The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

“It’s on like Donkey Kong”: Redfin scrambling to keep up with iBuyer demand

Posted: 12 Feb 2020 03:05 PM PST

Redfin’s losses nearly doubled to $81 million in 2019, but there was a silver lining to be found on Wednesday. The Seattle-based discount broker said in its quarterly earnings call that it narrowed its net loss to $7.8 million from $12.2 million during the fourth quarter, thanks to better margins. During the quarter, revenue also rose 88 percent year-over-year to $233 million. During the earnings call, CEO Glenn Kelman also gave an update on Redfin’s

Here are the details on the next building in the Bronx’s La Central development

Posted: 12 Feb 2020 03:00 PM PST

The next phase of the mammoth La Central development in the Melrose section of the Bronx is underway. BRP Companies filed plans this week for the fourth building to go up in the mixed-income complex at 671 Brook Avenue. La Central is also being led by Hudson Companies. Plans for the next building call for a 25-story, mixed-use tower that will span nearly 255,000 square feet, according to a buildings department application. It will have

Jeff Bezos buys David Geffen’s Beverly Hills estate for record $165M

Posted: 12 Feb 2020 02:01 PM PST

Jeff Bezos and David Geffen hammered out the Amazon chief’s record-setting $165 million purchase of Geffen’s Beverly Hills estate while socializing on the former music mogul’s famous yacht, the Rising Sun, sources tell The Real Deal. The deal was done directly, according to a source, and it did not involve real estate agents on either side. The pair of billionaires made a good match. Geffen had been quietly shopping the home for 2 1/2 years

CNN’s Don Lemon lists Harlem condo with fiancé broker Tim Malone

Posted: 12 Feb 2020 01:15 PM PST

UPDATED Wednesday, February 12, 2020, 7:37 p.m.: One of the perks of being engaged to a real estate broker comes when it’s time to move. CNN anchor Don Lemon is about to find out first-hand, as he and his fiancé, Douglas Elliman broker Tim Malone, look for their new digs and sell their home. The couple’s two-bedroom condo in Harlem is up for sale, asking $1.75 million and, of course, Malone is handling the listing.

CoStar acquires troubled rental listings firm for $588M

Posted: 12 Feb 2020 12:18 PM PST

CoStar Group has acquired troubled apartment listing firm RentPath for $588 million. The real estate data giant’s all-cash deal will take RentPath out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the companies announced Tuesday evening. The purchase is subject to bankruptcy court and regulator approval. Discussions around the deal were first reported by the Wall Street Journal. The acquisition adds to CoStar’s apartment-listings businesses, which it has built alongside a sprawling commercial real estate information service. RentPath is

Co-working entrepreneur Jamie Hodari breaks down his unusual daily routine

Posted: 12 Feb 2020 11:00 AM PST

Jamie Hodari, CEO of the co-working company Industrious and an avowed night owl, actually begins his day an hour before the clock does — planning out each workday starting at 11 p.m. the night before. That helps Hodari, 38, remain confident about prospects for the company he co-founded in 2012 even after last year’s sudden and dramatic downfall of co-working giant WeWork cast a pall over the entire sector. Hodari said his role has become

“We are just beginning”: Peerage’s Miles Nadal talks Jameson Sotheby’s and his plans for US luxury brokerage domination

Posted: 12 Feb 2020 10:15 AM PST

The naysayers will tell you that this is a bad time to get into luxury brokerage. Margins are small, competition is fiercer than ever, and the high-end market is trending down. Miles Nadal isn’t concerned. He’s excited. “We believe what Warren Buffett said – you should be greedy when others are fearful, and you should be fearful when others are greedy,” Nadal told The Real Deal, one day after his firm Peerage Realty Partners acquired

Hager family lands $84 million loan for Williamsburg project

Posted: 12 Feb 2020 09:30 AM PST

UPDATE Wednesday, February 12, 2020, 3:50 p.m.: Cornell Realty Management has closed on fresh financing to take its mixed-use project at 200 Kent Avenue across the finish line. Lender G4 Capital Partners lent the partnership behind the Williamsburg office and retail building $84.25 million. Robyn Sorid, co-managing partner at G4, said it was done through one of the firm’s investment vehicles. Henry Bodek of Galaxy Capital brokered the deal. He declined to comment. The 200

Housing complex takes South Bronx jail project to court

Posted: 12 Feb 2020 09:06 AM PST

A petition filed yesterday seeks to nullify the city’s plan to build a jail in the South Bronx. The petition challenges the selection of a New York Police Department tow pound site Mott Haven for the construction of the facility, instead of an alternative proposal to develop the lot into a mixed-use residential and commercial space. The petition, filed by Diego Beekman Mutual Housing Association and Mott Haven resident Walter Nash, alleges the city conducted

Coldwell Banker is waiving franchise fees for minorities

Posted: 12 Feb 2020 08:30 AM PST

Coldwell Banker says it has abandoned franchising fees for veterans and people who identify as minorities in an attempt to boost diversity among its broker ranks. The New Jersey-based brokerage, which oversees more than 3,000 franchised brokerages globally, will provide financial assistance to those who identify as racial or ethnic minorities, women, military veterans and brokers who identify as LGBT, Inman reported. The new initiative, Coldwell Banker Diversity in Ownership Program, will forgive enrollees the

