The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Trump’s longtime banker resigns from Deutsche Bank

Posted: 22 Dec 2020 02:35 PM PST

President Donald Trump’s personal banker at Deutsche Bank has resigned. Rosemary Vrablic, who worked in the private banking division, will step down at the end of the year, along with her division colleague Dominic Scalzi, the New York Times reported. Deutsche Bank began lending to Trump in the 1990s, but Vrablic is credited for growing that relationship when Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, connected the two in 2011. That created tension within the bank, particularly because

What the new stimulus means for restaurants & indie movie theaters

Posted: 22 Dec 2020 01:15 PM PST

As part of Congress’ $900 billion pandemic aid package approved Monday, $15 billion was dedicated for “live venues, independent movie theaters, and cultural institutions.” The $325 billion in funding carved out for all small businesses represents the largest component of the package, more than the funds allocated to direct payment checks and unemployment benefits combined. That includes more than $284 billion for another round of forgivable Payment Protection Program loans. (See the full bill 5,600-page

The nitty gritty on federal rent relief

Posted: 22 Dec 2020 12:45 PM PST

As the multifamily sector welcomed the inclusion of $25 billion in rental assistance in the federal relief package, it rushed to decipher the 5,000-page bill. Here are some key details. The funds will be meted out by eligible states and localities, which are tasked with designing means-tested programs along the federal guidelines. But the funds themselves, from the U.S. Treasury Department, may take a month to arrive. That means renters and landlords should not expect

Danny Elfman, Bridget Fonda sell Hancock Park home for $9M

Posted: 22 Dec 2020 12:30 PM PST

Composer Danny Elfman and actress Bridget Fonda have sold one of two Hancock Park homes they listed in October. The couple sold the larger of the two properties for $8.8 million, according to the Los Angeles Times. The homes were listed for a combined $14.6 million. The smaller property is still on the market for $4.9 million. Elfman and Fonda used it as a guest home, according to the report. The home that sold totals

Apartment List’s latest capital raises brings valuation to $600M

Posted: 22 Dec 2020 11:45 AM PST

Rental platform Apartment List has raised $50 million in a funding round, doubling its prior valuation to $600 million. Janus Henderson Investors led the latest round, and the new capital injection signals investors’ growing interest in rental platforms to compete with Craigslist and StreetEasy, Bloomberg News reported. Unlike its competitors, however, Apartment List only earns a fee when a property is rented. The San Francisco-based startup has 5.5 million units listed and more than 30

Argent Ventures buying Vornado’s Times Square hotel debt at deep discount

Posted: 22 Dec 2020 11:15 AM PST

In another sign of the toll the pandemic has taken on New York City’s hospitality sector, the $195 million mortgage on Vornado’s Times Square hotel is being sold at a major discount. Andrew Penson, the former owner of Grand Central Terminal, is buying the senior mortgage on the 795-room Crowne Plaza Times Square for about $90 million, sources familiar with the sale told The Real Deal. That’s roughly 50 percent off the face value of

City for sale: Shekhter looks to unload mega-portfolio in Santa Monica

Posted: 22 Dec 2020 10:30 AM PST

In what looks to be the largest development portfolio offering in Santa Monica in a generation, WSC Communities will put 23 mostly entitled mixed-use sites on the market next month, The Real Deal has learned. Marketing the land after the city of Santa Monica already greenlighted over 2,100 apartments on the sites is a stunning turn for WSC, which is controlled by the family of prominent Westside landlord Neil Shekhter. The company spent years assembling

A long road ahead for office landlords

Posted: 22 Dec 2020 09:45 AM PST

Manhattan’s Paramount Group received an unsolicited takeover bid early last month for about two-thirds of what the company was worth prior to Covid. Just a few weeks later, the real estate investment trust’s board unanimously rejected the offer from activist investor Bow Street, noting that its offer was “inadequate and significantly undervalues” the office landlord run by Albert Behler. The hedge fund’s bid, however, was in line with Paramount’s stock price, which plunged at the

