals in past two weeks

Posted: 06 Oct 2020 05:00 AM PDT

Just two investment sales between $10 million and $30 million have been recorded in public records since Sept. 20. Both came last week and were for industrial space in the Bronx. Here are details: 1. Silverback Development acquired a 31,200-square-foot parking facility at 580 Gerard Avenue in Concourse for $16.9 million, through the limited liability company SD Gerard Avenue. The property has 214,800 square feet of development potential. Emmes Asset Management was the seller, acting

BHS breaks from norm with advisory arm on development

Posted: 06 Oct 2020 04:30 AM PDT

Brown Harris Stevens Development Marketing is debuting a line of business aimed at lenders, commercial brokers and equity investors sussing out residential projects in New York City. Led by Robin Schneiderman and Stephen Kliegerman, the new research and advisory arm will provide data and consulting for residential condo and multifamily rental projects. Formalizing the advisory arm divorces the firm’s consulting from exclusive sales and marketing agreements, breaking from the industry status quo for new development

Black-owned firms to launch first affordable-housing REIT

Posted: 06 Oct 2020 04:00 AM PDT

Two of the largest minority-owned real estate investment firms in the country are teaming up to launch what they say is the first public real estate company dedicated to affordable housing. California-based investor Avanath Capital Management and San Francisco’s MacFarlane Partners filed paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to launch a new real estate investment trust targeting $1.6 billion in investments. “We will be the first publicly traded REIT to pursue a strategy