The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Rudin COO and tech chief John Gilbert steps down

Posted: 28 Jan 2022 11:30 AM PST

John Gilbert, Rudin Management’s long-serving technology chief, is signing off this week after a three-decade tenure with the firm — but he won’t be going far. Starting Monday, Gilbert will turn his attention to his other role as executive chair of Rudin subsidiary Prescriptive Data, the smart building and climate technology company he co-founded in 2015 with Gene Boniberger, Rudin’s head of building operations. “When I was first hired, I was told that I would

Square Mile issued record $3.1B of loans fueled by multifamily, life sciences

Posted: 28 Jan 2022 10:45 AM PST

One New York-based property lender is celebrating a record quarter. Square Mile Capital issued $3.1 billion of loans across 24 deals in the fourth quarter, a record for the firm, Bloomberg reported. Last quarter’s loan volume was almost half of the $6.4 billion Square Mile issued in 2021. Square Mile made a hard pivot towards multifamily loans in 2021, Bloomberg noted. Mike Lavipour, the firm’s managing director of investments, said the rise in multifamily loans

The cryptonaires will see you now

Posted: 28 Jan 2022 10:00 AM PST

Even by luxury standards, the estate 40 miles outside Denver was a rare find: a 45,000-square-foot, 28-bedroom mansion with an art and wine collection, four kitchens, three guest apartments and an entertainment wing with a dance floor, bowling alley, indoor pool and spa. The 70-acre grounds included manicured gardens with waterfalls, two stocked fish ponds and a panoramic view of the Rockies. Potential buyers filtered in from around the world and across professions. Auto collectors

Last Stand: Property tax reformers recruit Lander to lawsuit

Posted: 28 Jan 2022 09:42 AM PST

It’s been a rough five years for Tax Equity Now New York. Since 2017, the group has pursued a legal challenge to upend the city’s property tax system. So far, no luck. First, the city and state, both defendants in the suit, got a court to reject the claim that the system violates the state constitution. TENNY appealed, only to have the state’s highest court decline to hear the suit, ruling that it did not

Land trust snags 100 acres in red-hot North Fork for “bargain”

Posted: 28 Jan 2022 08:30 AM PST

Even more of the North Fork is now slated for conservation. The Peconic Land Trust has purchased Broad Cove, a 100-acre waterfront parcel in Aquebogue, for $11.5 million. With the explosion in demand for North Fork and Hamptons homes, the unspoiled land has long been in the crosshairs of preservationists and developers alike. The trust called the purchase a “bargain.” Its plans for the land include recreation, climate change resiliency and wildlife protection. The seller

Regal claims Brooklyn theater abruptly shuttered over failed lease negotiations

Posted: 28 Jan 2022 07:45 AM PST

A week after the Regal UA Court Street & RPX movie theater in Downtown Brooklyn abruptly shuttered, its operator and landlord have offered differing explanations for the closure. The theater at 106 Court Street appeared to be closed as of Jan. 18, as first reported by The Brooklyn Eagle. Sources later confirmed the closure to The Real Deal, but the move came with no warning or explanation. Regal claimed in a Jan. 27 statement that

Related hires Ex-NYPD commissioner to head property management

Posted: 28 Jan 2022 07:00 AM PST

Former New York City Police Department Commissioner Dermot Shea is making the leap from policing to property management. Stephen Ross’ Related Companies hired Shea as president of commercial property management, Bloomberg reported. The veteran police officer will oversee operations at the company’s New York buildings, such as Hudson Yards and the Deutsche Bank Center. “One of the things about this particular opportunity that really was attractive to me was that it was completely different,” Shea

Acier scores $90M loan for high-rise Newark project

Posted: 28 Jan 2022 06:15 AM PST

UPDATED, Jan. 27, 4:30 p.m. — Newark’s tallest development is closer to realization this week after developer Acier Holdings scored a big construction loan from Parkview Financial. The Commercial Observer reported that Acier landed $90 million in construction financing for Phase 1 in development of The Halo Newark, a three-building, 949-unit project. The loan will cover the construction of 297 units on 38 stories, as well as a five-story parking garage. The 0.62-acre parcel for

