The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Manhattan home sale wait times just hit a 7-year high

Posted: 21 Mar 2019 03:00 PM PDT

The average Manhattan home sold last month had spent more time on the market than any time since 2012, according to StreetEasy’s February market report. The median time from listing to contract rose to 117 days in February, nearly a month longer than the February before. The increase in days on market appeared in all areas and price points, with Downtown Manhattan seeing the biggest increase, the report says. Owners will have to start offering […]

Hampshire picks up Williamsburg waterfront site for $50M

Posted: 21 Mar 2019 02:30 PM PDT

A partnership including Tomas Rosenthal’s Hampshire Properties has acquired a massive site on the Williamsburg waterfront from Con Edison for $50 million, according to sources familiar with the deal. The development site at 500 Kent Avenue spans 2.65 acres and offers 230,000 buildable square feet as of right. The site had been on the market since October 2016, and Rabsky Group went into contract for it in mid-2017. Its involvement in the final deal was […]

Late Brazilian billionaire’s One57 pad hits market asking nearly $10K psf

Posted: 21 Mar 2019 02:00 PM PDT

A handful of sellers at One57 have taken losses, but that hasn’t deterred the owner of an 80th floor apartment that was listed today asking an optimistic $60 million. Edson de Godoy Bueno, who was Brazil’s richest healthcare billionaire, bought the roughly 6,250-square-foot apartment at Extell Development’s 157 West 57th Street for $53 million four years ago. It once held the distinction of being New York’s most expensive non-hotel rental, asking $125,000 a month. The […]

Speakers just announced for The Real Deal’s 12th Annual NYC Showcase and Forum

Posted: 21 Mar 2019 01:40 PM PDT

The Real Deal’s 12th annual NYC Real Estate Showcase and Forum is shaping up to be one of our biggest and most exciting events yet. Mark your calendars for May 15 and join us at the Metropolitan Pavilion for a full day of programming, networking and deal making. Our 4,500+ attendees will get access to a dynamic lineup of industry leaders that will give you insights you need to stay on top of the industry’s […]

Westchester & Fairfield Cheat Sheet: WWE body slams former Stamford HQ, Port Chester developer pleads guilty to tax charges… & more

Posted: 21 Mar 2019 01:06 PM PDT

WWE ditches ‘Titan Towers’ for new Stamford HQ Vince McMahon’s World Wresting Entertainment has signed a lease for 415,000 square feet of space in Stamford, The Real Deal reported Thursday. The massive lease signing at 677 Washington Boulevard will see the WWE say goodbye in early 2021 its current home at 1241 East Main Street, a building known as the “Titan Towers,” which it now plans to sell. The three-building complex that will house the […]

No kayfabe! WWE inks deal for massive new headquarters in Stamford

Posted: 21 Mar 2019 12:30 PM PDT

It’s not fake: The WWE is getting a Colosseum-sized office complex to serve as its new global headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut. The company inked a lease for 415,000 square feet at 677 Washington Boulevard. With the deal, the three-building complex is 72 percent leased, said George Comfort & Sons in a statement. The complex previously served as the North American headquarters for UBS. JLL’s Drew Saunders, Robert Ageloff, Allison Melichar and Joe Messina represented WWE. […]

“The system is broken.” Real estate world clashes with NYC politicians at rent regulation panel

Posted: 21 Mar 2019 12:00 PM PDT

In the next two weeks, state lawmakers are expected to pass the most sweeping rent regulation reform package in decades. It has the city’s real estate industry pining for the slightly older days, when Michael Bloomberg held court at City Hall and the knives weren’t out for multifamily landlords. At a Thursday morning rent regulation panel discussion between industry players and local politicians, Councilmember Mark Levine said it was a myth that the progressive takeover […]

Charlie Kushner fires back about family, business in op-ed

Posted: 21 Mar 2019 11:30 AM PDT

One day after a press conference was held outside 666 Fifth Avenue accusing his family’s real estate company of illegally operating eight buildings, Charlie Kushner penned an op-ed defending his family and his business. In a letter to the Washington Post, Kushner defends the companies investment in 666 Fifth Avenue — the over-leveraged tower where Brookfield Asset Management swooped in and purchased a 99-year lease for the office portion of the building. Brookfield paid $1.3 […]

Diplomats say Manhattan property manager with history of fraud accusations misappropriated $115K

Posted: 21 Mar 2019 11:00 AM PDT

When they are not negotiating world politics, some diplomats housed at a commercial office building near the United Nations headquarters are going after a property manager who they claim fraudulently misappropriated their building funds. A condominium board representing the consulates of seven countries who own offices at 866 Second Avenue filed a lawsuit this week against Metropolitan Pacific Properties, alleging the firm “wantonly” created false financial records to reflect made-up payments to vendors and other […]

Mortgage giant Freddie Mac names new CEO amid privatization talks

Posted: 21 Mar 2019 10:30 AM PDT

Freddie Mac has promoted its president, David Brickman, to CEO, marking the company’s fourth leader since the financial crisis. Brickman will take over in July, replacing Donald Layton, who has been CEO since 2012 and plans to retire, according to the Wall Street Journal. Before he was named Freddie Mac’s president in September, Brickman was head of the government-sponsored enterprise’s multifamily lending. He will lead the mortgage-finance giant at a time when discussion has been […]

OLR launches public listing portal to tackle “marginalization” of agents

Posted: 21 Mar 2019 10:00 AM PDT

As agents’ frustration with listings portals continue, On-Line Residential has launched a consumer-facing marketplace for residential listings. The website, dubbed Linecity, promises to give agents full control over their listings. “We’ve seen growing frustration with the digital landscape and the marginalization of the agent,” OLR President Jonathan Greenspan said in the statement. “With our deep industry experience and the robustness of our historical database, we feel that we’re in an optimal position to serve this […]

