The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

TRD’s self-care guide to surviving the election

Posted: 04 Nov 2020 05:00 PM PST

Note: These items are independently selected by our team. However, TRD may receive a commission when you purchase products through affiliate links. As the industry remains in suspense, many are huddling around their televisions, compulsively checking Twitter, and generally waiting with bated breath for an election verdict. Whichever way the pendulum swings, it will undoubtedly have a huge impact on real estate for the next four years. We’ve spent the last few weeks parsing out

Eastern Consolidated founder Peter Hauspurg dies

Posted: 04 Nov 2020 02:55 PM PST

Peter Hauspurg, who as co-founder of Eastern Consolidated ran one of New York’s most active investment-sales shops but played a broader role as a gregarious emissary of the city’s commercial real estate industry and a mentor of a generation of dealmakers, died Tuesday at his home in Santa Monica. He was 67. Hauspurg and his wife Daun Paris started the firm in 1981, and grew it into one of the largest investment-sales focused shops in

Stemming losses, Hilton sets sights on office workers instead of tourists

Posted: 04 Nov 2020 02:15 PM PST

Hilton Worldwide Holdings is still bleeding cash, but its CEO is confident the troubles are just temporary. “We’ll see what happens with all of these crazy elections here in the U.S.,” Chris Nasetta said on the hotel giant’s third-quarter earnings call Wednesday. “Obviously, a lot going on in the world, a lot going on with the business.” But when it comes to Hilton’s future, Nassetta said he is feeling “really good about the progress” despite

California voters reject Prop 21 rent control expansion

Posted: 04 Nov 2020 01:30 PM PST

California voters on Tuesday rejected a hotly-contested ballot measure that would have greatly expanded rent control. Final tallies for two other ballot initiatives were not in as of Wednesday morning, but voters appear to have rejected a commercial property tax measure but approved a residential property value reassessment measure, according to state election results. The three real estate-related measures — Proposition 15, 19 and 21 — had the potential to upend the real estate industry

HFZ sued over delinquent loans at Upper East Side project

Posted: 04 Nov 2020 12:58 PM PST

HFZ Capital Group continues to have trouble meeting its debt obligations. The lender at HFZ’s planned project on Manhattan’s Upper East Side claims the prolific condo developer owes more than $18 million on defaulted loans, according to a motion for summary judgement filed in New York Supreme Court on Tuesday. HFZ principals Ziel Feldman and Nir Meir are named as co-defendants for personally guaranteeing the debt. The lender, identified as YH Lex Estates, claims it

Steve Roth: No Democratic sweep is good news for NY real estate

Posted: 04 Nov 2020 12:00 PM PST

As the possibility of a Democratic sweep fades, Steve Roth says his biggest concern now is “stupid legislation.” The Vornado Realty Trust CEO fielded a question on the presidential election during the company’s third-quarter earnings call Wednesday, with the race still too close to call. “That’s a big question which probably, if I were smarter than I am, I would duck. But I’ll tell you what I think,” said Roth, who has donated $300,000 to

Noom inks 113K-sf sublease at 5 Manhattan West

Posted: 04 Nov 2020 11:11 AM PST

Noom, a New York-based weight loss app developer, is moving to Manhattan’s Far West Side. The company has signed an agreement to take 113,000 square feet of office space at Brookfield Property Partners’ 5 Manhattan West, which it will sublease from advertising agency R/GA. Noom’s COO, Adam Fawer, said in a statement that the company is “growing rapidly and hiring considerably,” and will move its headquarters to the Manhattan West location “when we return to

Real estate on edge with election too close to call

Posted: 04 Nov 2020 10:58 AM PST

From an undisclosed location in Manhattan, billionaire developer and local radio host John Catsimatidis told New Yorkers that President Donald Trump’s chances of winning the 2020 presidential race looked good. “The betting line in Las Vegas is laying 3 to 1 for Trump to win,” he said on conservative talk radio station 77 WABC late Tuesday, while “manning the party desk” for the station’s watch event. Though the president echoed this confidence early Wednesday morning,

City Planning approves Special Flushing Waterfront District

Posted: 04 Nov 2020 09:08 AM PST

A controversial 13-tower project planned for Flushing’s waterfront is one step closer to approval. The City Planning Commission on Wednesday voted in favor of moving forward with the Special Flushing Waterfront District proposal, moving the project on to the City Council for a vote. Overall, the project is expected to include more than 1,700 residential units, 879 hotel rooms and more than 680,000 square feet of commercial space. Ahead of Wednesday’s vote, CPC Chair Marisa

