The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Here’s what you missed at TRD’s Miami Showcase & Forum: PHOTOS

Posted: 21 Oct 2019 02:00 PM PDT

HUD Secretary Ben Carson, investor Grant Cardone and more than a dozen panelists highlighted The Real Deal Miami’s sixth annual Showcase & Forum on Thursday, led by TRD Publisher Amir Korangy. Thousands of attendees filled Mana Wynwood, hobnobbing through the displays of more than 100 sponsors and watching panels that covered such topics as new development, selling homes in a buyer’s market, the diversity dilemma and co-living.

SoftBank to take control of WeWork at less than $8B valuation

Posted: 21 Oct 2019 01:14 PM PDT

Updated Oct. 21, 2019 4:44 pm: WeWork has reached an agreement to be taken over by SoftBank Group, in a deal that will value the embattled office-space company between $7.7 billion and $8 billion, people familiar with the matter told The Real Deal. The deal would buy out some earlier investors and shareholders, and dilute the stake of former CEO Adam Neumann, those sources said. The final hour offer comes before a Monday deadline to

Chicago’s ice-cold office market is finally heating up. But don’t get too excited

Posted: 21 Oct 2019 01:00 PM PDT

The year’s two biggest office tower sales have been announced in recent weeks, but Chicago investment sales brokers don’t believe it’s a sign that the market is roaring back. Earlier this year, investment sales of office buildings in the central business district dropped to a 20-year low, with only two sales recorded in the second quarter and six in the first quarter. The slowdown has been attributed to the uncertainty surrounding commercial property taxes under

Naftali accused of violating zoning laws at UES development

Posted: 21 Oct 2019 12:25 PM PDT

A resident who lives across the street from the Naftali Group’s proposed Upper East Side development is trying to put a stop to the project, which the developer has been planning for years. Plaintiff Kim Fennebresque alleges in the complaint, filed last week in New York County Supreme Court, that Naftali’s proposed mixed-use project at 1045 Madison Avenue violates zoning laws. The development as planned would be too close to the co-operative next door, with

Citing new rent law, building buyer wants money back

Posted: 21 Oct 2019 12:00 PM PDT

The buyer of a Murray Hill building wants his money back because of the new rent law. An LLC owned by Manoucher “Manny” Malekan has filed a state lawsuit seeking its $668,000 down payment back from the owner of 148-150 East 28th Street, a multifamily, mixed-use building. The complaint cites the June passage of the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019, which limited rent increases on regulated apartments. The four-story, 110-year-old building has

EB-5 sees investment boost, tensions flare between brokers and StreetEasy: Daily digest

Posted: 21 Oct 2019 11:40 AM PDT

Every day The Real Deal rounds up New York’s biggest real estate happenings, from breaking news and scoops to announcements and deals. We update this page throughout the day, starting at 9 a.m. Please send any tips or deals to tips@therealdeal.com. This page was last updated at 2:40 p.m. A construction worker was killed this morning at a Lower East Side worksite. The worker died when a wall collapsed at 60 Norfolk Street, the site

Thor facing foreclosure at Theater District building

Posted: 21 Oct 2019 11:15 AM PDT

Thor Equities may not get the chance to rock out with Sammy Hagar after all. Joe Sitt’s firm is facing foreclosure proceedings in its Theater District building at 725 Eighth Avenue, where it had planned to open the first East Coast location of Cabo Wabo Cantina, a restaurant founded by Hagar. Lender Wilmington Trust filed suit to foreclose on the property on Tuesday. The bank claims that Thor took out an $11 million loan on

NYC lawmakers to fix property taxes … in 2030?

Posted: 21 Oct 2019 10:30 AM PDT

Two City Council members are thinking ahead about New York’s troubled property tax system. Eleven years ahead, to be exact. Last week, Helen Rosenthal and Ben Kallos introduced a bill mandating evaluation of the system in 2030. The idea is to prevent it from becoming warped over time, as has occurred since the last major change was made four decades ago. The law would create a commission appointed by the mayor and speaker to analyze

Data on the brain: Who’s inking office leases?

Posted: 21 Oct 2019 10:07 AM PDT

Office leasing in Manhattan • Midtown office leasing saw a slow August with 780,000 square feet in deals inked, down 28 percent from the month before and down 30 percent year-over-year. The availability rate rose half a percentage point, to 11.1 percent, thanks to several new availabilities. The average asking rent, meanwhile, climbed to $87.42. The largest deal in Midtown and citywide went to law firm Davis & Gilbert, which took up 85,862 square feet

In a sputtering market, luxury brokers in Chicago’s tony suburbs get creative

Posted: 21 Oct 2019 08:15 AM PDT

It wasn’t long ago that mansions in the Chicago’s northern suburbs were in high demand. There were bidding wars, brokers scrapped for listings, and prices regularly eclipsed $1 million. But in the past decade, the luxury market has turned sluggish. In many towns, sales are declining, prices are lower, and homes are lingering on the market longer. As sellers who snapped up seven-figure suburban mansions head for warmer climates or downsized downtown condos, many are

Opportunity Zones, luxury residential pricing, the diversity dilemma and more at TRD Miami’s Showcase & Forum

Posted: 21 Oct 2019 07:30 AM PDT

Grant Cardone jumped on stage, bringing along an entourage to The Real Deal’s Sixth Annual Miami Real Estate Showcase & Forum, waving 10X flags and claiming they made thousands of dollars listening to his message. The investor, author and motivational speaker who talks to aspiring entrepreneurs around the world focused his conversation on real estate. For Cardone, who focuses on the multifamily market, the dream of homeownership will be dead. People want apartments and they

“Exceptionally wide” townhouse sells at exceptional discount

Posted: 21 Oct 2019 06:45 AM PDT

Size matters in real estate, but so does price. The 30-foot wide townhouse at 128 East 73rd Street was touted as a “behemoth” and “exceptionally wide” when it hit the market in 2016 with a colossal $42 million asking price. But largesse did not win the day. When the home finally sold earlier this month, the price was 64% percent lower — a mere $14.99 million, according to property records. The seller is the estate

EB-5 investors rush in ahead of looming rules change

Posted: 21 Oct 2019 05:15 AM PDT

Alejandro Navia had been getting just a handful of calls each month from potential EB-5 investors for his development projects. A combination of fraud allegations involving the federal visa program and a backlog of green card applications have contributed to its waning popularity. But in the past two months, things have changed. Navia has received calls from 30 investors looking to tap the EB-5 program at two of his hotel sites, one in Arizona and

Brokerage firms are locking horns with StreetEasy again. Here’s why

Posted: 21 Oct 2019 04:30 AM PDT

StreetEasy is at the center of controversy once again. In the past month, two separate incidents laid bare the latest animosities between the online listings giant and the city’s top residential firms. The Zillow Group-owned website has found a new way to circumvent brokers and recently overhauled its fee structure to milk more money from New York agents, industry sources told The Real Deal. “They are overstepping their bounds,” said Brown Harris Stevens CEO Bess

Katten law firm moving to Rockefeller Center

Posted: 21 Oct 2019 04:00 AM PDT

Chicago-based law firm Katten is relocating its Manhattan offices to a large spread at Rockefeller Center. The company — formed out of the 2002 merger between Chicago’s Katten Muchin & Zavis and New York’s Rosenman & Colin — signed a lease for 125,000 square feet at Tishman Speyer’s 50 Rockefeller Plaza, the law firm told The Real Deal. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Katten and its 200 employees will relocate from their