US housing market up a historic $6.9T in 2021: Zillow

Posted: 28 Jan 2022 05:45 AM PST

By any measure, the housing market went bonkers last year. Now, Zillow has put a number on it. The company calculated that the nation’s housing stock gained $6.9 trillion in value in 2021, almost doubling the previous record increase of $3.7 trillion in 2005. According to the analysis, the total value reached $43.4 trillion. “Even in the context of a year in which several housing records were topped, the scale of the housing market’s growth

Startup LEX raises $15M to “take buildings public”

Posted: 28 Jan 2022 05:00 AM PST

LEX, a commercial real estate securities marketplace, raised $15 million in Series A funding to “take buildings public.” Direct investment in commercial real estate typically has been reserved for the wealthy and connected. But LEX allows everyday investors to buy and sell shares of individual commercial assets for as little as $250, without required holding periods. The startup says buyers of shares in a building have full transparency and receive the same benefits — appreciation

Ten biggest Manhattan real estate loans in December top $2.5B

Posted: 28 Jan 2022 04:00 AM PST

Last month was a big one for major Manhattan real estate loans, as the 10 largest totaled $2.5 billion, led by a $1 billion refinancing of Boston Properties’ 601 Lexington Avenue. The total exceeded November’s as well as last December’s. Notable loans included $507 million for the $1 billion acquisition of Hudson Commons at 441 Ninth Avenue, the city’s biggest investment sale in more than two years, and $204 million to build a 33-story tower

Boston Properties: Crime, Covid hindering urban office recovery

Posted: 27 Jan 2022 03:11 PM PST

The outlook for major office markets is gradually improving, but it’s not just Covid variants that are keeping buildings empty — it’s crime, too, according to Boston Properties. The Boston-based REIT, one of the largest publicly traded owners of Class A office buildings, executed about 5.1 million square feet in leases last year, up from 3.7 million square feet in 2020, it said in its fourth-quarter earnings Wednesday. “We do think companies are going to

“Million Dollar Listing” star buys instead of selling

Posted: 27 Jan 2022 03:00 PM PST

Triplemint broker and “Million Dollar Listing” star Tyler Whitman put the real estate shoe on the other foot this week, purchasing a quaint home in the Hamptons. Whitman purchased the Sag Harbor home at 43 Garden Street for slightly more than $2.7 million, the New York Post reported. The deal closed below the home’s first asking price — about $3 million in April. Martin Gould was the seller. The three-bedroom home was built in 1792,

Save the date: The Real Deal’s signature NYC event is back

Posted: 27 Jan 2022 02:00 PM PST

Mark my words and your calendars: The show must go on. And it will — on Thursday, May 19 at the Metropolitan Pavilion. New York City’s residential market is back and so is TRD’s annual NYC Real Estate Showcase + Forum. New development contracts in Manhattan nearly tripled in 2021. The luxury market as a whole started 2022 with a bang — the biggest bang, actually, that the Olshan report has seen since 2017. With

WeWork’s Marcelo Claure to leave SoftBank: reports

Posted: 27 Jan 2022 01:15 PM PST

UPDATED Jan. 27, 2022, 6:16 p.m.: Marcelo Claure is leaving SoftBank amid a disagreement over his request for a compensation package that could have reached $2 billion, according to multiple reports. Claure, the chief operating officer of SoftBank and executive chairman of WeWork, could step down this week, as CNBC first reported. Claure has been COO of the Japanese investment company since 2018 after leading Sprint. He was tasked with cleaning up some of SoftBank’s

Top broker Tamir Shemesh joining Serhant

Posted: 27 Jan 2022 12:22 PM PST

Tamir Shemesh, the top-producing broker who last week departed Douglas Elliman, is joining Serhant. Shemesh is bringing a four-person team with him to celebrity broker Ryan Serhant’s brokerage, which he called as an avenue to “evolve” his work. “I recognize the changes afoot in the industry and in recent months have been looking for ways to evolve my business,” Shemesh said in a statement. “SERHANT. is brilliant with social media and video production and I’m

East End homebuyers face tightest market ever

Posted: 27 Jan 2022 11:11 AM PST

Despite low supply, homebuyers keep feeding on the East End like fish in a drying-up pond. The Hamptons had only 794 listings in the fourth quarter of 2021, a 55 percent drop from a year ago, according to a report by Douglas Elliman compiled by appraiser Jonathan Miller. As a result, bidding wars pushed the average sale price to $2.5 million, up 13 percent year-over-year. The numbers set records for the area. Average and median

