The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Feil Organization plans 43-story DoBro tower

Posted: 22 Nov 2021 02:45 PM PST

The Feil Organization has revealed more details for a Downtown Brooklyn development that’s been years in the making. The developer filed plans with the Department of Buildings for a 43-story tower at 356 Fulton Street, according to Crain’s. The building will encompass nearly 475,000 square feet and include approximately 100,000 square feet for commercial use. The project will include 421 apartments, a coincidental nod to the 421a program Feil reportedly plans to utilize that will

Manhattan luxury market breaks single-week record for contract signings

Posted: 22 Nov 2021 02:31 PM PST

Manhattan’s luxury market may have just logged its most lucrative week ever. Sixty-seven contracts were signed for luxury homes asking a combined $613.7 million in the third week of November, according to the Olshan report, which tracks contracts on Manhattan homes asking at least $4 million. The report’s previous weekly record was set in December 2013, when 72 contracts were signed for homes asking a combined $576 million. The report debuted in 2006. Eighteen of

Zestimate: These two Zillow iBuying lawsuits won’t be the last

Posted: 22 Nov 2021 01:55 PM PST

Zillow is facing two class-action suits for allegedly misleading investors and failing to inform them in a timely manner about the struggles of its iBuying business. More lawsuits may be forthcoming as Zillow does damage control in the wake of closing Zillow Offers, through which it used a proprietary algorithm to buy and sell thousands of homes. The company shuttered its iBuying business in early November just after apparently pausing it. It laid off a

After rebound, existing home sales growth slows in October

Posted: 22 Nov 2021 12:45 PM PST

Existing home sales rose monthly for the second straight month — barely. Sales of existing homes rose 0.8 percent month-over-month in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.34 million, according to the latest monthly report from the National Association of Realtors. The report shows the small uptick among single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops. The figure also marks the second straight month of growth following September’s monthly existing home sales jump of 7

Extell to build UES building around 2 occupant holdouts

Posted: 22 Nov 2021 12:15 PM PST

Gary Barnett’s Extell Development has found a solution to its tenant holdout problem: build around them. Extell last week filed plans for a 22-story building at 1637 First Avenue between East 85th and 86th streets, the Patch reports. The building will stand 215 feet tall with 543 apartment units and commercial space to spare. The SLCE Architects-designed building will feature an L-shaped design to dodge holdouts in two buildings that stalled Extell from buying and

Compass shares drop below $10, another all-time low

Posted: 22 Nov 2021 11:45 AM PST

Compass shares fell to a new low, dropping below $10 for the first time on Monday. The stock opened at $10.39 before dropping to $9.58 by 2 p.m. It’s the lowest the brokerage has traded and is 52 percent below the company’s debut price on April 1 on the New York Stock Exchange after its initial public offering. Compass dipped down to $10.74 in October, after its lockup period ended in late September, terminating trading

Affordable housing developer Camber scoops up Section 8 portfolio

Posted: 22 Nov 2021 11:30 AM PST

Camber Property Group has acquired a portfolio of three project-based Section 8 communities across three boroughs in New York City for $105 million. Founded by L+M Development Partners alumni Rick Gropper and Andrew Moelis, Camber has been focusing on developing and preserving affordable housing in the city. Camber’s most recent acquisition, known as the Triboro Portfolio, features a total of 306 affordable units across three buildings: Grace Towers Apartments, a complex of two six-story buildings

Small developments dominate as new building filings return to pre-pandemic levels

Posted: 22 Nov 2021 10:45 AM PST

New York City’s new building filings are ticking back up. In the third quarter of 2021, the number of new building filings were near pre-pandemic levels, according to a report by the Real Estate Board of New York. Still, the total proposed construction square feet for the quarter remains below average. The total number of new building filings in this quarter was 486, a 37 percent increase from the previous quarter and a 10 percent

Prosecutors probing disparities in Trump Org property valuations

Posted: 22 Nov 2021 10:00 AM PST

Prosecutors in New York investigating Donald Trump and the Trump Organization reportedly have a new focus: the firm’s wide-ranging property valuations. The Manhattan district attorney and New York attorney general are among those investigating massive disparities in property valuations, the Washington Post reported. According to public records and people familiar with the probes, at least four properties are reportedly being eyed by prosecutors, including three in New York. New York Attorney General Letitia James is

Manufactured home construction projected to hit 15-year high

Posted: 22 Nov 2021 09:15 AM PST

As the housing sector grapples with widespread affordability and supply issues, an alternative is gaining ground: manufactured homes. According to the Census Bureau, home manufacturers are expected to deliver more than 100,000 new homes for the first time since 2006, the Wall Street Journal reported. The homes are assembled in a factory before they’re installed on-site, offering some practical advantages to traditional home construction. Manufactured homes are proving to be much cheaper than those constructed

$730M loan bundle funds slew of NYC projects

Posted: 22 Nov 2021 08:45 AM PST

A Ladder Capital subsidiary will oversee the sale of $730 million in collateralized loan obligations, some of which will help fund four midsized development projects in the city. Of those, $55 million will go to billionaire hedge funder Robert Mercer’s industrial project in Ridgewood, Queens, which he owns with his son-in-law George Wells and Ryder Washburn, a prop-gun supplier to film and television productions. The trio bought 48-05 Metropolitan Avenue out of foreclosure in 2016

