The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

WeWork bailout reduction eyed, agents revolt against StreetEasy price hike

Posted: 21 Nov 2019 04:15 PM PST

Every weekday The Real Deal rounds up New York’s biggest real estate news. 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 7:15 p.m. SoftBank executives are trying to reduce the $3 billion offer for WeWork stock made as part of its rescue package. The idea is to shrink the amount SoftBank pays to founders, employees and investors, notably co-founder

Ilhan Omar’s $1T housing plan aims to create 12M affordable units

Posted: 21 Nov 2019 03:00 PM PST

Bernie Sanders has one. So does Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Now, Representative Ilhan Omar has added her own housing plan to the field of left-leaning elected officials who have proposed dramatic expansions of how government funds housing. The Minnesota Democrat is calling for $1 trillion to be invested into affordable housing and public housing across the country, which she says will create 12 million units over the next decade. The proposal, dubbed the “Homes for All Act,”

What’s next for the co-working business?

Posted: 21 Nov 2019 02:15 PM PST

WeWork’s implosion could be the hard reset needed for the co-working industry. “We didn’t really estimate the magnitude of what that fallout meant for Industrious and throughout the industry,” said Katherine Lau, senior director of real estate for flexible space firm Industrious. “What we see is a normalization of the growth rate of co-working. In many ways, WeWork propped up the real estate markets, drove up rents and drove down vacancy. We’ll see what the

Home of M&M’s Times Square store for sale, asking $200M

Posted: 21 Nov 2019 01:30 PM PST

The home of the M&M’s store in the heart of Times Square is up for sale with an asking price of $200 million. Sherwood Equities put its 27,000-square-foot retail condo at the base of 1600 Broadway on the market, the Wall Street Journal reported. The property houses M&M’s World New York, owned by Mars Inc., which recently renewed the lease for a term of 15 years. The agreement comes with an annual 2.5 percent rent

“Indentured landlord” in rent-reg lawsuit vents at politicians

Posted: 21 Nov 2019 12:45 PM PST

One of the property owners highlighted in a federal lawsuit challenging the new rent law isn’t waiting for the lawyers to make his case. Bryan Liff, who was prevented by the legislation from evicting tenants from his newly purchased Manhattan building so his relatives could move in, has been hectoring at least seven elected officials by email about the law. In one message reviewed by The Real Deal, Liff asks several prominent legislators whether he

Moving out: Blackstone sells remaining stake in Invitation Homes

Posted: 21 Nov 2019 12:00 PM PST

The Blackstone Group sold its last piece of Invitation Homes. The private equity giant sold nearly 11 percent of Invitation Homes’ shares for about $1.7 billion. In all, Blackstone made about $7 billion since the home rental business went public in 2017, according to the Wall Street Journal. Blackstone founded Invitation Homes after the financial crisis, scooping up suburban homes at the bottom of the market to rent to people who could no longer afford

Do not hide or delete documents, WeWork execs tell employees amid layoffs

Posted: 21 Nov 2019 11:57 AM PST

As thousands of WeWork employees prepare to be laid off this week, the embattled company’s leadership has issued a warning to them: don’t leak information, and don’t delete anything. In an email sent Wednesday evening from co-CEOs Artie Minson and Sebastian Gunningham, employees were reminded that the company would take violations of its policy “seriously.” “It has come to our attention that some employees may be considering deleting materials from their WeWork computers, or forwarding

Here’s what the EB-5 rule changes mean for real estate

Posted: 21 Nov 2019 10:00 AM PST

The EB-5 program’s new federal regulations take effect today, and will double the minimum dollar amount that all foreign visa-seekers must plow into development projects. The rules are designed to clamp down on abuse, to modernize the 30-year-old federal program and to keep up with inflation. EB-5 allows foreign investors get U.S. green cards in exchange for investing in American businesses and creating at least 10 jobs. While it was intended to spur development in

Michael Shvo seeking $600M to refinance Coca-Cola Building

Posted: 21 Nov 2019 09:44 AM PST

Two months after acquiring the Coca-Cola building, a partnership led by Michael Shvo is looking to refinance the nearly $1 billion property. Shvo and partners Turkish firm Biligili Holdings, Deutsche Finance Group and pension fund BVK, acquired the building at 711 Fifth Avenue in September for $937 million. The group is searching for between $500 million and $600 million in debt, people familiar with the matter told The Real Deal. That would partially replace a

Rent-control fans protest think tank — in wrong location

Posted: 21 Nov 2019 08:45 AM PST

Champions of the state’s new rent law declared war on billionaires at a protest Wednesday, while their target — leaders of the Manhattan Institute — were miles away. The pro-tenant groups intended to protest a Financial District panel on rent regulations organized by the free-market think tank, but went to its Midtown headquarters instead. A representative from the coalition said it was the “wrong address for the panel, but Manhattan Institute and Paul Singer are

This is what Brookfield’s South Bronx megaproject will look like

Posted: 21 Nov 2019 08:00 AM PST

Brookfield has released renderings of its massive project on the South Bronx waterfront, dubbed “Bankside.” The $950 million development will span 4.3 acres and include more than 1,350 apartments, 30 percent of which will be affordable. It will feature a public waterfront park and promenade, along with 15,000 square feet of retail that will include space for Project Destined, a nonprofit focused on training people in financial literacy, health and leadership. Bankside will be located

The suburban S.A.L.T. shakeout

Posted: 21 Nov 2019 07:30 AM PST

For Vicki Gaily — co-owner and marketing director of the special properties division of northern New Jersey-based brokerage Brook Hollow Group — this year is shaping up to be far better than 2018. Gaily’s firm, which is affiliated with Christie’s International Real Estate, has closed 45 residential deals at an average price of nearly $2 million so far this year, she said. That’s up from 37 deals for all of last year. While many homebuyers

Coming soon: The Real Deal’s 2020 Data Book

Posted: 21 Nov 2019 06:45 AM PST

The Real Deal is preparing the 15th edition of its Data Book, the most comprehensive collection of information on the New York–area real estate market. Included in the 2020 Data Book will be a ranking of Manhattan’s top residential brokerages, Brooklyn’s most active developers, the city’s biggest real estate loans of the year and more! With data pulled, vetted and analyzed on all major aspects of the industry, the Data Book provides vital information for

Data Alert! Crunching the numbers on Manhattan condo inventory

Posted: 21 Nov 2019 05:15 AM PST

New development condo report Manhattan • Inventory contracted as developers filed fewer units than were purchased • Developers filed four plans with a total of 41 units • The state approved one plan with 11 units valued at $30.5 million • Buyers purchased 112 units valued at $472 million Supply Demand

The Closing: William Shanahan

Posted: 21 Nov 2019 04:30 AM PST

William Shanahan is one of the most prolific commercial sales brokers in the country. As co-head of CBRE’s New York City capital markets group — a role he shares with business partner Darcy Stacom — he’s brokered deals for some of the most iconic properties in the Big Apple. In total, he said he’s sold more than $100 billion worth of real estate over the course of his nearly 40-year career. That’s included Harry Macklowe’s $2.9 billion

Agents to StreetEasy: The fee is too damn high

Posted: 21 Nov 2019 04:00 AM PST

After StreetEasy announced another fee hike, brokerages and agents are calling for an alternative platform. “Every time that something like this happens it makes our need to figure out an alternative solution more pressing,” said Warburg Realty’s Frederick Peters of the new $6-a-day rental listing fee. The Zillow-owned listings portal on Tuesday announced that the fee would increase by $1.50 on Jan. 1 — and that all agents would need manually enter listing data. The