The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Contractor alleges George Soros’ daughter asked him to deceive city

Posted: 23 Jan 2020 05:03 PM PST

A general contractor is accusing a member of the Soros clan of conspiracy — conspiracy to commit fraud, that is, by requesting work on a West Village project that was to be undone after city inspectors signed off. A lawsuit filed Thursday by Steven Waehler of WG Project Management alleges that Andrea Soros Colombel — daughter of billionaire George Soros, a funder of liberal causes and target of right-wing conspiracy theorists — and her husband

Frito Lay cashes in chips, sells Queens warehouse to Prologis

Posted: 23 Jan 2020 03:15 PM PST

How’s this for a tasty deal? The Frito Lay company sold a Queens warehouse to logistics giant Prologis for $37.5 million, records filed with the city Thursday show. The property at 18-51 Flushing Avenue is home to a warehouse and parking lot for Lay’s trucks. Representatives for Frito Lay and Prologis were not immediately available to comment. Prologis recently inked a deal to buy a large warehouse in Sunset Park for $60 million. The building

Blakely Hotel may shut down, lay off 54 workers

Posted: 23 Jan 2020 02:30 PM PST

Richard Born’s Blakely Hotel could shut down and lay off 54 employees this spring, according to a notice filed with the New York State Department of Labor. The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, dated Jan. 15, said the hotel could start laying off employees as of April 16 and cited “plant closing” as the reason. The property is located at 136 West 55th Street and initially opened in 1929 as the Gorham Hotel. A group

Chinese developer Oceanwide takes $276M loss on megaproject; CEO is out

Posted: 23 Jan 2020 02:29 PM PST

Embattled Chinese developer Oceanwide Holdings has sold its flagship San Francisco development for $1 billion, taking a substantial loss on what was slated to be the city’s second-tallest tower. Oceanwide also announced that its CEO, Han Xiaosheng, was stepping down. Oceanwide is the same firm behind the Downtown Los Angeles megaproject Oceanwide Plaza, a $1 billion-plus condominium, hotel and retail project which has been stalled for about a year, as well as 80 South Street

SL Green snaps up West Side office property

Posted: 23 Jan 2020 12:39 PM PST

Following a strong quarter of office leasing highlighted by a big Amazon deal near Hudson Yards, SL Green Realty has picked up another West Side office property with plans to attract yet more tech tenants. The real estate investment trust has closed on its $90 million acquisition of 707 Eleventh Avenue, according to property records filed with the city on Tuesday. The six-story building had been owned by fashion house Kenneth Cole since 2004, and

Triangle Equities lands $87M loan for massive JFK warehouse project

Posted: 23 Jan 2020 12:15 PM PST

Triangle Equities’ massive industrial project in Queens just got another step closer to reality. The developer has secured an $87 million construction loan from CIT Group for the huge warehouse it’s building near John F. Kennedy International Airport, the company announced on Thursday. The firm and its partners Township Capital and L&B Realty Advisors are constructing a roughly 300,000-square-foot cargo warehouse and storage facility at 130-24 South Conduit Avenue called Terminal Logistics Center. Township and

For retailers, bankruptcy more likely to end in liquidation

Posted: 23 Jan 2020 11:30 AM PST

Nearly half of the major retailers that filed for bankruptcy protection over the past 15 years eventually shuttered all of their stores, Fitch Ratings found in a report. Of 55 retail and supermarket bankruptcies, 25 were liquidated, the report showed. Meanwhile, bankruptcies among all U.S. companies led to liquidation just 13 percent of the time, according to the Wall Street Journal, which covered the Fitch research. Brick-and-mortar stores are facing mounting challenges from online retailers

Program to rebuild Sandy-damaged homes needs extra $92M

Posted: 23 Jan 2020 11:00 AM PST

A program to help rebuild homes damaged by Superstorm Sandy needs an extra $92 million, according to the de Blasio administration. About $42 million of that will be likely covered by the city — a plan laid out in Mayor Bill de Blasio’s preliminary budget — while the remaining $50 million could come from the federal government. The Wall Street Journal reported that the city is seeking funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and

Boston Properties inks big renewal with law firm at 599 Lex

Posted: 23 Jan 2020 10:46 AM PST

Law firm Shearman & Sterling has been headquartered at 599 Lexington Avenue for three decades, and it now plans to stay around for two more — after making big upgrades to the office space. Shearman and landlord Boston Properties announced Thursday that the tenant has renewed its 338,000-square-foot lease at the Midtown East building for 20 more years. The lease was originally set to expire in 2022. “Renewing our lease enables us to design a

Flushing real estate boom continues with another mixed-use project

Posted: 23 Jan 2020 10:00 AM PST

Flushing is getting yet another major mixed-use project. Developer Vicki Zhi has filed plans with the Department of Buildings for a roughly 106,000-square-foot development at 136-18 Maple Avenue. The 14-story project would include 68 residential units, along with commercial and community space. It will stand 147 feet tall. Zhi did not respond to a request for comment. An LLC linked to Amy Khoudari has owned the property since at least 2015, according to property records.

