The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

This Tribeca penthouse just sold for half its asking price

Posted: 16 Aug 2018 03:00 PM PDT

A penthouse in Tribeca is finally off the market — but sold for half its original asking price. The unit at VE Equities’ 11 North Moore Street sold for $20 million, according to New York City Department of Finance records. The anonymous buyer is listed as “11 North Moore Street, PH LLC.” The 7,000-square-foot pad hit the market in 2014, asking $40 million. The apartment features about 3,100 square feet of outdoor space — with […]

Barone closes on $37M Dyker Heights buy

Posted: 16 Aug 2018 02:30 PM PDT

Scott Barone’s Barone Management closed on the $37.5 million acquisition of the former Angel Guardian home in Dyker Heights from the Sisters of Mercy, the company said Thursday. Barone plans to build a 300,000-square-foot mixed-use project at 6301 12th Avenue including 150 market-rate condos along with affordable rental units, senior housing and a school. Construction is set to start in 2019. According to Barone, the sale includes a deed restriction requiring 15 percent of residential […]

These are the states where New Yorkers buy the most rental homes

Posted: 16 Aug 2018 02:15 PM PDT

With apartment prices in the Big Apple near all-time highs, a growing number of New Yorkers are looking outside the five boroughs for investment properties. The Carolinas, Georgia and Texas are among the 10 most popular destinations for New York City residents buying single-family rental homes, according to a new survey by rental-home investment platform Roofstock. Florida tops the ranking, accounting for 35.41 percent of all out-of-state single-family rental home purchases by New Yorkers between […]

Two years later, WeWork finally inks a deal at the Brill Building

Posted: 16 Aug 2018 02:00 PM PDT

WeWork has closed a lease transaction at the Brill Building in Midtown, finalizing a deal that has been on and off for the past two years. The company signed a lease for over 75,000-square feet in the property, The Real Deal has learned. The 15-year lease is for floors five, six, seven, 10 and 11. The property, at 1619 Broadway, is a landmarked 11-story, 175,000-square foot property at the corner of West 49th Street. Brookfield […]

Take me to the ball game: Elon Musk wants to build Loop system to Dodger Stadium

Posted: 16 Aug 2018 01:30 PM PDT

Between online feuds with rappers and heroic cave divers — and potentially illegal tweets about taking Tesla private — Elon Musk hasn’t exactly been batting .1000 lately. His Boring Company is stepping up to the plate however, revealing big plans on Wednesday to build a Loop rapid transit system between Dodger Stadium and Metro Red Line stations in Los Feliz, East Hollywood, or Rampart Village. The so-called “Dugout Loop” is meant to reduce vehicle traffic […]

Political infighting is choking efforts to reveal kleptocrats and terrorists using U.S. real estate to wash dirty money

Posted: 16 Aug 2018 01:00 PM PDT

A Malibu mansion and Gulfstream jet were seized from the playboy son of the president of Equatorial Guinea, who pilfered hundreds of millions of dollars from his starving country. Authorities retrieved $100 million from a bank used by Hezbollah to wash money from drug trafficking. And a foreign not-for-profit is facing charges that it helped Iran evade sanctions by secretly investing in a Manhattan skyscraper. In each case, American shell companies masked the true identities behind […]

Chick-fil-A selects first Brooklyn location

Posted: 16 Aug 2018 12:38 PM PDT

It is about to get easier for Brooklynites to Eat Mor Chikin. Chick-fil-A has signed another lease in New York City across from the Barclays Center at 166 Flatbush Avenue, according to property records. The lease — signed on July 19 — leaves the terms and square footage unclear. But the one-story property currently spans roughly 14,700 feet, according to PropertyShark. Michael Pintchik, a local property owner, is the landlord. He purchased the site for $8 […]

Compass takes on Atlanta in march toward national market share

Posted: 16 Aug 2018 12:01 PM PDT

Compass is taking a bite out of the Peach State. The New York-based brokerage announced Thursday that it’s launching an office in Atlanta — the latest city it’s encountered in its march toward national market share. In a statement, Compass said it hired 13 full-time employees in Atlanta, where it will open additional offices in Buckhead and Midtown. So far, Compass has recruited two well-known agents: Jim Getzinger, who sold $70 million in 2017, and […]

Gambino condo family? Former heroin pusher plans Coney Island resi project

Posted: 16 Aug 2018 11:31 AM PDT

Staten Island-based Giuseppe Gambino, a convicted mafioso once described by federal prosecutors as “an important soldier” in John Gotti’s Gambino crime family, is developing a 20-unit condominium in Coney Island, an offering plan filed last week with the New York State Attorney General’s office shows. The project, at 2850 West 15th Street, is located just half a block from Gargiulo’s restaurant, where the FBI conducted surveillance on Gotti in January of 1986, court records show. […]

How Brookfield’s Mott Haven project could change the Bronx

Posted: 16 Aug 2018 11:02 AM PDT

Brookfield Property Partners’ $165 million purchase of two South Bronx sites from Somerset Partners and the Chetrit Group is still the talk of the borough. The deal came up several times during a panel discussion at Bisnow’s Bronx State of the Market event, which took place in the Bruckner Building on Thursday morning. “I think as the market matures, you’ll see a lot more development, and especially if Brookfield is successful in underwriting, getting their […]

HNA could take a loss on 850 Third. Here’s who it’s negotiating with

Posted: 16 Aug 2018 10:04 AM PDT

As federal regulators scrutinize HNA Group’s ownership stake in 850 Third Avenue, the embattled Chinese company is in talks to sell its position to the Caiola family’s B&L Management Co. at a price that values the 21-story building at $452 million. The deal would cause HNA to realize a loss on its investment, according to Bloomberg, which first reported talks about the deal. No contract has been signed and B&L Management has not made a […]

