The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Student housing property near NYU trades for $104M

Posted: 06 Feb 2020 02:45 PM PST

Pebb Capital and TriArch Real Estate Group sold their gut-renovated student-housing complex in Greenwich Village for $104 million. The buyer of The Alabama was an entity linked to the Simons Foundation, property records show. A message sent to the foundation went unreturned on Thursday. Pebb and TriArch acquired 15 East 11th Street in 2016 for $58 million, converting the former apartment building over a period of nine months into a 175-unit complex for students of

De Blasio warns of ‘bad landlords,’ acknowledges affordable housing plan ‘is not enough’

Posted: 06 Feb 2020 02:05 PM PST

After several setbacks to his signature affordable housing program, Mayor Bill de Blasio is pivoting to other strategies, including setting aside more apartments for lower income tenants. During his seventh State of the City address, the theme of which was “Save Our City,” the mayor acknowledged repeated criticism that his 10-year affordable housing plan needed to target the lowest income New Yorkers. He pledged to set aside half of the new city-financed homes for families

Compass hires Sara Patterson as chief people officer

Posted: 06 Feb 2020 01:40 PM PST

Softbank-backed Compass has hired Sara Patterson, a former Walmart executive, as its chief people officer. CEO Robert Reffkin announced the hire on Instagram Thursday, and said Patterson will start Feb. 10. “She’s an expert at building a strong culture and cultivating it as it grows,” he wrote. News of her hiring was first reported by Inman. Patterson was previously vice president of human resources and talent management for Walmart eCommerce. She’s also worked at Conde

Prodigy Network investors say millions in limbo as company shuts them out

Posted: 06 Feb 2020 01:35 PM PST

More than five months after the founder of troubled real estate crowdfunding platform Prodigy Network stepped down, investors say the firm has gone quiet about its efforts to turn around faltering projects, leaving millions of dollars in investor funds hanging in the balance. This week, a group of investors from Singapore filed a lawsuit against Prodigy, claiming the firm promised them an option to collectively redeem $1.8 million in debt and equity on a hotel

Former JLL brokers launch boutique sales firm

Posted: 06 Feb 2020 12:46 PM PST

Two former JLL sales brokers who left the company amid its acquisition of HFF are launching their own boutique firm. Glenn Tolchin and Yoav Oelsner have teamed up to start their new shop, Upland Property Advisors, the brokers told The Real Deal. “We are a different type of firm, much more aligned with our clients’ entrepreneurial spirit than our corporate competitors,” Tolchin said. The brokers are starting out with a handful of listings, including an

First broker fees, now security deposits? Mayor wants to free certain apartments from such payments

Posted: 06 Feb 2020 10:32 AM PST

Mayor Bill de Blasio is taking a cue from Cincinnati: He wants to give some renters an alternative to paying a hefty security deposit upfront. During his State of the City address, the mayor is expected to pitch a plan to offer renters of city-financed homes a “choice to pay a security deposit or to sign up for renter security insurance,” according to the mayor’s office. The change would mean some renters — in an

The mayor’s “affordable mix”

Posted: 06 Feb 2020 09:45 AM PST

Many of the largest projects with affordable housing approved under Mayor Bill de Blasio’s watch are in Manhattan, according to data from the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development. The agency counts projects that were approved prior to the de Blasio administration if construction began or if financing to preserve or extend affordability occurred during his tenure. There are five categories for eligible affordable housing tenants with income requirements ranging from “extremely low-income” to

And then there was one: Another principal leaves Richard Meier & Partners

Posted: 06 Feb 2020 08:15 AM PST

A third principal has left Richard Meier & Partners, leaving behind just one of the four leaders tapped to oversee the firm after its founder was accused of misconduct. Vivian Lee is the latest principal to leave the firm, following the departure of principal Reynolds Logan and managing principal Bernhard Karpf. Lee was promoted in October 2018, alongside Logan, Karpf and Dukho Yeon, when Richard Meier announced that he would “step back” from the firm’s

