The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Pols take aim at private equity with new plan to tax mezz debt

Posted: 17 Jan 2020 02:11 PM PST

A new bill seeks to raise money for public housing while bringing more transparency to the world of mezzanine financing. A new state bill introduced by State Senator Julia Salazar and Assemblymember Harvey Epstein would include mezzanine debt in mortgage recording and include such transactions in the mortgage recording tax. The bill defines mezzanine debt as debt carried by the borrower that may be subordinate to the primary lien, or common shares and reported assets

Opportunity Zone investigation won’t derail developer investment, experts say

Posted: 17 Jan 2020 02:05 PM PST

The Treasury Department’s investigation into the Opportunity Zones program will weed out the bad apples but won’t derail the federal tax incentive initiative, investors and developers say. Instead, the probe could provide a way for companies with Opportunity Zone funds to promote the social impact of their investments, and could push to strengthen reporting requirements on those investments. “The more that’s cleaned up the better the program is going to do in the long term,” said

Reflection, resentment and some remorse: Real estate’s mood at the REBNY gala

Posted: 17 Jan 2020 01:30 PM PST

You almost had to feel sorry for the ushers wielding chimes and dimming the lights. At the Real Estate Board of New York’s 124th annual gala, the biggest names in real estate converged on the Hilton in Midtown to nurse wounds from a year of bruising political fights and a lackluster market. “This year, it’s the remorseful ball,” said real estate attorney Adam Leitman Bailey, who recently finished a roughly five-month suspension from practicing law.

Broadway Stages plans another LIC film studio

Posted: 17 Jan 2020 01:00 PM PST

Broadway Stages is bringing another movie production studio to Long Island City. The film and TV production company plans to convert 45-10 19th Avenue, currently a food production facility, into a 30-foot-tall studio, doubling the height of the existing structure there, according to an application filed with the city’s Department of Buildings. Broadway Stages is planning a vertical and horizontal expansion of the two-story building, with additional construction floor area of almost 23,500 square feet,

$24K in rent set in motion the fatal 2015 East Village blast. Prison now looms for the landlord and contractors

Posted: 17 Jan 2020 12:30 PM PST

Nearly five years after a gas explosion in the East Village killed two people and injured 20, the landlord and two contractors have received prison sentences for their role in the incident. Maria Hrynenko, who owned the building at 119-121 Second Avenue, contractor Dilber Kukic, and plumber Athanasios Ioannidis were sentenced to four to 12 years in prison Friday, the New York Daily News reported. The three had run an illegal gas line to the

Condo lender Bank OZK reports lower profits in Q4

Posted: 17 Jan 2020 11:49 AM PST

Bank OZK, which has been behind some of the largest condo loans in New York and Miami, reported a drop in fourth-quarter net income and reported the rating on one of its loans had been downgraded. The Arkansas-based bank’s stock fell 5 percent shortly after news of its earnings was released Friday morning. Bank OZK’s earnings are closely watched since they are viewed as an indicator of the condo market and the demand for large-scale

Politico shows and no-shows: What public officials attended the REBNY gala?

Posted: 17 Jan 2020 11:12 AM PST

For the second year in a row, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio snubbed the biggest real estate event of the year. Neither made an appearance at the Real Estate Board of New York’s 124th annual banquet Thursday night. Their absence was perhaps not surprising — they didn’t attend last year’s event and were at the center of some of the real estate industry’s biggest losses last year. Cuomo failed to intervene in

Abraham Fructhandler’s FBE buys South Brooklyn sites for $58M

Posted: 17 Jan 2020 10:28 AM PST

Abraham Fructhandler’s FBE Limited has purchased five properties along the South Brooklyn waterfront in Gravesend for $57.5 million. The sites are addressed at 1900 Shore Parkway, 1894 Shore Parkway and along Bay 41st Street and Hunter Avenue in Gravesend, according to property records. The seller was an entity linked to Thomas Gagliano, whose family appears to have owned the land since the 1960s. FBE declined to comment on the purchase. The Gagliano family could not

The Real Deal celebrates 250 issues

Posted: 17 Jan 2020 10:00 AM PST

It may be hard for some to imagine now, but there was a time when Columbus Circle was gritty, Williamsburg was more Hasidic than hipster and west of 10th Avenue was a no-man’s-land. Over the past 17 years, The Real Deal has churned out 250 issues, chronicling the changing real estate landscape — from the slew of supertalls on Billionaires’ Row to the WeWork saga and everything in between. In that time, this publication has

Steve Gold loses exclusive at record-setting Harlem project

Posted: 17 Jan 2020 09:15 AM PST

In move fit for a plotline on “Million Dollar Listing New York,” Compass swooped in on one of the show’s co-stars’ new development projects. The Corcoran Group’s Steve Gold, who’s featured on the Bravo show, was the exclusive sales agent at Circa Central Park since 2018. But that changed this week when three apartments at the 38-unit condominium in Harlem went live on StreetEasy with Compass broker Rachel Glazer as the listing agent. Circa, developed

