The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Drug smuggler pardoned by Trump sued by All Year over high-interest loans

Posted: 11 Feb 2021 04:40 PM PST

As Yoel Goldman desperately tries to keep his Brooklyn-based real estate firm afloat, a new court filing alleges that Jonathan Braun, who pleaded guilty to drug smuggling and money laundering in 2011 but was recently pardoned by President Donald Trump, made loans to some of Goldman’s companies while in prison. Braun was allegedly behind at least $11.5 million in high-interest rate loans to the developer, according to a lawsuit filed in New York State Supreme

Corcoran launches first international franchise in British Virgin Islands

Posted: 11 Feb 2021 03:35 PM PST

The Corcoran Group is going international with its first franchise outside the United States. The New York City firm will expand into the British Virgin Islands later this month, after inking a franchise deal with Oil Nut Bay Properties Ltd., which will be known as Corcoran BVI, it said Thursday. David V. Johnson, a developer of luxury homes, will run the 30-agent affiliate. In 2016, Johnson’s company, Victor International, developed a resort in Oil Nut

Private equity titan buys Palm Beach estate asking $140M: sources

Posted: 11 Feb 2021 02:30 PM PST

Private equity titan Scott Shleifer paid more than $120 million for an oceanfront mansion in Palm Beach, setting a record for residential sales in Florida and marking one of the most expensive home sales in the U.S., The Real Deal has learned. The property hit the market last month and closed on Thursday, sources said. A company managed by luxury homebuilder Mark Pulte, who is the son of Pulte Homes founder William Pulte, built and

Port Authority taps Silverstein, Brookfield to build 5WTC

Posted: 11 Feb 2021 01:51 PM PST

One of the final undeveloped World Trade Center parcels will give rise to a residential skyscraper with more than 1,300 apartments. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey chose a vision for the site submitted by Silverstein Properties, Brookfield Properties, Omni New York and Dabar Development Partners, which calls for a 1.56 million-square-foot, mixed-use tower, Commercial Observer reported. The project, designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox, is expected to feature 1,325 rental units, with

Mayor calls Cuomo’s office-to-resi plan “giveaway” to real estate

Posted: 11 Feb 2021 01:05 PM PST

Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday slammed Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposal to allow office and hotel owners to convert their buildings to residential use — even though a committee he created had a similar idea. Testifying on the governor’s proposed 2022 budget, de Blasio said it includes provisions that “usurp the city’s local authority and silence community input.” He said he “strongly opposes” a measure that would override local zoning rules to allow the conversion

Equity Residential sees profits drop 13% in Q4

Posted: 11 Feb 2021 12:40 PM PST

There may be a light at the end of the tunnel for Sam Zell’s Equity Residential: Its earnings dropped less in the fourth quarter than they did in the previous one. The REIT’s net income in the fourth quarter was $263 million, down 13 percent from $277.8 million in the same period last year, the company reported Wednesday. While the year-over-year drop is significant, it’s much smaller than the 58 percent year-over-year drop it saw

Paramount Group revenue declined $30M in 2020

Posted: 11 Feb 2021 12:08 PM PST

Paramount Group reported a decline in revenue of $29.5 million in 2020, a year in which the pandemic shrunk demand for new office leases and complicated efforts to renew expiring ones. Even so, Albert Behler, the CEO of the office REIT, expressed optimism during the company’s annual earnings call. “People are tired of being isolated,” he noted, and said he expects distribution of a vaccine will produce “a period of strong economic recovery.” He expects

Colliers leasing drops 26% in Q4 but revenue stays steady

Posted: 11 Feb 2021 10:30 AM PST

Real estate firm Colliers has taken a hit from the pandemic, but in its fourth quarter earnings call, executives said the blow wasn’t as bad as anticipated. The real estate firm saw revenue drop just 2 percent in the fourth quarter, falling from $928.3 million to $913.7 million. For the year, Colliers saw revenue drop seven percent, from $3 billion to $2.7 billion. The drop in revenue last quarter may be attributed to a lack

Fredrik Eklund reps himself in $7M Beverly Hills buy

Posted: 11 Feb 2021 09:50 AM PST

More than a year after moving to Los Angeles to expand his team, Douglas Elliman broker Fredrik Eklund has planted roots in Beverly Hills. The “Million Dollar Listing” star and his husband Derek Kaplan paid over $7 million for a 5,700-square-foot home in the tony enclave, according to Dirt.com. The home at 9573 Lania Lane was built in 2017 and sits on about a third of an acre. It has five bedrooms and eight bathrooms.

