The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Homebuying platform Doorsey launches, promising bid transparency

Posted: 04 Nov 2021 03:38 PM PDT

Doorsey, an online homebuying platform, launched nationally with the aim to increase bid transparency and level the playing field among buyers. The fledgling company said Thursday that it had raised $4.1 million in a seed round this summer led by WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann’s family office, 166 2nd Financial Services. Joe Montana’s Liquid 2 Ventures, Agya Ventures, SRM Development and Sonder CEO Francis Davidson were among the other backers. Doorsey, founded early this year, enters

Biometric screener CLEAR grabs 120K sf at Vornado’s 85 Tenth Ave

Posted: 04 Nov 2021 02:54 PM PDT

The company that maintains a ubiquitous presence at airport security points has been cleared for landing on the High Line. Biometric screener CLEAR is leasing 120,000 square feet across two floors at Vornado Realty Trust’s 85 Tenth Avenue, according to the Commercial Observer. The company will relocate from Blackstone’s Park Avenue Tower at 65 East 55th Street in October 2022. TRD contributor Lois Weiss first broke the news on Twitter. During its 15-year lease, CLEAR

iBuying? No, iSelling as investors dump Zillow shares

Posted: 04 Nov 2021 01:30 PM PDT

Zillow’s faulty trading algorithm, which caused it to overpay for thousands of homes, left investors feeling they paid too much for its stock. Its shares staged a modest rebound on Thursday, climbing about 3 percent, a day after they lost more than a fifth of their value on news the company scuttled its once-promising foray into iBuying, or instant buying, and said it would lay off a quarter of its employees. Zillow’s shares have slid

Jump in homeseller profit margin hits post-recession high

Posted: 04 Nov 2021 01:00 PM PDT

Those selling their home in the midst of one of the hottest housing markets in recent memory are reaping record rewards. Profit margins on median-priced single-family homes and condos hit 47.6 percent in the third quarter, the best since the Great Recession, according to the U.S. Home Sales Report released by ATTOM. The return on investment was 42 percent the previous quarter and 34.5 percent last year, marking the greatest annual jump since 2008. The

Developers are finding new lives for “zombie” malls

Posted: 04 Nov 2021 12:30 PM PDT

It took two weeks for the body to be discovered. Police in Gwinnett County, Georgia, revealed the grisly finding: A woman’s remains had somehow gone unnoticed near the food court of the Gwinnett Place Mall through what should have been the height of the holiday shopping season in 2017. Beyond the inherent tragedy, the incident was a macabre reminder of the decline of America’s malls. Once among the busiest shopping centers in Metro Atlanta, Gwinnett

Appellate court kills Maverick’s Chelsea foreclosure bid

Posted: 04 Nov 2021 11:50 AM PDT

After three years of lawsuits, Maverick Real Estate Partners appears to have failed in its quest to foreclose on a Chelsea apartment building, whose elderly owner — a Holocaust survivor — buckled down and fought back. On Thursday morning, a panel of five Appellate Division judges rejected Maverick’s appeal of two lower court decisions, effectively ending its foreclosure bid. Andreas Steiner, the owner of the building at 416 West 25th Street, now plans to pay

New York firm secures $53M for Stamford multifamily acquisition

Posted: 04 Nov 2021 10:30 AM PDT

New York-based Beachwold Residential is on the verge of adding to its vast portfolio, securing more than $53 million in acquisition financing for the purchase of Glenview House in Stamford, Connecticut. MetLife Investment Management is providing the financing in the form of a three-year, floating-rate loan, according to Real Estate Weekly. The JLL Capital Markets Debt Advisory team represented Beachwold in the transaction. It’s not immediately clear what the total purchase price of the Glenview