Rabsky Group planning another Williamsburg mixed-use project

Posted: 12 Feb 2020 08:00 AM PST

Simon Dushinsky’s Rabsky Group has filed plans for a 78-unit mixed-use project in Williamsburg, the latest from the prolific Brooklyn developer. The complex will span slightly less than 99,000 square feet at 34 Union Avenue, according to plans Dushinsky filed with the Department of Buildings this week. It will stand 12 stories and 114 feet tall, and will include residential, community and commercial space. At least some of the residential units will be low income

Savanna buying Garment District office building for $435M

Posted: 12 Feb 2020 07:59 AM PST

Savanna is buying a large office building in the Garment District, The Real Deal has learned. The real estate private equity fund is in contract to buy 1375 Broadway from Westbrook Partners for $435 million, sources told TRD. That price works out to $864 per square foot for the building. Representatives for Savanna and Westbrook could not be immediately reached for comment. Cushman & Wakefield’s Adam Spies, Doug Harmon, Adam Doneger and Josh King negotiated

Vornado Realty shutting Pennsy food hall amid $2B redevelopment plans

Posted: 12 Feb 2020 07:30 AM PST

Vornado Realty Trust is closing The Pennsy food hall, a favorite among Madison Square Garden revelers, to make way for a massive modernization of properties. The retail space at the base of 2 Penn Plaza is expected to close at the end of March, according to Commercial Observer. Its closure comes as Vornado is working on a $2 billion redevelopment of its portfolio of buildings that surround Penn Station. At 2 Penn Plaza, the landlord

After WeWork debacle, SoftBank suspends plan for second Vision Fund

Posted: 12 Feb 2020 07:00 AM PST

SoftBank has abandoned plans to raise $108 billion for its second Vision Fund, after investments in WeWork and Uber have scared off potential investors. Instead, the Japanese technology conglomerate will seek to finance a smaller bridge fund on its own for the next couple of years, before building a second Vision Fund, founder and CEO Masayoshi Son said Wednesday, according to Bloomberg. “After a lot of reflecting, it seems right that the scale is somewhat

Charles Cohen on DCOTA’s next chapter, his new hotel and producing movies

Posted: 12 Feb 2020 06:45 AM PST

Charles Cohen controls a room. Wearing a perfectly fitted custom suit with sleek round glasses, he looks like he’s groomed straight from “The Bonfire of the Vanities” as he signs checks in his Dania Beach office. The CEO of New York-based Cohen Brothers Realty Corp. has a lot to talk about. He’s overseeing the largest design center showroom in South Florida, the Design Center of the Americas (DCOTA) in Dania Beach, and is set to

Singapore sovereign wealth fund buys stake in Industry City

Posted: 12 Feb 2020 06:00 AM PST

Singapore’s GIC sovereign wealth fund has acquired a stake in Sunset Park’s Industry City. The transaction involving GIC, one of the largest real estate investors in the world, will value the sprawling industrial park at $1.3 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. The size of GIC’s stake, which it acquired from property owner and investment firm Angelo Gordon, is undisclosed. The deal comes as the redevelopment of the waterside industrial park enters a new

Sackler and Streep: The five priciest NYC home sales last month

Posted: 12 Feb 2020 05:30 AM PST

The Sackler family, the founders of Purdue Pharma, sold an 11,590-square-foot townhouse on the Upper East Side to billionaire Israel Englander. Meanwhile, downtown, actor Meryl Streep parted with her Tribeca condo. The five largest deals recorded in January added up to $96.9 million, according to an analysis of Department of Finance transactions. It was a hefty drop from the robust $272.5 million in December, when all five of the deals were at Vornado Realty Trust’s

“There was no quid pro quo”: Ric Clark on Brookfield’s 666 Fifth purchase, and renovation plans

Posted: 12 Feb 2020 05:00 AM PST

Nearly two years later, Brookfield Properties chairman Ric Clark is still defending the company’s decision to buy the 99-year ground lease at 666 Fifth Avenue from Kushner Companies for $1.3 billion. On Tuesday, Clark took a shot at “conspiracy theories” about the controversial purchase during a real estate luncheon. “Notwithstanding the constant conspiracy theories in some of the media outlets, there was no quid pro quo,” he said at the event hosted by the Young

Losing the narrative: Mayor’s signature issue slipping away

Posted: 12 Feb 2020 04:30 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

Startups salivate as pols target security deposits

Posted: 12 Feb 2020 04:00 AM PST

Last fall, a Cincinnati council member pitched housing legislation to a room full of elected officials. Dubbed “Renter Choice,” it would require landlords and property managers to offer alternatives to cash security deposits. Cincinnati has since passed a version of the bill, and at least five other states got started on their own. New York City is now considering joining their ranks. “To me, this is a seismic leap forward, to have New York embrace