The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

WATCH: LA real estate players talk consolidation in the city’s ultra competitive CRE market

Posted: 08 Oct 2018 03:00 PM PDT

 The Real Deal’s Konrad Putzier sits down with Ralph McLaughlin (Veritas Urbis Economics), Jeff Rinkov (Lee & Associates), Pat McRoskey (CBRE) and Elizabeth Clark (Pacific Union/Compass) to discuss how technology and huge sums of capital flowing into brokerage are forcing firms to consider consolidation to stay afloat in an uber-competitive market.

Resi scorecard: Brooklyn and Queens condo inventory through August 2018

Posted: 08 Oct 2018 02:30 PM PDT

Brooklyn • Inventory grew as new filings outpaced sales • Developers filed 25 plans with 241 units • The state approved 13 plans with 639 units valued at $968 million for sale • Buyers purchased 115 units valued at $131 million Queens • Inventory grew as new filings outpaced sales • Developers filed three plans with 114 units • The state approved one plan with 86 units valued at $59.5 million for sale • […]

Mas tequila? Thor brings Sammy Hagar’s Cabo Wabo Cantina to Times Square

Posted: 08 Oct 2018 02:00 PM PDT

If one celebrity-themed restaurant doesn’t work out, just try another. Thor Equities has leased its 8,300-square-foot retail property at 725 Eighth Avenue to Cabo Wabo Cantina, an eatery founded by rock star Sammy Hagar, according to the company. The lease is for 10 years, and the asking rent was $400 per square foot. The building was previously leased to actor Mark Wahlberg’s burger joint Wahlburgers, but the restaurant had been struggling to pay rent at […]

Long-delayed Hudson Heights condo project leaves a developer’s life in tatters

Posted: 08 Oct 2018 01:30 PM PDT

The never-ending saga of Upper Manhattan’s One Bennett Place development site in Washington Heights took another turn in August, when its developer filed for bankruptcy on the eve of the foreclosure auction. It now appears that the true owner of the property may be the developer’s ex-wife, who terminated a grant of power when the the deal failed to get off the ground. As legal wrangling around the property continues, Crain’s took a look at […]

Real estate in the time of climate change: Investors search for opportunity

Posted: 08 Oct 2018 01:00 PM PDT

The effects of climate change may literally put real estate underwater, but where many see catastrophe, some investors see opportunity. Investors are making plays on land investment, flood protection development and other sectors as the long-range outlooks for communities nationwide begin to shift, according to Bloomberg. Key Point Capital invested in hotel real estate investment trusts around Houston in the runup to Hurricane Harvey in August 2017. Those REITs were dropping because investors figured few […]

The Real Deal’s E.B. Solomont receives two Front Page Awards

Posted: 08 Oct 2018 12:30 PM PDT

The Real Deal is excited to share that senior reporter E.B. Solomont has won two Front Page Awards from the Newswomen’s Club of New York. The organization, founded in 1937, recognizes the best journalism by women working in print, wire, broadcast and online media. Solomont won for her November 2017 magazine news feature “Macklowe vs. Macklowe,” as well as the online edition of “The death of the brokerage,” which ran in May 2018. The first feature […]

Long Island Cheat Sheet: Two local commercial brokerages merge, $1.5B coliseum plan advances … & more

Posted: 08 Oct 2018 12:00 PM PDT

AIRECO agrees to merge with Industry One Realty Two local commercial brokerages announced their merger last week. AIRECO Real Estate’s president, Robert Desmond, will join Melville-based Industry One Realty as an executive vice president and help manage and mentor that firm’s team of 15 brokers and sales agents. Industry One’s president, Mario Asaro, will continue in his role, but focus more on expanding the business in new markets. Desmond said he had received interest from […]

Pacific Park got a new low-income investor last year

Posted: 08 Oct 2018 11:45 AM PDT

Pacific Park’s 535 Carlton got a new investor last year. The 298-unit building was developed by two entities, one in charge of the moderate- and middle-income units and another in charge of the 90 low-income units. The latter, the “Affordable Owner,” was taken over by a new “Investment Member” in July 2017, the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report reported, citing a document from property records. That new investment member is called the U.S.A. Institutional 80-20 Tax […]

WeWork is taking a five-floor spread in Midtown East

Posted: 08 Oct 2018 11:30 AM PDT

WeWork just signed one of its largest lease deals this year, taking 117,000 square feet at 575 Lexington Avenue in Midtown. The co-working firm’s new outpost will occupy five floors in the 35-story tower, the company told The Real Deal. The transaction covers the 12th, 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th floors, with floor plates ranging from 20,100 square feet to 29,800 square feet. The new location will be the company’s seventh in Midtown East. WeWork, […]

The Real Deal’s October issue is live!

