The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

3 Pacific Union agents killed in Santa Ana plane crash

Posted: 06 Aug 2018 03:30 PM PDT

Three Pacific Union International agents were among the five people killed Sunday when their small plane crashed near a shopping center in Santa Ana. Nasim Ghanadan, Floria Hakimi and Lara Shepherd all worked at a Pacific Union office in Danville, the Los Angeles Times reported. Hakimi’s son, Navid Hakimi; and Shepherd’s husband, Scott Shepherd, also died. Shepherd, who was also a real estate developer, was piloting the Cessna 414 when it went down in a […]

It’s not over: DFS officially files appeal in title insurance case

Posted: 06 Aug 2018 03:05 PM PDT

The Department of Financial Services has officially appealed the New York State Supreme Court ruling that annulled its strict anti-marketing regulations on title insurance companies. DFS filed its case with the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court on Monday, arguing that Judge Eileen Rakower’s decision to overturn its regulations in July “rested on multiple errors of law.” The state wrote that Rakower’s ruling misread New York’s ban on inducements to conclude that […]

As more property insurers turn to AI and drones, flaws emerge

Posted: 06 Aug 2018 02:30 PM PDT

As South Florida braces for hurricane season and as wildfires devastate California, property insurers are increasingly using aerial technology and artificial intelligence to process claims. But some in the industry are having trouble utilizing the new tech and some property insurers are reopening claims because their initial repair estimates were too low, according to the Wall Street Journal. Everest Re Group, a reinsurance company, said it increased its estimated 2017 net catastrophe losses by $400 […]

Zillow revenue jumps 22% thanks to strong Premier Agent spending

Posted: 06 Aug 2018 01:44 PM PDT

UPDATED, Aug. 6, 6:20 p.m.: Thanks to its lucrative Premier Agent ad program, Zillow Group’s revenue rose 22 percent during the second quarter, the listings giant said Monday. The Seattle-based company said revenue for the quarter hit $325.3 million, compared to $266.9 million during the second quarter of 2017. Zillow’s net loss narrowed to $3 million, compared to $21.8 million during 2017’s second quarter. Zillow’s revenue from Premier Agent — a program that lets buy-side […]

Resi scorecard: Inventory in Queens ticked up in June as new filings outpaced sales

Posted: 06 Aug 2018 01:30 PM PDT

New development condo report Brooklyn Inventory increased in June as new filings exceeded sales Developers filed 26 plans with 547 units The state approved 19 plans with 229 units valued at $188 million for sale Buyers purchased 165 units valued at $179 million Supply Brooklyn new development condo supply Source: TRData analysis of plans submitted to the NYS Attorney General, units filed not sold Most expensive condo projects approved in Brooklyn Source: TRData analysis of […]

Long Island Cheat Sheet: Deadline again extended for Nassau Coliseum proposals … & more

Posted: 06 Aug 2018 01:00 PM PDT

Deadline again extended for Nassau Coliseum proposals After receiving a handful of responses, Nassau County officials have again pushed a deadline for developers to submit proposals for the Nassau Hub Innovation District, a 70-acre parking lot near the Coliseum. The deadline had been July 20, but was then extended to Aug. 3 and now Aug. 17. Officials said the extension was to “keep the door open” for prospective developers. Some of the proposals already submitted […]

The top 10 NYC retail leases in July

Posted: 06 Aug 2018 12:30 PM PDT

July’s top 10 retail leasing deals totaled less than half of June’s in terms of square footage. The 10 biggest retail lease deals signed last month totaled 171,900 square feet, down 344,900 square feet from June’s total of 516,800 square feet. The largest retail lease in June was Toyota’s renewal for 300,000 square feet of space at 660 12th Avenue. 1) Trader Joe’s, 206 Kent Avenue, Williamsburg – 45,000 square feet The grocer inked a […]

For family dynasties: Adapt or die

Posted: 06 Aug 2018 12:00 PM PDT

Family real estate dynasties — from the Rockefellers to the Zeckendorfs — have been building up the Manhattan skyline since the days of John Jacob Astor back in 1799. But in the past few decades family firms have lost their dominant stature in the industry. Over the past five years, the biggest commercial investors in New York City real estate have been SL Green Realty and Vornado Realty Trust — both publicly traded real […]

WATCH: Why it’s tough for women to work in construction and how that can change

Posted: 06 Aug 2018 11:35 AM PDT

 As a part of The Real Deal’s series on diversity in real estate, the August story, “Female hardhats breaking barriers,” examined the major gender gap within the construction industry — where women only account for 9.1 percent of laborers nationwide. In New York City, that number is 7.6 percent. Reporter Kathryn Brenzel interviewed dozens of women who work on both construction sites and as executives at some of the city’s largest construction management firms […]

Marriott Vacations raising $750M for acquisition of rival ILG

Posted: 06 Aug 2018 10:42 AM PDT

Marriott Vacations Worldwide, the timeshare and vacation homes arm of Marriott International, is raising $750 million to fund its acquisition of rival ILG. In April, the two firms agreed to a $4.7 billion stock and cash deal that is expected to create the largest luxury timeshare company in the world. If the deal closes, the combined firms will operate seven brands serving 650,000 owners. Marriott is offering $750 million worth of senior notes that mature […]