Data Alert! Brooklyn and Queens condo inventory through November 2019

Posted: 23 Jan 2020 09:30 AM PST

New development condo report Brooklyn • Inventory contracted as developers filed fewer units than were purchased • Developers filed 8 plans with 78 units • The state approved 1 plan with 4 units valued at $3.7 million • Buyers purchased 166 units valued at $151 million Queens • Inventory expanded as developers filed more units than were purchased • Developers filed 2 plans with 108 units • The state approved 1 plan with 6 units

Multifamily still delivers as investors avoid rent control

Posted: 23 Jan 2020 09:00 AM PST

Investors are still paying top dollar for multifamily assets — if they are outside of the reach of rent control. Across the country, investors paid more on average per apartment in the third quarter of 2019 than they did in 2018 — $158,296 per door, up from $151,766 in 2018 and $106,074 in 2012, according to an analysis by Marcus & Millichap, the Wall Street Journal reported. But investors are avoiding areas that are subject

“We’re putting ourselves in situations where anything is possible”: Real estate agent’s killing rattles industry

Posted: 23 Jan 2020 08:15 AM PST

John Gomes had what he called “a danger feeling.” It was Halloween and the real estate agent was meeting a client in Lower Manhattan for a showing. That night in 2008, the client turned up with a deflated hockey bag and holding a pair of flip-flops. Gomes went with his gut, pretended he’d forgotten the key to the home and offered to give the client a tour of the building’s amenities. When they walked into

Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick shopping $19M townhouse

Posted: 23 Jan 2020 07:33 AM PST

Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick are reportedly looking for a buyer for their $19 million townhouse in the West Village. The Charles Street property, which the celebrity couple purchased in 2000 for $2.99 million, is being shopped through a whisper listing, the New York Post reports. No marketing materials are publicly available. In 2016 the actors bought two townhouses at 273 and 275 West 11th St, which they have been working on combining into

Fairway Market files for bankruptcy, plans to sell stores

Posted: 23 Jan 2020 06:29 AM PST

Fairway Market has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, a day after refuting a report that it was planning to close all its stores. The company said Thursday it had entered into an agreement with Village Super Market to sell up to five New York City stores and the company’s distribution center for about $70 million. The deal was characterized as a “stalking horse” agreement, which means other businesses could also put in bids on

Jumaane Williams announces plan to crack down on landlords

Posted: 23 Jan 2020 06:00 AM PST

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams has announced plans to introduce legislation to hold landlords more accountable. In a “State of the Public” address at Brooklyn College Wednesday, Williams said the city needed to “increase penalties for failing to make or lying about the status of critical repairs, and bring transparency to ownership of properties.” Williams said he planned to present the “Worst Landlord Accountability Act” to the City Council but offered no immediate timeline, according to

Bob Gladstone, Gemdale put FiDi supertall on hold

Posted: 23 Jan 2020 05:31 AM PST

Madison Equities and Gemdale Properties’ supertall condo at 45 Broad Street will be delivered shorter and later than expected, The Real Deal has learned. A spokesperson for the developer confirmed that the condominium project is being put on hold due to “market conditions.” It’s not clear when the development team — which no longer includes Pizzarotti — will revive the project. When they do, the tower will be 80 feet shorter than the 1,115-foot-tall project

Lendlease disputes city’s penalty in 2018 death at Central Park Tower

Posted: 23 Jan 2020 05:00 AM PST

After a glass panel fell from Central Park Tower and fatally crushed a 67-year-old security guard two years ago, the Department of Buildings filed several violations against general contractor Lendlease. Now, after successfully appealing most of the violations, the construction company wants the remaining penalty to also be dismissed. Lendlease filed a petition against the DOB and the Office of Administration Trials and Hearings Tuesday, alleging that it was wrongfully penalized for “failing to safeguard”

Loan wolves: Bankers are stalking developers as debts come due

Posted: 23 Jan 2020 04:30 AM PST

It was one of many signs last year that a growing number of New York City condo developers are on borrowed time. Bank OZK had committed $108 million to finance a 92-unit condo building at 615 10th Avenue back in 2015. But last April, with the project stalled, the construction lender dialed that back by $20 million, forcing the developer to grab a lifeline from mezzanine lender Mack Real Estate Credit Strategies. The troubles brewing

Experts take issue with proposed tax on mezzanine loans

Posted: 23 Jan 2020 04:00 AM PST

Experts say a proposed tax on mezzanine debt would raise the cost of financing across the board in New York — making housing, among other things, more expensive. State Sen. Julia Salazar and Assembly member Harvey Epstein proposed the tax this month in an effort to disincentivize real estate speculation, flag over-leveraged transactions and raise revenue for public housing. Their rationale was that “institutional investors and the extremely wealthy” finance risky multifamily investments with mezzanine