Posted: 08 Oct 2018 11:00 AM PDT

September’s primary pushed Andrew Cuomo to the left, while most of the Independent Democratic Conference — six out of eight candidates — were forced out. This month’s cover package dove into what Cuomo and Letitia James — the anticipated victors of November’s election for governor and Attorney General, respectively — along with a revamped Senate, will mean for real estate. Elsewhere in the issue, there’s a profile of the Children’s Investment Fund, which has provided more than […]

Maddd Equities, Joy Construction refinance Hudson Yards rental building

Posted: 08 Oct 2018 10:00 AM PDT

Joy Construction and Maddd Equities have received a $45 million bridge loan to refinance one of their Hudson Yards projects. The loan for 445 West 35th Street comes from Bank Leumi, according to Joy Construction’s Eli Weiss. The rental property contains 118 apartments and 5,000 square feet of retail leased to the Mediterranean restaurant Kyma. The companies started preleasing the building after Labor Day, and it is now roughly 35 percent leased, Weiss said. Average […]

In first for Housing Rights Initiative, two landlord lawsuits achieve class certification

Posted: 08 Oct 2018 09:31 AM PDT

It’s been a slow march in the state courts, but as of last week, two class action lawsuits generated by the Housing Rights Initiative achieved class certification — the first of the group’s cases to reach this milestone. Over the last two years HRI has organized more than 40 lawsuits against landlords, most alleging “schemes” to up rents more than prevailing laws allow. The first of the two landlords in the class actions, Scharfman Organization, […]

Greenland nixes plans for condos, ups rental units at tower near Barclays

Posted: 08 Oct 2018 08:48 AM PDT

Greenland USA’s new residential tower at Pacific Park won’t have any condo units and will be larger than previously announced. The developer on Saturday filed plans for an 810-unit building at 18 Sixth Avenue, which will feature 727,000 square feet for residential and another 52,000 square feet for commercial use. Greenland had previously announced a 760-plus unit tower with 551 rental and 213 condo units, but representatives for the developer indicated on Monday that the […]

Brooklyn’s luxury market saw an uptick in activity for the second week in a row

Posted: 08 Oct 2018 08:00 AM PDT

Activity increased in the Brooklyn luxury market for the second week in a row last week with 15 contracts signed in the borough, split between nine houses, five condos and one co-op. The properties sold for about $50.2 million overall and went for an average price of about $3.3 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. […]

Manhattan’s luxe resi market recorded 22 contracts last week: Olshan

Posted: 08 Oct 2018 07:35 AM PDT

Last week, more than 20 luxury properties in Manhattan went into contract for the first time since the end of August. The luxury residential market saw 22 contracts signed at $4 million and above, according to Olshan Realty’s weekly market report. The top spot went to an Upper East Side townhouse. The property at 34 East 70th Street was asking $22.5 million, reduced from $32.5 million. The roughly 12,000-square-foot structure is configured as 10 units […]

New development discounts are at the highest level in years

Posted: 08 Oct 2018 07:00 AM PDT

Condo discounts are getting deeper. As sales have slowed and buyers are shopping around, developers are slashing prices at a rate the market hasn’t seen in years, the Wall Street Journal reported. The market reset, thanks to an abundance of supply, is driving down prices. At the same down, the number of closed deals has also slid. In the third quarter, new development sales were down more than 30 percent compared with the same quarter […]

SoftBank just lined up $45B for another Vision Fund

Posted: 08 Oct 2018 06:30 AM PDT

SoftBank’s second Vision Fund already has one major investor. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund plans to put $45 billion into the new fund, two years after making an investment of the same amount, Bloomberg reported. The PIF, which is looking to deploy a $170 billion windfall, has seen a “huge benefit” from the first Vision Fund, according to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Masayoshi Son’s Vision Fund has poured billions into several real estate tech […]

CompStak launches new analytics platform

Posted: 08 Oct 2018 06:00 AM PDT

CompStak has launched a new analytics platform that allows users to compare its crowdsourced leasing and property information in real time. The platform, dubbed CompStak Analytics, launched Monday, giving the company a head start over rival VTS, which is planning to launch a similar product in coming months. Last year, analytics giant Moody’s bought a minority stake CompStak, with the intent of using its lease data to help its clients — banks, insurance companies and […]

Officials freeze Russian billionaire’s assets — including his UES mansion

Posted: 08 Oct 2018 05:15 AM PDT

Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska’s Upper East Side mansion has been frozen in the midst of his battle with the U.S. government. Deripaska, an aluminium billionaire, has been placed on the sanctions list due to alleged involvement in murder, money laundering, bribery and racketeering, officials said. He has close with Russian mob leaders and Russian president Vladimir Putin, the New York Post reported. The U.S. has frozen his assets including mansions Washington, D.C. and one at […]

Inside JLL’s investment sales shakeup

Posted: 08 Oct 2018 04:30 AM PDT

It’s been a busy year for the personnel departments at New York’s commercial real estate brokerages. But of all the changes at such a tumultuous time in the city’s investment sales arena, Bob Knakal joining JLL may be the biggest reshuffling of the deck in 2018. The veteran broker, widely seen as one of the industry’s top players, is starting the next chapter of his career after he was unceremoniously fired from Cushman & Wakefield […]

WATCH: Everything you always wanted to know about Opportunity Zones

Posted: 08 Oct 2018 04:00 AM PDT

As the Opportunity Zone program stirs greater interest among developers and investors, what exactly is the federal tax incentive measure and who stands to benefit? Check out the video above for what you need to know about the new program, its rules and how to get in on the ground floor. Read more here. Nathan Bickell contributed graphic design to this video.