Brooklyn luxury market saw 19 contracts signed last week

Posted: 16 Aug 2018 09:30 AM PDT

The Brooklyn luxury market saw 19 contracts signed last week, split between 15 houses, three condos and one co-op. The properties sold for about $56.9 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 16 contracts […]

The perks and perils for developers who do their own construction

Posted: 16 Aug 2018 08:45 AM PDT

In 1898, Julius Tishman built a six-story tenement building, ultimately sparking the creation of the family’s development firm, Tishman Realty & Construction. The “construction” portion of the company’s name initially indicated that it was self-sufficient, that it could build its own projects — but the construction arm grew to one of the most active shops in the city and eventually was bought by engineering giant AECOM. More than 100 years later, several developers are returning […]

Subscribers: Talk dirty money with TRD’s editors & reporters on Aug. 23

Posted: 16 Aug 2018 08:00 AM PDT

The Real Deal is hosting a conference call with digital subscribers on Aug. 23 to discuss our recent story on the influx of dirty money into U.S. real estate. TRD’s managing issue editor Damian Ghigliotty will talk to reporters David Jeans and Will Parker about how the story on money laundering took shape, their trip to DC to report it out, some of the challenges the subject presented and tidbits from their reporters’ notebooks that […]

Developers see big money in Lady Liberty’s park. But here’s why their plans haven’t panned out

Posted: 16 Aug 2018 07:30 AM PDT

Against the backdrop of Lady Liberty, developers want to build attractions for the rich. Liberty State Park’s 1,212 acres are allotted for public use — but companies have pitched ideas to attract high-end crowds, Bloomberg reported. Meanwhile, Jersey City’s Sam Pesin, who led the park’s creation, is pushing for a law to keep the space off limits. In light of New Jersey’s financial burden — including unmet pension obligations — the state in 2015 said […]

Here’s how much resi agents are really making in the US

Posted: 16 Aug 2018 07:00 AM PDT

Even with soaring home prices, agents across America are making less money. Amid rising prices and a housing supply shortage, agents and brokers made fewer deals and took home less money, according to a National Association of Realtors survey published by Inman. Median gross income for agents, according to NAR, fell 6 percent to $39,800 last year. Meanwhile, median brokerage sales volume dipped to $1.8 million from $1.9 million in 2016, despite record-high home prices, […]

Midtown Equities to take stake in long-delayed Battery Maritime project

Posted: 16 Aug 2018 06:30 AM PDT

The Cayre family’s Midtown Equities is planning to take about a 30 percent stake in the Battery Maritime Building hotel project. The equity stake would put construction on the conversion project back on track and could be completed in 2020, Crain’s reported. In June, an official from the development corporation said Midtown Equities plans to issue a mezzanine loan to the project this month. After the deal is closed, the developer will convert the loan […]

A lot of green: Cannabis investment firm Inception launches industry REIT

Posted: 16 Aug 2018 06:00 AM PDT

A cannabis startup firm is looking to corral a lot of green to house the growing industry. Beverly Hills-based Inception Companies is launching a $50 million real estate investment trust to provide companies in the industry with real estate financing. Weed firms typically have to buy real estate with cash, because they can’t get financing from institutional lenders. Inception looks to buy and lease back those properties to tenants to free up their capital for […]

Federal agencies undertake largest mortgage fraud investigation since the financial crisis

Posted: 16 Aug 2018 05:30 AM PDT

Federal officials are in the middle of one of the largest investigations into mortgage fraud since the financial crisis. Investigators are looking into alleged fraud committed by a New York commercial investment company Morgan Management LLC, now named Grand Atlas Property Management. They are looking into whether or not income statements on its properties were falsified in order to secure larger loans, according to the Wall Street Journal. Some of those loans were wrapped up […]

Levi’s inks lease to open retail store at BFC’s Empire Outlets in Staten Island

Posted: 16 Aug 2018 05:00 AM PDT

Levi’s is the latest retailer to sign on at the Empire Outlets on Staten Island. The classic denim brand signed a lease for 5,450 square feet at BFC Partners’ 340,000-square-foot retail complex, the landlord told The Real Deal. It will be Levi’s first outlet store in the city. BFC principal Joseph Ferrara said the developer is targeting “New Yorkers and visitors from across the world” as the shopping and dining project prepares to open in […]

Coney Island, Act 3: Can the seaside enclave finally overcome its seasonal status?

Posted: 16 Aug 2018 04:30 AM PDT

Coney Island has been transforming itself for more than a century. In 1903, its most famed amusement park opened and ushered in a heyday that would run for decades. But by the turn of the millennium, the seaside enclave was a shell of itself — a run-down backwater with large swaths of vacant land and rickety rides. Over the last decade, however, the city has invested millions to revitalize it. And developers have followed suit […]

Rename and relaunch: Here’s how brokers hide stale listings and price cuts

Posted: 16 Aug 2018 04:00 AM PDT

UPDATED, Aug. 16, 12:40 p.m.: In 2011, with the condominium market booming, Greg Altshuler’s Colonnade Group scooped up 403 Greenwich Street with plans to redevelop the former warehouse into high-end condos. But by the summer of 2017, when the building was complete, the luxury sector was teetering toward a slowdown. In October of that year, Residence A — a three-bedroom pad asking $3.8 million — hit the market. It sat there for the next 235 […]