The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

An eXp agent made a thoughtless joke after Kobe Bryant’s death. She was fired

Posted: 27 Jan 2020 03:21 PM PST

Kobe Bryant’s death in a helicopter crash Sunday triggered an outpouring of grief across the world, with sports fans paying tribute to one of basketball’s greatest-ever talents. But one eXp Realty agent saw the tragedy as an opportunity, and an off-color remark she made on social media has now led to her dismissal. “Who’s his realtor?” agent Baha Nabulsi posted in a Facebook group called “Real Estate Mastermind” just hours after Bryant, his teenage daughter

$1K a night, easy: South Florida hotels score high rates for Super Bowl LIV

Posted: 27 Jan 2020 03:00 PM PST

AC Hotel Miami Midtown is ready for some football. The 153-key hotel opened its doors less than a week ago, and with mere days until the Big Game, it is fully booked from Jan. 30 to Feb. 2, the four days that encompass Super Bowl LIV weekend. Pre-booking at the hotel, at 3400 Biscayne Boulevard, started in the $300 range before the AFC and NFC championship games on Jan. 19 that crowned the Kansas City

Gulliver’s Gate closes at Kushner’s Times Square property

Posted: 27 Jan 2020 02:30 PM PST

One of the troubled retail tenants at Kushner Companies’ big Times Square property has called it quits. Gulliver’s Gate, the miniature-landscapes tourist attraction that filed for bankruptcy last year, has shut down at Kushner’s 229 West 43rd Street, according to Debtwire. The two-and-a-half year old company filed for bankruptcy last year with a plan to restructure its business, which reportedly struggled under the weight of its $5.7 million annual rent. Gulliver’s Gate was not the

Inside Extell’s private club for the 0.1%

Posted: 27 Jan 2020 02:00 PM PST

Extell Development is bringing a sky-high private club to what’s slated to be the world’s tallest residential tower. The developer announced plans for the “100th Floor” at Central Park Tower. The club, looming 1,000 feet in the air, will span 50,000 square feet across three floors and offer an array of luxury services and amenities. Meanwhile, the actual 100th floor of the building will house a private ballroom, dining room, bar, full-service kitchen, and wine

Compass to lay off marketing, IT and M&A staffers

Posted: 27 Jan 2020 01:30 PM PST

UPDATED, January 27, 6:10 p.m.: Compass is laying off up to 40 employees across its IT, marketing and M&A teams, the company confirmed Monday. Sources said the move, which is taking place this week, is part of a broader reorganization as the SoftBank-backed company consolidates roles that service agents. The sources said Compass will create a new team called the “Agent Experience Team” to replace teams of employees who onboarded new agents, train them on

Triplemint triples down on its predictive analytics

Posted: 27 Jan 2020 01:05 PM PST

In a recent episode of “Million Dollar Listing New York,” the show’s newest cast member, Tyler Whitman, beat out celebrity broker Ryan Serhant on a listing. “I’m just super-excited that Bubblemint gum finally has their first listing,” said Serhant, flubbing the name of Whitman’s brokerage, Triplemint, and shrugging off the loss. How staged the scene was is anyone’s guess, but Serhant’s confusion rings true. Outside of some small circles in the proptech and residential brokerage

Bankrupt Forever 21 seeks more time to sell on its own terms

Posted: 27 Jan 2020 12:15 PM PST

Since Forever 21’s bankruptcy filing in September, the discount retailer has made itself more appealing to buyers by slashing $91 million in annual rent payments and $100 million in operational costs. But now it is asking for more time to orchestrate a sale before competing plans get in the way. The Los Angeles-based chain continues to employ 22,000 workers and operate 440 stores across the U.S. as well as an e-commerce platform and its beauty

Latest landlord lawsuit claims rent law violates Fair Housing Act

Posted: 27 Jan 2020 11:41 AM PST

Another group of landlords has filed a lawsuit challenging New York’s new rent law, hiring Randy Mastro to argue that the statute hurts minority tenants as well as property owners. Mastro, a former deputy mayor in the Giuliani administration who is now at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, argues in a 77-page federal complaint that the law passed in Albany last June expands an unfair advantage for rich tenants, in violation of federal law. The case

After façade deaths, city considers using drones for building inspections

Posted: 27 Jan 2020 11:19 AM PST

After two recent façade-related deaths, city officials are mulling the use of drones to inspect the safety of thousands of buildings. The City Council’s Committee on Housing and Buildings held a hearing Monday on a bill that would require the Department of Buildings to study the feasibility of using unmanned aircrafts to examine exterior walls. Under the legislation, the DOB would need to submit a report by June 30. DOB Commissioner Melanie La Rocca testified