Developer stole my Tribeca apartment: former tenant

Posted: 11 Feb 2021 08:45 AM PST

In 2012, gallery owner Valerie Dillon received an offer for her stake in a Tribeca apartment building she couldn’t pass up. Developer Arthur Becker needed Dillon’s stake in the building in order to convert it into a boutique condo project. In exchange, Dillon didn’t just want money; she wanted the right to buy back her apartment in the converted building for $50,000. But now, seven years after Dillon moved out of her apartment, Becker —

Broker who stormed Capitol apologizes as she is charged

Posted: 11 Feb 2021 07:15 AM PST

Jenna Ryan, a Texas real estate broker who infamously took a private jet to participate in the Capitol insurrection, has been charged for her role in the riot. Ryan, 50, was arrested Jan. 15 and charged with two federal misdemeanor counts of knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted government building without lawful authority and disorderly conduct, Business Insider reported. Now, however, she says she regrets “everything.” “I bought into a lie, and the lie

Biden bans LGBT-based housing discrimination

Posted: 11 Feb 2021 06:31 AM PST

The federal government will ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity under the Fair Housing Act, and will investigate complaints from LGBTQ tenants and homebuyers since Jan. 20, 2020. The Department of Housing and Urban Development becomes the first agency to fulfill an executive order regarding sex discrimination that President Joe Biden issued on his first day in office, Bloomberg News reported. The agency has only received approximately 200 such complaints in the

Sports venues to reopen at 10% capacity

Posted: 11 Feb 2021 05:53 AM PST

New Yorkers eager to cheer on their favorite sports team in person will have the opportunity to do so starting Feb. 23. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday that stadiums and arenas may reopen at 10 percent capacity. Fans must follow social distancing precautions, wear a mask and present a negative Covid-19 test within 72 hours of the event’s start, Newsday reported. Guidance for ticket distribution and enforcement of such rules was not shared. The last

“3D-printed” home in Calverton listed at $300K

Posted: 11 Feb 2021 05:00 AM PST

A Long Island home touted in a listing as “the world’s first 3D-printed home for sale” is on the market for $300,000, according to the New York Post. The 1,407-square-foot concrete home was designed by Manhattan-based firm H2M and built by Patchogue-based SQ4D, a firm that specializes in 3D printing construction. The firm uses large machines that function like a tabletop 3D printer, but pour concrete. The printer built the foundation, exterior walls, interior walls,

Manhattan and Brooklyn renters sign leases in record numbers

Posted: 11 Feb 2021 04:00 AM PST

The surge in rental activity that defined the Manhattan and Brooklyn markets at the end of 2020 has continued in the new year — and so has the trend of tumbling rents. According to Douglas Elliman’s latest report, January was unusually active in both boroughs, with the most number of new leases signed for that month in 13 years. Real estate appraiser Jonathan Miller, who authors the report, said January was the fourth straight month

Spencer Rascoff launches second SPAC

Posted: 10 Feb 2021 06:43 PM PST

Why have one SPAC when you could have two? Zillow co-founder Spencer Rascoff, who raised $350 million for his first blank-check firm this fall, has just launched a second SPAC, according to a regulatory filing Wednesday. Dubbed Supernova Partners Acquisition Company II, the SPAC is looking to raise $250 million to invest in the “broader technology sector,” the filing shows. It is targeting companies valued between $1 billion and $5 billion. Rascoff, who stepped down