The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Rotem Rosen wins round in fight with Alex Sapir over Tamir Sapir’s estate

Posted: 11 Mar 2021 03:40 PM PST

Rotem Rosen has won the most recent courtroom skirmish in the protracted war for more than $100 million of the estate of his former father-in-law, the late Tamir Sapir. The dispute, now in its second year in New York Surrogate’s Court, was nearly settled last year. But then the late real estate titan’s son and executor of his will, Alex Sapir, reversed course at the eleventh hour. His lawyers filed a motion for summary judgment

Done deal: Biden signs $1.9T stimulus with billions for real estate

Posted: 11 Mar 2021 03:01 PM PST

President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion stimulus package on Thursday, aggressively expanding federal aid to renters, homeowners, small businesses and more. “This historic legislation is about rebuilding the backbone of this country,” Biden said before signing the bill, “and giving the people of this nation, working people, the middle-class folks, people who built the country, a fighting chance.” Biden originally planned to sign the legislation, known as the American Rescue Plan, Friday. The bill,

Lorber, Witkoff launch $250M SPAC

Posted: 11 Mar 2021 01:21 PM PST

Frequent business partners Howard Lorber and Steve Witkoff have a new project, but it’s not a condo or hotel. It’s a SPAC. The developers’ Ocean Drive Acquisition Corp. is looking to raise $250 million from investors to take a proptech startup public, according to a regulatory filing. In addition to Lorber and Witkoff, asset manager Monroe Capital is sponsoring the blank-check company. “Technology has become a strategic imperative as [real estate] owners seek ways to

Jeff Sutton lands $235M refinancing on 724 Fifth

Posted: 11 Mar 2021 12:45 PM PST

Jeff Sutton snagged a $235 million refinancing on 724 Fifth Avenue, a retail and office property that includes Prada’s flagship store. Aareal Capital Corporation provided the debt on the 65,000-square-foot property between 56th and 57th streets. The new loan replaces a previous refinancing in 2017, which Aareal also provided and for the same amount. Fifth Avenue retailers, like others across the city, have been slammed by the pandemic. A recent survey found 30 vacant storefronts

Zillow to grow workforce by 40% in 2021

Posted: 11 Mar 2021 12:30 PM PST

Zillow is staffing up to take on the white-hot housing market. The listing giant and iBuyer said it plans to hire 2,000 employees this year — increasing its remote and in-person workforce of around 5,500 by 40 percent. Despite volatility in 2020, the company said the hiring was sparked by “a year of impressive growth across the business and a historic year in the real estate industry.” The new jobs will be in Zillow’s tech,

Lord & Taylor owner sublets new Midtown HQ

Posted: 11 Mar 2021 12:21 PM PST

Saadia Group, Lord & Taylor’s new owner, has found a new office in Midtown. The investment firm, which acquired Lord & Taylor and New York & Company in a bankruptcy auction, will operate the brands as an e-commerce business out of its new 275 Madison Avenue headquarters, according to Crain’s. It’s not a direct lease with the building owner, RPW Group: Cushman & Wakefield is subletting the 41,000-square-foot space to Saadia. As part of the

Korean lender sues for $40M over Ceruzzi condo mezz loan

Posted: 11 Mar 2021 11:17 AM PST

When South Korea’s Meritz Securities put together a $350 million inventory loan for a Ceruzzi Properties condo tower last February, it seemed the company’s appetite for risk was growing. The pandemic, which hit New York City a few weeks later, has certainly put risk appetites to the test. For the loan on the Centrale, in Midtown East, caution might have been warranted: A lawsuit alleges the $110 million mezzanine portion is in default. The state-owned

eXp rides housing boom with $31M in profits

Posted: 11 Mar 2021 10:44 AM PST

UPDATED, March 11, 2021, 6:58 p.m.: As traditional brokerage firms scrambled to go virtual last spring, eXp Realty didn’t miss a beat. The cloud-based brokerage maintained “continuous operations,” said CEO Glenn Sanford. The result was eXp’s most profitable year ever, with $31 million in net income, compared to a $9.6 million loss in 2019. Its 2020 revenue also soared 84 percent to a record $1.8 billion, up from $979 million a year prior. Founded in

iBuyers lost $1.2B over two years: report

Posted: 11 Mar 2021 08:30 AM PST

The big iBuyer experiment continues to be very, very costly. Opendoor and Zillow lost a combined $1.2 billion buying and selling homes over the past two years, including $607 million in 2020, according to a new analysis from industry observer Mike DelPrete. “That’s a loss of about $40,000 on each home bought and resold — about $1.6 million every single day or $1,100 per minute in 2020,” he wrote in a report published Wednesday. Instant

AMC reopens 90% of U.S. theaters

Posted: 11 Mar 2021 08:00 AM PST

The show is going on for AMC. The international movie theater chain has reopened nearly 90 percent of its U.S. cinemas. AMC Entertainment Holdings said Wednesday that 527 out of 589 domestic theaters have reopened since last year’s shutdown. They include theaters in New York City, and theaters in Los Angeles are set to reopen soon. Internationally, only 78 theaters out of AMC’s 356 are operating. AMC’s sales dropped 89 percent in the fourth quarter

House or ATM? Cash-out refinancings spiked in 2020

Posted: 11 Mar 2021 07:15 AM PST

Americans treated their homes like ATMs last year, withdrawing $152.7 billion amid a cash-out refinancing spree not seen since before the 2008 financial crisis. Fueled by historically low interest rates, cash-out refinancings rose 42 percent year over year, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing data from Freddie Mac. Mortgage rates fell below 3 percent for the first time last year, making refis a no-brainer for many homeowners. Last year, there were $2.4 trillion refinancings, according

Kushner starts construction on first South Florida development, scores $80M loan

Posted: 11 Mar 2021 06:45 AM PST

Kushner Companies started construction on its first South Florida development with partner Block Capital Group. The developers are financing construction of their Wynwood project with a roughly $80 million loan from Axos Bank and Fortress. New York-based Kushner, founded by Charles Kushner and led by president Laurent Morali, has a number of projects planned throughout Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, after making its first investment in Wynwood. The construction loan replaces and adds to

Had American Dream “burned down,” it would have been better: exec

Posted: 11 Mar 2021 06:10 AM PST

The nightmare continues for owners of New Jersey’s American Dream retail complex. Facing a cash-flow crisis, the Ghermezian family is set to lose almost half of its stakes in two other mega malls: the West Edmonton Mall in Canada and Mall of America in Minnesota, according to Axios. The family’s Triple Five Worldwide had used those malls as collateral to finance the $5 billion New Jersey project. “It would have been much better if American

A Genting scion’s plans for a LA supertall were quietly shelved. What happened?

Posted: 11 Mar 2021 05:00 AM PST

At 975 feet, the Figueroa Centre in Downtown Los Angeles would be the city’s third-tallest tower and include a hotel, condos and retail space in a glimmering glass and steel complex. The development would also mark a turning point for a patch of property that has been owned for decades by a branch of a Malaysian casino dynasty. Glendale-based Regalian LLC envisioned a 66-story complex boasting a 220-key hotel, 200 condominiums, and nearly 100,000 square

February saw another 13-year high in Manhattan, Brooklyn leasing

Posted: 11 Mar 2021 04:00 AM PST

A year into the pandemic, New York renters are taking advantage of falling prices, high vacancy rates and a massive number of apartments on the market. Leasing in Manhattan and Brooklyn last month was at the highest level in 13 years, according to Douglas Elliman’s monthly rental market report. Some version of that story has been playing out every month since October as rents continue to slide and thousands of apartments remain on the market.