The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Troubled construction company accused of stealing $40K in worker wages

Posted: 25 Jul 2018 03:30 PM PDT

A New Jersey-based construction company allegedly stole $40,000 in wages from workers and bilked another $410,000 from New York State’s insurance fund. CRV Precast Construction and six of its employees were indicted on Wednesday on charges that they misclassified workers in order to pay less in wages and insurance premiums, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office announced on Wednesday. The company, which was hired to do steel and concrete work at SKA Marin’s affordable housing project […]

GDS pays $36M for pair of mixed-use Chelsea buildings

Posted: 25 Jul 2018 03:29 PM PDT

GDS Development bought two mixed-use buildings in Chelsea with a combined 25,000 square feet of space for $36 million, according to property records. The firm bought 322-326 Seventh Avenue, a pair of low-rise buildings at the corner of Seventh Avenue and West 28th Street, according to records filed with the city on Wednesday. The larger property in the package is 322-324 Seventh Avenue, a three-story, 14,100-square-foot building with three apartments and eight commercial units. The […]

Engel Burman pays $46M for UES portfolio

Posted: 25 Jul 2018 03:14 PM PDT

Long Island-based developer Engel Burman Group bought an Upper East Side apartment portfolio at 1622-1632 York Avenue for $46.5 million, property records show. Engel Burman also landed a $76.4 million construction loan from Wells Fargo to pay for unspecified “improvements.” It wasn’t immediately clear what kind of work the developer plans to do. Engel Burman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The estate of Jacques Chretien, which first put the properties on […]

Here is Arker Companies’ latest Brooklyn development

Posted: 25 Jul 2018 02:40 PM PDT

Arker Companies will add to its massive Brooklyn portfolio with a 65-unit residential building in Williamsburg. The eight-story building will go up at 64 Scholes Street, according to plans filed with the Department of Buildings on Wednesday. The project will span 48,000 square feet, split between 39,000 square feet of residences and 9,000 square feet of community space. All of the units will be designated as affordable housing for seniors, according to Arker. The Long Island-based […]

Geoffrey has left the building: Toys “R” Us hires advisory firm to sell US properties

Posted: 25 Jul 2018 02:05 PM PDT

Toys “R” Us is bringing in Raider Hill Advisors to help sell off 284 stores, distribution centers and other properties around the country. The move comes four months after the once mighty toy retailer announced it would shutter all of its stores following its bankruptcy. The company announced that New York-based Raider Hill, a private real estate investment and advisory firm, would lead “efforts to maximize the value” of the properties, which span 14.5 million […]

A flipping loss: Owner loses money on yet another unit at 432 Park

Posted: 25 Jul 2018 01:30 PM PDT

Why the face? Maybe because this buyer’s flipped two units at 432 Park Avenue at a loss. An LLC by the name of “WHY THE FACE” just sold a unit on the tower’s 65th floor for $24.2 million, records filed with the city’s Department of Finance show. That’s down from the $25.6 million the buyer paid in March 2016, and $8.3 million less than what the apartment was initially listed for in April 2017. The […]

New York State led the country in construction hiring

Posted: 25 Jul 2018 01:00 PM PDT

According to this week’s market reports, New York registered the most construction hiring in the country in June and the Upper East Side registered the most new development sales in Manhattan. Sales | MNS The Upper East Side had the highest number of new development sponsor sales in Manhattan during the second quarter. The neighborhood accounted for 52 transactions, which represents 16.7 percent of all sponsor sales in the borough. The most expensive sale for […]

China Vanke agrees to buy 5% stake in Cushman ahead of IPO

Posted: 25 Jul 2018 12:05 PM PDT

Ahead of its initial public offering, Cushman & Wakefield struck a deal to sell roughly 5 percent of the company’s shares to a unit of China’s largest real estate firm. Cushman agreed to sell 10.2 million shares in the company through a private placement deal to a unit of China Vanke based in Hong Kong, paperwork filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday shows. Vanke agreed to purchase the shares at whatever price the […]

Dov Hertz in contract to buy massive dev site in Sunset Park. Here’s what he’s planning.

Posted: 25 Jul 2018 11:24 AM PDT

Dov Hertz is placing another huge bet on the value of the Brooklyn waterfront and rise of e-commerce. In partnership with Bridge Development Partners, the developer signed a contract this month to buy the 18-acre Sunset Industrial Park that had an asking price of roughly $300 million, sources told The Real Deal. The parcel, with multiple addresses including 75-81 20th Street, has approximately 1.6 million square feet of buildable zoning rights, sources said. A spokesperson […]

The state of the (construction) union

Posted: 25 Jul 2018 11:05 AM PDT

To hire union or to go open shop, that is the question — at least for many developers. While that has long been a loaded question, it’s never been more fraught with political ramifications and controversy than it is now. With razor-thin margins in a market marked by softness and uncertainty, nonunion and open shops (those that employ both union and nonunion workers) seem to be eating up market share from union hardhats. And the escalating […]

Hamptons Cheat Sheet: Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost eyeing $8M condo … & more

Posted: 25 Jul 2018 10:00 AM PDT

Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost eyeing $8M Montauk condo Actress Scarlett Johansson and beau Colin Jost, head writer of Saturday Night Live, are scoping out a condominium at Gurney’s in Montauk, according to the New York Post. They walked through a five-bedroom pad that’s going for $7.95 million, down from its original ask for $8.49 million. The 4,100-square-foot unit, which is the most expensive of the eight remaining condos, has private parking and beach cabana. Chris […]