Sunset Park Community Board divided on Industry City

Posted: 17 Jan 2020 08:50 AM PST

The Sunset Park community board reached an impasse on the Industry City rezoning after a lengthy meeting Wednesday night. The board members failed to reach a decision on the rezoning proposal, disagreeing with several key components of the $1 billion plan to add retail, hotels and academic space to the 35-acre complex, Curbed reported. The development, which is a joint venture of Jamestown, Belvedere Capital, and Angelo, Gordon & Co., has yet to win the

Barneys’ lights still on, but workers left in dark

Posted: 17 Jan 2020 07:45 AM PST

As Barneys rushes to liquidate its assets, the fate of its employees is uncertain. And they are not happy about it. According to the retailer’s bankruptcy filing, despite $4 million in severance pay obligations, the company only has $2 million available to pay its employees, the New York Times reported. Now, staffers say they have experienced a deterioration in the working conditions at the stores and missed paychecks blamed on a “cyber incident,” according to

Knotel lays off up to a third of its New York-focused staff: sources

Posted: 17 Jan 2020 07:29 AM PST

UPDATED, 11:39 a.m.: Knotel laid off as much as a third of its New York market-focused staff, as the company faces high vacancy rates and a drop in leasing activity. Close to 20 people were fired this week from the co-working company’s office at 22 West 38th Street, former employees told The Real Deal. The location focuses on the firm’s New York market, and had between 50 and 60 employees. The move follows the departure

Charney Construction & Development branches out

Posted: 17 Jan 2020 07:16 AM PST

UPDATED, Jan. 17, 2020, 4:49 p.m.: Charney Construction and Development is reinventing itself. The firm, led by Sam Charney, is launching an in-house residential and commercial brokerage as well as a property management team. The businesses will now all operate under Charney Companies, according to a spokesperson. Charney hired Andrew Steiker-Epstein from Compass, who will lead the brokerage division, and several other agents from Compass and Cushman & Wakefield, Commercial Observer reported. The firm has

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

Posted: 17 Jan 2020 06:30 AM PST

Next week brings two more real estate events. Host: ULI New York Date: Jan. 22 Time: 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Urban Land Institute New York is hosting its Real Estate Outlook for 2020 at The Times Center, 242 West 41st Street. Come to this event to hear industry professionals discuss emerging housing trends and the challenges of navigating capital markets in 2020. Speakers include Margaret Anadu of Goldman Sachs and Darcy Stacom of CBRE.

Cuomo rakes in real estate cash — but not from LLCs

Posted: 17 Jan 2020 06:00 AM PST

The real estate industry might not be particularly happy with Gov. Andrew Cuomo, but he is still the top politician in New York, and donors gave accordingly in the past six months. Donations to the governor were scant from limited liability companies, though, thanks to a new law curtailing their giving, Politico reported after campaign fundraising disclosures were posted this week. But direct donations from individuals were not affected. Three major developers gave the governor

Savanna sells Soho office building for $103M to Tokyo-based firm

Posted: 17 Jan 2020 05:30 AM PST

Savanna has parted with a Soho office-retail building, selling the asset for more than $103 million to a Japanese investor that appears to be new to New York City real estate. Property records show the buyer of 434 Broadway, which sits on the corner of Howard Street, was Tokyo Trust Capital Co., a Tokyo-based investment and asset management firm headed by CEO Minoru Machida and founded in 2016. MC Real Estate Partners partnered with Tokyo

Why Ryan Serhant sent $10,000 “cash” to clients

Posted: 17 Jan 2020 05:00 AM PST

Was it a joke, or for real? That question made the rounds in broker circles after photos posted on Instagram last month showed celebrity agent Ryan Serhant giving $10,000 to a developer. “Instead of sending you a phone charger or a bottle of champagne, here is $10,000 in cash. Happy holidays,” read a card addressed to Silverback Development’s head of marketing, Jenna Segal, and signed by Serhant and his team. A second photo, posted by

TRD’s founders share war stories from over the years

Posted: 17 Jan 2020 04:30 AM PST

Publisher Amir Korangy started The Real Deal out of his Brooklyn apartment nearly two decades ago, shortly before he was joined by Editor-in-Chief Stuart Elliott and Yoav Barilan, who today helps oversee sales operations. The publication was initially a Variety-style tip sheet with columns of text packed onto the cover. But a lot has changed since then: TRD is now a multifaceted media company known for award-winning investigative stories and the most popular real estate

Inside REBNY’s 2020 gala: slideshow

Posted: 17 Jan 2020 04:00 AM PST

The biggest names in New York real estate converged on the Hilton in Midtown Thursday evening for the Real Estate Board of New York’s 124th annual gala. The so-called “Liar’s Ball” — where tickets go for $1,400-a-pop — drew the likes of Extell Development’s Gary Barnett, Silverstein Properties’ Larry Silverstein, Cushman & Wakefield’s Bruce Mosler, CBRE’s Mary Anne Tighe, John Catsimitidis and others. Board members and honorees on stage donned white scarves, an accessory favored