Exclusive: 3 WeWork board members depart, another to follow

Posted: 06 Feb 2020 07:11 AM PST

Three WeWork board members who presided over the company’s downfall last year have resigned in the past month, and a fourth is planning to leave. The exodus of the company’s top advisers signals a changing of the guard at the troubled office-space company, which has been transforming itself from a money-hemorrhaging startup to a traditional real estate operation following a brush with bankruptcy last year. Longtime SoftBank executive Ron Fisher, Rhone Capital CEO Steven Langman,

Membership-based leasing platform Landing uses $20M Series A round to expand to Chicago

Posted: 06 Feb 2020 07:00 AM PST

Landing, a San Francisco-based apartment leasing platform, has raised $20 million in a funding round as it expands to three new cities, including Chicago. Greycroft led the $20 million Series A funding round, with participation from Maveron and Abstract Ventures. In addition to the Series A funding, Landing received $10 million in a debt facility. The company started with $15 million from CEO and founder Bill Smith in June, bringing the total to $35 million

Strand to take over former Book Culture location on UWS

Posted: 06 Feb 2020 06:30 AM PST

Book lovers who were disappointed by the dramatic shuttering of Book Culture’s Upper West Side location in January will now have something to celebrate. Strand Book Store has announced it will take over the site with a new store set to open this March. “We are so excited to expand The Strand and engage the community of the Upper West Side.” owner Nancy Bass said in a statement. “We aim to continue the legacy of

Lichtenstein Is Joining The Real Deal‘s Future City 2020

Posted: 06 Feb 2020 06:00 AM PST

“Despite numerous misconceptions of both the technology industry and the property industry, we are increasingly seeing the two coming together to maximize efficiencies, increase a business’s bottom line and ultimately change the way we live and work for the better.” Back in 2016, Dan Hughes, the prop-tech lead at Rics, estimated how long it would take for two very different worlds – technology and real estate – to truly come together. At the beginning of

Jameson Sotheby’s in Chicago selling stake to Canada’s biggest resi brokerage: sources

Posted: 06 Feb 2020 05:30 AM PST

A private equity firm that owns the rights to Sotheby’s International Realty franchises in Canada is set to acquire a significant stake in Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty in Chicago, sources told The Real Deal. Terms of the deal between the Chicago-area franchise and Toronto-based Peerage Realty Partners, a subsidiary of Peerage Capital, haven’t yet been disclosed, sources told TRD. Jameson Sotheby’s, which is led by CEO Chris Feurer and president Mike Sato, hosted a company-wide

End of tenant-pays broker fees is “death knell” that will cost jobs and up rents, industry says

Posted: 06 Feb 2020 05:00 AM PST

State regulators have turned New York City’s rental market on its head. A new set of guidance, unexpectedly issued by the Department of State, reversed the tenant-pays-broker-fee system that’s been the norm in rental transactions in New York City. While many of the city’s 5.6 million renters — 8.9 million statewide — are lauding the change, some in the real estate industry claim it’s a death knell that will cost thousands of agent jobs and

West Side story: Manhattan’s largest January real estate loans

Posted: 06 Feb 2020 04:30 AM PST

The 10 largest Manhattan loans recorded in January totaled $2.6 billion, less than half of December’s total. The island’s burgeoning Far West Side dominated the top of the rankings, with financing for two luxury rental towers and the soon-to-open Hudson Yards Observation Deck taking the top three spots. 1. West Side 62-Story | $479 million Brookfield Property Partners and the Qatar Investment Authority refinanced the residential portion of their Manhattan West rental tower, the Eugene,

Losing the narrative: Mayor’s signature issue slipping away

Posted: 06 Feb 2020 04:00 AM PST

Five months into his mayoralty, Bill de Blasio blasted out a press release that quoted 80 elected officials, developers and advocates praising his new $41 billion housing plan. He’s been taking victory laps ever since to celebrate its progress. But Vicki Been, his deputy mayor for housing and economic development, acknowledged last fall that some New Yorkers aren’t buying it. In fact, many have come to believe that the hundreds of thousands of new apartments