L3’s Williamsburg retail properties snag $91M refi

Posted: 27 Jan 2020 10:16 AM PST

L3 Capital has landed a $90.5 million loan to refinance 11 retail properties in Williamsburg spanning 85,000 square feet. The portfolio includes 81-83, 85-87, 89, 91, 111, 113 and 115 North 6th Street, 104-106 and 108 North 7th Street, 168-170 Wythe Avenue, 51 North 6th Street and 129-133 Kent Avenue, according to JLL, which brokered the deal. Tenants include a Madewell pop-up and Rosarito Fish Shack. L3 began putting the mixed-use portfolio together in 2015

William Zeckendorf wants to build an army of NYC homeowners

Posted: 27 Jan 2020 09:30 AM PST

William Zeckendorf is angling to build an army of New York City homeowners to lobby lawmakers. Residential property owners in the city could, if mobilized, become an influential group that brokerage leaders would stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the industry when it comes to legislation affecting real estate taxes and property valuation. The idea is in early stages, according to the CEOs of brokerages Brown Harris Stevens and Halstead — both companies owned by Zeckendorf’s Terra Holdings.

Charter school inks lease for FiDi office

Posted: 27 Jan 2020 08:30 AM PST

A nonprofit that runs more than 50 charter schools in the Northeast signed a lease for a new office in the Financial District. Uncommon Schools inked a deal to take nearly 42,000 square feet at Rudin Management’s 55 Broad Street, sources told The Real Deal. The 15-year lease covers the second and third floors at the 30-story tower. Asking rent for the space was $48 per square foot. A spokesperson for Rudin declined to comment

Multifamily market had its worst year since 2011

Posted: 27 Jan 2020 08:00 AM PST

It was a horrible year for New York’s multifamily market. The total dollar value of deals in 2019 dropped 40 percent from the year before to $6.91 billion, the market’s lowest total since 2011, according to Bloomberg, citing data from Ariel Property Advisors. There were 290 deals overall, a decline of 36 percent and the first year since 2010 with fewer than 300 deals. The state’s new rent law was likely the main culprit, as

Fort Greene townhouse was Brooklyn’s priciest contract last week

Posted: 27 Jan 2020 07:15 AM PST

A townhouse in Fort Greene was the priciest residential deal to go into contract in Brooklyn last week. The four-bedroom property at 362 Clermont Avenue went for $3.95 million. It spans about 3,700 square feet and went into contract 9 percent below its asking price after 101 days on the market. Overall, Brooklyn saw 13 contracts signed for $2 million or more last week, split between seven houses and six condos, according to the latest

Fendi, Berluti take over old Coach flagship at 595 Madison

Posted: 27 Jan 2020 06:35 AM PST

Fendi and Berluti have both inked leases in Vornado’s 595 Madison Avenue, just a few days after Coach abruptly closed its flagship store in the building. The stores will take up most of the building’s storefront space, and Vornado should ink one more lease in the building soon, according to the New York Post. The high-fashion line Balmain and the Japanese streetwear chain Bape also signed leases recently nearby at 650 Madison Avenue. They will

SoftBank-backed Gympass signs big WeWork office deal

Posted: 27 Jan 2020 06:00 AM PST

WeWork has landed a three-year deal to provide space for 250 employees of Gympass, the gym membership app company that also counts SoftBank as an investor. The deal is the latest example of WeWork’s majority owner SoftBank using its connections to help buoy business for the company, according to Reuters. Roughly 25,000 employees at companies backed by SoftBank use WeWork office space. SoftBank rescued WeWork from bankruptcy last year by taking a majority interest in

Support growing in state legislature for “good cause” eviction

Posted: 27 Jan 2020 05:30 AM PST

A majority of Democratic state senators and assembly members have signed on to a “good cause” eviction bill, and backers seeking to build on that momentum released a poll Monday gauging public support for the concept. The poll, conducted Jan. 13 to 19 by progressive think tank Data for Progress, found 47 percent of respondents would “strongly” and 29 percent “somewhat” support a proposal “to require that landlords have a good reason to evict a

New York’s real estate bigwigs offer predictions for 2020

Posted: 27 Jan 2020 05:00 AM PST

Real estate players at the Real Estate Board of New York’s annual gala were glad to put 2019 behind them, but saw reasons for optimism. The end of the year saw activity pick up, and leasing was strong, especially by the tech sector, said David Greenbaum, vice chairman of Vornado Realty Trust. “Young kids coming out of school want to be here in the city,” he said. “It’s going to be a gangbusters year,” predicted

Related’s CEO talks Hudson Yards and “complicated” projects

Posted: 27 Jan 2020 04:30 AM PST

On a brisk day in mid-October, CEO of The Related Companies, Jeff Blau, surveyed the development firm’s massive project on the Far West Side with an iced coffee in hand. “I used to run down here all the time while we were building this,” he said, sweeping his hand through the air and gesturing toward the six completed towers that make up Hudson Yards’ first phase of development. Just 44 when he was named CEO