The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

CBRE snaps up $245M Chelsea apartments

Posted: 13 Jul 2022 08:00 AM PDT

CBRE’s investment arm bought an apartment building in Chelsea for $245 million. CBRE Investment Management bought the 18-story building at 160 West 24th Street from Greystar Real Estate Partners, The Real Deal has learned. The purchase price works out to $1.2 million per unit for the 204-unit, free-market building. A representative for Greystar declined to comment and a spokesperson for CBRE IM could not be immediately reachedt. Greystar is staying on as the manager of

Glacier and Meadow nab $45M condo inventory loan

Posted: 13 Jul 2022 07:00 AM PDT

Glacier Equities and Meadow Partners landed some short-term relief for their slow-moving Upper West Side condo building. The partners snagged a $45 million inventory loan from Northwind Group for its 226-unit building at 175 West 95th Street. The loan is for up to three years, according to Ran Eliasaf, founder of Northwind Group. The loan is secured by 120 units, all the rest have been sold. A condo inventory loan generally acts as a bridge

Hermès leases Williamsburg outpost in Brooklyn debut

Posted: 13 Jul 2022 06:30 AM PDT

Hermès is headed to Williamsburg, its first significant foray into Brooklyn. The French luxury retailer has signed leases for two spaces in the neighborhood, Women’s Wear Daily reported. One space is a pop-up that will be around for multiple years, while another space will be a permanent location; both are owned by investment firm L3 Capital. The brand is slated to pop up in the first quarter of 2023 at 91 North 6th Street. The

How the $855M deal for the HSBC tower deal fell apart

Posted: 13 Jul 2022 05:30 AM PDT

Andrew Chung’s deal to acquire the HSBC tower in Midtown may have been doomed from the start. After agreeing in December to buy the building at 452 Fifth Avenue for $855 million, the founder of Innovo Property Group rushed to put down a $30 million deposit. But Chung had a secret: He didn’t have the equity to make the deal happen. To close by the April deadline, sources said, he was banking on a high-wire

Registration is now open for TRD’s South Florida Showcase + Forum

Posted: 13 Jul 2022 05:00 AM PDT

Mark your calendar: Registration is now open for the Miami real estate event of the year. The Real Deal’s annual South Florida Showcase + Forum returns to the Mana Wynwood on Nov. 10 for a full day of panels, networking and celebrating everything South Florida real estate has to offer. Last year’s jam-packed event drew a standing-room-only crowd of more than 4,000 industry professionals, so secure your spot by Sept. 23 to lock in an

Two years after George Floyd’s death, is real estate honoring its pledges?

Posted: 13 Jul 2022 04:30 AM PDT

In the days following the May 2020 murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, real estate leaders did something unusual for an industry that tends to shy away from social issues: They spoke out. Many pledged a renewed focus on ensuring their workforce was diverse and inclusive, that employees of color felt supported and saw a path to advance their careers. They promised to seek out organizations dedicated to fighting racial inequity. Ryan

Apollo co-founder Harris teams up with Morgenstern for multifamily buying spree

Posted: 13 Jul 2022 04:00 AM PDT

Apollo Global Management co-founder Josh Harris is teaming up with multifamily investor Robert Morgenstern to buy more than $1 billion worth of apartments. The private equity titan’s family firm, HRS Management, joined Morgenstern and his partner at their Canvas Property Group, Al Tylis, to launch a new investment vehicle targeting multifamily buildings in New York and other top-tier cities. The joint venture, Canvas Investment Partners, will look to buy between $1 billion and $1.5 billion

Mayor cracks whip on broker’s short-term rental scheme

Posted: 12 Jul 2022 03:14 PM PDT

UPDATED July 13, 2022, 10:15 a.m.: The four-story building at 344 East 51st Street looks innocuous, but it was one of six properties throughout the city that a real estate broker used to run a $2 million illegal short-term rental operation, a city lawsuit alleges. Mayor Eric Adams and his Office of Special Enforcement announced the case outside the Midtown address Tuesday. Their lawsuit states that Arron Latimer, as well as building owner Apex Management

