The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Qatari royalty snags Flatiron retail building from Thor Equities

Posted: 16 Dec 2020 03:30 PM PST

A member of the Qatari royal family has purchased a Flatiron retail building from Thor Equities for $40 million. Sheikh Thani bin Abdullah Al Thani purchased the 17,600-square-foot-property at 164 Fifth Avenue from Joe Sitt’s firm at $2,272 per square foot, records show. The five-story building is fully leased to Alo Yoga and sits between 21st and 22nd streets. Alo Yoga has 15 years left on its lease. The site is also home to Sutra,

Steve Nash bags Brooklyn townhouse for $5M

Posted: 16 Dec 2020 03:10 PM PST

Steve Nash is planning on living close enough to walk to work. The former NBA player turned coach of the Brooklyn Nets closed on a 20-foot wide townhouse in Cobble Hill for $5 million, or about $1,190 per square foot, according to the New York Post. The 4,200-square-foot home on Amity Street has a landscaped rear garden, roof deck and a finished basement. Nash is getting the five-bedroom house at a discounted price, compared to

Breather to liquidate 400 on-demand offices

Posted: 16 Dec 2020 02:58 PM PST

Breather, a startup that rents office space by the day, has run out of air. The Montreal-based company plans to shutter more than 400 locations in the United States, Great Britain and Canada. In some cases, it will assign outposts to third parties, who will close them to repay the company’s creditors, the Globe and Mail reported. “Breather, in its current form as an operator, doesn’t make sense, and, to be frank, I’m not sure

16-acre lot in Coney Island rolls onto the market

Posted: 16 Dec 2020 02:00 PM PST

National Grid is looking to sell a 16-acre site with nearly 1.5 million square feet of building potential at the southern tip of Brooklyn, according to Crain’s. The undeveloped lot at 2731 West 12th Street has M3-1 zoning, making it usable for a manufacturing facility, a power plant or, with special exceptions, a large retail space. It’s in an Opportunity Zone, and also qualifies for a tax abatement under the Industrial and Commercial Abatement Program.

Jay Group plans huge Hamilton Heights resi building

Posted: 16 Dec 2020 01:00 PM PST

Joel Kohn’s Jay Group is planning to build one of the tallest residential buildings in Hamilton Heights on land owned by the Chetrit family. The 28-story, 238-unit building at 619 152nd Street will stand 285 feet tall, according to plans filed Tuesday with the Department of Buildings. In total, it will span about 250,000 square feet, including 12,000 square feet of community space. The development will have parking spots for 121 bicycles and 95 cars.

Developer Alex Sapir sells South Florida penthouse for $33M

Posted: 16 Dec 2020 12:30 PM PST

Alex Sapir’s Sapir Corp. sold the penthouse at its luxury oceanfront condo building in Surfside for $33 million, marking one of the most expensive condo sales to close this year. A private equity executive paid cash for the 7,681-square-foot triplex condo at Arte by Antonio Citterio at 8955 Collins Avenue, which is record-breaking in Surfside at about $4,300 per square foot, Sapir said. The Wall Street Journal first reported the deal. The closing adds to

Rockrose continues LIC expansion with 300-unit tower

Posted: 16 Dec 2020 11:56 AM PST

Rockrose Development’s Long Island City expansion continues. The developer is planning a 19-story residential building at 43-14 Queens Street, according to a permit application filed with the Department of Buildings. The building will have just over 300 apartments, along with approximately 28,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space. SLCE Architects is listed as the architect of record. The developer paid $13 million for adjacent lots (the other is at 43-14 Queens Street) in late November.

Council speaker proposes overhaul of land use process

Posted: 16 Dec 2020 09:53 AM PST

For decades, politicians and advocates have tried and failed to take a more comprehensive approach to land use decisions in the city. But now the City Council speaker himself has mapped out a plan. Corey Johnson released a report Wednesday calling for a 10-year, citywide planning framework that sets long-term goals for housing, transportation, public space and other community needs. It also adds opportunities for the public to weigh in on what happens in their

Homebuilder confidence drops for first time since April

Posted: 16 Dec 2020 09:15 AM PST

Homebuilders are reining in their expectations for the housing market, according to a new report. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index for this month dropped to 86, seasonally adjusted, after reporting its highest reading in history in November. It marks the first time since April that the index’s reading has seen a month-over-month decline. December’s reading is still a record, however. It marks the second-highest reading in the index’s 35-year history.

