The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Real estate deal prompted resignation of Trump’s longtime banker

Posted: 03 Feb 2021 01:45 PM PST

New details about the resignation of former President Donald Trump’s longtime personal banker at Deutsche Bank were revealed Wednesday in a regulatory filing. Rosemary Vrablic was “permitted to resign” after an internal investigation found she engaged in “undisclosed activities” related to a real estate deal, Bloomberg News reported. Those activities included “the purchase of the property from a client-managed entity, and the formation of an unapproved outside entity to hold the investment,” according to the

A Simon mall falls to foreclosure

Posted: 03 Feb 2021 01:15 PM PST

Simon Property Group has lost control of a mall in suburban Atlanta, more bad news for one of the country’s largest retail landlords that has seen income plunge due to the pandemic. Deutsche Bank foreclosed on Simon’s Town Center at Cobb Mall, according to the Marietta Daily Journal. In November, a report in Trepp identified three malls where Simon indicated it could give up to lenders. Deutsche was the lead lender and trustee of a

Manhattan office condo prices declined 32% in 2020

Posted: 03 Feb 2021 12:30 PM PST

The pandemic did some major damage to Manhattan’s office condominium market. A comparison of sales during the pandemic to pre-Covid deals in the same buildings showed a 32 percent drop in price per square foot, from $909 to $616, according to an analysis by Rudder Property Group. Bargain hunters have begun to see opportunity and some are taking action, said Michael Rudder, the principal of the firm, a commercial real estate brokerage specializing in office

Vice Media co-founder Shane Smith wants $50M for SaMo mansion

Posted: 03 Feb 2021 12:00 PM PST

Shane Smith, the trailblazing and controversial co-founder of Vice Media, wants $50 million for his 3.4-acre Santa Monica estate. The asking price easily makes it the priciest listing in the local market, according to the Los Angeles Times. At a combined 14,000 square feet — mansion, guesthouse and gatehouse — it’s also the largest residential property on the market in Santa Monica. The estate at 609 East Channel Road, known as Villa Ruchello, has 13

Iconic Village Cigars building is for sale

Posted: 03 Feb 2021 11:21 AM PST

One of the West Village’s most iconic corners is about to hit the market. The owners of 110 Seventh Avenue South, the longtime home of Village Cigars, plan to sell the property, Real Estate Weekly reported. Jonathan Posner, who manages the limited liability company that owns the building, told the publication that the retail income took a hit because of the pandemic, and “the property really requires a fresh new approach.” Marketing has not begun,

LeaseLock raises $52M for security-deposit alternative

Posted: 03 Feb 2021 10:32 AM PST

The pressure is on to ditch rental security deposits. California-based LeaseLock is the latest startup to raise money for a security deposit alternative, pocketing $52 million from investors, the company announced Wednesday. The Series B was led by Westerly Winds, a London-based firm started by founding partners from BlackRock, and Wildcat Venture Partners. SoftBank Ventures Asia also participated, along with Vertex Ventures US, Liberty Mutual, American Family Ventures, Moderne Ventures, Strata Equity Group, Veteran Capital

Real estate helps moderate crush socialist in City Council race

Posted: 03 Feb 2021 10:22 AM PST

Democrat James Gennaro trounced Moumita Ahmed, the candidate favored by the Democratic Socialists of America, and six other contenders in a Queens City Council election Tuesday. The real estate industry independently kicked in cash to help Gennaro, who served in the Council in the 2000s. Unofficial results from the Board of Elections show that Gennaro won 59 percent of the initial vote, while Ahmed drew only 16 percent in the District 24 special election. Ninety-nine

Nakash family sells W South Beach units to RFR, Tricap

Posted: 03 Feb 2021 09:46 AM PST

The Nakash family closed on its sale of 12 units at the W South Beach to an entity tied to Aby Rosen and Michael Fuchs’ RFR Holding and David Edelstein’s Tricap. Two W Unit LLC, Nakash Holding LLC and Nakash Miami Condo Investments LLC sold the condo-hotel units to 2201 Collins Fee LLC, according to property records. The units sold for $10.8 million, the same price the Nakashes paid for them in 2014 and 2015.