Meadow pays Aby Rosen $288M for West Village office building

Posted: 12 Jul 2022 01:03 PM PDT

Aby Rosen’s RFR Holding parted with a West Village office building for $288 million, property records show. Meadow Partners scooped up the 220,000-square-foot building at 95 Morton Street, helped by a $155 million loan from Deutsche Pfandbriefbank, which includes a new $60 million mortgage. Wells Fargo was the prior lender. The sale closed June 28. Rosen put the price of the deal at $1,400 per square foot, somewhat higher than what public records reflect, but

167-year-old townhouse asking $6.5M tops Brooklyn luxury market

Posted: 12 Jul 2022 12:30 PM PDT

Historic townhouses in Brooklyn Heights and Clinton Hill topped the Brooklyn luxury market last week. The house at 21 Schermerhorn Street, built in 1855, was the most expensive property to go into contract last week with an asking price of $6.5 million, according to a weekly Compass report of homes listed for $2 million or more. The 25-foot-wide townhouse spans 5,500 square feet and has seven bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms. It has original plaster work,

LoanDepot laying off thousands

Posted: 12 Jul 2022 11:30 AM PDT

Another lender is resorting to layoffs as the mortgage market shrivels. Tucked in near the end of a business plan released Tuesday morning, loanDepot announced it would shed 4,800 people, or 42 percent of its workforce. About 2,800 of them have already been sent packing as the firm slashes headcount to 6,500 from 11,300. With demand for mortgages dropping, the company plans to make between $3.5 million and $4.5 million in severance and benefits payments

Isaac Chetrit to convert Stewart Hotel to residential

Posted: 12 Jul 2022 10:20 AM PDT

Isaac Chetrit and his partners are planning to shut down the Stewart Hotel across from the Madison Square Garden and convert it into apartments. Chetrit, along with his brother, Eli, and Ray and Jack Yadidi of Sioni Group are planning to build 625 apartments and 35,000 square feet of amenity space, according to a source familiar with the transaction. The building can be turned into a hotel as-of-right, meaning without new zoning. The developers expect

Invitation Homes often skipped permits as renters allege shoddy repairs

Posted: 12 Jul 2022 09:30 AM PDT

Invitation Homes, one of the winners in the rise of single-family rentals, has often skipped permits and facilitated poor repair work, leaving tenants with leaky plumbing and other unpleasant problems. The corporate landlord, a $23 billion company that owns 80,000 homes across the United States, frequently renovates properties without building permits, the Washington Post reported, citing a California lawsuit, review of properties and analysis of building data. As the company traded bureaucratic delays and fees,

Slate picks up $70M Chelsea multifamily portfolio

Posted: 12 Jul 2022 08:30 AM PDT

Slate Property Group has purchased three multifamily properties in Chelsea. The firm announced Tuesday it paid $70 million for 301 West 22nd Street, 300 West 21st Street and 229 West 20th Street. The seller was Zev Feldstein. Slate plans to make changes to the lobbies, common areas and facades of the pre-war properties, which are within a city block of one another and offer a total of 94 market-rate units. The company secured a $61.3

Good news: NYC now only the 3rd least-affordable U.S. housing market

Posted: 12 Jul 2022 07:00 AM PDT

Miami again topped the list of least affordable U.S. housing markets in July, ahead of Los Angeles and New York, which fell to third place, according to a report comparing home prices to median annual incomes. A New York City household earning the median annual income of $68,000 would have to spend 84.6 percent of that to afford a median-priced home, RealtyHop‘s monthly index found. In Los Angeles, a typical household would need to put

Modular startup raises $38M, says it’s “the opposite of Katerra”

Posted: 12 Jul 2022 06:00 AM PDT

Assembly OSM, a modular construction startup that has compared its process to putting together Ikea furniture, raised $38 million in Series A funding. The company was founded in 2019 by twin brothers Bill and Chris Sharples, principals of Manhattan-based SHoP Architects. Assembly calls its construction method “post-modular” because it is more akin to a car or aircraft assembly line than a traditional modular build-out, where the structure is put together on a single factory floor.