Mid-market sales see another strong week with $97M in deals

Posted: 16 Dec 2020 09:01 AM PST

It was another solid week for the mid-market investment sales, with six deals recorded in the $10 million to $30 million range for a total sales volume of $97.5 million. That’s slightly less than last week’s $100 million in deals, but still a positive sign for the market, which has been showing more signs of life in the past few weeks. Three of those deals were in Manhattan, and another three in Brooklyn. Multifamily sales

Mad scramble at deadline to get aid to tenants

Posted: 16 Dec 2020 08:35 AM PST

More than 400 state and local governments are scrambling to allocate funding from the federal CARES Act intended to provide at least $4.3 billion in rental assistance. The money could save some tenants from eviction and help landlords pay their mortgages. However, with just two weeks left to distribute it, jurisdictions have more than $300 million left, the New York Times reported. They blame bureaucratic hurdles, competing budget demands and a reluctance among landlords to

De Blasio administration lands on worst landlord watchlist

Posted: 16 Dec 2020 08:07 AM PST

Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration has landed at the top of the Public Advocate’s list of the city’s worst landlords — which the mayor himself started 10 years ago. In the report, made public Dec. 15, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams lambasted the de Blasio administration’s management of the New York City Housing Authority, which made it to the top of the list for the third year in a row. Chief among Williams’ concerns is the

Compass re-ups agent equity program as IPO looms

Posted: 16 Dec 2020 07:45 AM PST

With a potential IPO on the horizon, Compass is again letting agents trade their commission dollars for equity — and potentially reap the rewards of a long-awaited public offering. Under the terms of the firm’s 2021 agent equity program, Compass said brokers can defer payment on commissions and referrals that will convert to equity the following year. Compass will also match 10 percent of the agents’ investment, according to an internal memo seen by The

Major tenants refuse to return to the office during the holidays

Posted: 16 Dec 2020 07:01 AM PST

While the arrival of coronavirus vaccines spurs hope for commercial landlords, office attendance is thinning out on Wall Street and elsewhere in New York City. For Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, employee presence has already been diminished. At JPMorgan Chase, staffing levels have hovered around 20 percent in New York for much of the fall, but executives now expect more people to work from home as holidays approach. Bank of America has dialed back invitations

Why these retailers opened in midst of pandemic

Posted: 16 Dec 2020 06:35 AM PST

In the past eight months, Park Slope’s Fifth Avenue has shriveled up and sprung back to life, even as the pandemic surges across the city and nation. In that time, 32 businesses have gone, according to the Wall Street Journal. However, 37 businesses have launched or are preparing to open. “The closings have slowed down,” Mark Caserta, head of the corridor’s business improvement district, told the newspaper. “They’re always finding a way to stay open.”

Pandemic flight boosted or hurt these 20 cities

Posted: 16 Dec 2020 06:15 AM PST

Lower taxes and other financial perks may be drawing millionaires out of New York and California, but what about those who aren’t sending rockets to the moon? Studies say they too are moving, looking for larger homes and cheaper living. Austin saw the most newcomers between April and October of this year. Next is Phoenix, Nashville and Tampa, according to Bloomberg. At the same time, San Francisco’s Bay Area and New York City lost people.

Mortgage applications rise as rates reach another record low

Posted: 16 Dec 2020 05:45 AM PST

A new home is clearly on some holiday gift lists. Demand from homebuyers rose last week, sending an index tracking applications to purchase homes up 2 percent, seasonally adjusted, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly survey. The metric had fallen the previous week. “The ongoing strength in the housing market has carried into December,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s head of forecasting, in a statement. He pointed to record falling rates for the average 30-year,

Candice Bergen and Marshall Rose list Lily Pond estate

Posted: 16 Dec 2020 05:30 AM PST

Actress Candice Bergen and developer Marshall Rose are looking to part with their mansion located in one of the more sought-after spots in East Hampton, according to Variety. The couple listed the 4,500-square-foot home for $18 million. The property at 72 Lily Pond Lane totals 1.8 acres. There are six bedrooms and 6.5 bathrooms between the main house and detached guest house. The pool is located behind the guest house surrounded by gardens. Rose tapped

Starbucks betting big on drive-throughs in coming years

Posted: 16 Dec 2020 05:00 AM PST

Even though, like other retailers, Starbucks suffered big losses due to the pandemic, the chain is still betting on customers’ need for caffeine. During the company’s virtual Investor Day last week, the coffee conglomerate announced that it plans to open an additional 22,000 stores, bringing its total global footprint to 55,000 shops, by 2030, Bisnow reported. CFO Patrick Grismer maintained that the company would continue its global expansion, calling the pandemic as a “temporary disruption”

Extortion, 9/11 and a toy gun: The story behind Barbara Corcoran’s brokerage sale

Posted: 16 Dec 2020 04:00 AM PST

On the eve of Barbara Corcoran’s sale of her eponymous brokerage in 2001, a former deputy nearly scuttled the deal by demanding $1 million — or else. Rather than let the $66 million deal fall apart, Corcoran pulled out her checkbook. “At the eleventh hour, one of the most important people in my business held me up for $1 million,” Corcoran disclosed for the first time on the Dec. 4 episode of “Shark Tank.” “She