Toby Moskovits escapes foreclosure proceedings at Crown Heights rental project

Posted: 06 Aug 2018 09:44 AM PDT

Toby Moskovits has saved her property at 564 St. John’s Place from foreclosure. The developer and her partner Michael Lichtenstein have received a $97 million loan from Arbor Realty Trust, according to Commercial Observer. This will pay off Benefit Street Partners, the project’s prior lender that had scheduled an Aug. 22 foreclosure auction for the property. Arbor is only providing a senior loan to refinance the property’s $81 million construction loan and $8 million mezzanine […]

Nonprofit organization buys six-building strip in UES for $232M

Posted: 06 Aug 2018 09:03 AM PDT

UPDATED, Aug. 6, 12:30 p.m.: The University Financing Foundation, a healthcare and university-focused nonprofit, has purchased a strip of six buildings on the Upper East Side for $232 million. And Northwell Health, the largest hospital system in the city, will develop a complex on the properties. The assemblage, which the nonprofit bought from Mautner-Glick, stretches from East 76th Street to East 77th Street along Third Avenue, according to both parties. Addresses include 201-203 East 76th Street, […]

Buffett’s brokerage reels in $1.3B during second quarter

Posted: 06 Aug 2018 08:09 AM PDT

Thanks to its white-hot buying spree, Berkshire Hathaway’s real estate brokerage reported $1.3 billion in second-quarter revenues, up 33.2 percent year over year. Revenue from the first half of 2018 topped $2 billion, “primarily due to recent business acquisitions,” the company reported Saturday. But like other brokerage companies, the Omaha, Neb.-based conglomerate — which operates the HomeServices of America brokerage franchise — said profits slid 5.3 percent to $107 million. That’s compared to $113 million […]

Are New York’s real estate families losing their grip?

Posted: 06 Aug 2018 07:31 AM PDT

Last week’s sales of Forest City Realty and Kushner Companies’ interest in the office portion of 666 Fifth Avenue were just the latest examples of New York’s real estate families ceding ground to institutional, corporate companies. “Thirty years ago, it was an industry largely dominated by families,” Brookfield Property Group CEO Brian Kingston, whose company was on the buy side of both deals, told the Financial Times. Companies like Brookfield, the Blackstone Group and the Related […]

Brooklyn luxury market saw 16 contracts signed last week

Posted: 06 Aug 2018 07:00 AM PDT

The Brooklyn luxury market saw 16 contracts signed last week, split between 11 houses and five condominiums. The properties sold for about $47.8 million overall and went for an average price of about $3 million, according to the latest report from Stribling & Associates. The firm defines the borough’s luxury market as all homes priced at $2 million or higher. Last week was stronger than the week before, when there were 12 contracts signed in […]

SoftBank looks more like an investment company as Q2 profits roll in

Posted: 06 Aug 2018 06:30 AM PDT

Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank Group saw operating profit rise 49 percent last quarter thanks to gains from investments such as those made in its Vision Fund, which has placed bets on companies like WeWork, Compass and Reonomy. The Japanese bank saw operating profit rise to $6.4 billion in the three months that ended in June, Bloomberg reported. But as more and more of the company’s gains come from investments, SoftBank is increasingly looking more like an […]

Manhattan’s luxury resi market saw 16 contracts at $4M and up last week: Olshan

Posted: 06 Aug 2018 06:02 AM PDT

Manhattan’s luxury residential market turned out 16 contracts last week at $4 million and above, according to Olshan Realty’s weekly market report. As shabby as those numbers are, they were slightly better than the same week last year, when buyers inked only 14 luxe contracts. Bizzi & Partners Development’s new condominium building at the mouth of the Holland Tunnel in Hudson Square at 565 Broome Street recorded the week’s priciest deal: a duplex penthouse […]

The 10 biggest Queens deals in Q2 2018

Posted: 06 Aug 2018 05:30 AM PDT

A massive office sale in Long Island City took the top spot in Queens during the second quarter of the year. Square Mile Capital sold off its stake in the neighborhood’s Factory Building at 47-07 30th Place to Atlas Capital Group and Partners Group for $400 million, the largest deal of the quarter by a margin of almost $140 million, according to data from Real Capital Analytics. Other notable deals included Treetop Development’s sale of […]

Completed construction surpassing even pre-recession levels: TRD analysis

Posted: 06 Aug 2018 05:00 AM PDT

The first quarter tends to be a slow one for construction in New York City, and the first quarter of this year was no different – just 5.3 million square feet of new construction projects were completed from January through March, the least since any quarter since 2015. But bounced back in a big way, however, breaking the 9 million mark for the first time this decade, thanks to strong showings in Queens and Manhattan. […]

Female hardhats are breaking barriers

Posted: 06 Aug 2018 04:30 AM PDT

Tierra Williams quickly discovered construction sites aren’t always welcoming places for women. Williams joined Trade Off, a Nassau County-based construction management firm, in 2015 after a year of unemployment. But last year she became pregnant, and her request for light duty, according to Williams, was denied. Trade Off, like many other construction firms, didn’t offer paid leave for pregnant trade workers. So Williams took a break from work and returned after a month — in […]

Number games: How sales at 160 Leroy weren’t what they seemed

Posted: 06 Aug 2018 04:00 AM PDT

When Ian Schrager publicly touted that 40 percent of the units at 160 Leroy were in contract, the ink was drying on just three such agreements. Schrager told news outlets in 2015 that just two weeks after launching sales in the luxury condo building, 40 percent of its then-49 units (now 57) were in contract. That would put the number of units in contract at about 20. But public records and deal sheets for the […]