The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

EB-5 extended again — until after midterm elections

Posted: 28 Sep 2018 05:18 PM PDT

The EB-5 program, which was set to expire at the end of this month, has been extended until the beginning of December. The controversial visa program, which was due to reach the end of its six-month extension period on Sunday, Sept. 30, has been reauthorized through Dec. 7. President Trump signed the extension Friday at noon, as part of a spending package to avoid a federal government shutdown. The U.S. Immigration Fund, a regional center […]

Women-only meeting space provider Luminary to open first location in NoMad

Posted: 28 Sep 2018 03:00 PM PDT

UPDATED, Sept. 28, 2018, 7:30 p.m.: Women-only meeting space provider Luminary is opening its first location in NoMad. The company, headed by former HSBC executive Cate Luzio, signed a 15,000-square-foot lease at Raizada Vaid’s 1204 Broadway. The 12-year deal covers the third and fourth floors and a rooftop space at the four-story, 21,300-square-foot property. Luminary is scheduled to open in November. The company is taking over the space of flexible office provider District CoWork, which […]

Co-living company Ollie in talks to raise $50M+: sources

Posted: 28 Sep 2018 02:30 PM PDT

Co-living startup Ollie is in talks to raise more than $50 million in a new venture funding round, according to sources familiar with the situation. The company has held discussions with student housing operator EdR, along with other potential investors, according to a source. In a statement, Ollie said its “policy is not to comment on speculation about our fundraising activity.” If the round closes, it could make Ollie the best-funded co-living company in the […]

Tax cheat looks to upzone Long Island City lot under city’s affordable-housing program

Posted: 28 Sep 2018 02:15 PM PDT

A disgraced car dealer from Queens who recently pleaded guilty to federal tax fraud is now looking to rezone one of his auto lots in Long Island City under the city’s affordable housing program. Bruce Bendell, a former senior manager at the Major World family of dealerships, is looking to upzone the site of a shuttered Kia dealership on Northern Boulevard to make way for an 11-story mixed-use building with 244 apartments. But the 64-year-old […]

AIG is trying to sell this Midtown hotel for more than $200M

Posted: 28 Sep 2018 01:45 PM PDT

AIG Global Real Estate is trying to offload a Manhattan hotel for more than $200 million. The company has enlisted Eastdil Secured to find buyers for the Embassy Suites by Hilton New York Midtown Manhattan, according to Bloomberg. The 310-room hotel is on West 37th Street. The 39-story hotel opened in January and has been fully operational since July. It’s the only location in New York AIG owns the majority stake of the hotel, which […]

Hakimian Org buys Queens dev site with plans for 400-unit rental

Posted: 28 Sep 2018 01:00 PM PDT

The Hakimian Organization has purchased a development site in Woodside with about 300,000 buildable square feet for $33 million. The company announced Thursday that it bought 72-01/72-17 Queens Boulevard and 72-30 45th Avenue with Gorjian NY, Imagine Capital Group and CH Capital Group. Previous owner Piermont Properties had put the sites, along with another at 72-34 45th Avenue, on the market more than three years ago, asking $45 million. Piermont bought all the sites between […]

Mark your calendars: These are New York’s top real estate events next week

Posted: 28 Sep 2018 12:15 PM PDT

Next week brings a couple of new real estate events! On Oct. 3, the Columbia Alumni Association is hosting its Alumni in Real Estate Networking Happy Hour from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m at High Bar New York, 346 West 40th Street. Come for a night of drinks and networking with all Columbia alumni. On Oct. 4, the Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA) is hosting its State of Queens Real Estate event from […]

Add it to the list: NYCHA needs $500M for senior housing, community center repairs

Posted: 28 Sep 2018 11:45 AM PDT

The New York City Housing Authority needs another $500 million for repairs to its senior and community centers. James Scanlon, NYCHA’s vice president of capital planning and design, on Thursday emphasized the need for the financing for the agency’s some 250 community centers, daycare centers and senior facilities, the Wall Street Journal reported. For example, the senior center at Fulton Houses in Chelsea, which cooks and serves 42,000 meals a year, hasn’t been renovated since […]

PMG to build Waldorf Astoria tower in downtown Miami

Posted: 28 Sep 2018 11:15 AM PDT

The Waldorf Astoria is coming to downtown Miami. New York-based Property Markets Group signed a contract with the landmark hotel flag to build a Waldorf Astoria hotel-condo tower at 300 Biscayne Boulevard. The skyscraper, designed by Miami-based Sieger Suarez Architects as a stack of glass cubes, is projected to reach a total sellout of more than $1 billion, developer Ryan Shear told Bloomberg. PMG has delayed launching the condo project due to the slowdown in […]

WeWork takes over Tumblr’s old HQ

Posted: 28 Sep 2018 10:45 AM PDT

WeWork signed a lease for all 100,000 square feet of office space at the Flatiron District building that previously served as Tumblr’s headquarters. The co-working company inked the deal at Centaur Properties’ 35 East 21st Street for its HQ by WeWork division, which targets medium-sized companies with 11 to 250 employees, Commercial Observer reported. The asking rent and the length of the lease were not reported. WeWork said it expects HQ by WeWork to have […]

