The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Feds tie another alleged $1B money laundering scheme to Porsche Design Tower, along with NY properties

Posted: 20 Nov 2018 02:45 PM PST

Federal authorities charged a Venezuelan TV magnate for his role in a billion-dollar money laundering and currency exchange scheme involving real estate around the world, including two dozen properties in Miami and New York. The indictment follows a separate billion-dollar money laundering scheme in July that included real estate in South Florida. In that case, federal prosecutors say top Venezuelan officials siphoned funds out of the state oil company, and into assets throughout the world. […]

Medical marijuana dispensary to open second Manhattan outpost

Posted: 20 Nov 2018 02:15 PM PST

MedMen, the medical marijuana dispensary with private equity backing, is launching a second Manhattan location. The firm is in advanced talks to take a 4,000-square-foot space at 33 Ninth Avenue, according to Crain’s. Ground floor asking rents are reportedly $500 a square foot. In April, the Los Angeles-based first moved into a 10,000-square-foot space at 433 Fifth Avenue. The move to Manhattan came after its co-chairman, Chris Leavy, former chief investment officer of fundamental equities […]

WeWork expands mid-sized tenant portfolio in Gramercy, Chelsea and Midtown

Posted: 20 Nov 2018 01:45 PM PST

WeWork continues to claim space for its mid-sized tenant segment, signing on for 95,650 square feet across three Manhattan locations. The biggest lease transaction in the batch is at CIM Group’s 67 Irving Place, where the co-working firm is taking a 51,050-square-foot space across eleven floors. WeWork expects to open the location next February. The firm also signed a 28,600-square-foot lease at APF Properties’ 1156 Sixth Avenue and a 16,000-square-foot lease at 225 West 39th […]

This City Council bill would require landlords to retrofit buildings

Posted: 20 Nov 2018 01:15 PM PST

A new City Council bill seeks to require some 50,000 buildings to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent in the next decade. Council member Costas Constantinides, the bill’s sponsor, plans to introduce the legislation next Wednesday. The new measure would require landlords to decrease emissions in all buildings that are 25,000 square feet or larger by 2030. These buildings produce 30 percent of the city’s total emissions, Constantinides said. “Instead of treating individual symptoms, […]

The world’s largest voluntary demolition will be done in pieces. Here’s how 270 Park will disappear

Posted: 20 Nov 2018 01:00 PM PST

From the outside, the demolition of 270 Park Avenue will look like a painfully tame round of Jenga. Inside, crews will meticulously tear apart 60 years worth of history. JPMorgan Chase plans to knock down its Midtown East headquarters to make way for a new, 70-story office tower that will span an impressive 2.5 million square feet. The new building will be the first to take advantage of the district’s rezoning, which was approved in […]

Gural family’s GFP planning $240M biotech center in Long Island City

Posted: 20 Nov 2018 12:30 PM PST

The Gural family is planning to build a $240 million biotech center in Long Island City, which – along with a certain Seattle-based e-commerce company – is emerging as destination for the city’s life-sciences and lab industry. The Gurals’ GFP Real Estate has teamed up with King Street Properties – a leader in the Greater Boston-area’s biotech arena – to reposition an old warehouse near Court Square for lab and office space, according to an […]

Origin Opportunity Fund raises $105M in 17 hours, citing “insane amount of demand”

Posted: 20 Nov 2018 12:00 PM PST

Origin Investments last week launched a fund directed at three developments being planned inside Opportunity Zones — one in Denver, and two in Charlotte, North Carolina Less than a day later, Chicago-based Origin counted $105 million in commitments from 425 investors. The firm would still be interested in the three development sites, two of which went under contract last week, even if they hadn’t been drawn into Opportunity Zones, Origin principal Michael Episcope said. But […]

Apollo aims for $1B for third real estate fund

Posted: 20 Nov 2018 11:30 AM PST

Apollo Global Management plans to start raising a new real estate investment fund. The private equity company has held talks with potential investors for what would be its third property fund, Bloomberg reported. It plans to raise at least $1 billion starting in January for the fund, which will invest in retail properties, industrial properties, senior housing, manufactured housing and hotels. Apollo’s real assets unit had $15.4 billion under management at the end of the […]

Hamptons Cheat Sheet: Sag Harbor’s Whimsy Farms lists for $11M … & more

Posted: 20 Nov 2018 11:00 AM PST

Sag Harbor’s Whimsy Farms lists for $11M A compound that spans more than 11 acres in Sag Harbor has hit the market for nearly $11 million, according to Curbed. Dubbed Whimsy Farms, the compound has four separate properties that include apple orchards, landscaped gardens, a 75-foot gunite pool, and spa. There’s a 6,505-square-foot house that was built in 1998 and has eight bedrooms and 11 bathrooms. The home has 24-foot cathedral ceilings in its living […]

Insider gentrifying: Amazon employees buy LIC condos before HQ2 announcement

Posted: 20 Nov 2018 10:30 AM PST

Buyer interest in Long Island City has spiked since the announcement that Amazon will build a new campus in the neighborhood. But some employees snagged condos there before the news was public. Two of the company’s employees bought units at Adam America’s Galerie just before the first reports surfaced, the Wall Street Journal reported. Brendan Aguayo of Halstead Property Development Marketing — which is selling units there — said the buyers currently live in New […]

CBRE’s co-working company brings on former WeWork exec

Posted: 20 Nov 2018 09:30 AM PST

CBRE has hired a WeWork executive to bolster the ranks of its new co-working company. Robert Cartwright will join Hana as chief operating officer to oversee the company’s build efforts, personnel management and hospitality service. He left his position as senior vice president of global operations at WeWork in August, according to his LinkedIn, where he had worked since 2015. He was also an executive at Starwood Hotels until 2008 before co-founding his own hotel […]