Blackstone reports “the most remarkable results in our history”

Posted: 27 Jan 2022 09:42 AM PST

The stock market may be flirting with a correction, but Blackstone says its fourth-quarter results, driven by real estate returns, show the firm is stronger than ever. “Today Blackstone reported the most remarkable results in our history on virtually every metric,” said CEO and co-founder Stephen Schwarzman. The firm nearly doubled its net income to $2.9 billion from $1.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2020. Earnings hit $1.92 per share, up from $1.07 in

First resale hits Extell’s Central Park Tower

Posted: 27 Jan 2022 09:30 AM PST

Gary Barnett’s Central Park Tower has its first resale. Apartment 46-C in the building at 217 West 57th Street has been listed for $19.85 million. Juan Carlos Gonzalez Jaramillo — a developer who splits his time between Florida and South America — bought the unit in August 2021 for $14.8 million, according to public records. The resale is notable for a building that only commenced closings last year. The 179-unit project — known as the

Cleveland investor makes big NY entrance with $310M MetroTech buy

Posted: 27 Jan 2022 08:45 AM PST

A Cleveland-based investor with a portfolio of government-leased properties is making a big splash in New York. Boyd Watterson Asset Management is in contract with Brookfield Asset Management to buy Downtown Brooklyn’s 9 and 11 MetroTech Center, the home of the city’s high-tech 911 command center, for $310 million. The two properties are leased to the NYPD, FDNY and Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications. Boyd Watterson’s purchase is for the leaseholds and is in

Park Avenue Tower snags two more financial tenants

Posted: 27 Jan 2022 08:03 AM PST

EQ Office’s Park Avenue Tower, a hub for financial services tenants, snagged two more in recent deals. Asset manager Panagram inked a lease for more than 15,000 square feet at the 36-story building at 65 East 55th Street, the Commercial Observer reported, while Quilvest Capital Partners signed a 10-year deal for more than 16,000 square feet. Panagram’s lease term was not disclosed. Panagram is relocating from Edward J. Minskoff Equities’ 51 Astor Place, while Quilvest

Goldman Sachs hints at return-to-office plans after Omicron delay

Posted: 27 Jan 2022 06:30 AM PST

After a nationwide surge of new coronavirus cases delayed major employers’ plans for in-person work, Goldman Sachs is readying to welcome employees to the office once again. COO John Waldron hinted at possible plans to bring more workers back to its offices in the coming weeks. Bloomberg reported Waldron’s comments from a virtual meeting with the New Jersey State Investment Council. “We believe we can start to put more people in our offices, and you

Troubled FiDi Holiday Inn asking $187M

Posted: 27 Jan 2022 05:45 AM PST

The Financial District Holiday Inn may be the tallest in the world, but that distinction hasn’t been enough to keep it afloat amid a failed sale and foreclosure. The 50-story hotel at 99 Washington Street is for sale, along with the 8,500-square-foot St. George Tavern next door, Crain’s reported. Chinese developer Jubao Xie, who previously tried to sell the hotel in 2017, is seeking $187 million in a sale of both properties. Eric Anton of

Roofstock ramps up iBuying, even with tenants in place

Posted: 27 Jan 2022 05:00 AM PST

UPDATED January 28, 2022, 1:18 p.m.: Despite Zillow’s iBuying fiasco, other companies are still pursuing the strategy, each with its own approach. For investing platform Roofstock, that means focusing on buying single-family homes with tenants in place — an unconventional approach. The Oakland-based startup, which has been quietly buying and fixing up properties for the past year and a half, is ramping up its purchasing with that model. Founded in 2015, Roofstock uses artificial intelligence

“Nothing has changed”: Judges thwart evictions of nonpaying tenants

Posted: 27 Jan 2022 04:00 AM PST

For Schenectady landlord Romeo Budhoo, the end of the eviction moratorium this month should have been his shot at salvation. Last May, Budhoo’s plight to collect rent from nonpaying tenants made the Washington Post, an example of the pain that the moratorium had wrought on small property owners. Insulated from the threat of eviction, Budhoo’s renters had stopped paying, some of them for a year despite having income or aid options. Desperate, Budhoo had maxed