The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Brookfield’s $4.7B Oaktree deal could bolster firm for downturn

Posted: 14 Mar 2019 03:36 PM PDT

Brookfield Asset Management is already one of the largest alternative asset managers in the world. And its latest diversification play could help it during a downturn. This week, the Toronto-based giant paid $4.7 billion for a 62 percent stake in Oaktree Capital Management, which specializes in distressed debt. Oaktree has countercyclical success to Brookfield, and was one of the biggest buyers of distressed debt during the last financial crisis, the Financial Times reported. “Oaktree is […]

“The early bird special”: Hudson Yards office rents soar 40% as Related’s towers fill up

Posted: 14 Mar 2019 02:15 PM PDT

As Related Companies readies for the grand opening of Hudson Yards this week, only 50 Hudson Yards — the largest of the complex’s four office towers in the eastern yards at 2.9 million square feet — is left to finish. Both 10 and 30 Hudson Yards — the pair of dancing towers anchoring either side of the complex’s seven-story mall — and 55 Hudson Yards are open and teeming with office workers. The mixed-use 35 […]

Investors make offers on Toby Moskovits’ Williamsburg Hotel: report

Posted: 14 Mar 2019 01:45 PM PDT

The Williamsburg Hotel might get a new owner. Two companies, including Brookfield Property Partners, have made offers on Toby Moskovits’ eight-story, 150-key hotel, according to Commercial Observer. The highest offer prices the property, at 96 Wythe Avenue, at $135 million. There is no formal bidding process taking place, and Moskovits has said she is not looking to sell the hotel. Moskovits’ company Heritage Equity Partners bought the site for $4.85 million in 2012, and Benefit […]

Bronx set record with more than $3B in development in 2018: report

Posted: 14 Mar 2019 01:00 PM PDT

More development funding poured into the Bronx in 2018 than in any year since at least 2009, with total investment hitting $3.48 billion, according to the annual Bronx development report. And resi led the way. The report, released by Bronx borough president Ruben Diaz Jr.’s office, said the borough also set a post-2009 record for housing units last year with 8,885, including 4,225 built with government subsidies. Diaz first took office in 2009, and the […]

Ken Griffin considered moving Citadel to NYC, until backlash against Amazon

Posted: 14 Mar 2019 12:30 PM PDT

Ken Griffin, the billionaire CEO of Citadel, considered uprooting the Chicago-based hedge fund and moving to New York — until the backlash against Amazon’s plans for a new campus in Long Island City. The political backlash against Amazon in New York “has dramatically reduced our interest in moving our headquarters here,” Griffin told Bloomberg. He called the e-commerce empire’s decision to pull out of the city “heartbreaking.” Griffin began to mull a new home for […]

HUBB NYC picks up Astoria apartment building in biggest Queens multifamily deal so far this year

Posted: 14 Mar 2019 12:00 PM PDT

In the priciest Queens multifamily deal so far this year, HUBB NYC Properties paid $75 million for a new apartment building in Astoria. The Midtown-based investment firm purchased the 114 unit Astoria Central property at 31-57 31st Street from Mega Contracting Group and Treeline Companies, sources told The Real Deal. Jesse Terry, HUBB’s director of acquisitions, said the company was attracted to Astoria’s “long-term desirability” and the quality of the building. He said the property […]

These are some of the most notable resi sales of the week

Posted: 14 Mar 2019 11:41 AM PDT

In the world of New York City residential real estate, a three-story carriage house once rented by a pop star sold for about $12 million and a Palm Beach, Florida-based couple buys in Lenox Hill. Here are the details of several eye-catching deals to recently hit public records. Source: A TRD review of public records filed with the New York City Department of Finance from March 5 to March 14. 1. In the West Village, […]

How is Himmel shaping Hudson Yards?

Posted: 14 Mar 2019 10:45 AM PDT

Ken Himmel was sitting in his Boston office after lunch one quiet afternoon in the mid-1990s when the phone rang. It was his old friend Stephen Ross. “How quickly can you get to New York City?” asked Ross, the president and founder of the Related Companies. “Can you come for dinner? I have something I want to talk to you about.” Himmel, an affable, snowy-haired mixed-use guru — with a résumé that already included the […]

Steve Wynn’s Opportunity Zones meeting with Treasury Department officials raises eyebrows

Posted: 14 Mar 2019 10:15 AM PDT

Steve Wynn is a fan of Opportunity Zones, too, evidently. The disgraced casino mogul met with Treasury Department officials last June to discuss the federal tax incentive program for developers, just as the agency was writing new rules for the program, according to the Wall Street Journal. The news comes amid rising criticism that the Opportunity Zones program will only benefit big investors and developers, rather than the low-income communities and residents it was designed […]

Westchester & Fairfield Cheat Sheet: RMC pays $487.5M for Mack-Cali portfolio, historic Bronxville mansion returns to market… & more

Posted: 14 Mar 2019 09:45 AM PDT

Mack-Cali sells $487.5M portfolio to Westchester developer Jersey City-based real estate investment trust Mack-Cali Realty has agreed to unload a 56-building office and residential portfolio to an affiliate of the Robert Martin Company (RMC) as the seller continues to shift its focus from Westchester and Fairfield counties to its home state of New Jersey, the Fairfield County Business Journal reported. The $487.5 million deal for roughly 3.1 million square feet of space includes industrial parks […]

Climate change-related flooding threatens $150B in California real estate: report

Posted: 14 Mar 2019 09:15 AM PDT

That’s a lot of people and a lot of property. A study by the U.S. Geological Survey found that around half a million Californians and $150 billion in coastal real estate are at risk of flooding by the end of the century, the Los Angeles Times reported. Scientists modeled sea level rise together with storms and other natural threats in state’s coastal regions together for the first time. Previous studies looked at single risks, like […]

It’s not over yet: Linda Macklowe to appeal divorce ruling

Posted: 14 Mar 2019 08:49 AM PDT

The bitter saga of Harry Macklowe and Linda Macklowe’s divorce isn’t over yet. Linda plans to appeal their divorce ruling and is refusing to sell their art collection worth an estimated $700 million, according to the New York Post. Her decision came shortly after Harry plastered a giant portrait of him and his new wife Patricia Landeau on 432 Park Avenue to celebrate his new marriage. Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Laura Drager ordered the former […]

Follow The Real Deal’s Deal Sheet on Instagram!