Hedge fund mogul sells $42M Amagansett home

Posted: 12 Jul 2022 05:00 AM PDT

Adam Levinson’s ownership of his Hamptons home is fading to black. The hedge fund mogul sold his home in Napeague at 11 Beach Plum Court for $42 million, the Wall Street Journal reported. The property, near the border of Amagansett, is unique for reportedly being the first black-cedar home of its kind built in the Hamptons. The Graticule Asset Management Asia chief investment officer’s former home appeared to trade in an off-market deal. The buyer

Age of empires: Rubie Schron’s Cammeby’s makes national push

Posted: 12 Jul 2022 04:30 AM PDT

During his days on “The Apprentice,” Donald Trump was talking with Rubin Schron about the $700 million sale of his family’s working-class apartment complexes in South Brooklyn to Schron’s Cammeby’s International Group. Trump, naturally, had to ask the tycoon’s thoughts on his smash-hit reality show. “I don’t know what that is,” Schron allegedly replied. “I don’t own a TV.” That tale, and dozens like it, form the myth of “Rubie” Schron, one of New York

Brooklyn landlord Chaskiel Strulovitch faces another foreclosure battle

Posted: 12 Jul 2022 04:00 AM PDT

Chaskiel Strulovitch isn’t out of the woods following a brutal three-year fight with hardball lender Maverick Real Estate Partners, which tried to foreclose on much of his portfolio. The embattled Brooklyn landlord faces foreclosures on at least three other properties, including a pair of apartment buildings and, most recently, a brownstone in Bedford-Stuyvesant. All three properties are also entangled in a messy, five-year-old federal lawsuit in which a group of Israeli real estate investors alleged

Daryl Hagler books $63M Long Island City hotel sale

Posted: 11 Jul 2022 03:05 PM PDT

A hotel to become a Staybridge Suites in Long Island City now belongs to a nursing home operator who has been active in New York City dealmaking. Centers Health Care’s Daryl Hagler bought the property at 38-59 11th Street where the unopened 240-key hotel stands for $63 million from an entity called 559 Development LLC, according to city records filed Monday. Centers Health Care declined to comment. It wasn’t immediately clear who controls the entity

Abe Leser lands $200M loan for Bed-Stuy project

Posted: 11 Jul 2022 01:33 PM PDT

Abe Leser is shifting from reviving a hospital deal to ramping up activity for a commercial development that will be used by the city. The Leser Group landed a $201.9 million construction loan for its development at 2440 Fulton Street in Brooklyn’s Ocean Hill neighborhood, PincusCo reported. UMB Bank provided two construction loans and totaling $166 million an addition $35 million refinance loan for the project, alternatively addressed at 1495 Herkimer Street. Leser previously received

Deal or no deal? Home buyers increasingly canceling contracts

Posted: 11 Jul 2022 12:05 PM PDT

Homebuyers facing the question famously posed by game-show host Howie Mandel are increasingly saying, “No deal.” Some 60,000 home purchase agreements were ripped up last month, equivalent to 14.9 percent of homes that went under contract that month, according to a report from Redfin. The canceled contracts include deals agreed upon before June. That’s the highest percentage since Redfin began collecting the data in 2017, excluding March and April 2020, the first two months of

