The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Debate flares up over Johnson’s planning overhaul

Posted: 23 Feb 2021 03:50 PM PST

The city’s land use and planning process is not perfect — on that much, the City Council and de Blasio administration seem to agree. But the City Planning Commission criticizes the Council for blocking affordable housing projects and rezonings, while Council members say the process fails to take a long-term view of community needs. During a heated, day-long hearing Tuesday, City Planning Commissioner Marisa Lago testified against City Council Speaker Corey Johnson’s proposal to create

CoStar revenue soars 19% after year of acquisitions

Posted: 23 Feb 2021 03:08 PM PST

CoStar Group’s revenue soared to $1.66 billion in 2020, as the pandemic pushed more people to shop for real estate online, the company reported Tuesday. While earnings rose 19 percent, the real estate data giant’s profits sunk thanks to the coronavirus closures in the spring. Net income plunged nearly 28 percent to $227 million for the full year. CoStar reported net income of $314.9 million in 2019. Still, CoStar turned in a strong second half

Townhouses dominated Brooklyn luxury contracts — again

Posted: 23 Feb 2021 02:45 PM PST

A Carroll Gardens townhouse asking $6.5 million was the largest luxury contract inked in Brooklyn last week. It was one of 23 luxury contracts signed last week, according to Compass’ report on deals for homes asking $2 million or more. Once again, townhouses dominated, with 14 contracts signed for larger homes and nine for condo units. The total sales volume was $68.5 million. The week before had similar numbers, with 24 contracts signed for a

SL Green, Ben Ashkenazy duke it out over Madison Avenue office

Posted: 23 Feb 2021 02:05 PM PST

Two of New York real estate’s shrewdest chess players are attempting to outmaneuver one another for control over a billion-dollar Midtown office property. SL Green Realty and Ben Ashkenazy have been on a collision course for the past several years that’s set to come to a head in 16 months, when the latter is expected to implement an astronomic rent hike on SL Green’s ground lease at 625 Madison Avenue. The Marc Holliday-led REIT has

Summer camps can reopen, but much remains unknown

Posted: 23 Feb 2021 12:45 PM PST

Children screaming in the woods will be back this summer — in a good way. Both day and sleepaway camps in New York will be allowed to reopen in June, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced last week, as long as they have proper Covid-19 testing protocols in place. It’s still unknown what those protocols will look like, although last summer they included smaller group sizes, health screenings and increased equipment sanitization. In his announcement last week,

Unions, nonprofits push NY to drop Opportunity Zone tax break

Posted: 23 Feb 2021 12:00 PM PST

A Trump administration tax break for real estate also saves investors money on city and state taxes in New York, to the dismay of some Democrats and interest groups. More than two dozen groups are now seeking to undo New York tax breaks piled onto the federal Opportunity Zone program. Unions including New York State United Teachers and Communication Workers of America, and nonprofits such as Reinvent Albany, the Fiscal Policy Institute and the Coalition

A reckoning on rent

Posted: 23 Feb 2021 11:30 AM PST

Three of Petra Drauschak’s 14 tenants have abandoned their leases during the pandemic. One had already stopped paying by February 2020, when Covid began sweeping across the U.S., but Drauschak’s hands were tied by Pennsylvania’s eviction ban. The tenant left in August without paying the remaining rent and arrears. Tipped off by a neighbor, Drauschak followed the tenant to her ex-fiance’s house and successfully served her papers. A court awarded the landlord $12,000, but the

All Year LLC opts for bankruptcy to stop Bushwick foreclosure

Posted: 23 Feb 2021 10:30 AM PST

Three weeks ago, Yoel Goldman’s All Year Management sued Mack Real Estate to stave off the foreclosure of $65 million in mezzanine debt. The move bought the developer time to protect his Denizen Bushwick rental complex — but time ran out. Yesterday, a day before the rescheduled UCC sale, All Year’s debtor LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. All Year and Mack had talked over the past few weeks about “potential sale structures with

Toby Moskovits’ Williamsburg Hotel enters bankruptcy

Posted: 23 Feb 2021 10:15 AM PST

Toby Moskovits’ distressed Williamsburg Hotel has entered into bankruptcy. Heritage Equity Partners, under the LLC 96 Wythe Acquisition, filed for Chapter 11 protection Tuesday for the 147-room hotel at 96 Wythe Avenue, according to a filing in New York’s Southern District federal court in Manhattan. The filing lists assets between $50 million and $100 million and liabilities just shy of $80 million. The largest creditor is Benefit Street Partners, which provided Heritage with a $68

Some Wall Street investors trade NYC for South Florida

Posted: 23 Feb 2021 09:55 AM PST

It’s not just Wall Street firms that are moving to South Florida — their executives are migrating to the Sunshine State, too. Three top executives at Elliott Management have listed their New York City residences, the Wall Street Journal reported, after the firm announced it would move its headquarters to West Palm Beach. Paul Singer, the activist investor who helms the firm, listed his apartment in the Beresford on the Upper West Side for $40

