The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Real estate calls hotel bill an “F-U to the rest of the world”

Posted: 14 Jul 2021 03:46 PM PDT

A “death knell” to hotels in Midtown. A “big f-u to the rest of the world.” These were just some of the comments by real estate professionals Wednesday about a measure to require special permits for new hotels citywide. The City Planning Commission held a hearing on the text amendment that would force hotel projects to endure the city’s seven-month land use review gauntlet. The proposal enjoys support from the hotel workers union and various

Reuben brothers look to foreclose on Witkoff’s West Hollywood Edition

Posted: 14 Jul 2021 02:15 PM PDT

The West Hollywood Edition may soon be up for grabs, The Real Deal has learned. The trendy 190-key hotel at 9040 Sunset Boulevard, owned and developed by the Witkoff Group and Howard Lorber’s New Valley, is being marketed for auction through a Uniform Commercial Code foreclosure, according to marketing documents seen by TRD. Both the Witkoff Group and New Valley declined to comment. Motcomb Estates, an investment vehicle for billionaire brothers Simon and David Reuben,

Related Companies, CareMax to open 75 senior health centers

Posted: 14 Jul 2021 01:54 PM PDT

A new partnership between Related Companies and CareMax promises to shape the future of senior health care in underserved communities — and, they hope, make some money in the process. Related is acquiring a 9 percent stake in CareMax as the companies work together to develop about 75 senior health centers over three years across urban communities in the United States, with some opening next year. Related will serve as an investor, adviser, developer and

Lumber firm outgrows LIC digs, relocates to Glendale

Posted: 14 Jul 2021 01:18 PM PDT

Some New York City businesses struggled during the pandemic. City Lumber isn’t one of them: It just leased a Queens space nearly twice the size of its current one. The lumber operation signed a 12-year deal for 73,000 square feet in Glendale, Queens, and will relocate its headquarters from its two-site, 40,000-square-foot operation in Long Island City, according to New York Business Journal. The Glendale digs will include 32,500 square feet of outdoor space, allowing

Trump CFO Allen Weisselberg quit roles even before indictment

Posted: 14 Jul 2021 01:00 PM PDT

Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg began to shed his company titles just before he was indicted, new documents show. Weisselberg began resigning from his dozens of positions in late June, part of a plan to quit every Trump Organization subsidiary where he held a role. Weisselberg wrote a resignation letter on June 25, six days before surrendering to authorities, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post. A list of positions Weisselberg was resigning from

Pfizer Mansion sells for $9M, shattering Clinton Hill record

Posted: 14 Jul 2021 12:40 PM PDT

Move over, 315 Vanderbilt: There’s been a new record home sale in Clinton Hill, and it’s for more than $9 million. The famous Pfizer Mansion at 280 Washington Avenue sold for $9.1 million in late June, property records show. The last time Clinton Hill saw a deal anywhere near this size was in 2015, when 315 Vanderbilt Avenue, a former union hall repurposed as a single-family home, sold for $7.2 million. The 10,000-square-foot Queen Anne-style

Diamond District building sold for $101M

Posted: 14 Jul 2021 12:00 PM PDT

After nine months on the market, Severn Realty Partners’ mixed-use building in the heart of Manhattan’s Diamond District has sold for $101 million. The nearly 80,000-square-foot, 12-story building at 576 Fifth Avenue, on the corner of 47th Street, has been home to several prominent diamond dealers, including Peter J. Germano Jewelers. Severn first placed it on the market in October, asking $113 million. The buyer was SJD, an LLC incorporated in Delaware, according to public

NYU sues Gabon ambassador to UN over back rent

Posted: 14 Jul 2021 11:30 AM PDT

NYU’s Washington Square Village is a massive apartment complex that mainly houses graduate students and faculty. Its “superblock” even enjoyed a brief moment of pop-culture fame in the 1990s, as the home of Ross Geller, the affable goof on “Friends.” But for the university and one longtime tenant, the situation there has become combative. In a lawsuit filed Tuesday, NYU alleges the ambassador to the United Nations for Gabon, Franklin Makanga, owes it more than