Posted: 14 Mar 2019 08:15 AM PDT

Shaya Sonnenschein and Shaya Ackerman of Meridian Capital Group represented the owner, Marx Development Group. The loan was issued by Mack Real Estate Credit Strategies. #commercialrealestate #nycrealestate #trdny #trddealsheet #nyc #nycloans #trdloans A post shared by The Real Deal’s Deal Sheet (@trddeals) on Jun 20, 2018 at 10:17am PDT The Real Deal’s Deal Sheet is on Instagram! Our latest social media channel features snaps of retail and office leases, financing acquisitions and commercial and residential […]

Fairfield lands $275M Freddie Mac financing for its recent Long Island portfolio buy

Posted: 14 Mar 2019 07:30 AM PDT

Fairfield Properties landed $275 million in financing from Freddie Mac for the acquisition of a multifamily portfolio in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. The $473 million deal includes seven garden-apartment properties. CBRE’s Jason Gaccione, Shawn Rosenthal, Maxi Leachman and David Webb negotiated the 15-year, fixed-rate debt under Freddie Mac’s Green Advantage program, Commercial Observer reported. Fairfield Properties and Maryland-based real estate investor FCP bought the portfolio from Lone Star Funds earlier this month, as The Real […]

Alphabet could use Hudson Yards as template to finance Toronto megaproject

Posted: 14 Mar 2019 07:05 AM PDT

Alphabet, Google’s parent company, may look to Hudson Yards as a model for how to finance an 800-acre urban hub along a downtrodden part of Toronto’s waterfront. Sidewalk Labs, a Google sister company, is exploring options that could include selling bonds backed by tax revenue and development charges from the commercial site, Bloomberg reported. The model could be similar to part of the $25 billion plan for Hudson Yards: Investors funded about $3 billion worth […]

Could Steve Ross be an Amazon killer?

Posted: 14 Mar 2019 06:30 AM PDT

With his new acquisition, Related Companies’ Stephen Ross is ready to compete directly with Amazon. The developer is teaming up with logistics investment specialists Greenfield Partners to buy Quiet Logistics, a fulfillment firm, Real Estate Weekly reported. The deal amount wasn’t disclosed. Related is using its Fund Management platform and will be guided by its previous forays into retail, the report said. It invested in the Equinox gym chain in 2005 and now also SoulCycle. […]

Adam Hess’ break with TerraCRG gets more contentious with another lawsuit

Posted: 14 Mar 2019 06:00 AM PDT

Broker Adam Hess’ departure from TerraCRG has gotten even more contentious, with a lawsuit alleging his former firm owes him $1 million. Hess left the Brooklyn-focused brokerage with two colleagues to join Meridian Capital Group last year, Crain’s reported. He filed a suit in State Supreme Court claiming the brokerage owes him compensation for his ownership stake in the company. The lawsuit says that Hess, who was one of the firm’s top brokers, had paid […]

Brooklyn concessions continue to fall but market won’t “change overnight”: Elliman

Posted: 14 Mar 2019 05:30 AM PDT

For almost three years, the rental market in Brooklyn was defined by a constantly increasing amount of concessions. But that may be starting to change. After two years and 11 months of increases, concessions in the borough saw a year-over-year drop for the second month in a row in February, according to the latest report from Douglas Elliman. The share of new deals with concessions was at 44.7 percent, down from 47.5 percent last February […]

Views from 1,100 feet: A tour of Related’s ‘the edge,’ the tallest outdoor observation deck in the Western Hemisphere

Posted: 14 Mar 2019 05:00 AM PDT

 Related Companies is celebrating the grand opening of Hudson Yards on March 15, 2019. But the megadevelopment’s observation deck, resting 1,100 feet above Manhattan’s West Side, doesn’t open to the public until 2020. The Real Deal got a sneak peek at the future tourist attraction, dubbed “the edge.” The deck spans 7,500 square feet and stretches 65 feet out from the 101st floor of the Kohn Pedersen Fox-designed 30 Hudson Yards. Its height makes […]

Queens’ i-sales comeback, REIT merger mania and more of the biggest trends in CRE right now

Posted: 14 Mar 2019 04:30 AM PDT

Queens I-sales enjoyed a rebound in 2018 The Queens investment sales market bounced back last year, boosted by a few big deals. The borough saw 619 deals totaling $4.67 billion, according to a report from commercial real estate firm Ariel Property Advisors. Those numbers represented a 39 percent increase in dollar volume but just a 7 percent increase in deal volume, compared with 2017. “Since fewer properties were sold, large institutional-caliber acquisitions were a substantial […]

Sluggish sales market continues to bolster Manhattan rents: Elliman

Posted: 14 Mar 2019 04:00 AM PDT

The luxury sales slump has been a silver lining for Manhattan’s rental market. Rents rose in February as would-be buyers took refuge in the rental market, according to Douglas Elliman’s latest rental market report. Median net effective rent rose 4.1 percent year over year to $3,297 — the second straight monthly increase. Meanwhile, the share of new leases with concessions was 41.6 percent, compared with 47.6 percent a year earlier. “The rental market is turning, […]