The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Litigation, foreclosure cases complicate Fotis Dulos estate

Posted: 03 Feb 2020 03:00 PM PST

Less than a week after Farmington developer Fotis Dulos killed himself at one of his Connecticut properties, a battle has emerged over who will take over his assets. Some of those are already tied up in litigation, and questions swirl over what will happen to them. Dulos last month was charged with kidnapping and murdering his wife, Jennifer Farber Dulos, whose body has not been found after she disappeared in May. She was last seen

Big retail leases drop, despite Target’s Union Square deal

Posted: 03 Feb 2020 02:00 PM PST

Target led the list of New York City’s largest retail leases in January, signing a deal for a Union Square location. A fitness center secured the third spot on the list, which was otherwise dominated by retailers and restaurants. The 10 biggest January retail leases made public totaled 132,000 square feet, down 55 percent from December’s total and 49 percent from the 10 largest in January 2019. 1) Target, 10 Union Square East, Gramercy —

Editor’s note: Déjà vu all over again

Posted: 03 Feb 2020 01:30 PM PST

A decade ago this month, I wrote an editor’s note about the state of the condo market in Manhattan. It was February 2010, during the Great Recession, and things were not looking good. There were more than 500 stalled construction sites in the city, and developers were trying to eke out what little money they could from their land while waiting for the market to turn up. “Developers are replacing their dreams — shiny new

Suicide at Vessel raises issue for Hudson Yards attraction

Posted: 03 Feb 2020 01:00 PM PST

The suicide Saturday at Hudson Yards added the complex’s Vessel to the list of popular attractions in New York City where people have taken their own lives. At about 6 p.m. Saturday, a 19-year-old man jumped to his death from the 150-foot Vessel, a busy tourist destination where a chest-high barrier is all that separates the platform from the edge. The Empire State Building, the George Washington Bridge and the subway system have become known

Manhattan’s luxury market sees most contracts signed since November

Posted: 03 Feb 2020 11:45 AM PST

More Manhattan townhouses went into contract last week than any other week since June 2016. The seven contracts — up from two the previous week — were part of a bumper week for the luxury market, which saw a total of 26 contracts signed for $231.7 million. (Luxury properties are those priced $4 million and above.) The last time that many townhouses went into contract in one week was in June 2016, when eight contracts

Marriott Vacations buys six Midtown commercial condos for $86M

Posted: 03 Feb 2020 11:30 AM PST

Marriott Vacations Worldwide is buying up its property at 33 West 37th Street a few commercial condo units at a time. The company, which was a wholly owned subsidiary of Marriott before being spun off nine years ago, purchased six commercial condo units at the building from its partner at the Midtown site, Henry Silverman’s private equity firm 54 Madison Partners, for about $86.4 million, according to property records. Marriott Vacations and 54 Madison acquired

Andre Agassi scores big with Miami charter school sale

Posted: 03 Feb 2020 10:45 AM PST

Andre Agassi, the world’s former No. 1 tennis player, had a punishing backhand that led to points against his opponents. Now, as a charter school developer, his company has found a way to get in and out of deals quickly and turn a profit. Turner-Agassi Charter School Facilities sold the Franklin Academy at 5000 Southwest 207th Terrace in Pembroke Pines for $60.5 million to Erudite Properties, led by Scott Sznitken, Executive Director of Florida Charter

432 Park resale, Soho townhouse among last week’s priciest listings

Posted: 03 Feb 2020 10:30 AM PST

A resale at 432 Park Avenue and a four-story Soho townhouse were two of the priciest listings to go live last week. The first week of February saw five homes ranging from $15 million to $25 million hit the market. Combined, their asking prices exceeded $89 million. The previous week’s five priciest ranged from $12 million to $36 million and totaled $96 million. Here’s a look at the five most expensive properties that went live

The Real Deal’s February issue is live for subscribers!

Posted: 03 Feb 2020 10:00 AM PST

The Real Deal’s February issue is live online, and digital subscribers can grab a first look at our latest coverage. This month’s issue includes: –Our cover story on the luxury developers contending with Manhattan’s condo crunch –How much of his hoped-for housing will Mayor de Blasio get? –Whether the city’s largest landlord Brookfield can keep up the growth –Residential brokerage execs on just how much they’re feeling the squeeze –A unique perspective on the EB-5

Coming Soon: TRD‘s quarterly Tri-State issue!

