The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Tougher rules for real estate ads go into effect this fall

Posted: 11 May 2020 04:00 PM PDT

After three years of public vitriol, lobbying and rule-writing, tighter regulations for online real estate advertising will take effect in November. The regulations, included in the May 6 edition of the New York State Register, require additional disclosures from firms and listing portals. The adoption of the rules, published in October 2019, comes three years after StreetEasy launched its lucrative-but-controversial Premier Agent advertising program, which set much of the real estate industry against the go-to

JLL slashes jobs in NYC capital markets group

Posted: 11 May 2020 03:00 PM PDT

JLL laid off roughly three dozen people in its New York City office — the first such cuts at any of the big commercial services firms during the pandemic. The Chicago-based firm made the move on Friday in the capital markets division, sources told The Real Deal. The employees worked on property sales and debt placement. A representative for JLL did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Last week, the company reported net

Big law firm lease falls through at Tishman Speyer’s 630 Fifth

Posted: 11 May 2020 02:00 PM PDT

Allen & Overy was getting ready to move its offices when Covid-19 made the law firm hit pause. The law firm, which is headquartered in London, was close to signing a lease at Tishman Speyer’s 630 Fifth Avenue before the coronavirus pandemic hit New York City, according to sources. Instead, Allen & Overy negotiated a five-year lease extension to its current 143,331-square-foot space at Rockefeller Group’s 1221 Sixth Avenue. JLL’s Frank Doyle, Ken Siegel and

Don’t sound the alarm! CA May rent checks not in freefall

Posted: 11 May 2020 01:30 PM PDT

Paul Julian was not looking forward to May. Julian’s income is from rent payments on the 9,000 apartment units he owns in Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside side counties. And the past month in California was filled with not just economic disaster but legislative proposals plus rent strikes campaigns that target landlords as a scourge upon the state. But Julian, a principal at Irvine-based Advanced Real Estate, said his May rent checks are down a

Far Rockaway site hitting the market for $70M

Posted: 11 May 2020 01:00 PM PDT

A 126-unit luxury rental and development site in Far Rockaway have hit the market asking $70 million. Doron Pergament’s Capitale Property Management is selling the Ocean Blue apartment building at 120 Beach 26th Street along with an adjacent development site spanning 53,000 square feet, according to brokers at B6 Real Estate, which has the listing. Ocean Blue was built in 2009 and renovated in 2016 with amenities including a fitness center and a private outdoor

NY bill would let businesses take temperatures, refuse entry

Posted: 11 May 2020 12:45 PM PDT

A world where anyone must pass a fever check to enter a business or building may be closer than you think. New York Sen. David Carlucci has introduced a bill that would allow any firm or nonprofit to screen out anyone running a temperature of 100.4 degrees or higher — the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s definition of a fever. The bill would take immediate effect if it became law and would be in

Reuben brothers aggressively hunting for more New York deals

Posted: 11 May 2020 12:30 PM PDT

The billionaire British investors who recently snapped up a pricey Fifth Avenue property are aggressively looking for more deals in New York. Reuben Brothers — the investment firm of brothers David and Simon Reuben — is one of the more active players now looking to capitalize on falling prices due to the coronavirus pandemic, several sources told The Real Deal. “They have several billions of cash available looking for opportunities,” said one person familiar with

Don’t miss LA’s top dealmakers on Today’s TRD Talk

Posted: 11 May 2020 11:09 AM PDT

On another episode of TRD Talks Live, TRD Associate Publisher Hiten Samtani will catch up with three top agents and leaders in LA’s residential real estate community to find out how they’re closing deals and keeping business flowing during the coronavirus pandemic. Although the industry nearly ground to a halt due to the pandemic, L.A.’s residential market has come back to life in recent weeks. We’ve seen a few big celebrity buys, the return of showings (with

Pushback over going “clear”: NAR sued for pocket listing ban

Posted: 11 May 2020 11:00 AM PDT

The National Association of Realtors is facing a lawsuit for effectively barring its members from taking off-market listings, often called pocket listings. The suit was filed by Top Agent Network, a networking and communication platform open to agents that meet a certain criteria, according to the Wall Street Journal. NAR’s open listings policy went into effect on May 1. Top Agent Network filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of