Suburban office demand spikes as working from home continues

Posted: 04 Nov 2020 08:15 AM PST

Interest in small suburban offices is picking up as more people continue to work from home, and relocate outside of major urban centers. For IWG, the short-term office company, deals for its downtown New York offices have collapsed by 30 percent since the virus outbreak, while activity in southern Connecticut has surged more than 40 percent, according to Bloomberg. Similarly, sales of small offices accommodating one to two people have jumped 19 percent. IWG recently

Greenhill & Co. relocates and downsizes for cheaper rent

Posted: 04 Nov 2020 07:30 AM PST

As companies clamor to sublease their locations and negotiate lower rents with their landlords, investment bank Greenhill & Co. managed to get a reduction in a different way: by downsizing its office space. The firm plans to relocate its headquarters from Tishman Speyer’s 300 Park Avenue to a smaller office in the former Time Inc. building at Rockefeller Group’s 1271 Sixth Avenue, according to Crain’s. Although it’s unknown how much the firm paid in rent

SL Green to sell Hudson Yards building for $950M

Posted: 04 Nov 2020 06:45 AM PST

SL Green Realty has struck a deal with the 601W Companies for a property on Manhattan’s Far West Side at a price that would make it the largest office building to trade hands since the start of the pandemic. The 601W Companies — headed by managing members Victor Gerstein, Michael Silberberg and Mark Krasick — reached an agreement to buy the Amazon-anchored property at 410 10th Avenue for $952.5 million, sources told The Real Deal.

New Jersey votes to legalize recreational marijuana

Posted: 04 Nov 2020 06:15 AM PST

New Jersey voted to legalize recreational marijuana Tuesday, setting the stage for a wave of cannabis-focused real estate investment in the state. The ballot measure, which passed with 67 percent of the vote, paves the way for establishing rules related to regulating and testing cannabis and issuing licenses, including how many permits to grant and to whom, the New York Times reported. The state legislature will need to act before dispensaries can legally sell to

Elmhurst developer buys own condos for $28M

Posted: 04 Nov 2020 05:45 AM PST

A 15-year property tax abatement wasn’t enough to sell 138 condominium units in Queens, where owners hoped a 2016 project would fetch $108.6 million. Instead, one of the original owners, Ki Tai Yeung, bought 53 of the condos last week for $27.8 million, acting through a limited liability company. Cathay Bank simultaneously refinanced the project loan, on which $23.5 million remains outstanding, according to public records. The towers are located at 45-11 82nd Street and

Court puts condo investors on the hook for shoddy construction

Posted: 04 Nov 2020 05:00 AM PST

UPDATED November 4, 2020, 12:19 p.m.: New York City condo investors may increasingly find themselves having to dig into their wallets to pay for any construction defects, according to a new court ruling. The Appellate Division of state court upheld a ruling last week that a condominium board does not have to prove a fiduciary or confidential relationship between itself and the building’s sponsor when suing over construction defects. The ruling, if it stands, will

Bubble dining just as risky as eating indoors, experts say

Posted: 04 Nov 2020 04:30 AM PST

Is there much of a difference between indoor dining and those outdoor plastic bubbles that restaurants across New York now employ? Not really, it turns out. Both options hold similar risks because they provide little airflow as people sit in close proximity to each other, according to a report on the “Today” show. “If you’re putting together something that has a roof and four walls outside, it is called an indoor enclosure outside,” Gregg Gonsalves,

Homebuyers retreat while mortgage refinancings jump

Posted: 04 Nov 2020 04:00 AM PST

Homeowners looking to refinance their mortgages drove up the volume of applications last week as homebuyers retreated. An index tracking the number of applications to refinance increased 6 percent, seasonally adjusted, last week, compared to the prior week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s survey. The MBA metric, known as the refinance index, was up 88 percent year-over-year. Meanwhile, the volume of homebuyers applying for purchase loans fell by 1 percent, compared to the week

Real estate industry in suspense as election hangs in balance

Posted: 03 Nov 2020 11:06 PM PST

UPDATED, 12:20 p.m., Nov. 4: The presidential election remained too close to call Wednesday morning, leaving the future uncertain for the real estate industry. Polls in the final days before the election largely predicted Joe Biden would defeat President Donald Trump in what’s been one of the most divisive presidential races in U.S. history. But hours after polls closed Tuesday night, crucial swing states including Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan had too many uncounted ballots