Essex Crossing developer lands $161M to refi rental building

Posted: 20 Nov 2018 09:05 AM PST

Delancey Street Associates just landed a $161 million refinancing package for its market-rate, mixed-use rental building at Essex Crossing. The developer, a joint-venture partnership between BFC Partners, L+M Development Partners, Prusik Group and Taconic Investment Partners, received a $93 million loan from Wells Fargo for the Rollins, an apartment building at 145 Clinton Street named for jazz tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins, the New York Post reported. Goldman Sachs also provided $68 million through its commercial […]

City will use public-private partnerships to help fix more than 60K NYCHA apartments

Posted: 20 Nov 2018 08:32 AM PST

The city’s public housing authority intends to fix 62,000 of its apartments over the next decade through public-private partnerships. NYCHA will expand its participation in a federal program encouraging private partnerships at developments owned by the city, according to the Wall Street Journal. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the plan Monday at the Betances Houses in the South Bronx, which converted to the federal Rental Assistance Demonstration program on Friday. RAD moves apartment complexes into […]

WATCH: TRD publisher Amir Korangy interviews Brightline CEO Patrick Goddard

Posted: 20 Nov 2018 08:00 AM PST

At The Real Deal‘s fifth annual Miami Real Estate Showcase & Forum, publisher Amir Korangy had a fireside chat with Brightline CEO Patrick Goddard about the $4 billion project. Goddard said that the Orlando leg will be up and running by 2021 and, after Orlando, Brightline has its sights set on Tampa. Check out the full video above and read more coverage from the event here.

Kushner Companies to buy LES hotel

Posted: 20 Nov 2018 07:30 AM PST

Kushner Companies is buying a Lower East Side Hotel known locally for its high volume of noise complaints. The family-run firm is purchasing the Hotel on Rivington from former Wall Street attorney Paul Stallings, the New York Post reported. The hotel, located at 107 Rivington Street, has received a record number of noise complaints in the 7th Precinct. The 20-story hotel features several party spaces, including a triplex, penthouse event space. Price information was not […]

Here’s the latest condo building cashing in on the LIC boom

Posted: 20 Nov 2018 07:00 AM PST

Another developer is joining in on the Long Island City frenzy. Zhidong Wu is bringing a 58-unit residential building to 5 Court Square, or 25-24 Jackson Avenue, according to plans filed with state attorney general’s office. The condominium building will also have commercial space and storage units. The offering plan — which doesn’t indicate a price — was filed last week, coinciding with Amazon’s announcement that the company will open a campus in LIC. The […]

James Dyson vacuums up 520 Park Avenue pad for $74M

Posted: 20 Nov 2018 06:15 AM PST

Vacuum cleaner mogul James Dyson has closed on his $73.8 million penthouse at Zeckendorf Development’s 520 Park Avenue. The billionaire purchased a six-bedroom penthouse that spans more than 9,000 square feet and features a 279-square-foot balcony, the New York Post reported. The 54-story tower is also a short walk from Dyson’s new flagship store at 640 Fifth Avenue. Other reported buyers in the Robert A.M. Stern-designed building include UFC billionaire Frank Fertitta and Bob Diamond, […]

The Park Lane Hotel can finally be sold

Posted: 20 Nov 2018 06:00 AM PST

Abu Dhabi’s state-owned Mubadala Investment Co. and other investors can now buy the Park Lane Hotel. Fugitive Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) had purchased the hotel with money allegedly stolen from the state-owned 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MBD) fund. The U.S. Justice Department has been trying to seize the property, and on Friday, intermediary companies that held Low’s interest rescinded their claims on the hotel, Bloomberg reported. The release of those claims clears the […]

In the wake of wildfires, experts call for stricter zoning in risky areas

Posted: 20 Nov 2018 05:30 AM PST

 A pair of wildfires burning across the state have claimed more than 15,000 structures and at least 80 lives, breaking records and causing massive amounts of damage to communities, families and businesses. And while some have already made pledges to rebuild, others believe they should take a step back. Experts in academia, wildfires and urban planning say the state should explore other ways to deal with the fires, rather than simply rebuilding in the […]

Watch: These are the 5 most valuable real estate startups

Posted: 20 Nov 2018 05:00 AM PST

Earlier this month, Japanese investment firm SoftBank made another big bet on co-working company WeWork, providing a $3 billion investment. It values the firm at $45 billion, second only to Uber in the startup world. We compiled a short list of the other big venture-capital backed real estate companies. Take a look!

Ceruzzi Properties’ retreat from risk

Posted: 20 Nov 2018 04:30 AM PST

Not long after developer Lou Ceruzzi suddenly died in August 2017, his longtime deputy and designated successor, Arthur Hooper, started getting calls from banks. “Every lender called up and said, well, are you okay? Are you still in business? We have a guarantee here, are the assets still in place?” he said. Ceruzzi’s unexpected death, caused by an aortic aneurysm at age 64, shook the company to the core. It left Hooper and a small […]

This debt startup wants to take on real estate VCs

Posted: 20 Nov 2018 04:00 AM PST

Amid a boom in real estate-focused venture funds, one investment outfit is going against the grain. Upper90, founded earlier this year by Seamless co-founder Jason Finger, Goldman Sachs veteran William Libby and Alex Urdea, formerly of Solus Alternative Asset Management, offers an alternative to venture capital. Rather than provide cash in exchange for big stakes in startups, it seeks to fund startups’ more capital-intensive real estate projects, for example by extending loans. The model is […]