The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Simon says suburbia is hot, raises guidance for 2021

Posted: 10 May 2021 04:24 PM PDT

After a devastating year of mall closures and tenant bankruptcies, Simon Property Group raised its guidance, saying that people are returning to its retail centers. “We are encouraged with what we are seeing in terms of sales traffic,” said David Simon, CEO of Simon Property Group, during the company’s first-quarter earnings call. “Suburbia is hot, suburbia is the place to be and we just happen to have a lot of great, well-located suburban real estate.”

Macy’s seeks approval for office tower above Herald Square flagship

Posted: 10 May 2021 03:20 PM PDT

Macy’s is pushing ahead with its plan to build an office tower above its iconic Herald Square store, and is now offering to put $235 million into improving the surrounding area as it seeks approval. The company first floated the idea in 2019 of building an office tower at the flagship, releasing early renderings that showed a 1.5 million-square-foot skyscraper climbing 700 to 950 feet tall with a sky lobby. Macy’s CEO Jeff Gennette said

More Trumps buy in South Florida: Eric, Lara paid $3M for Jupiter home

Posted: 10 May 2021 03:00 PM PDT

Eric and Lara Trump purchased a South Florida home in the same town as Donald Trump Jr. The Trump couple paid $3.2 million for a 7,715-square-foot house in Jupiter, property records show. The four-bedroom, five-bathroom home is in the Trump National Golf Club community. Their purchase closed in March and was first reported by Business Insider. The two-story house at 502 Bald Eagle Drive was built in 2004. Robert and Natalie Lucia sold the property.

Connie Milstein’s $20M West Village townhouse tops Manhattan contracts

Posted: 10 May 2021 02:15 PM PDT

Manhattan’s luxury market continued its hot streak last week. There were 42 contracts signed for properties asking $4 million or more, according to Olshan Realty’s weekly report. It’s the 14th week that more than 30 luxury deals have been inked. Transactions have already surpassed 2020 levels, with 237 contracts with more than $2 billion signed in the past five weeks alone. So far this year, 694 luxury properties have gone into contract. Donna Olshan, the

Hakimian, Certes land $59M loan for East Harlem multifamily project

Posted: 10 May 2021 12:45 PM PDT

UPDATED, May 10, 2021, 4:30 p.m.: A joint venture between the Hakimian Organization and Certes Partners is moving forward with an apartment project in East Harlem. Scale Lending, the financing arm of Slate Property Group, provided Hakimian, Certes Partners and Red Pine Capital Partners with a $59 million construction loan for the project at 212 East 125th Street, the lender told The Real Deal. The development, dubbed the Enclave, will span 140,000 square feet with

Optimizing the office: TRD Brand Studio webinar on the new workplace normal

Posted: 10 May 2021 12:15 PM PDT

CREtech CEO Michael Beckerman declared that he “can call bullshit” on the idea that the office is dead. To him, and to each of the speakers who participated in the TRD Brand Studio’s first-ever webinar, the future of work is flexible. Beckerman sat down with some of the biggest names in the flex-office space for a forward-looking conversation on what hybrid workspaces might look like for landlords and tenants. As with all major shifts in

Drop in home refinancing crimps mortgage firms’ profits

Posted: 10 May 2021 11:45 AM PDT

The mortgage market is set to lose steam this year. Lenders originated a record $3.83 trillion in home loans in 2020, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. But the amount is expected to fall to $3.3 trillion this year because rising interest rates will curb refinancing, the Wall Street Journal reported. In turn, that is putting pressure on the industry’s profits. “The message from all the [mortgage] companies that have reported financials publicly is that

New construction projects off to slow start in 2021

Posted: 10 May 2021 11:00 AM PDT

New construction filings have been slowly bouncing back after last year’s pandemic-related slowdown, but the recovery isn’t totally smooth. Between January and March, there were 407 new building filings Crain’s reported, citing a report by the Real Estate Board of New York. That’s a 13 percent increase from the first quarter of 2020. But while the number of projects filed is up, the square footage of those new filings is down. Those applications total 5.4

Federal guidelines could complicate state’s rent relief rollout

Posted: 10 May 2021 10:12 AM PDT

Washington dished out a new set of guidelines for state-issued rent relief funds last week — specifications that could throw a wrench in New York’s distribution plan for a program that has yet to go live. It is unclear how the state will need to revise its program based on the new guidelines, if at all. However, some property owners are concerned that the federal rules don’t explicitly require renters who receive funds to hand

Mack-Cali Realty revamps Harborside office complex

Posted: 10 May 2021 08:21 AM PDT

After spending more than $100 million redeveloping its Harborside office complex in Jersey City, Mack-Cali Realty is looking to attract new tenants to the 4.3 million-square-foot campus. The highlight of the makeover is at Harborside 1, which got a new facade, a new lobby that provides access to an indoor retail section, and a terrace with views of Manhattan and the Hudson River, the New York Post reported. Ed Guiltinan, Mack-Cali’s senior vice president of

Elliman launches portal to streamline agent resources

Posted: 10 May 2021 07:30 AM PDT

For years, some Douglas Elliman agents tracked their progress in various spreadsheets, notebooks and even on napkins. The brokerage’s launch of a new tool aims to simplify things for its agents. On Monday, Elliman will launch an internal portal aimed to make all agent resources accessible in one place — and, in the process, improve client relationships. “It helps [agents] look toward the next three, six, nine months and years in keeping that relationship going

Prolific Chicago architect Helmut Jahn dies at 81

Posted: 10 May 2021 06:45 AM PDT

Helmut Jahn, a world-renowned architect who designed some of Chicago’s most notable buildings, died Saturday from injuries suffered in a cycling accident in the suburb of Campton Hills, the Chicago Tribune reported. He was 81. The prolific architect designed many iconic — and sometimes controversial — structures in the Chicagoland area, including Accenture Tower in the West Loop, the 23-story addition to the Chicago Board of Trade and United Airlines Terminal 1 at O’Hare International

Reopening sparks signs of a real estate rush

Posted: 10 May 2021 05:30 AM PDT

The day after Mayor Bill de Blasio’s announcement that New York would be back at “full strength’’ by July 1, with stores, offices and theaters reopening, Douglas Elliman agent Janna Raskopf woke up to 67 rental apartment inquiries in her inbox. And the volume has since remained steady, day after day. In Raskopf’s 14-year career, she’s never seen a surge in rental demand like this. “There’s almost like a panic amongst tenants,” Raskopf said. “I

Watch: Urban Green Council’s John Mandyck on tackling climate change in NY

Posted: 10 May 2021 04:45 AM PDT

In the next five years, New York City’s building owners will need to radically rethink their approach to climate change — both for the health of the planet, and to avoid hefty fines. On the latest episode of the REInterview, TRD’s Hiten Samtani sat with the Urban Green Council CEO John Mandyck to break down real estate’s path to a greener future. And one thing is clear: Change is coming, thanks to Local Law 97,