$25M townhouse, duplex in Jackie O co-op snag Manhattan’s top contracts

Posted: 11 Jul 2022 10:44 AM PDT

A renovated townhouse at 228 West 11th Street topped Manhattan’s list of priciest homes to enter into contract last week. The four-story, 25-foot-wide house asked $25 million when it was listed in the middle of May, according to Olshan Realty’s weekly report on residential properties in Manhattan asking $4 million or above. It has nearly 6,500 square feet including six bedrooms, five bathrooms and two offices. Its outdoor space totals 2,500 square feet, including a

American Dream mall can’t catch a break

Posted: 11 Jul 2022 08:45 AM PDT

American Dream’s bondholders might not be getting their money in a few weeks as the star-crossed mall sputters toward an Aug. 1 payment date. This time, the retail complex is not entirely to blame: Its owners, the Ghermezian family’s Triple Five Group, are waiting on a grant from New Jersey. The state’s Economic Development Authority has yet to approve a necessary document from developer Triple Five Group certifying project expenditures, Bloomberg reported. A spokesperson for

Jersey City needs developers to make its inclusionary housing work

Posted: 11 Jul 2022 08:15 AM PDT

Jersey City is poised to expand its inclusionary housing program, but its success hinges on developer buy-in. Later this month the city’s Division of Planning is expected to present a plan that would create affordable housing overlays in areas of the city zoned for residential use. Under the proposals, developers could build more units on their sites if they set aside at least 10 percent or 15 percent of the apartments as affordable. Sites within

Durst signs trading firm to full floor at One Five One

Posted: 11 Jul 2022 06:46 AM PDT

The Durst Organization is done leasing full-floor office space at One Five One — for now. Douglas Durst’s firm signed the Chicago Trading Company to a 68,000-square-foot lease at the Times Square tower, the New York Post reported. The trading firm is taking the floors 36 and 37 in the 52-story building, formerly known as Four Times Square. The lease eliminates the last full-floor office availability at the 1.7 million-square-foot property, formerly known as the

Strong jobs report brings warning signs for housing market

Posted: 11 Jul 2022 05:45 AM PDT

A strong jobs report seemed to defy fears of a looming recession, but contained warning signs for the housing market. The U.S. economy added a robust 372,000 new jobs in June, with notable gains in the leisure and hospitality sector, according to data released by the Department of Labor on Friday. Unemployment remained at 3.6 percent for the fourth straight month. “The strong labor market is still a positive for the housing market,” the Mortgage

Bye bye, sugar high: New dev contracts slow in June

Posted: 11 Jul 2022 05:00 AM PDT

It was fun while it lasted. Contract activity slowed across New York’s new developments in June, according to a report from Marketproof. In all, buyers signed 264 contracts, a 26 percent drop from May’s 359 deals. While the numbers show that the market’s sugar high is over — a combination of higher mortgage rates and the end of the spring selling season — some see it as a return to pre-pandemic normalcy. “Some analysts are

The Closing: Meredith Marshall

Posted: 11 Jul 2022 04:30 AM PDT

Meredith Marshall was a fledgling Brooklyn developer, doing a handful of modest multifamily deals, when he came across a hot-sheet hotel in Clinton Hill that would change his life. Built in 1851 to house the Brooklyn Society for the Relief of Respectable, Aged, Indigent Females, the property at 320 Washington Avenue was by the late 20th century no longer respectable. Indeed, according to a neighborhood newsletter, it was now occupied by “ladies by the hour

These real estate execs gave Kathy Hochul the most cash

Posted: 11 Jul 2022 04:00 AM PDT

It’s not clear if real estate has Gov. Kathy Hochul in its pocket, but she certainly has the industry in hers. Some of the most prominent real estate professionals in the city have contributed generously to Hochul’s war chest as she vies for her first four-year term as governor. Republican nominee Rep. Lee Zeldin’s haul from the industry has been comparatively modest. Hochul has raised more than $34 million since taking office last August. Roughly

