The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Bill would renew city’s tax lien sale, add Covid escape hatch

Posted: 08 Dec 2020 04:28 PM PST

After the state repeatedly postponed the city’s tax lien sale, a City Council bill would renew it for another four years, but add exceptions for delinquent property owners. The bill, sponsored by Council member Adrienne Adams and backed by Mayor Bill de Blasio, would continue the annual sale through Dec. 31, 2024. Under the measure, non-vacant properties with assessed valuations of less than $250,000 would be exempt for all of 2021 if the owners can

Joe Biden taps Marcia Fudge, Ohio congresswoman, as HUD secretary

Posted: 08 Dec 2020 04:05 PM PST

President-elect Joe Biden has tapped Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge to oversee the nation’s massive housing agency. As secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fudge would oversee an agency that creates housing policies for more than 9 million low-income Americans. It will play a critical role in the new administration’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has left millions of Americans without the means to pay rent, Politico reported. HUD’s most recent

Cher’s former Miami Beach mansion sells to Keith Menin for $17M

Posted: 08 Dec 2020 02:30 PM PST

The Goddess of Pop’s former La Gorce Island home in Miami Beach has a new owner. Hospitality mogul Keith Menin purchased the waterfront mansion at 64 La Gorce Circle via 64 LaGorce LLC, a Delaware company, he said. Listing brokerage Douglas Elliman said the property sold for $17 million. Cher, who is now based in California, owned the home between 1993 and 1996. The award-winning singer, actress and TV personality sold it in 1996 for

Landlords jarred by sudden drop in rent collection

Posted: 08 Dec 2020 02:15 PM PST

Market-rate apartment owners just reported the lowest rental payment rate since April. In its monthly survey, the National Multifamily Housing Council found that only 75 percent of renters in 11.5 million market-rate apartments paid some or all of their rent by Dec. 6. The figure represents a 5-percentage-point decrease from November, and is nearly 8 points lower than it was a year ago. The president of the Washington, D.C.-based lobby group, Doug Bibby, said the

MAG Partners, Safanad form new joint venture

Posted: 08 Dec 2020 01:43 PM PST

MAG Partners will bring the development experience, and Safanad will bring the capital. That’s the setup of a new joint venture between the companies, which is targeting $2 to $3 billion worth of deals, the firms told The Real Deal. Eventually, the joint venture will pursue ground-up development, but in the short-term, it is looking at distressed properties and projects, as well as building conversion opportunities. The companies are already working together on a 479-unit

Brooklynites sue Landmarks over “devastating” 265-foot project

Posted: 08 Dec 2020 12:51 PM PST

Did bodysnatchers visit the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission this summer? Maybe so, a Brooklyn neighborhood association alleges in a lawsuit. Preserve BAM’s Historic District, a group of residents of the Brooklyn Academy of Music Historic District, sued in New York State Supreme Court to overturn the commission’s approval of a 265-foot building that the Gotham Organization seeks to build at 130 St. Felix Street. The group — mostly residents of One Hanson Place, the condo

Huntington developer says pandemic may delay long-awaited affordable housing project

Posted: 08 Dec 2020 12:06 PM PST

The pandemic may derail a decades-long delayed affordable housing project that was finally approved last year. The construction of the 146-unit Matinecock Court in Huntington’s East Northport hamlet hit another roadblock, according to Newsday. But unlike previous issues with the project — some Huntington residents fought hard against it — this one has to do with Covid-19, according to the developer. Les Bluestone of Blue Sea Development told Suffolk County officials that he is having

Reuben Brothers gets 30% discount on Surrey Hotel buy

Posted: 08 Dec 2020 11:15 AM PST

The Reuben Brothers paid about $150 million for the Surrey Hotel, a discount of roughly 30 percent off its asking price. The company run by British billionaires Simon and David Reuben purchased the hotel at 20 East 76th Street, property records filed with the city Tuesday show. That’s about $65 million less than the asking price of $215 million that Bloomberg cited last week when it first reported news of the deal. Representatives for the

Staten Island waterfront redevelopment hits a wall

Posted: 08 Dec 2020 10:31 AM PST

Over the past decade, politicians and investors had big hopes of turning Staten Island’s waterfront into a major tourist destination. There were plans to bring the world’s largest Ferris Wheel and an outlet mall to the borough’s North Shore, where the Richmond County Ballpark — home to the Staten Island Yankees, the minor league affiliate for the Bronx Bombers — was already located. But now, those plans seem to be hitting a wall. Last month,

Rob Lowe buys again in Montecito

Posted: 08 Dec 2020 10:00 AM PST

Actor Rob Lowe and his wife Sheryl Berkoff have purchased their third home of the year and their second in Montecito. The couple paid $13 million for a 5,700-square-foot home in Montecito, according to Variety. The house, which has five bedrooms and six bathrooms, was built in 1925. The 6.7-acre property includes a couple of guest cottages. The sale was pegged at $2,246 a foot. The grounds include lawns and gardens with hedges and flowers,