$400M affordable housing project approved in East Flatbush

Posted: 14 Jul 2021 10:29 AM PDT

Nearly 1,000 affordable housing units are coming to East Flatbush. A newly approved $400 million project will redevelop 7.2 acres of the campus of the Kingsboro Psychiatric Center at 681 Clarkson Avenue to provide affordable housing, public green spaces and a supermarket, among other things. Part of the state’s $1.4 billion Vital Brooklyn program, the project will be led by a consortium of developers and nonprofits, including Almat Urban, Breaking Ground and Douglas Development, according

Bidding wars for homes decline across United States

Posted: 14 Jul 2021 09:54 AM PDT

Home buyers can take a breath. Maybe not a deep one, but a breath: Bidding wars on properties across the United States are declining, the latest sign of an easing housing market. A new report from Redfin suggests that buyers faced less competition last month. The brokerage said that 65 percent of offers through Redfin faced bidding wars in June, down from 72.1 percent in May, according to Mansion Global. That’s a nearly 10 percent

Climate change a “non-issue” in Hamptons despite exceptional vulnerability

Posted: 14 Jul 2021 09:00 AM PDT

Sea levels are rising. Catastrophic storms are increasing. Temperatures are soaring to unprecedented highs. Yet here in the Hamptons, oceanfront property is at an all-time premium. One Southampton estate is asking $175 million. Another is in contract with a last asking price of $145 million; its listing agency, Bespoke, says it’s a record sum for a single parcel. A new listing asks $85 million for “the largest single lot on the ocean in Southampton village”

Rent relief in New York still weeks away

Posted: 14 Jul 2021 07:17 AM PDT

New York continues to struggle in doling out rent relief, with the first payments still at least several weeks away. The state has a $2.4 billion rent relief fund, provided by Congress. Its system has been plagued by technical issues, however, leaving it as one of just four states to fail to distribute a single dollar from the fund, according to the Associated Press. The Cuomo administration says around 1.1 million renter households have been

Home builders won’t pass falling lumber costs on to buyers

Posted: 14 Jul 2021 06:50 AM PDT

After a record surge, lumber prices have begun falling, but home buyers aren’t likely to reap the benefits anytime soon. The price for two-by-fours in May was more than double the previous record, but have slipped since, and lumber futures have plunged by two-thirds, according to the Wall Street Journal. Rather than pass on lower costs to buyers, home builders plan to widen their profit margins — because they can. With demand for homes in

“Coming soon” listings banned in Ohio market

Posted: 14 Jul 2021 06:00 AM PDT

A big change is coming to the real estate market in Northeast Ohio, with “coming soon” listings set to disappear. Sellers won’t be able to post advance notice of listings in the region beginning Aug. 1, according to News5Cleveland. Previously, these “sneak preview” listings could be posted up to 14 days before a property hit the market. The problem: Homes were being sold before the listings even became active, sparking a backlash. “Coming soon” listings

Brookfield confirmed as buyer behind $664M Sunrise Senior Living deal

Posted: 14 Jul 2021 05:00 AM PDT

Brookfield Asset Management has made a massive bet on senior living facilities. The investment firm was the buyer behind the previously reported sale of Sunrise Senior Living’s 32-unit portfolio by real estate investment trust Healthpeak Properties, a Brookfield representative confirmed to The Real Deal on Tuesday. The reported price tag was $664 million. The 3,235-unit portfolio spans the nation, including the 189-bed Sunrise at Sheepshead Bay, at 2211 Emmons Avenue in Brooklyn, for which Brookfield

Investments pour into single-family rentals as home prices soar

Posted: 14 Jul 2021 04:30 AM PDT

When Doug Brien looks at opportunities in the single-family rental business, he sees a pair of goal posts a mile wide. Brien, a retired NFL placekicker, is aiming to become the biggest single-family landlord in the country, and he isn’t accustomed to missing. He completed 80.2 percent of his field goal kicks during 12 seasons in the NFL and won a Super Bowl with the San Francisco 49ers. Now, with backing from Invesco, he says

PGIM gets $154M for Stamford apartments as rental market heats up

Posted: 14 Jul 2021 04:00 AM PDT

Four summers back, some doubted the multifamily development boom sweeping Fairfield County, Connecticut, would draw enough renters. Then last year Covid prompted urbanites to plunder exurban home markets, demand trickled over into rentals and the leasing markets of southwest Connecticut got hot. And they have stayed that way even as New York City has reopened and many returned. PGIM Real Estate is the latest to cash in on the demand. The global investor offloaded Parc