The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Facebook revisits housing ad policy as part of discrimination settlement

Posted: 19 Mar 2019 03:15 PM PDT

In a blow to some real estate advertisers, Facebook has announced that it will no longer allow housing ads to target users by ZIP code, and will also impose a 15-mile minimum radius for geographic ad targeting. The decision comes as part of a settlement of five discrimination lawsuits filed by the National Fair Housing Alliance, the Communications Workers of America and others plaintiffs, which will also include just under $5 million in payments, the […]

This AI-based real estate startup just raised $45M

Posted: 19 Mar 2019 02:30 PM PDT

OJO Labs — which has developed an artificial intelligence-based assistant for the homebuying process — just raised $45 million in a Series C funding round. The Austin-based company will use the money to expand and speed up its product development, the company said in a statement. Investors in the funding round include LiveOak Venture Partners, Realogy Holdings, Royal Bank of Canada and Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures. OJO has a virtual assistant that seeks to help […]

Move over, Singapore: Here are the world’s most expensive cities

Posted: 19 Mar 2019 02:00 PM PDT

Singapore is getting some competition in a new ranking of the world’s priciest cities. The Asian city is tied with Paris and Hong Kong, Bloomberg reported, citing the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Worldwide Cost of Living Survey. Singapore topped the list for five years. Zurich and Geneva came in third and fourth place, the report said. New York and Los Angeles — which previously fell to 13th and 14th place, respectively — made it back into […]

Blackstone’s EQ Office lands $570M refi for Park Avenue Tower

Posted: 19 Mar 2019 01:30 PM PDT

Blackstone Group subsidiary EQ Office locked down a refinancing deal for its 36-story Park Avenue Tower, which has seen some new leasing activity of late. The firm secured $570 million from Morgan Stanley for 65 East 55th Street, according to a source familiar with the transaction. Blackstone and Morgan Stanley declined to comment. EQ Office bought the 625,000-square-foot property in 2014 for $750 million. The landlord that year received a $560 million loan on the […]

Plaza PH buyer spends $29M to expand aerie

Posted: 19 Mar 2019 12:50 PM PDT

The owner of the Plaza Hotel’s triplex penthouse is upsizing. The anonymous investor — who scooped up the 6,300-square-food aerie from developer Christian Candy for $32.7 million in 2017 — just shelled out another $29 million for a duplex several floors below it, records show. The seller appears to be Jose Antonio Perez Helguera, managing director of Miami-based Agave Holdings. He purchased the unit for $22.9 million in 2008. Combined, the two units span more […]

That picture you took at The Vessel? Related owns it.

Posted: 19 Mar 2019 12:21 PM PDT

UPDATED, March 19, 4:32 p.m.: As Hudson Yards officially opened Friday, thousands of New Yorkers streamed to the site to view and photograph the centerpiece item: The Vessel, a 150-foot tall honeycomb shaped series of staircases. But over the weekend, people expressed outrage after learning that any photo or video featuring the The Vessel — which has also been dubbed “The Shawarma” — becomes the property of site developer Related Companies, which says it can […]

Here’s what the $10M-$20M NYC investment sales market looked like last week

Posted: 19 Mar 2019 11:30 AM PDT

In Brooklyn, a charter school purchased its four-story building and Irving Langer sold in Far Rockaway. Here are the details on last week’s mid-market investment sales around New York City, according to records filed with the city’s Department of Finance. 1. New Dawn Charter Schools bought 242 Hoyt Street, the site of its Boerum Hill high school, for $14 million. The seller was decades-long owner Ulbern Realty, LLC, with Edward Lubin as member, according to […]

New Jersey Cheat Sheet: Toys ‘R’ Us unloads former Wayne HQ, Gov. Murphy touts Opportunity Zone awards… & more

Posted: 19 Mar 2019 11:00 AM PDT

Former Toys ‘R’ Us HQ in Wayne sold to mystery buyer CBRE Group closed Monday on the sale of a 621,000-square-foot former Toys “R” Us corporate headquarters in Wayne. CBRE’s Jeff Babikian, Robert L’Abbate, Allyson L’Abbate, Nor Ramos and Brian Godau advised the company on the sale, although the brokerage firm’s statement did not disclose the purchase price for the 191-acre campus, which was sold to an unnamed buyer. The two-building property, known as […]

Bucking trend, Paragon Commercial to invest $500M in “neighborhood shopping centers”

Posted: 19 Mar 2019 10:15 AM PDT

As mall operators and retailers across the country struggle with sales, one local firm is going all in. El Segundo-based Paragon Commercial Group will invest $500 million over the next 18 months in retail property acquisitions, the company announced in a release Tuesday. Jim Dillavou, Paragon co-founder and principal, said the firm will focus on “neighborhood shopping centers” that typically have a grocery market. Each acquisition will range from $20 million to $80 million. The […]

Eight of Kushner’s Manhattan buildings are illegally occupied, Ritchie Torres investigation finds

Posted: 19 Mar 2019 09:32 AM PDT

The Kushner family real estate company is operating eight East Village rental buildings illegally, Bronx Councilmember Ritchie Torres alleged at a Tuesday morning press conference outside the company’s 666 Fifth Avenue headquarters. Torres said that his investigation, launched in cooperation with the nonprofit Housing Rights Initiative, found the buildings had expired certificates of occupancy, meaning tenants should not be allowed to live in the properties. The buildings, according to HRI’s Aaron Carr, have unpaid fines […]