Startup that offers alternative to home equity lending raises $122M

Posted: 21 Mar 2019 09:00 AM PDT

A startup that buys equity in homes and then offers to sell it back to residents has raised $122 million. Point, a Palo Alto-based firm, said Wednesday it raised $22 million in a Series B funding round led by Prudential Financial and DAG Ventures, according to Inman. Previous investors Bloomberg Beta, Ribbit Capital and Andreessen Horowitz also joined the round. The firm received a further $100 million investment from Las Vegas-based Kingsbridge Wealth Management to […]

Inside the other Arkansas bank that’s lending gobs of money to South Florida RE

Posted: 21 Mar 2019 08:30 AM PDT

Big real estate lenders often find themselves allaying investor concerns about a faltering market. But perhaps no one’s ever done it quite like Johnny Allison. “The reality was [as] if Peter Pan can no longer fly, Minnie Mouse left Mickey for Goofy, … with Frankenstein piloting to take over the banking industry,” Allison, the founder and chairman of Home BancShares, said on the firm’s most recent earnings call in January. “Nevertheless, we sent Batman, Superman […]

Rough cut: How the global diamond trade shaped New York’s skyline

Posted: 21 Mar 2019 08:00 AM PDT

There are figurative cutthroat businesses, and there are literal ones. Yitzchak Tessler knows the difference. Chain-smoking in his Midtown office, he recalled his days flying from South Africa into civil war-torn Angola to buy gemstones. In the 1980s, “blood diamond” hadn’t yet become a rallying cry for human-rights groups, and traders could work in war zones with impunity. The country’s capital, Luanda, was a woebegone place — sewage in the streets, no running water in […]

“Palm Beach of Route 17”: How real estate agents are wooing wealthy New Yorkers hurt by Trump tax law

Posted: 21 Mar 2019 07:15 AM PDT

There could be some SALT in the wound for New Yorkers come April 15. Some living in high-income tax, high-property tax areas like New York City and its tony suburbs may be surprised by their tax returns this year. President Trump’s Tax Cut and Jobs Act promised to cut taxes, but limits on state and local levies that can be deducted may adversely affect wealthier tax filers, Bloomberg reports. And some people are turning to […]

Realogy launches new AI assistant and social media ad “engine” tool

Posted: 21 Mar 2019 06:50 AM PDT

“Hey, Agent X, schedule an open house.” Realogy has debuted a new set of technology tools for agents, including a voice-activated artificial intelligence assistant called “Agent X” that will run through Amazon’s Alexa platform, and a “Social Ad Engine” designed in collaboration with Facebook, according to reporting from Inman. “We’re going to shape the future of the real estate industry we’ve chosen to be a part of,” Realogy’s CEO Ryan Schneider told employees and agents […]

Investors are using court orders to force the sale of properties with multiple owners

Posted: 21 Mar 2019 06:00 AM PDT

It starts with a knock on the door and an offer to buy, but it can end up in court. A growing number of investors are filing “partition actions” in New York courts to force the sale of properties with multiple owners, an investigation by NY1 has found. The actions, which date back to English common law, are being used to target properties where inheritance has spread ownership across different family members. Gail Oakes, who […]

Jumbo mortgage slowdown forces banks to rethink focus on high-end customers

Posted: 21 Mar 2019 05:37 AM PDT

It turns out bigger isn’t always better. Jumbo loans — mortgages too large to be sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — fell by 12 percent by dollar volume last year, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal. It’s a warning sign for banks that pivoted to cater to wealthy borrowers in the wake of the financial crisis. In general, a jumbo is any loan above $484,350, but in more expensive […]

A staircase to nowhere or a Shawarma? Thomas Heatherwick responds to criticism of the Vessel

Posted: 21 Mar 2019 05:00 AM PDT

Architecture critics haven’t taken much of a shine to the artistic showpiece of Hudson Yards, the 15-story climbable sculpture called “The Vessel.” The New York Times’ Michael Kimmelman described it as “a 150-foot-high, $200 million, latticed, waste-basket-shaped stairway to nowhere, sheathed in a gaudy, copper-cladded steel.” Related Companies’ Stephen Ross, who worked closely with designer Thomas Heatherwick, wanted the public to give it an affectionate nickname. Instead, it has been christened “the Shawarma.” On the […]

As the e-commerce industry booms, investors are betting big on new urban warehousing

Posted: 21 Mar 2019 04:30 AM PDT

When Andrew Chung left the Carlyle Group to launch his own company four years ago, multistory industrial space for e-commerce companies was virtually unheard of in the city. “It wasn’t even an option to consider,” Chung said. Not until mid-2016 did his new firm, Innovo Property Group, begin looking into urban warehousing in the outer boroughs while other investors continued to put their chips on luxury condos, trophy office towers, hotels and apartment buildings. That’s when […]

Ex-Town exec Luciane Serifovic launches virtual brokerage

Posted: 21 Mar 2019 04:00 AM PDT

Luciane Serifovic — a former executive at Town Residential and Douglas Elliman — is launching a boutique real estate firm targeting entertainment and sports clients. Luxian International Realty, while based in New York City, is a virtual brokerage that will use blockchain technology to help high net-worth clients buy and sell real estate, Serifovic said. Following Town’s closure last year, Serifovic said she advised several clients in the sports and entertainment industries, which encouraged her […]