Posted: 03 Feb 2020 08:45 AM PST

Be on the lookout: The Real Deal‘s winter tri-state issue drops soon! The magazine, which will go live in late February, covers a plethora of hot topics in both commercial and residential real estate for Westchester, Fairfield County, Long Island, the Hamptons and Northern New Jersey. Last year saw New York City’s residential firms pushing in to the suburban resi market, while some established tri-state players doubling down despite sluggish sales. To track their progress,

City sees highest number of new building permits in years

Posted: 03 Feb 2020 08:15 AM PST

The number of building permits issued in New York City for new homes last year jumped to the highest levels since 2015. Permits were issued for 26,547 units of housing in 2019, a roughly 27 percent increase from 2018, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing preliminary data from the U.S. Census Bureau. It marked the second-highest total since the last major building boom ended in 2008. The rise in permits reflects optimism about the

Dumbo condo was Brooklyn’s priciest contract last week

Posted: 03 Feb 2020 07:30 AM PST

A condo in Dumbo was the priciest residential deal to go into contract in Brooklyn last week. The four-bedroom unit at 85 Adams Street went for $3.8 million. It spans 2,330 square feet and went into contract at its asking price after 120 days on the market. Overall, Brooklyn saw 20 contracts signed for $2 million or more last week, split between 11 condos and nine houses, according to the latest report from Compass. The

Andreessen Horowitz leads funding round for self-storage startup

Posted: 03 Feb 2020 07:00 AM PST

In an age of sharing space, you can make money off just about anything: Your house is on Airbnb. Your car is on Turo. You can even rent out your swimming pool on Swimply. And now, if you have a spare room in the garage, or even a closet, you can make money off that too. Neighbor.com, a startup that says it allows people to list and rent storage space, announced this week that it

Industrious to take 100K sf at Vornado’s One Penn Plaza

Posted: 03 Feb 2020 06:30 AM PST

Industrious, a flexible-workspace company, plans to open a 100,000-square-foot space at the bottom of One Penn Plaza. The space will be split between about 80,000 square feet of flexible office space and 20,000 square feet of conference and event space on the first three floors of the Vornado Realty Trust property, according to Crain’s. The office tower stands 57 stories tall and spans 2.5 million square feet overall. Vornado is renovating the lobby and exterior

Eminent domain could be used for Penn Station plans thanks to clause in state budget

Posted: 03 Feb 2020 06:00 AM PST

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo laid the groundwork for his ambitious new plan to redevelop Penn Station almost two years ago. The governor included a clause in budget legislation that would allow the state to use eminent domain in the Penn Station neighborhood, according to the Wall Street Journal. The language said that Penn Station was “antiquated, substandard and inadequate” and needed to be modernized for the sake of public safety. The language also instructed

Zillow is officially a New York brokerage. But listing platform says it’s not what you think

Posted: 03 Feb 2020 05:15 AM PST

UPDATED, Feb. 3, 2020, 2:15 p.m.: Zillow Group is now a licensed corporate broker in New York. It’s part of a national growth strategy in which Zillow is getting itself licensed from coast to coast. “As we work to redefine how real estate is done, and create product improvements for consumers, brokers and agents on our platforms, we will be performing activity for which many states require a license,” said Viet Shelton, a spokesperson for

Landlords cheer CoJo’s plan for homeless, but warn of problems

Posted: 03 Feb 2020 04:30 AM PST

Landlords are lauding City Council Speaker Corey Johnson’s proposal to expand rental assistance as part of his new plan to combat homelessness in New York, but say it will take more than money to achieve its goals. The Rent Stabilization Association said Johnson’s call last week to increase the value of rental vouchers would allow people emerging from homelessness to shop for apartments otherwise out of reach. But they said the city must address issues

Blackstone’s warehouse play challenges Prologis’ claim to the throne

Posted: 03 Feb 2020 04:00 AM PST

Long before windowless warehouses became a sexier investment than luxury condos, Prologis was king. The San Francisco-based company bought up millions of square feet of industrial properties and built out a crack team of executives to run it – a platform that served the company well when the sector exploded thanks to e-commerce. But the industry leader’s claim to the throne is being challenged as the Blackstone Group, the world’s largest alternative asset manager, makes