Trump-Deutsche Bank ties a “bond born of necessity and ambition”: report

Posted: 19 Mar 2019 09:00 AM PDT

Amid investigations by two congressional committees and the New York attorney general, Deutsche Bank officials have sought to downplay the bank’s ties to President Donald Trump. But a new report from the New York Times, based on interviews with more than 20 current and former Deutsche Bank executives and board members, argues that the bank’s eagerness to make a name for itself on Wall Street led it to ignore repeated red flags over almost two […]

Joining forces: RE/MAX and Redfin have a new lead referral partnership

Posted: 19 Mar 2019 08:30 AM PDT

RE/MAX agents can now boost their business through Redfin’s referral program. The two brokerages announced a partnership that will give RE/MAX agents exclusive access to Redfin’s agent referral program across 5,000 U.S. ZIP codes and Canada, Inman reported. Agents will get a discounted rate — and the initial partnership will last two years, with the two firms re-evaluating whether to continue beyond 2021. “We just looked at it an opportunity to provide another value add […]

Send the date: Share your real estate events with The Real Deal!

Posted: 19 Mar 2019 07:45 AM PDT

Each week, The Real Deal provides a roundup of the top real estate events in New York you need to know for the week ahead. Send conferences, panel events, networking opportunities and more to events@TheRealDeal.com. To search for future industry events or browse past ones, click here.

Boston, LA office landlords to benefit from “flight to quality” amid economic slowdown

Posted: 19 Mar 2019 07:00 AM PDT

As the U.S. economy slows, cities with more diversified economic bases stand to gain as investors move away from riskier bets. Such cities include Los Angeles, which is seeing a tech and media boom, and Boston, where a strong biotechnology sector is supporting the city’s traditional financial-services base, Bloomberg reported. “The focus should be on quality of market and quality of real estate,” JPMorgan Asset Management co-portfolio manager of real estate Ann Cole told Bloomberg. […]

JLL scoops up brokerage HFF for $2B

Posted: 19 Mar 2019 06:14 AM PDT

UPDATED, March 19, 11:13 a.m.: JLL has a definitive agreement to acquire HFF for approximately $2 billion in cash and stocks, the companies announced Tuesday. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter, subject to HFF shareholder approval. Both companies’ boards have unanimously approved the deal, which values HFF at $49.16 per share based on yesterday’s market close. “Increasing the scale of our Capital Markets business is one of the key priorities in our […]

Bizarre feud between former United Realty partners takes another turn

Posted: 19 Mar 2019 06:12 AM PDT

A beating in an elevator. A syringe full of LSD. Over 3,000 thousand pieces of artwork. The years-long feud between United Realty Partners’ ex-CEO and ex-president has taken a bizarre turn in recent months. A month after alleging that former president Eli Verschleiser plotted to inject him with psychedelic drugs, former United CEO Jacob Frydman has filed another lawsuit, accusing his erstwhile business partner of hiding millions of dollars in assets in a complex scheme, […]

City taps groups that sued it to develop Broadway Triangle site

Posted: 19 Mar 2019 05:37 AM PDT

A decade after community groups sued the city over racial discrimination at a Brooklyn affordable housing development, some of those same groups are part of the team that will develop the site. The city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development has selected local partnership Unified Neighborhood Partners and for-profit developer Mega Contracting Group to develop 380 apartments at three sites totaling 69,000 square feet, the Wall Street Journal reported. The city settled a lawsuit in […]

The Collective acquires Paper Factory Hotel in Queens

Posted: 19 Mar 2019 05:00 AM PDT

London-based co-living company the Collective has purchased the 125-key Paper Factory Hotel in Long Island City, the company announced Monday. The plan is to convert the hotel at 37-06 36th Street into a “short-stay” co-living arrangement, for stays between one and 29 days, according to company spokesperson Samantha Garfield. The Collective declined to provide a sales price, but a press release stated that the sale brought the company’s total New York property investments to $150 […]

Building on a prayer: Why big property deals and new developments involving churches are on the rise

Posted: 19 Mar 2019 04:30 AM PDT

The city’s real estate industry isn’t known for showing mercy. But as New York continues to grapple with an affordable housing crisis, developers are increasingly teaming up with institutions known for doing just that. Big property deals and new developments involving churches are on the rise, sources say, from Ebenezer Plaza in Brownsville to Trinity Church’s growing presence in Hudson Square. “Everybody is trying to see how they can partner in a joint venture with […]

Cracking the bro code: The Alexanders are basking in success–but is it entirely theirs?

Posted: 19 Mar 2019 04:30 AM PDT

Walk into Oren Alexander’s home in Miami Beach and it feels like you’re at one of his listings. A manager greets guests, buzzing them through to the porte-cochère, and ushers them into the lavish Mediterranean-style waterfront property on Flamingo Drive. Oren, sporting a beige jacket and pants, a white T-shirt and sneakers, walks in, grabbing an espresso prepared for him. He heads to a living area overlooking the pool, sitting down next to a wooden […]