Brooklyn luxury market sees 3rd straight week with 4 contracts

Posted: 11 May 2020 09:00 AM PDT

It’s starting to look like four luxury contracts per week is the new normal for Brooklyn. The borough saw four high-end contract signings last week for the third week in a row, split between two townhouses, one condo and one co-op, according to the latest report from Compass. The report looks at homes in the borough asking $2 million or more based on the last publicly available asking prices. A pair of Park Slope properties

Luxury home contracts reach highest levels since shutdown

Posted: 11 May 2020 08:30 AM PDT

After a dismal six weeks, Manhattan’s luxury market is showing signs of movement. Six homes priced above $4 million went into contract in the borough last week, according to the latest market report from Olshan Realty. That was up from just one the week before. While the bump is likely to offer some comfort to brokers and developers, it’s too early to say whether a shift is afoot. “We need many more weeks of clarity

“I feel like I’m inside an acid trip”: Inside a broker’s virtual open house

Posted: 11 May 2020 08:00 AM PDT

In late April, about 60 agents got together in a virtual conference room for a virtual open house. Their experiences with the new process were varied. “I feel like I’m inside an acid trip,” one agent wrote in a private text, according to the New York Times. Developers and potential buyers are still trying to navigate a new and strange housing market in the wake of New York’s stay-at-home order. Prices are down about 20

Airbnb-backed Zeus Living sees valuation halved

Posted: 11 May 2020 07:15 AM PDT

Zeus Living, a corporate-housing startup backed by Airbnb, has seen its valuation plummet in a matter of months. The company recently raised roughly $15 million at a $110 million valuation from existing investors including CEAS Investments I and Soros Fund Management, according to Bloomberg. That’s down from a $205 million valuation in December. Zeus, which helps landlords furnish and market homes for a corporate crowd, reportedly did not have enough cash on hand to meet

Home rental companies emerge as investor safe haven

Posted: 11 May 2020 06:30 AM PDT

Wall Street has found a new darling in single-family-home rentals. Companies with large portfolios of rental homes in the suburbs are weathering the coronavirus storm — and investors think there’s more runway in the future, according to the Wall Street Journal. Some of the largest such companies including Invitation Homes and American Homes 4 Rent have seen shares rise by 55 percent and 37 percent, respectively, outpacing the broader stock market. Now, investors are expecting

WeWork’s rental woes slam CMBS market

Posted: 11 May 2020 05:45 AM PDT

WeWork’s efforts to renegotiate several of its leases and skip rent payments is causing the price of bonds backed by payments from the company to plummet. Many WeWork tenants have requested rent relief or the termination of their contracts since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, which has hurt the commercial mortgage-backed securities that rely on rent from WeWork to pay investors, according to the Financial Times. Overall, about $5.5 billion worth of CMBS deals

Mayor’s tweet on rent payments triggers angry reaction

Posted: 11 May 2020 05:00 AM PDT

Sometimes a mayor can’t win. This mayor, anyway. Bill de Blasio managed to upset landlords and tenants alike by tweeting that rent payments should be postponed for a year. Thursday’s tweet triggered hundreds of comments from irate landlords saying he had gone too far — and from tenants saying he had not gone far enough. A good number called for the mayor to quit. “How can you encourage tenants not to pay rent for 12

TRD Insights: Manhattan office leasing actually picked up in April, but not by much

Posted: 11 May 2020 04:30 AM PDT

Manhattan’s office leasing market responded quickly and sharply to the coronavirus crisis in March, dragging the quarter’s total volume to a seven-year low. April’s numbers, meanwhile, show the slightest of rebounds — although leasing volume remains far below historical levels. Monthly leasing activity on the island rose 15.9 percent in April compared to March, totalling 1.35 million square feet, according to research from Colliers International. This was driven by a 54.4 percent increase in Midtown

Former Twitter CEO scores sprawling Soho co-op for $8M

Posted: 11 May 2020 04:00 AM PDT

Former Twitter CEO Dick Costolo and his wife Lorin have picked up a spacious Soho pad for $8 million from French fashion and furniture designer Alexandre de Betak. The 4,000-square-foot co-op at 136 Grand Street went for 9 percent less than its $8.8 million price tag, public records show. In a Jan. 7 story about the contract signing, The Real Deal called the two-bedroom, four-bathroom pad “a house fit for a party.” One room alone