The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Trump unveils housing plan, WeWork might get a haircut: Daily digest

Posted: 05 Sep 2019 02:40 PM PDT

Every day, The Real Deal rounds up New York’s biggest real estate news, from breaking news and scoops to announcements and deals. We update this page throughout the day. Please send any tips or deals to tips@therealdeal.com President Trump has released plans to revamp the housing market. A new plan unveiled by the Trump administration on Thursday includes almost 50 proposals to remake the housing market — and could see the end of more than […]

Here are the leading countries planting flags in Manhattan commercial real estate

Posted: 05 Sep 2019 01:45 PM PDT

Foreign buyers acquired just under $8 billion worth of commercial property in the five boroughs in 2017 and $9.5 billion last year, down from about $20.2 billion in 2015 and $15.8 billion in 2016, according to Real Capital Analytics. As Chinese capital continues to recede, though, a new foreign investment landscape has emerged with a diverse mix of other cross-border players. Related: NYC’s new global investment fix Here are the top 20 commercial acquisitions in […]

Inside the merged offices of JLL and HFF, according to one broker

Posted: 05 Sep 2019 01:00 PM PDT

In early July, Jones Lang LaSalle closed on its landmark deal to acquire one of its biggest competitors in the office and multifamily markets. While the $1.8 billion acquisition of HFF was purportedly motivated by HFF’s depth in the capital markets, senior managing director for HFF — now JLL —Jose Cruz said the merger will play to the respective strengths of each group in the tri-state area. With about 1,050 employees before the merger, HFF […]

Inside the murky world of residential land leases

Posted: 05 Sep 2019 12:20 PM PDT

Palm Springs, California might be the ground lease capital of America. There are more than 7,600 land leases in the desert city, mostly owned by members of descendants of local Native American tribes. But for buyers, this can create some odd complications. For example, a three-bedroom home in Palm Springs can be had for $875,000. But it doesn’t end with the mortgage payments: the new owner of the home will also have to pay $5,000 […]

Sen. Julia Salazar proposes legislation to crack down on buyouts

Posted: 05 Sep 2019 11:23 AM PDT

State Sen. Julia Salazar introduced a bill in the New York State Senate yesterday to place new limitations on buyouts of rent-regulated apartments. The legislation, if approved, would go into effect July 1, 2020. Salazar, a Democratic socialist, proposed penalties of up to $1,000 for buyout offers that qualify as harassment. Providing false information about an offer, contacting a tenant at their place of work without their permission or contacting a tenant who has rejected […]

The Daily Dirt: Adam Neumann returns $6M he made from trademarking the word “We”

Posted: 05 Sep 2019 11:15 AM PDT

The We Company is getting ready to hit the road … but just made a few quick changes. The company — parent to co-working giant WeWork — is gearing up to meet investors as soon as next week ahead of its planned initial public offering, Bloomberg reports. The pre-IPO roadshow includes stops in New York and San Francisco. Last month, the We Company filed its S-1 disclosure with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The […]

Online brokerage Dwellowner looks to raise $7M via token offering

Posted: 05 Sep 2019 10:30 AM PDT

Four months after leaving Purplebricks, the embattled firm’s top U.S. executive is looking to raise money for a new discount brokerage. Eric Eckardt is seeking $7 million to $10 million to help grow Dwellowner, a cloud-based brokerage, via a security token offering (STO) in which investors are given cryptocurrency representing their investment. An unnamed investor has already committed to chipping in $3 million, Eckardt said in a video posted to Dwellowner’s website on Wednesday. Eckardt […]

Zillow seeks $1.1B cash infusion

Posted: 05 Sep 2019 09:50 AM PDT

Zillow Group is seeking more than $1 billion in cash amid its “bold expansion.” The company announced earlier this week two offerings of convertible senior notes — a $600 million offering due in 2024 with a fixed interest rate of 0.75 percent and a $500 million offering due in 2026 at a fixed rate of 1.375 percent, Inman reported. The sale is expected to close on September 9. When the notes mature, the company will […]

Aggressive iBuyer Opendoor acquires title and escrow company

Posted: 05 Sep 2019 08:45 AM PDT

Following the announcement of its new home lending program, iBuyer Opendoor has acquired title and escrow company, OS National. OS National specializes in residential and commercial title and settlement services. Its 500-member team will join Opendoor’s 1,300 employees in offices around the country. The announcement marks the latest in a series of steps the SoftBank-backed iBuyer, most recently valued at $3.8 billion, has taken toward owning different parts of the buying and selling process. Its […]

The We Company considers delaying IPO and slashing valuation to $20B: report

Posted: 05 Sep 2019 07:58 AM PDT

The We Company is planning to halve its valuation and discussed delaying its initial public offering until next year, as a tornado of criticism has been hurled at the company in recent weeks. At a meeting in Tokyo last week, co-founder and chief executive Adam Neumann met with the company’s largest investor, SoftBank, to discuss the immediate future of the office-space startup, according to the Wall Street Journal. Among the options laid out for the […]

SoftBank-backed construction startup Katerra acquires two more firms

Posted: 05 Sep 2019 07:07 AM PDT

Construction startup Katerra has announced the acquisition of UEB Builders and Fortune-Johnson General Contractors, just one month after hiring former oil-industry executive Paal Kibsgaard as its new chief operating officer. Under the acquisition, both UEB Builders, a general contractor with offices in Arizona, Washington and Texas, and Fortune-Johnson, a construction company specializing in multifamily projects in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic, will be folded into Katerra — strengthening the startup’s reach into other U.S. markets. It […]

More JLL brokers depart as HFF teams move in

Posted: 05 Sep 2019 05:45 AM PDT

More of JLL’s legacy investment-sales brokers are out amid a struggle for power after the company acquired HFF earlier this summer for $2 billion. Mo Beler, who for the past two years served as head of JLL’s i-sales division in New York City, and Anthony Ledesma, both recently left JLL. Beler left to “pursue another opportunity,” he wrote in an email sent out to associates Wednesday evening. Ledesma landed at Hodges Ward Elliott, the company […]

Here’s what the $10M-$30M NYC investment sales market looked like last week

Posted: 05 Sep 2019 05:15 AM PDT

New York City’s recent mid-market commercial deals spanned from a school in Gravesend buying a nearly $19 million property off Avenue Y to a one-story commercial property in Hunts Point selling for $13 million. Here are the details, per property records filed last week with the New York City Department of Finance. 1.) A Greenwich Village mixed-use building at 162 West 13th Street traded for about $22.5 million. First Republic Bank provided a $12 million […]

NYC’s foreign investment landscape in the era of trade wars and heightened nationalism

Posted: 05 Sep 2019 04:30 AM PDT

More than half a year after China imposed strict capital controls, the country’s nearly $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund reportedly struck a deal to invest in a prime Times Square office tower. China Investment Corporation’s bid for a 49 percent stake in 1515 Broadway — home to Viacom’s world headquarters and the famed Minskoff Theater, where “The Lion King” performs — valued SL Green’s 54-story asset at nearly $2 billion in the summer of 2017. […]

Serial buyers trade “old” condos for new on Billionaires’ Row

Posted: 05 Sep 2019 04:00 AM PDT

For many, a move coincides with a huge life event — relocating when a marriage begins or ends, upsizing to make room for a new baby or downsizing when kids move out. But for an uber-rich set of buyers in Manhattan, it comes down to shininess. Over the past few months, serial buyers with deep pockets have swapped “older” condos for new ones. They’ve traded Central Park West for Park Avenue; limestone for a glass […]