Keller Williams shakes up its C-suite

Posted: 23 Feb 2021 08:59 AM PST

The restructuring of Keller Williams’ C-suite continues, with the brokerage announcing a new president and a spate of executive promotions. The firm’s co-directors of growth, Marc King and Matt Green, will now serve as president and head of agent and partner experience, respectively. Jason Abrams will assume the role of head of industry, a move up from his previous role as the vice president of industry. And Chris Cox, who previously worked for Bain Consulting,

US home prices jump 10.4% in best year since 2013

Posted: 23 Feb 2021 08:00 AM PST

Last year was the best for home prices since 2013 — and the best in five decades for single-family home values, new data show. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index rose 10.4 percent year-over-year in December. That’s up from 9.5 percent in November when the monthly index surpassed the previous peak of July 2006. December’s gain meant 2020 was the best calendar year for home prices in seven years and one of

Adam Neumann, SoftBank near settlement agreement

Posted: 23 Feb 2021 07:30 AM PST

Adam Neumann could walk away with a $500 million golden parachute from WeWork, the beleaguered co-working company he co-founded. SoftBank and Neumann are close to reaching a settlement agreement that would allow Neumann to sell $500 million in shares, Bloomberg News reported, citing sources “familiar with the matter.” The agreement has not yet been formalized or formally announced, and a virtual trial is still scheduled for Mar. 4. The dispute between Neumann and SoftBank arose

Extell sells stake in Manhattan rentals to RXR Realty

Posted: 23 Feb 2021 07:05 AM PST

Extell Development is selling off a stake in two Manhattan properties as it contends with a stagnant luxury residential market. The development firm, led by Gary Barnett, will sell a 42 percent stake in a portfolio of rental apartments to RXR Realty, the Financial Times reported. The transaction includes 750 units across two Manhattan buildings: 555TEN, at 555 10th Avenue in Hell’s Kitchen, and EVGB, at 510 East 14th Street in the East Village. For

Realogy’s revenue hits $6.2B after housing rebound

Posted: 23 Feb 2021 06:50 AM PST

UPDATED: Feb. 23, 5:45 p.m.: Boosted by a surging U.S. housing market, Realogy’s revenue grew 6 percent to $6.2 billion in 2020, the real estate giant said Tuesday. But its net loss ballooned to $360 million from $188 million in 2019, due to Covid-related impairment charges. Mirroring national home sales trends, Realogy said most of its gains came during the fourth quarter of the year, when a spike in sales drove revenue up 36 percent

De Blasio admin opposes Corey Johnson’s land use overhaul

Posted: 23 Feb 2021 06:15 AM PST

City Council speaker Corey Johnson is facing an uphill battle on getting approval for his proposed overhaul of the city’s land use process, especially now that Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration has come out against the proposal. City Hall officials, including Department of City Planning head Marisa Lago, will testify against the bill during a Council hearing later today, the New York Daily News reported. The reason? It’s too expensive. According to estimates from the

US hotel market had worst year since the Great Depression

Posted: 23 Feb 2021 05:30 AM PST

The coronavirus pandemic made 2020 the worst year for the U.S. hotel market since the Great Depression, when occupancy rates dipped below 40 percent. In 2020, the overall occupancy rate was 41.6 percent. However, the impact varied significantly by geographic location and the type of hotel, according to a new report from CBRE Research. New York City was the hardest-hit market of all, with revenue per available room (RevPAR) dropping 77 percent year-over-year. Other gateway

Quick Question: Jed Garfield on New York’s townhouse market

Posted: 23 Feb 2021 05:00 AM PST

New York’s residential real estate market had a tough year due to the coronavirus pandemic, but there was one bright spot: townhouses. And when it comes to New York’s townhouse market, you’d be hard-pressed to find an expert like Leslie J. Garfield’s Jed Garfield. The brokerage, founded by his father, is one of the biggest names in the townhouse game. Garfield sat with editor-in-chief of The Real Deal Stuart Elliott and answered some quick questions

Making sense of real estate’s SPACe race

Posted: 23 Feb 2021 04:30 AM PST

When Fifth Wall Ventures decided to jump into the SPAC market in January, it targeted a raise of $250 million to take a startup public. Within three weeks, it upsized the offering — twice — before the new blank-check firm closed its $345 million IPO on Feb. 9. “There was a lot of public demand,” a euphoric-looking Brendan Wallace, the venture firm’s co-founder, said during a video call after the IPO. Wallace said his “lightbulb

Emerald Equity siphoned security deposits at now-bankrupt buildings

Posted: 23 Feb 2021 04:00 AM PST

Instead of setting aside $470,000 in security deposits at 11 East Harlem buildings, Isaac Kassirer’s Emerald Equity Group says it siphoned the money into its operating accounts. The practice — ongoing since Emerald Equity acquired the apartment buildings in late 2017 — came to light in a declaration made by the landlord’s attorney in an ongoing bankruptcy proceeding. Emerald Equity defaulted on $203 million in loans from LoanCore for the Harlem buildings in December 2020.