The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Commercial landlords face new fines as City Council passes anti-harassment bill

Posted: 25 Sep 2019 02:40 PM PDT

The New York City Council on Wednesday approved a bill that broadens the definition of commercial tenant harassment and hikes the fines against landlords to as much as $50,000. The council voted 39-5 for the measure, which increases the penalties for harassing tenants of commercial buildings to a range of $10,000 to $50,000. The fines currently run from $1,000 to $10,000. The bill, sponsored by Bronx Democrat Vanessa Gibson, also expands the definition of commercial

WeWork insiders slam Neumann and his enablers: “They created the monster”

Posted: 25 Sep 2019 01:45 PM PDT

In the beginning there was Adam Neumann. Now, WeWork is facing a future without its energetic leader — who raised billions and opened hundreds of office-space locations, but ultimately led the company astray. “I had so much respect for him when I got there,” said one former executive. “And I had zero when I left.” The bitter sentiment is shared by many. In recent years, Neumann’s behavior — which included smoking marijuana on an international

AOC’s $16.5B housing plan is really bad for real estate

Posted: 25 Sep 2019 12:52 PM PDT

If AOC had her way, landlords would feel the pain. The big ones, anyway. On the heels of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ $2.5 trillion housing plan, the firebrand New York congresswoman just released her own $16.5 billion plan on Tuesday, and it’s not pretty for institutional landlords. Though any landlord with five or more properties would be subject to her overall housing proposal, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is really taking aim at “market-controlling landlords,” whom she defines as

Brookfield drops $83M on Hell’s Kitchen hotel

Posted: 25 Sep 2019 11:45 AM PDT

Brookfield Property Partners picked up a hotel along 11th Avenue in Hell’s Kitchen for $82.7 million. The seller was PGIM Real Estate, property records show. And United Overseas Bank Limited provided Brookfield with $67.5 million in financing for the deal. Brookfield confirmed the acquisition but declined to comment. PGIM did not immediately return requests for comment. JLL advised PGIM on the sale and secured financing for Brookfield, according to Hotel Business, which first reported the

WeWork faces deep cuts, Facebook eyeing Midtown lease: Daily Digest

Posted: 25 Sep 2019 10:09 AM 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 9:15 a.m. Video produced by Sabrina He Adam Neumann is out. Now what? WeWork is in talks with JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs for a new $3 billion loan, contingent on raising significant equity. The office-space company is

Amazon made major pledges timed to Climate Week. Will the real estate industry follow?

Posted: 25 Sep 2019 09:45 AM PDT

Last week, just after Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos committed his company to a host of major environmental measures, hundreds of Amazon employees took to the streets to protest. The company’s pledge, which came on the heels of this week’s Climate Week and the United Nations’ Climate Action Summit in New York, included converting to 100 percent renewable energy by 2030. The move was “a big win, but not enough,” activists said. The e-commerce behemoth’s announcement

Adam Leitman Bailey can practice law again

Posted: 25 Sep 2019 08:58 AM PDT

Real estate attorney Adam Leitman Bailey is back in action roughly five months after the State of New York suspended him from practicing law based partially on him telling a tenant he should commit suicide. Bailey’s suspension officially ended on Tuesday, according to court documents. The attorney told The Real Deal Wednesday that he was proud that his firm had continued to do well despite his absence and that he spent most of his suspension

The Daily Dirt: Adam Neumann is out.

Posted: 25 Sep 2019 08:45 AM PDT

Well, it happened. Adam Neumann is stepping down. After weeks of speculation and escalating concern over the We Company’s impending initial public offering, Neumann is taking himself out of the picture (sort of). “In recent weeks, the scrutiny directed toward me has become a significant distraction, and I have decided that it is in the best interest of the company to step down as chief executive,” Neumann said in a statement. He will move into the role

Cuomo unveils new Belmont Park renderings as its developers break ground

Posted: 25 Sep 2019 07:30 AM PDT

The $1.3 billion Belmont Park redevelopment on Long Island is underway — and Gov. Andrew Cuomo has released new renderings of the project. Cuomo joined developers, New York Islanders executives and other officials at a groundbreaking ceremony on Monday, Long Island Business News reported. The project will include a hotel, a 350,000-square-foot retail center and a 19,000-seat arena that will be home to the New York Islanders. “The Islanders belong on Long Island — and today we

Here are the week’s top luxury sales

Posted: 25 Sep 2019 06:45 AM PDT

Each week, The Real Deal and CityRealty look back at Manhattan’s priciest apartment sales.

Remembering real estate empire builder Barron Hilton

Posted: 25 Sep 2019 05:30 AM PDT

Barron Hilton, the former chairman and CEO of Hilton Hotels, died last week at 91. Over his long career in real estate, Hilton successfully expanded his father’s hotel business into gambling and entertainment. Headliners such as Elvis Presley frequently performed at Hilton’s hotels. The hotel magnate also played a pivotal role in shaping the country’s love of football. This video traces the life of one of the most storied figures in the hospitality and entertainment

Developers see dollar signs in Second Avenue subway extension

Posted: 25 Sep 2019 05:00 AM PDT

East Harlem has lagged behind the development boom that has hit West and Central Harlem, but the Second Avenue Subway could change all that. Although the first phase of the project took nearly 100 years to complete, rendering it the butt of jokes in shows ranging from “Mad Men” to “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” the MTA fully funded the second phase in its proposed 2020-2024 capital plan, meaning the wait might not be as long this

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

Posted: 25 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.

Rent now, buy later at Extell’s One Manhattan Square

Posted: 25 Sep 2019 04:00 AM PDT

First, it offered up to 10 years of free common charges. Now, Extell Development is launching a “rent-to-buy” program to spur deals at One Manhattan Square. In an email announcing the incentive, the developer said renters will be able to apply a “full year’s rent” to their purchase of a unit at the Lower East Side condo. In a statement, an Extell spokesperson said “hundreds of residents” had moved into the 815-unit condo since it

Here’s why landlords don’t hate California’s rent control bill

Posted: 24 Sep 2019 01:30 PM PDT

UPDATED, Sept. 25, 12:26 p.m.: A powerful statewide trade organization lobbied behind the scenes to extend Assembly Bill 1482, what’s being called California’s most sweeping rent control measure in decades. That effort paid off and earlier this month, the bill passed the state Senate with a 10-year-term, up from its proposed three years. The push came from an unlikely place: the California Apartment Association. The real estate trade organization represents landlords and property owners, a