The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Newly promoted exec quietly exits Richard Meier’s firm

Posted: 06 Sep 2019 03:18 PM PDT

Less than a year after taking over the day-to-day operations of Richard Meier’s eponymous architecture firm, managing principal Bernhard Karpf has quietly left. Karpf, who stepped up his role at the firm following an explosive New York Times story that revealed multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against Meier, stopped working for the company in July, a representative for the company confirmed on Friday. Karpf’s picture on the firm’s website, once the first featured on the […]

South Florida dodged a bullet with Hurricane Dorian. Here’s what that means for the resi market

Posted: 06 Sep 2019 02:30 PM PDT

Though Hurricane Dorian didn’t make landfall in South Florida, it heightened concerns for real estate buyers and brokers, who saw the catastrophic damage that it caused in the northern Bahamas. Brokers in South Florida say the once-Category 5 hurricane won’t have a lasting impact on buyers and sellers’ minds. But the hurricane, which hit the Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama on Labor Day weekend, killing at least 30 people and destroying entire communities, is giving […]

Compass says it rejected Realogy’s offer to sell

Posted: 06 Sep 2019 02:22 PM PDT

UPDATED: Sept. 6, 6:58 p.m.: With his back against the mats, Realogy CEO Ryan Schneider considered selling the brokerage to its chief rival: Compass. In a statement Friday, the SoftBank-backed brokerage said Schneider even proposed a plan where the arch enemies would form a joint venture — a proposal Compass said it declined. The statement was made in conjunction with Compass’ motion to dismiss an explosive lawsuit filed by Realogy earlier this summer. In the […]

StreetEasy is trying to steal our landlord clients: brokerage execs

Posted: 06 Sep 2019 02:05 PM PDT

UPDATED: Sept. 6, 6:41 p.m.: What started as a way for StreetEasy to vet rental listings has led to another all-out brawl between New York City resi brokerages and the Zillow-owned portal. Over the past year, StreetEasy has been asking brokers to submit copies of their exclusive rental agreements in order to “verify” the accuracy of the listing data. But in recent weeks, several of the city’s top brokerage firms have accused StreetEasy of using […]

Mark your calendars: These are NYC’s top real estate events next week

Posted: 06 Sep 2019 02:00 PM PDT

Here are a couple of real estate events worth attending next week! Host: Bisnow Date: September 10 Time: 7:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Bisnow is holding its Brooklyn State of the Market event at Sunset Yards, 341 39th Street from 7:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Come to this event for networking opportunities, along with discussions on the development potential in each of Brooklyn’s neighborhoods. Speakers include Josh Zegen of Madison Realty Capital and Andrew Barrocas […]

Fashion Week struts its stuff at these iconic NYC locations

Posted: 06 Sep 2019 01:30 PM PDT

Real estate pros who wouldn’t know a legit Hermes bag from a Canal Street knockoff couldn’t help but take notice last month when designers from New York Fashion Week started backing out of events they had scheduled at Hudson Yards. The Related Companies had long sought to turn its Far West Side luxury complex into a destination for cultural events like NYFW. But as the history of Fashion Week has shown, the couture crowd can […]

Adam Neumann lashes out at Uber and Lyft, these international buyers have planted flags in NYC: Daily digest

Posted: 06 Sep 2019 01:20 PM PDT

Every day, The Real Deal rounds up New York’s biggest real estate news. We update this page in real time, starting at 9 a.m. Please send any tips or deals to tips@therealdeal.com This page was last updated at 4:20 p.m. Video produced by Sabrina He Redfin plans to disclose broker commissions on all Seattle listings — for both the buyer’s and seller’s agents. The discount firm will do so starting Oct. 1, when […]

WeWork’s plunging valuation could spell concern for other real estate startups

Posted: 06 Sep 2019 01:11 PM PDT

Since the start of 2019, WeWork’s lofty $47 billion has been a fixture of fascination — how could an unprofitable startup be worth more than 15 times its revenue? Believers of that stratospheric valuation got a reality check this week when reports emerged that WeWork’s parent company was considering halving its valuation to around $20 billion for its impending public offering. For other real estate tech startups that are yet to turn a profit but […]

After authorities vowed review of Stuy Town deal, Blackstone changes course on vacancies

Posted: 06 Sep 2019 12:24 PM PDT

Blackstone Group is now renovating and leasing all vacant units at Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village, according to a spokesperson for the firm. The statement comes a week after authorities indicated they would review the landlord’s deal for the sprawling housing complex in light of revelations that the firm was keeping 20 to 50 rent-regulated apartments vacant. According to a source close to the firm’s thinking, Blackstone is in compliance with its regulatory agreement with the […]

The top 100 largest landowners in US control 40M acres: report

Posted: 06 Sep 2019 12:15 PM PDT

Is it any surprise that the owner of the Everything Store also happens to be one of the largest landowners in the U.S.? Jeff Bezos is among the 100 largest owners of private property nationwide, according to data compiled by the Land Report and reporting by Bloomberg. The list includes Ted Turner and Stan Kroenke, who owns the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams among other teams. That rarefied top 100 list of people own roughly 40 […]