China developers owe $13B in USD bond payments this year

Posted: 10 Jul 2022 12:00 PM PDT

Property developers in China face $13 billion of foreign currency bond payments through the end of this year. About 60 property groups in China have debt deadlines before the end of 2022, according to the Financial Times, which cited data from Dealogic. The payments due this year make up about 13 percent of the sector’s total outstanding obligations to foreign bondholders. China’s real estate sector has already had a wave of defaults this year after

The metaverse gets its very own Hollywood studio

Posted: 10 Jul 2022 09:00 AM PDT

Hollywood, known for creating vivid virtual worlds, is setting foot in their ultimate iteration: the metaverse. Gaming company Animoca Brands is building a studio backlot in The Sandbox, a metaverse platform, in a partnership with Planet Hollywood, the firm said in a statement The partnership, dubbed Meta Hollywood, bought a virtual plot in The Sandbox, where one pixel of “land” costs about around 2.2 Ethereum, or $2,700. It didn’t say how many pixels were involved

Mountainside mansion in Aspen asks cool $100M

Posted: 10 Jul 2022 06:00 AM PDT

A mansion built into the side of Aspen Mountain hit the market for a cool $100 million, a record if it fetches anything near that price. Detroit manufacturing entrepreneur Joel Tauber bought the home from department-store heir Ted Field in 1996 for $9 million, less than 10 percent of what he’s asking for it now, the Wall Street Journal reported. The 10-bedroom, 11-bathroom home, built in 1979 and renovated in 2015, spans more than 14,000

$56M Nantucket listing aims to obliterate record

Posted: 09 Jul 2022 09:00 AM PDT

Will 500 feet of Nantucket beachfront persuade a buyer to spend $19 million more than anyone ever has for a home there? Venture capitalist Evan Jones and his wife, wildlife photographer Cindy Jones, have listed their estate on the island off Cape Cod for $56 million, the Wall Street Journal reported. According to the brokers, a sale at that price would shatter the previous record for the area, a $37 million sale in April. The

Garlic, watermelons help Chinese homebuyers save money

Posted: 09 Jul 2022 06:00 AM PDT

Got garlic, or watermelons or peaches, for that matter? It could help you buy a home in China. Some Chinese developers, stymied by local restrictions that won’t let them reduce prices, are finding creative ways to offset the high cost of a new home, the South China Morning Post reported. One example: Developer Seazen Holdings in June let buyers sell the company 5,000 kilograms of watermelons in order to cut 100,000 yuan ($14,921) from the

Zeckendorfs, Atlas nab $322M from Blackstone for West Side condo tower

Posted: 08 Jul 2022 02:24 PM PDT

The Zeckendorfs’ next splashy condo project just got a major financing package from Blackstone. A joint venture comprised of Zeckendorf Development, Atlas Capital and the Baupost Group secured a $322 million loan from the investment giant to acquire a full-block site at 570 Washington Street, just south of the West Village between Clarkson and Houston streets, for a $1.25 billion, two-tower luxury development. Zeckendorf and Atlas struck a deal to buy the 1.3-acre site off

Judge: Get your trucks off this East Hampton beach

Posted: 08 Jul 2022 02:00 PM PDT

The fight over a disputed beach in East Hampton keeps on trucking along. A judge last week ordered more than 6,000 beach-driving permits for a section of shoreline on Napeague be revoked, the East Hampton Star reported. The property, better known as Truck Beach, has been central to a dispute raging for years. The permits being revoked were issued beginning in February 2021. In addition to the permit revocations, the judge also held East Hampton

Anbau lands $98M refi for Flatiron House

Posted: 08 Jul 2022 12:00 PM PDT

Anbau Enterprises has scored a nearly $100 million loan for its Flatiron condominium. The developer landed a $98 million loan to refinance Flatiron House at 39 West 23rd Street, the Commercial Observer reported. The fixed-rate, full-term, interest-only loan was provided by First Republic Bank. The financing was arranged by a Meridian Capital Group team including Adam Hakim and James Murad. Anbau and First Republic didn’t respond to a request for comment from the outlet. The