Existing home sales fall for the first time in 5 months

Posted: 22 Dec 2020 09:01 AM PST

Homebuyers took a step back last month, as the number of homes on the market reached a new low. There were 6.69 million homes sold in November, seasonally adjusted, a 2.5 percent drop from 6.85 million in October, according to the National Association of Realtors’ monthly report. Every region saw a decline or flat sales figures last month compared to October — though the number of sales are still up significantly year over year. Nationwide,

Ben Ashkenazy threatened to “go nuclear” on Century 21 family: lawsuit

Posted: 22 Dec 2020 08:51 AM PST

UPDATED Dec. 22, 2020, 2 pm: Real estate developer Ben Ashkenazy told the family behind Century 21 that he would “go nuclear” on them for wrecking his business, according to a recent lawsuit. Ashkenazy and the Gindi family are in a heated legal battle over their joint investments in real estate. In the lawsuit, Isaac, Eddie and Raymond Gindi of ASG Equities allege the billionaire developer engaged in illegal conduct with their investments. The Gindis

In stunning reversal, de Blasio opposes Eichner’s Crown Heights towers

Posted: 22 Dec 2020 08:15 AM PST

UPDATED Dec. 22, 2:24 pm: On the darkest day of the year, Mayor Bill de Blasio withdrew his support for a residential project in Crown Heights that drew opposition for the shadows it would cast over the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. De Blasio, who had backed the development all year because of its affordable housing component, told Gothamist Monday that he now opposes the plan by Bruce Eichner of Continuum Company to build two 39-story residential

Aby Rosen’s Gramercy Park Hotel faces eviction

Posted: 22 Dec 2020 07:00 AM PST

The latest visit paid to the Gramercy Park Hotel was from the debt collector. Aby Rosen’s RFR Holding, which owns the swanky hotel, is behind on $900,000 in ground lease payments, according to Artnet. A notice on the hotel’s door states that if Rosen does not pay by Dec. 28, his hotel could face eviction. Rosen only owns the hotel, which before the pandemic was a go-to spot for art and fashion events. The estate

Nest Seekers falsely claims exclusivity on Miami listings, feeds bad information to Zillow and Realtor.com

Posted: 22 Dec 2020 05:30 AM PST

Nest Seekers International has been falsely claiming exclusivity on a number of listings in Miami, and in some cases feeding that information to Zillow and Realtor.com, an investigation by The Real Deal reveals. The New York-based brokerage, led by founder and CEO Eddie Shapiro, has a number of listings on its website that are labeled “exclusive,” which state that “This is a Nest Seekers Exclusive Listing.” However, in many cases, the listings belong to another

Congress came through. Why is real estate not satisfied?

Posted: 22 Dec 2020 05:00 AM PST

It’s not the $2.2 trillion that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wanted, but the $900 billion federal aid package approved Monday has serious funding for real estate: $325 billion for small businesses and $25 billion for rental assistance. The rest of the stimulus — including $166 billion in checks, $120 billion for unemployment and $45 billion for transportation — will help the industry indirectly by sustaining shopping and transit systems. It will provide a figurative shot

Kushner eyes return to normalcy. Good luck.

Posted: 22 Dec 2020 04:30 AM PST

When Kushner Companies paid $1.8 billion for 666 Fifth Avenue, a dated office tower that Brookfield’s Ric Clark once described as a “dinosaur,” it was supposed to cement Jared Kushner’s rise. The Kushner family, much like the Trumps, had been on the periphery of New York’s real estate elite, eclipsed by big names like Stephen Ross and Gary Barnett. The firm that Jared’s father, Charles Kushner, founded in the mid-1980s had stronger ties to New

Here are 2020’s most active architects

Posted: 22 Dec 2020 04:00 AM PST

In the early weeks of 2020, architect Jonathan Marvel saw a steady stream of multifamily and public works jobs come across his desk. “And then everything came to a screeching halt,” he said. Marvel’s eponymous firm wasn’t alone. Design work dried up during the height of the pandemic as many construction sites shut down and financing became scarce. Still, once construction work was permitted to resume in New York, many firms saw business pick back