The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Peebles, El Ad land $229M refi at Tribeca Clock Tower Building

Posted: 11 Jan 2022 01:30 PM PST

Don Peebles and the El Ad Group landed a major refinancing for their condo conversion at Tribeca’s landmarked Clock Tower Building. JPMorgan and Lionheart Strategic Management teamed up to provide $229.4 million in financing for the property at 108 Leonard Street, Commercial Observer reported. JPMorgan provided the senior loan, while Lionheart came in with mezzanine financing. At the corner of Leonard and Lafayette streets, the 19th-century building was home to the New York Criminal Court

Robert Durst: The life and times of America’s most tainted real estate scion

Posted: 11 Jan 2022 01:00 PM PST

A missing wife. A torso floating in the bay. A friend killed, execution-style, in her own home. It’s the stuff true-crime stories are made of. But only in one case did the trail lead back to the grandest stage of them all: the Manhattan skyline. Robert Durst, a convicted murderer who died Monday at 78, hadn’t been a part of the family business, the Durst Organization, for nearly three decades since he was passed over

Core Spaces, Harrison Street plan single-family build-to-rent venture

Posted: 11 Jan 2022 12:30 PM PST

Two firms known for developing and managing student housing partnered up to get into suburban single-family rentals. Chicago-based developer Core Spaces and investment management firm Harrison Street announced a $1.5 billion venture to build homes as rentals in cities including Austin, Denver and Orlando. The firms will be targeting sites near job centers to appeal to young families who aren’t ready to buy as well as older renters looking to downsize. “Affordability challenges in the

Staten Island real estate firm sues city over vaccine mandate

Posted: 11 Jan 2022 11:30 AM PST

A Staten Island real estate firm has sued the city to challenge a mandate requiring private-sector businesses to bar unvaccinated employees from the workplace. Under the rule, which took effect Dec. 27 in the waning days of the de Blasio administration, on-site employees at all private businesses must show proof of vaccination. In a lawsuit filed in federal court last week, plaintiff Cornerstone Realty argues that the edict violates the constitutional rights of private enterprises,

A-Rod’s $10M co-op deal approved after “tantrum”

Posted: 11 Jan 2022 11:00 AM PST

There’s no crying in baseball, but it took a tantrum or two for ex-Yankee Alex Rodriguez to score a $9.9 million apartment at the Beresford. After initially striking out with the co-op board at the prestigious Central Park West building, the third-baseman turned businessman “made a big fuss about it” until he received approval to buy a three-bedroom unit there, the New York Post reported. “He almost didn’t get accepted and begged the board to

RE/MAX Holdings CEO Adam Contos steps down

Posted: 11 Jan 2022 10:30 AM PST

UPDATED, Jan. 11, 4:20 p.m. — A global real estate franchisor is in search of new leadership after announcing the pending departure of its chief executive. RE/MAX Holdings CEO Adam Contos is leaving at the end of March, the company RE/MAX announced Tuesday. The RE/MAX parent company said Contos, who has been CEO since 2018, is leaving his post to spend more time with his family and pursue other opportunities. RE/MAX Holdings has appointed board

East Hampton Airport to limit access from noisy aircraft

Posted: 11 Jan 2022 09:45 AM PST

A general aviation airport in the Hamptons that has drawn fire from neighbors for its helicopter and jet noise will soon be only for private use, with cuts looming for commercial traffic. East Hampton Airport, the center of a longstanding debate over the increasing rumble of choppers and jets swooping in on the exclusive enclave, will transition to private use — with all pilots required to get permission in advance to land, according to the

Crystal clear: Council member spikes two projects in first week

Posted: 11 Jan 2022 09:00 AM PST

City Planning Commission meetings normally prompt snores. But last week, a newly minted Council member shook up the room — and the development world. Near the end of an approval process that began before she took office, Crystal Hudson said she would not support rezonings sought by developers for two projects on Atlantic Avenue, one of Brooklyn’s busiest thoroughfares. She asked them to rescind their applications and start from scratch, setting the builders back by

Available soon for subscribers: The Real Deal’s 2022 Data Book

Posted: 11 Jan 2022 08:15 AM PST

“Statistics are like bikinis,” academic Aaron Levenstein famously said. “What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital.” If this is true, then get ready for several pages of fully exposed data. See, in the golden age of information, it’s as much about what you know as it is knowing where to look. What were San Francisco’s largest office leases of 2021? Or the largest hotel sales in Los Angeles? Who brokered South

Hybrid work, crypto and inflation poised to stoke 2022 luxury market

Posted: 11 Jan 2022 07:45 AM PST

Trends that have taken hold during the pandemic are poised to fuel another banner year for the global luxury housing market in 2022, according to a report from Sotheby’s International Realty. The report is predicting a strong year for the sector. Bloomberg noted key factors behind the forecasted boom include still-low interest rates, inflation and hybrid working options available to many employees looking to grab more land. “The real estate market is now being driven

Columbia University picks up former supermarket site for $84M

Posted: 11 Jan 2022 06:45 AM PST

Nothing will stand in the way between Columbia University’s Manhattanville campus and the Hudson River. Especially not a shuttered supermarket. The school scooped up an assemblage formerly belonging to Fairway Market at 2328 12th Avenue for $84 million, the Commercial Observer reported. The all-cash deal came after the Harlem site was put on the market in August 2020. According to the Observer, the 2.5-acre site is located between 12th Avenue and the Henry Hudson Parkway,

Vanbarton quietly taps KPF as NoMad tower architect

Posted: 11 Jan 2022 05:00 AM PST

Vanbarton Group appears to have found a holy alliance for its NoMad office project. The New York firm is drawing up plans for a new development next to the Marble Collegiate Church and has tapped Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) as its architect over a year after it initiated a foreclosure tied to the site. Vanbarton foreclosed on the equity stake of a joint venture between HFZ Capital and the Marble Collegiate Church in March

Five industry priorities for Eric Adams

Posted: 11 Jan 2022 04:30 AM PST

Real estate backed Eric Adams, in large part, for his pro-business, tough-on-crime approach. A former New York City Police Department captain, Adams campaigned on the idea that he was best equipped to prioritize public safety while also bringing much-needed reforms to the department. His calls to roll back the de Blasio administration’s limitations on solitary confinement, however, have already drawn the ire of incoming City Council members. For the industry, a focus on crime

Hochul aims to stop landlords’ knee-jerk rejections of ex-cons

Posted: 11 Jan 2022 04:00 AM PST

Tucked into the 228 initiatives in Gov. Kathy Hochul’s new agenda is one to stop landlords from rejecting rental applicants just because they have criminal records or bad credit. She bills it as an effort to control the state’s homelessness crisis. Hochul will propose legislation to prevent owners from automatically rejecting prospective tenants because of a conviction or low credit score. Instead, landlords would have to assess the crime a tenant committed and their history