NYC’s new development sales picked up speed in October

Posted: 04 Nov 2021 09:45 AM PDT

New development sales picked up steam last month. There were 449 deals inked at condominiums throughout the city, up from 337 in October, according to a monthly analysis of new development sales contracts by Marketproof, a real estate analytics company. Last month also marked a significant uptick from the same month’s volume of contracts in 2020 and 2019. This October’s volume was a 102 percent increase compared to 2020 and a 79 percent increase compared

CW Realty escapes foreclosure on luxury Brooklyn project

Posted: 04 Nov 2021 09:09 AM PDT

Cheskie Weisz’s CW Realty has managed to hold a creditor at bay at its Williamsburg residential development Kent House, narrowly escaping two foreclosure attempts. The Brooklyn-based developer had been faced with a UCC foreclosure auction scheduled for 10 a.m. today for its equity interest in the luxury mixed-use project, at 187 Kent Avenue, which has 96 apartments and 31,000 square feet of retail. An entity called Invictus 187 Mezz initiated the process, asserting that CW

Secretive real estate purchases driving offshore economies

Posted: 04 Nov 2021 08:06 AM PDT

Major investors spending millions on real estate via offshore companies or trusts are increasingly dodging authorities, and in turn, setting off sizable ripple effects in global markets. An investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists outlines growing evidence that massive offshore real estate purchases could negatively impact those lower in the property market, who may be priced out of their homes. The uber-wealthy are taking advantage of tax breaks created by appreciating values, which

Commission advance startup backed by Serhant launches in South Florida

Posted: 04 Nov 2021 06:45 AM PDT

RLTY Capital, a fintech commission advance startup backed by Ryan Serhant, is expanding to South Florida, The Real Deal has learned. The New York-based firm, led by co-founder and CEO Briggs Elwell and co-founder Daniel Kennedy, is backed by Serhant’s brokerage, as well as by Related Companies Senior Vice President Chris Schmidt and Elegran CEO Michael Rossi. The company launched in New York City earlier this year and plans to operate across the country. Like

Columbia Property Trust notches second 799 Broadway tenant

Posted: 04 Nov 2021 06:05 AM PDT

One month after scoring its first tenant at 799 Broadway, Columbia Property Trust is doubling its luck with a second. Bain Capital Ventures has agreed to a 10-year lease for 8,700 square feet, or the entirety of the 10th floor of the Greenwich Village office building, according to the Commercial Observer. Asking rents were reportedly between $150 and $200 per square foot. The venture capital firm has its offices down the street at 632 Broadway.

Landlords accuse Icon Parking of fraudulent scheme to duck debt payments

Posted: 04 Nov 2021 05:00 AM PDT

After spending much of the pandemic skipping rent, the city’s largest parking operator is avoiding paying its creditors by fraudulently concealing its garages’ profits, multiple lawsuits allege. By September of last year, Icon Parking had racked up at least 16 lawsuits from landlords including SL Green and Brookfield Properties, which claimed Icon collectively owed them over $7.5 million in rent. In court, Icon argued that the pandemic had prevented it from keeping up with its

The ascendants: New leaders take the helm at city’s top brokerages

Posted: 04 Nov 2021 04:30 AM PDT

New York City’s top brokerages are going through shake-ups at the top. More than a dozen powerful figures — from management to dealmakers — have vacated their perches in the past few years, paving the way for rising stars. Some veterans have died, others have retired and a couple have faced down some hard times, while still others have opted to go elsewhere. “There’s been a huge paradigm shift,” said James Famularo, who heads retail

Residential market picks up in Brooklyn and Manhattan, sinks in suburbs

Posted: 04 Nov 2021 04:00 AM PDT

Making sense of the residential market has been a challenge throughout the pandemic. It began with a ban on showings, and listings falling like the Mets in September. Then came a surge of demand as work-from-homers sought more space, renters accelerated their homebuying plans and single-family-home investors spiked the punch. As Covid erupted, retreated, came back and receded again, the New York area market’s traditional ebb and flow was distorted almost beyond recognition, skewing year-over-year