Across US, new home sales and prices drop

Posted: 25 Jul 2018 09:30 AM PDT

The nation’s housing market is showing signs of a slowing down. New home sales reached an eight-month low, according to new government data released Wednesday, dropping 5.3 percent from May. The numbers came out to an annualized pace of 631,000 new homes, according to the data, which Bloomberg reported first. The median home prices was also down last month, to $302,100, which represented a year over year decline of just over 4 percent That drop […]

Carthage Real Estate planning 108-unit resi building in Harlem

Posted: 25 Jul 2018 09:00 AM PDT

UPDATE Wednesday, July 25 at 1:55 p.m.: Harlem’s development boom is continuing with a new 108-unit residential building from developer Carthage Real Estate Advisors. The Harlem-based real estate firm filed plans with the Department of Buildings on Wednesday for a 12-story building at 224 West 124th Street spanning about 113,000 square feet and standing 112 feet tall. The property currently houses a three-story, 72-unit building. Fischer & Makooi Architects will design the project, and the company […]

Tee off with The Real Deal at our annual NY golf outing

Posted: 25 Jul 2018 08:30 AM PDT

The Real Deal is pleased to announce that we will be hosting this year’s golf outing at The Muttontown Club in East Norwich, New York. Muttontown is a beautiful private country club available exclusively to members and their guests and offers the perfect setting for meeting and mingling with NYC’s real estate elites. The day will include breakfast, a shotgun start and cocktails and meals, including a semi-formal dinner. For the first time ever, a […]

Jeff Winick owes NY state $1.2M in taxes

Posted: 25 Jul 2018 07:45 AM PDT

Jeff Winick, the founder of Winick Realty Group, has landed on New York state’s registry of top debtors, revealing he owes more than $1 million in unpaid taxes. Winick was listed on the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance’s public list of the top 250 individual tax debtors, and placed 70th with an outstanding personal income balance of $1.2 million. The news was first reported by Commercial Observer. According to the public list, […]

How NYC’s hard hats stack up

Posted: 25 Jul 2018 07:25 AM PDT

One57, the first of the glassy giants to rise on 57th Street, wasn’t Lendlease’s key to Billionaire’s Row — it was a 60-story residential project on West 42nd Street. Roughly a decade ago, Extell Development tapped the Australian construction company to build the Orion, a 551-unit condominium building. That gig led to additional jobs for Gary Barnett as he grew his luxury empire. And in a matter of a few years, Lendlease became one of […]

These were the 10 largest Manhattan real estate loans in June

Posted: 25 Jul 2018 06:35 AM PDT

New York’s real estate lenders are pouring money into Midtown. In June, the largest loans — for refinancing, acquisition and construction — spanned projects including a hotel in Times Square and an office tower in near Bryant Park. The top 10 loans in Manhattan totaled $2.94 billion. See the full list below: 1) Residential refi — $675 million Vornado Realty Trust and Stellar Management landed a $675 million refinance of Independence Plaza was provided by […]

Savanna’s Chelsea540 is expected to fetch north of $1,550 a square foot

Posted: 25 Jul 2018 06:10 AM PDT

The boutique office development Chelsea540 is under contract for $1,560 a square foot, according to a new report. If it closes at that price, it would represent the second highest price per square foot in the neighborhood after Alphabet’s record-setting Chelsea Market deal earlier this year. The boxy 165,000-square-foot office and retail building at 540 West 26th Street, was developed by Savanna in partnership with the previous landowner, the Silvermintz family. The building is in […]

To snag clients, resi brokers are going all in on #branding. But does it work?

Posted: 25 Jul 2018 05:30 AM PDT

As Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Neymar were slicing through defenses to bring glory to their respective nations, Alex Lavrenov was curating a list of bars where his clients in downtown Brooklyn could watch the beautiful game. He’s previously given away Yankees tickets, and when autumn comes around, he’ll offer Thanksgiving pie. None of that relates to real estate — but it’s part of how the Warburg broker is building his brand. As they seek […]

WATCH: Mary Ann Tighe on the Oculus’ $4B price tag, getting tenants Downtown

Posted: 25 Jul 2018 05:00 AM PDT

 CBRE tri-state CEO Mary Ann Tighe joined The Real Deal’s Hiten Samtani for a sit-down interview at TRD Studio, where the pair discussed Lower Manhattan’s transformation since Sept. 11, 2001, and whether the growing World Trade Center complex can compete with Manhattan West and Hudson Yards — or what Tighe described as “virgin territory.” “There was nothing here but rail, open rail cut,” Tighe said. “People came as tourists to Hudson Yards and Manhattan […]

Ganja in the Garden State: How legal pot could spark NJ’s real estate sector

Posted: 25 Jul 2018 04:30 AM PDT

No one knows exactly what the future of cannabis will look like in the state of New Jersey. As recently as February, a survey of state senators by NJ Cannabis Insider showed that the push for legalization of recreational weed, backed by Gov. Phil Murphy, would fail. Newly elected Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora — who, as a state assemblyman, supported three pro-marijuana bills regarding hemp, medical marijuana and recreational marijuana — said that he expects […]

Bronx dollar volume dropped by 20% in first half of 2018: report

Posted: 25 Jul 2018 04:00 AM PDT

Property volume in the Bronx is going up, but dollar volume in the borough is going down. The Bronx saw 157 transactions across 275 properties worth about $952 million during the first half of 2018, according to a new report from Ariel Property Advisors. This was a 20 percent drop in dollar volume compared to the second half of 2017 and an 8 percent drop compared to the first half of 2017. (The report includes all […]