Americans’ credit scores hit record high

Posted: 28 Sep 2018 10:15 AM PDT

704! That’s the new, record-high average FICO credit score among millions of Americans, and it’s positive news for home buyers, sellers, lenders and the economy overall. What it signifies, according to Ethan Dornhelm, FICO’s vice president of scores and analytics, is that 10 years out from the housing bust and the global financial crisis, Americans are “making more judicious use of credit.” They’re using less than the maximum amount of credit available to them, paying […]

Town’s former prez Jeff Appel joins Halstead as broker

Posted: 28 Sep 2018 09:45 AM PDT

Jeff Appel — a mortgage industry veteran and former president of Town Residential — is becoming a broker. Appel has joined Halstead Property where he and husband John Caraccioli — an agent with 27 years of experience — will form the Caraccioli Appel Team, he said. Most recently a loan officer at Bank of America, Appel said becoming an agent was a move he’s wanted to make for a while. “It got delayed and put […]

Crypto firms are taking space in skyscrapers that banks can’t afford

Posted: 28 Sep 2018 09:15 AM PDT

Cryptocurrency companies are leasing space in some of Hong Kong’s most prestigious buildings with some of the priciest rents that even banks are avoiding. Companies like BitMEX and Diginex Ltd. have leased a total of 72,000 square feet of grade A space so far this year in Hong Kong’s Central and Causeway Bay, Bloomberg reported, citing figures from Colliers International. That makes up about 15 percent of grade A space that mainland Chinese firms have […]

Landlord groups say lead poisoning laws will hurt affordable housing

Posted: 28 Sep 2018 08:45 AM PDT

Proposed laws meant to reduce lead poisoning in children are facing resistance from landlord groups like the Rent Stabilization Association. City Hall announced on Thursday that it supports multiple bills that would tighten landlord regulations to solve the lead poisoning problem, according to Crain’s. About 4,200 children younger than six were found with high lead levels in their blood last year. A set of laws in 2004 helped to lower lead exposure among children by […]

Subscribers: Here’s the info for today’s call at 2 p.m.

Posted: 28 Sep 2018 08:00 AM PDT

Today at 2p.m. (EST)/11 a.m. (PST), subscribers will get an inside look at our fall issue’s blockbuster cover story, “See no evil: How a culture of secrecy boosts South Florida’s condo market.” Call-in number: +1-510-338-9438 Access code: 629 304 407 TRD’s editor-at-large Hiten Samtani will talk to reporter Keith Larsen about how the story took shape, the reporting hurdles along the way and some of the details that did not make it into the final cut. What […]

Coney Island Hospital moves forward with $738M renovation plan

Posted: 28 Sep 2018 07:15 AM PDT

Coney Island’s massive new 11-story, 350,000-square-foot hospital building is moving forward. The establishment and project review committee on the state’s Public Health and Health Planning Council has advanced the application from NYC Health + Hospitals to the full council, according to Crain’s. Coney Island Hospital plans to spend $738 million on the development, which aims to fix flooding damage from Superstorm Sandy. The hospital will renovate its main building, which was built in 1954, and […]

Here’s everything you need to know about Opportunity Zones

Posted: 28 Sep 2018 06:30 AM PDT

1. What is the Opportunity Zones program and what areas does it target? Enacted late last year as part of the federal tax overhaul, the Opportunity Zones program provides tax incentives to developers who invest in historically distressed neighborhoods throughout the U.S. There are 8,700 communities that have been designated as Opportunity Zones. In New York City, there are 306; Los Angeles County has 274; Chicago Cook County, 181; and Miami-Dade County has 67. Created […]

Fortis recapitalizes 1 Seaport with $66M loan

Posted: 28 Sep 2018 05:45 AM PDT

Mack Real Estate Credit Strategies has given a $66 million mezzanine loan to Fortis Property Group to partially recapitalize the luxury condo tower 1 Seaport. The 60-story building at 161 Maiden Lane is also known as Seaport Residences and contains 98 units, 72 of which are under contract, according to the Commercial Observer. It has an anticipated sellout of more than $275 million. The project is the first condo in the Seaport District and will […]

National Cheat Sheet: Fed raises rates again, Tishman Speyer launches co-working brand & more

Posted: 28 Sep 2018 05:00 AM PDT

Fed raises interest rates for the third time this year The Federal Reserve on Wednesday hiked interest rates by a quarter percent — the third increase this year. The hike brought interest rates to between 2 and 2.5 percent, and lending rates for commercial and residential loans are expected to increase as a result. The Fed, which is expected to raise interest rates once more by the end of the year, said the increases are […]

This month in RE history: Natural History Museum expansion, development takes off in Montauk & more

Posted: 28 Sep 2018 04:30 AM PDT

1888: Foundation laid for Natural History Museum enlargement The excavation for the American Museum of Natural History’s expansion was completed 130 years ago this month, according to the New York Times. Stone masons immediately began laying the granite foundation for the new five-story addition — which was given a budget of $400,000. Designed in the early Romanesque style by architect Josiah Cleveland Cady, the 153-foot facade along 77th Street was the longest in New York at […]

Next stop IPO? After $400M raise, Compass eyes hypergrowth

Posted: 28 Sep 2018 04:00 AM PDT

A war chest of $1.2 billion gets you one step closer to that opening bell. Following the news of Compass’ $400 million funding round led by SoftBank and Qatar Investment Authority, sources close to the company said it is looking to go public within 24 months. Such a move would represent a payoff for investors who’ve bet $1.2 billion on the residential brokerage since it was founded six years ago. But to get that coveted […]