The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Amazon buying Lord & Taylor building for $1.1B

Posted: 12 Mar 2020 03:20 PM PDT

Amazon is buying the Lord & Taylor building from WeWork for $1.15 billion. The bulk of the purchase price comes in the form of a $750 million construction loan WeWork took out to renovate the massive property, which Amazon will pay down, according to the New York Post. The rest is approximately $350 million in equity the e-commerce giant will shell out for the building at 424 5th Avenue. The Real Deal first reported in

Now streaming: Compass taps Amazon Video exec as chief product officer

Posted: 12 Mar 2020 03:15 PM PDT

Lights, camera, Compass? The residential brokerage has hired Greg Hart, an Amazon Video executive, as its new chief product officer. The move comes as the SoftBank-backed brokerage looks to be rebuilding its C-suite after several high-profile departures last year, including COO Maelle Gavet. Hart, who spent more than two decades at Amazon, most recently led the e-commerce giant’s video streaming service. He previously worked as a technical advisor to Jeff Bezos, and was a vice

Bernie Sanders calls for moratorium on evictions in light of pandemic

Posted: 12 Mar 2020 01:30 PM PDT

Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders called for an “immediate moratorium on evictions, foreclosures and on utility shut-offs” in light of the spread of coronavirus. “In the past few days, we have seen the crisis of the coronavirus continue to grow exponentially in the U.S. and around the world and we have witnessed a global economic meltdown,” the senator said. “In terms of the impact on our economy, the crisis we face from the coronavirus is on

New bill targets wage theft by forcing construction managers to foot the bill

Posted: 12 Mar 2020 01:00 PM PDT

A new bill seeks to crack down on construction wage theft in New York by shifting more responsibility to construction managers. The legislation would leave general contractors on the hook for any outstanding wages or benefits owed to subcontractors on a project. Typically, workers can file a lawsuit against their employer — often a subcontractor — to recoup wages. But state legislators feel this leaves too many opportunities for companies to evade paying their workers.

Small Talk: Open Houses in the Age of Coronavirus

Posted: 12 Mar 2020 12:20 PM PDT

Hi, everyone, and thanks so much for coming to our open house! Our family has spent 11 wonderful years here, but it’s time for us to move on. We hope whoever ends up moving in loves it just as much as we did, even if they decide to make some changes like repainting the kitchen or removing the three layers of saran wrap we recently decided to cover the entire property in. One of the

Coronavirus threat could help sink Anbang’s $5.8B hotels deal: report

Posted: 12 Mar 2020 11:30 AM PDT

Anbang Insurance Group’s pending deal to sell a $5.8 billion portfolio of 15 U.S. hotels to a South Korean money manager could be in doubt. A group of lenders led by Goldman Sachs failed to receive enough investor interest for roughly $4 billion in commercial mortgage-backed securities to finance the deal, and are now scrambling to line up a similar amount in bridge financing to keep the deal afloat, according to Bloomberg. Some members of

Backorders and low supplies: Contractors look for workarounds to supply-chain issues

Posted: 12 Mar 2020 10:55 AM PDT

Barry LePatner, founder of construction law firm LePatner & Associates, had an important task for workers at a major downtown residential project last week. The project was missing half of the stone it needed for its floors — stone sourced in Italy, which is under a nationwide lockdown to slow a major outbreak of the coronavirus. “I instructed the construction managers, ‘Hook or crook, get that stone out of there and get it over here

Hudson Yards’ observation deck is now open to the public. Here’s a glance at the views

Posted: 12 Mar 2020 10:15 AM PDT

 Related Companies is celebrating the grand opening of Hudson Yards on March 15, 2019. But the megadevelopment’s observation deck, resting 1,100 feet above Manhattan’s West Side, doesn’t open to the public until 2020. The Real Deal got a sneak peek at the future tourist attraction, dubbed “the edge.” The deck spans 7,500 square feet and stretches 65 feet out from the 101st floor of the Kohn Pedersen Fox-designed 30 Hudson Yards. Its height makes