Power lunch: Resi brokerage and lending execs dish dirt in Hudson Yards

Posted: 06 Sep 2019 11:30 AM PDT

Halstead chief Diane Ramirez quietly hunched over her arm and whispered into her wrist. The attempt at covert communication through her Apple Watch didn’t, however, go unnoticed by her tablemates — instead, it earned her playful comparisons to a comic strip detective. “That was so cool. That was a Dick Tracy moment,” joked Citibank’s Sari Sardell Rosenberg, a senior lending officer on condominium and co-op deals. Ramirez, Rosenberg and Ellie Johnson of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices […]

The Daily Dirt: We Company considers chopping valuation, delaying IPO

Posted: 06 Sep 2019 10:45 AM PDT

The We Company could chop its valuation by more than half. The company also might delay its IPO. Will We or won’t We? There are many iterations of this question swirling around as the parent company of WeWork prepares for its initial public offering. The main mysteries (at the moment) are: Will the We Company go public this month, or will it wait? Will it stick to a $47 billion valuation, or bring it down […]

As other NYC firms go quiet, Silverstein Properties prepares new Israeli bond offering

Posted: 06 Sep 2019 10:00 AM PDT

After testing the waters of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in February with an expansion of its Series A bonds, Silverstein Properties is preparing to make another splash in the market with a new Series B issuance. Larry Silverstein’s firm has secured a credit rating of ilAA — the second-highest grade — from S&P Maalot for a new bond series worth up to 230 million Israeli shekels (or roughly $65 million), according to a disclosure […]

Dayan’s Bonjour Capital inks $115M refi for Upper East Side building

Posted: 06 Sep 2019 09:15 AM PDT

Bonjour Capital has landed a $115 million Fannie Mae loan for a residential property it recently acquired on the Upper East Side. The 10-year, full-term, interest-only loan is for 1735 York Avenue at the corner of East 90th Street, which Bonjour Capital bought from Glenwood Management in 2016 for about $150 million. (It’s among the very few sales for Glenwood Management, whose late founder Leonard Litwin famously hated parting with his properties.) The Fannie Mae […]

Andrew Chung tees up Queens’ biggest deal of 2019

Posted: 06 Sep 2019 08:48 AM PDT

One of Long Island City’s most active warehouse buyers has teed up Queens’ biggest deal in nearly a year. Andrew Chung’s Innovo Property Group has come to an agreement to buy out his partner at the large New York City Housing Authority building in Hunters Point in a deal that values the hulking property at $430 million, sources told The Real Deal. Chung and his financial backer, Hong Kong’s Nan Fung Group, are in contract […]

How land banks work

Posted: 06 Sep 2019 06:45 AM PDT

Over the years, businessman and developer Vincent Trapani often had occasion to drive past an abandoned power generation plant at 1600 Fifth Avenue in Bay Shore on Long Island. Closed in 1995, the property was an eyesore, all the while sitting on the county tax rolls, accumulating $6.5 million in delinquent taxes over 23 years. That is, until 2018, when Trapani bought the 1.8-acre site for $343,000, courtesy of the Suffolk County Land Bank, a […]

Real estate stocks continue to rally this week, but trail the S&P

Posted: 06 Sep 2019 05:30 AM PDT

In the three days since the markets opened after the final long weekend of summer, real estate stocks have bumped up marginally. And the increase trailed that of the broader S&P 500, according to an analysis of 28 real estate stocks by The Real Deal. The S&P 500 since Tuesday morning increased about 2.3 percent, with a boost on Thursday amid, once again, news of trade negotiations between the U.S. and China. Meanwhile, the Wall […]

These were the top 10 outer borough loans last month

Posted: 06 Sep 2019 05:00 AM PDT

The top outer borough loans in August were all about Brooklyn and the Bronx. Projects in the two boroughs accounted for nine out of the top 10 loans last month, with Brooklyn developments occupying the top four spots. A $335 million loan from JPMorgan Chase to LIVWRK and CIM Group took the top spot, while a $225.6 million loan from Goldman Sachs to RXR Realty took second place. Overall, the list was split between five […]

The Closing: Carrie Chiang

Posted: 06 Sep 2019 04:30 AM PDT

Carrie Chiang is the consummate closer. To date, she has sealed more than $6 billion in residential real estate deals. Hand-picked by Barbara Corcoran to join her eponymous brokerage more than 35 years ago, Chiang has been a perennial top producer along with her partner, Janet Wang. Last year, the duo was No. 1 on The Real Deal’s ranking of top listing agents in Manhattan, with $384 million in exclusives. And the team closed $174 […]

These were the 10 largest Manhattan real estate loans in August

Posted: 06 Sep 2019 04:00 AM PDT

The top 10 Manhattan loans recorded in August totaled $2.98 billion, a 79 percent increase from July’s total. More than half of that came from just one deal — the Durst Organization and Bank of America’s $1.6 billion refinancing of One Bryant Park. 1) Me, Myself, and I – $1.6 billion Bank of America led a $1.6 billion refinancing of One Bryant Park, also known as the Bank of America Building, in a single-asset single-borrower […]