Co-living startup The Collective to lose another Brooklyn development project

Posted: 22 Nov 2021 08:00 AM PST

The former site of Brooklyn’s historic Slave Theater, once slated for a co-living facility designed by architect Sou Fujimoto, is headed to foreclosure. Co-living startup The Collective has fallen behind on loan payments backed by its equity in the vacant one-acre property at 1215 Fulton Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant, according to a public notice. An entity owned by Long-Island based lender Acres Capital has initiated a UCC foreclosure auction for the startup’s interest in the parcel,

Fortis’ Olympia Dumbo snags $284M refi

Posted: 22 Nov 2021 06:35 AM PST

Fortis Property Group scored a $284 million loan for Olympia Dumbo, its 76-unit luxury project. The loan was provided by G4 Capital Partners and was arranged by Henry Bodek of Galaxy Capital, according to the Commercial Observer. The refinance retires $163 million in construction financing provided by Madison Realty Capital in October 2020. Fortis acquired the site at 30 Front Street for approximately $91 million in 2018. The Observer reported that construction on the 33-story

Given runaround by Oyster Bay, developer sells to storage firm

Posted: 22 Nov 2021 05:45 AM PST

A Syosset parcel that was to house people will likely hold only their stuff instead. After failing for five years to get approval from Oyster Bay for a residential project, a developer sold the land to an investment firm specializing in outdoor storage. Woodbury developer Paul Laruccia sold the 5.7-acre plot at 80 Jericho Turnpike last week, Newsday reported. Simi Capital and Cerberus Capital Management purchased it for just under $15 million, five years after

Singapore bank sues to foreclose on ex-Playboy Club building

Posted: 22 Nov 2021 05:00 AM PST

The Bunnies are long gone, but an overseas lender still wants to get its hands on a Midtown building where a Playboy Club once operated. The nine-story, mixed-use building at 5 East 59th Street, just north of the GM Building’s pedestrian plaza, is facing foreclosure by a Singaporean investment bank. The 46,000-square-foot property has been owned since 2015 when an entity backed by GreenOak Real Estate, along with Daniel Ghadamian and Josh Zamir’s Capstone Equities,

Top October loans: Cash cows, big buys, foreclosure avoidance

Posted: 22 Nov 2021 04:00 AM PST

The 10 largest Manhattan real estate loans recorded in October totaled $2.1 billion — about double September’s total but short of August’s $3.2 billion waterline. October’s loans included a cash-out refinance, acquisition loans for Black Rock in Midtown and Hudson Yards’ observation deck, and funding that helped the Chetrits escape foreclosure in Midtown East. Here were the borough’s largest real estate loans in October: 1. CMBS cash cow | $450M Larry Silverstein and a California pension

Unforgotten: Pete Davidson’s love letter to Staten Island

Posted: 21 Nov 2021 11:40 AM PST

Considering a move to Staten Island? Well, if you like bagels, pizza, cops and pills, it just might be the place for you. That’s (part of) the message Saturday Night Live’s Pete Davidson has in his love letter to his home borough, riffing on the 1991 Marc Cohn classic “Walking in Memphis” and aptly named “Walking in Staten,” which premiered on the sketch-comedy show last night. Joining Davidson — one of two Island natives on

LIC tower giving residents chance to light up night

Posted: 21 Nov 2021 09:40 AM PST

Now that’s a night light. Renters at the new Sven tower in Long Island City will have the ability to control what they see when they peer out on Manhattan at night thanks to an app that lets them change the color of the skyline with the touch of a button. According to the New York Post, potential residents at the Durst Organization property are being wooed with a membership to Spireworks, a mobile app

Beauty and the lease: ex-Japanese royal moves to Hell’s Kitchen one-bedroom

Posted: 21 Nov 2021 08:00 AM PST

Former Japanese princess Mako of Akishino, who gave up her title to marry a commoner, has moved into a one-bedroom apartment in Hell’s Kitchen. Mako, who took her husband Kei Komuro’s last name, relocated to New York after a short stint at a Tokyo apartment following their October wedding, according to the New York Post. Komuro recently earned a law degree at Fordham University this year and works at Lowenstein Sander in New York. The

Harlem landlord charged in campaign finance scheme

Posted: 21 Nov 2021 07:53 AM PST

A Manhattan real estate developer has been charged with attempting to fatten the wallet of a candidate in this year’s New York City comptroller’s race by making campaign contributions in names of people who hadn’t authorized the payments — including his 2-year-old grandson. The New York Times reports that Gerald Migdol, 71, was arrested and arraigned on Friday on federal charges of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, and is

Joel Greenberg associates indicted on federal real estate fraud charges in Florida

Posted: 21 Nov 2021 06:00 AM PST

Federal prosecutors have indicted two associates of former Seminole County Tax Collector Joel Green with a litany of federal charges over an alleged real estate fraud scheme. Prosecutors allege that Keith Ingersoll and James Adamczyk defrauded an Orlando-area investor of $12 million, according to the Orlando Sentinel. The pair was charged with 41 federal crimes, including 20 counts of wire fraud, as well as conspiracy and money laundering. Federal investigators say the pair claimed they