Investor eyes condo projects struggling to hit key sales threshold

Posted: 03 Feb 2021 08:45 AM PST

One unintended consequence of New York’s 2019 rent law overhaul is that developers who want to switch new condo projects to rentals as a Plan B are required to sell the majority of those units to their tenants if the market improves in order to revert the project to condos. Many developers say that makes those conversions virtually impossible, but one investor sees an emerging market in buying enough unsold units — at a nice

Developers unveil plans for 1,600-foot tower at Grand Central

Posted: 03 Feb 2021 08:00 AM PST

The Grand Hyatt building next to Grand Central Terminal is set to be replaced with a 1,600-foot office and hotel tower known as 175 Park Avenue, new filings show. If all goes as planned, it would be the tallest building in the city, beating out Extell Development’s 1,550-foot Central Park Tower. The ground floor of TF Cornerstone and RXR Realty’s 83-story, 2.2 million-square-foot tower will be home to a new public train hall that adds

432 Park tenants plagued by creaks, leaks and design flaws

Posted: 03 Feb 2021 07:30 AM PST

Unexplained noises, occasional leaks and elevator outages are to be expected in apartment buildings from time to time. But what about when you’ve paid tens of millions of dollars to live in one of Manhattan’s trophy Billionaires’ Row towers? Residents at 432 Park Avenue, the Rafael Viñoly-designed supertall, have experienced all of those issues, and more, since the building opened to residents in 2016, the New York Times reports. “Everything here was camouflage,” Sarina Abramovich,

Cadre launches fund targeting small real estate investors

Posted: 03 Feb 2021 07:00 AM PST

Real estate investing firm Cadre is making good on its previous promise to start a real estate fund targeting opportunities brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. The company is launching a new $400 million fund that’s meant to make it easier for individual investors, financial advisors and institutions to invest in real estate, according to Forbes. “I believe we are entering a period that will potentially be a once in a lifetime opportunity to invest

Adam Neumann invests in mortgage servicing startup

Posted: 03 Feb 2021 06:30 AM PST

WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann has a new investment: Valon Mortgage. The startup, which promises to cut mortgage servicing costs by half, raised $50 million in Series A funding from a group of investors that includes Neumann and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, according to Bloomberg News. Valon, which was previously known as Peach Street, was founded in 2019 and previously raised just over $3 million in seed funding. The company has an ambitious goal: to

Interior designer Taylor Spellman launches show on Discovery+

Posted: 03 Feb 2021 05:30 AM PST

Taylor Spellman, a veteran of New York City’s interior design and home-staging game, is launching a new show on Discovery+. The premise of the series, “One Week to Sell” is simple: Spellman’s interior design firm swoops into a sad home that’s languishing on the market and gets one week and a $10,000 budget to transform it into a must-buy. The show debuts today with the release of the first three episodes. New ones come out

Shaun Donovan can do housing. Can he do politics?

Posted: 03 Feb 2021 05:00 AM PST

Say this for Shaun Donovan: If he succeeds in his bid to become mayor of New York City, he would never need aides to explain terms like AMI, MIH and FAR. Housing jargon has been second nature to Donovan, 55, for his entire career, as he noted in a Zoom interview with The Real Deal last week. Donovan was commissioner of the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development under Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Secretary

Bill would legalize “granny flats” in New York

Posted: 03 Feb 2021 04:30 AM PST

During his State of the City address last year, Mayor Bill de Blasio pitched legalizing basement apartments citywide. That proposal hasn’t progressed much, but state officials are now taking steps to push that vision forward. A recently introduced bill would require cities and towns throughout the state to legalize accessory dwelling units, better known as granny flats. The measure defines them as “independent living facilities” on the same lot as a single-family residence or multifamily

Low rates give home refinancings a boost

Posted: 03 Feb 2021 04:00 AM PST

The average home acquisition loan inched a little bit closer to $400,000 last week while overall purchase volume lagged. But lower interest rates drove refinancing activity. An index tracking the volume of applications to buy homes was unchanged last week, ticking up a slight 0.1 percent, seasonally adjusted, from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s survey. The metric, known as the purchase index, had dropped 4 percent the prior week. But the

Amazon warehouse in Brooklyn sells for $46M

Posted: 03 Feb 2021 03:30 AM PST

An Amazon-leased warehouse in Brooklyn sold for a valuation of $46 million as investors continue to chase properties occupied by the e-commerce giant. Asset manager BentallGreenOak purchased the 100,000-square-foot property at 2300 Linden Boulevard in East New York from Turnbridge Equities and Harbor Group International, a source familiar with the sale told The Real Deal. BentallGreenOak, headed by CEO Sonny Kalsi, paid $460 per square foot for the property, where Amazon inked a lease last