Virtual brokerage eXp sees first profitable quarter

Posted: 12 Mar 2020 08:15 AM PDT

It’s a good time to be a virtual brokerage — and that’s not just because of coronavirus. Virtual brokerage eXp Realty generated a record $980 million in 2019, up 96 percent from $500 million in 2018, parent company eXp World Holdings said Thursday. For the first time since going public in May 2019, the company also reported a quarterly profit — generating $800,000 in net income during the fourth quarter, compared to a $5.2 million

Newmark hires nurse to screen visitors, employee tests positive for Coronavirus

Posted: 12 Mar 2020 07:45 AM PDT

UPDATED, March 12, 2020, 1:25 p.m.: Newmark Knight Frank is taking steps to screen visitors at its Park Avenue office — and one of its employees has since tested positive for coronavirus. The commercial brokerage and real estate services firm on Monday stationed a nurse in the reception area to screen guests. The nurse has been asking guests questions about their physical movements, assessing their general appearance and taking their temperature, according to Crain’s. On

Adam Neumann parts with Hamptons home at a loss

Posted: 12 Mar 2020 07:15 AM PDT

Adam Neumann has sold his home in the Hamptons as he seeks to offload property following his departure from WeWork. Neumann, 41, sold the Watermill property to an LLC buyer in an off-market deal February for $1.25 million, according to Mansion Global. Since the property was never listed, details about the home are scant. The price was some $500,000 less than what he and his wife, Rebekah Neumann, paid for the property in 2012. The

Modell’s Sporting Goods will close all 141 stores

Posted: 12 Mar 2020 06:30 AM PDT

Modell’s Sporting Goods has announced it will close all its 141 remaining stores up and down the East Coast after filing for bankruptcy, following a pattern of retailers in recent months. The announcement comes after the 130-year-old athletic gear company sent letters to more than a dozen landlords last month asking them to “dig deeper” to help the family-run chain avoid bankruptcy. CEO Mitchell Modell blamed the “extremely challenging environment for retailers” for the decision,

Rental concessions are on the decline, but the size of incentives is growing

Posted: 12 Mar 2020 06:00 AM PDT

New York City’s rental market emerged strong from a month in which it was briefly turned on its head by state regulators. Rents are up and the number of new leases — often seen as indicator of renewal rates — fell across Manhattan, Brooklyn and northwest Queens, according to Douglas Elliman’s monthly market report authored by real estate appraiser Jonathan Miller. Both Miller and the Corcoran Group’s Gary Malin, who formerly led Citi Habitats before

These were the top outer borough loans last month

Posted: 12 Mar 2020 05:30 AM PDT

The largest outer borough loans last month were for projects ranging from a massive mixed-use development in Clinton Hill to a new film studio from Robert De Niro and friends in Astoria. The loan for the Clinton Hill project was February’s largest of the top 10 at $129.3 million, while the loan for De Niro’s project was the smallest at $56.5 million. Square Mile Capital provided the Clinton Hill loan to Hope Street Capital, and

Airbnb’s toughest battles with towns in the tri-state region

Posted: 12 Mar 2020 05:00 AM PDT

Shelter Island was caught in a crosscurrent. In 2019, a couple of years after local officials slapped limits on short-term rentals, some homeowners were still furious. The law forbade any rentals under two weeks long and some of homeowners complained they could not make ends meet without having that regular rental income. Others sued the municipality in federal court, arguing their basic property rights were being denied, but a federal judge dismissed most of the

What the broker fee limbo means for agents, firms, landlords and renters

Posted: 12 Mar 2020 04:30 AM PDT

Sarah Saltzberg got an email just after 9 p.m. on Feb. 4 alerting her that state regulators had issued guidance banning most tenant-paid broker fees. “This blindsided us,” she said. “The sky is blue. Now all of a sudden the sky is red. Change your entire business model.” Saltzberg — one of more than 20,000 licensed real estate brokers in New York City — leads Bohemia Realty Group, a 152-agent firm that focuses on rentals

Real estate was booming in Milan and Seoul. Then came coronavirus

Posted: 12 Mar 2020 04:00 AM PDT

The year 2019 was a great one for real estate in Milan, the economic engine of Italy. Office leasing hit an all-time record of 481,100 square meters (5.2 million square feet), and office investment reached an all-time high of 3.6 billion euros. On the residential side, Milan stood out as the only large Italian city to see rising home prices, thanks to a wave of new luxury development. “Why Is Milan’s Real-Estate Market So in