The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Ruby Schron lands $500M refi for sprawling Queens apartment portfolio

Posted: 26 Sep 2019 04:04 PM PDT

Ruby Schron’s Cammeby’s International Group scored a $500 million Fannie Mae loan for its nearly 3,300-unit megacomplex in Queens, according to property records. Capital One provided the refinancing, which includes a nearly $190 million multifamily mortgage. It covers hundreds of low-rise buildings and a vacant plot of land, stretched across eight tax lots surrounding the Long Island Expressway, city records show. The new financing replaced a $325 million debt package through Independence Community Bank from

WeWork shedding execs and selling private jet, A-Rod makes another Manhattan buy: Daily digest

Posted: 26 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 in real time throughout the day, starting at 9 a.m. Please send any tips or deals to tips@therealdeal.com Home buyers who bought after the market crash have made billions. You read it right — a new report from Redfin shows that people who bought property in 2012, when housing prices

At WeWork, family matters – and pays

Posted: 26 Sep 2019 01:00 PM PDT

In August 2015, Arash Gohari, co-founder of the real estate investment firm Xerxes Group, emailed friends and colleagues with some personal news.“I was approached recently by Adam Neumann of WeWork and asked to help him with the company’s expansion on the real estate side,” he wrote in the email, which was reviewed by The Real Deal. “I will have the exciting mission of helping to grow the company by finding new buildings for WeWork to

The Closing: Carrie Chiang

Posted: 26 Sep 2019 12:30 PM 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

Durst Ready: Developer to launch flexible office space arm

Posted: 26 Sep 2019 12:00 PM PDT

When the Durst Organization rejected WeWork’s bid to take 12 floors at One World Trade Center last year, the developer had an idea for its own flexible office space operation. The concept of Durst setting out on its own ultimately wasn’t the reason for giving WeWork the boot, but the embattled co-working giant did help inspire “Durst Ready,” a new flexible office space leasing arm that will launch next week. The company saw an opportunity

Adam Neumann is leaving, but it won’t be on WeWork’s jet plane

Posted: 26 Sep 2019 11:15 AM PDT

That was fast. WeWork is selling the private plane used by Adam Neumann days after the co-founder stepped down from his post as CEO. The company bought the two-bedroom Gulfstream G650 last year for $60 million for Neumann’s use, but the purchase immediately raised concern among investors and frustrated employees, according to Business Insider. The sale comes on the heels of mounting criticism of the co-founder that led to his removal as CEO on Tuesday.

Venezuelan government looks to seize homes of Venezuelans living abroad: report

Posted: 26 Sep 2019 10:30 AM PDT

The Venezuelan government is looking to seize the homes of Venezuelans living abroad as it seeks to capitalize on the four million people who have left the impoverished country. Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro ordered a census this month to look at how many homes in Venezuela are empty, according to the Miami Herald. In the last two decades, the Venezuelan government has seized billions of dollars in land and other assets of private companies, the

WeWork is booting Adam Neumann’s friends

Posted: 26 Sep 2019 09:15 AM PDT

UPDATED, Sept. 26, 2019, 5:27 p.m.: WeWork is clearing house of Adam Neumman’s closest allies. At least two executives were told Wednesday night that their tenure with the company is up, people familiar with the matter told The Real Deal. While a source said some of the execs were still at WeWork as of Thursday afternoon, another source said the company was in the process of negotiating their exit packages. The executives, who are seen

The Daily Dirt: Extell offers rent-to-buy program. Yep, you read that right.

Posted: 26 Sep 2019 09:00 AM PDT

If you build it, offer big incentives and even temporarily rent out units … maybe they will come? Earlier this year, Gary Barnett’s Extell Development surprised many by waiving common charges at One Manhattan Square for up to 10 years. While other developers had made concessions to lure buyers in an increasingly slow market, Extell’s offer took such tactics to an entirely new level. Now, Extell is putting another incentive on the table: a rent-to-buy

Facebook in talks for massive lease at Vornado’s Farley Building

Posted: 26 Sep 2019 08:15 AM PDT

Facebook is in talks to lease all 740,000 square feet of office space at Vornado Realty Trust’s massive redevelopment of the landmark Midtown post office building. If a deal is reached, it has the potential to further the transformation of the West Side into the city’s preeminent office destination. The social media behemoth’s potential expansion into the renamed Farley Building, the New York Post reported, comes as other tech giants like Amazon and Google are

Michael Shvo, Bilgili pick up Coca-Cola Building for $955M

Posted: 26 Sep 2019 05:30 AM PDT

Michael Shvo and his frequent Turkish business partner Serdar Bilgili are paying $955 million for the Coca-Cola building — the second time the property has traded hands in recent months. Developers SHVO and Bilgili Group purchased the 354,000-square-foot building at 711 Fifth Avenue from Nightingale Properties and Wafra Capital Partners, according to people familiar with the matter. They were backed by Deutsche Finance and German pension fund BVK. The transaction includes close to $500 million

Joel Gluck’s Israeli bond issuance falls through as Williamsburg rental project faces financing crunch

Posted: 26 Sep 2019 05:15 AM PDT

The return of American firms to the Israeli bond market has run into a hiccup. Joel Gluck’s Spencer Equity, the second of three New York-based developers to announce plans earlier this month for new bond offerings in Tel Aviv, has reversed course amid investor concerns surrounding the Williamsburg property that would secure the bonds. Spencer Equity tried to put a positive spin on the news. “The company is honored to announce that in light of

The Eklund and Gomes roadshow

Posted: 26 Sep 2019 04:30 AM PDT

About six years ago, “Million Dollar Listing New York” star and Douglas Elliman broker Fredrik Eklund had a vision. While sitting at the rooftop pool at the SLS Hotel in Los Angeles with his business partner, John Gomes, real estate legend Barbara Corcoran and his older brother, Sigge, Eklund said that “we will be living” in L.A. at some point. This July, that prediction came true. Eklund sold his Tribeca condo and moved to Beverly

Millionaires’ fortunes are shrinking. Here’s what that means for real estate

Posted: 26 Sep 2019 04:00 AM PDT

Millionaires aren’t what they used to be. The global population of individuals worth at least $30 million saw their net worth shrink in 2018 for the first time in three years — even as their ranks grew, according to a new report by research firm Wealth-X. Following the downward trend of billionaires’ fortunes, their collective wealth has dropped 1.7 percent to $32.3 trillion last year, amid stock market volatility and concern over the U.S. and