Yankees cry foul on Bronx parking lot owner

Posted: 08 Dec 2020 09:30 AM PST

The New York Yankees claim that a Bronx parking lot operator is holding back plans for a soccer stadium and affordable housing. The Parks Department is also warning the parking operator, Bronx Parking Development Company, that it could terminate its lease for defaulting on $237 million in bonds issued in 2007, according to the news publication The City. Motorists’ use of parking garages erected around the Yankees’ ballpark fell well short of expectations. The Yankees

Nationstar Mortgage ordered to repay $73M to customers

Posted: 08 Dec 2020 08:45 AM PST

Nationstar Mortgage has been ordered to pay $73 million to roughly 40,000 homeowners in a settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. In a complaint filed by the bureau and 48 states, Nationstar Mortgage, which rebranded as Mr. Cooper in 2017, is accused of failing to provide basic services for the mortgages it serviced from 2012 to 2016, the Associated Press reported. Those include neglecting to tell homeowners if a mortgage was in a loan

Former Brooklyn lawyer accused of $8M deed theft scheme

Posted: 08 Dec 2020 08:18 AM PST

A former Brooklyn attorney has been indicted for carrying out a nearly $8 million deed theft scheme, a practice that is not uncommon in areas with high foreclosure rates. Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez accused Sanford Solny of stealing deeds to eight properties in foreclosure by tricking victims into handing over their homes. He allegedly collected over $600,000 in rent from the properties, which are located in Bedford-Stuyvesant, East New York, Cypress Hills, Flatbush and

CMBS market faces staggering losses even with vaccine hopes

Posted: 08 Dec 2020 07:45 AM PST

Investors in the $550 billion commercial mortgage-backed securities market could see hefty losses as real estate sectors will continue to struggle after a Covid vaccine becomes widely available. Morgan Stanley is projecting that losses for CMBS deals backed by dozens of different loans could average about 5 to 8 percent, according to a Bloomberg report. Demand for malls, hotels and office space could drop even as vaccine distribution becomes widespread as experts believe that companies

Toll Brothers sales jump amid booming housing market

Posted: 08 Dec 2020 07:15 AM PST

Toll Brothers is having a banner year as demand for new homes skyrocketed during the pandemic. The luxury homebuilder reported $2.6 billion in sales in the third quarter, a 7 percent uptick from last year, the Wall Street Journal reported. Revenue from home sales rose about 9 percent to $2.5 billion. “We are currently experiencing the strongest housing market I have seen in my 30 years at Toll Brothers,” CEO Douglas Yearley said in a

Ivanka and Jared buying $30M Miami waterfront lot from Julio Iglesias

Posted: 08 Dec 2020 06:30 AM PST

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have set their post-White House sights on Miami. The couple is spending $30 million to purchase a waterfront lot on Indian Creek Island in a deal that’s set to close Dec. 17, according to the New York Post. Famed singer Julio Iglesias sold the 1.8-acre property, which the Post reported is Lot 4. Iglesias listed the land earlier this year for $31.8 million. It has about 200 feet of water

Robert Reffkin on what Compass IPO means for agents: “Anything”

Posted: 08 Dec 2020 06:00 AM PST

More and more Compass agents are wondering what’s in store for them as telltale signs that the brokerage is planning an initial public offering pile up. And for the first time, Compass CEO Robert Reffkin acknowledged the brokerage’s looming IPO plans in a message to its agents, a copy of which was obtained by The Real Deal. “Many of you have asked what the benefits are to Compass agents of being a public company,” Reffkin

And the resi “deal of the year” winners are…

Posted: 08 Dec 2020 05:00 AM PST

In a year where normal was impossible, a handful of agents won kudos for doing the improbable. The seven winners of the Real Estate Board of New York’s annual residential deal of the year awards navigated scenarios ranging from letting a heartbroken pop star down gently to circumventing stubborn hoarders and a tenacious squatter. The top award went to Tamara Marotta of the Corcoran Group and Lori Huler Glick, formerly of Compass, now at Brown

Lender to Harlem developer: Pay back $26M loan plus fees

Posted: 08 Dec 2020 04:30 AM PST

UPDATED Dec. 8, 2020, 9:05 a.m.: If you think the interest charges on your loans are bad, try racking up fees of $17,000 per day. That’s what developer Levi Balkany of Happy Living Development is facing after allegedly defaulting on a $26 million loan for a 46-unit condo building in Harlem. An entity associated with lender Arena Investors filed a motion in New York State Supreme Court last week calling for summary judgment against Balkany,

Brown Harris Stevens to offer loans to clients

Posted: 08 Dec 2020 04:00 AM PST

Brown Harris Stevens is debuting a suite of lending programs to front cash to its brokers’ clients. Programs the firm announced Tuesday include a pre-market home improvement and staging service for sellers called Curate and a bridge-lending option for buyers who would otherwise have to sell their current home before buying. The company said the services would launch in all its markets this month. The debut comes as some lenders are balking at providing loans

Housing should replace LI’s vacant malls, big box stores: Homebuilder trade group

Posted: 07 Dec 2020 02:15 PM PST

The head of a Long Island homebuilders trade group wants vacant big box properties and malls to be redeveloped as housing. Long Island Builders Institute CEO Mitchell Pally delivered that message, and said local land use regulations would need to change to make that happen, Newsday reported. “The ability to redevelop those sites for mixed-use projects, including rental [apartments] and condos, is going to be very important,” Pally said during a virtual discussion of the