The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

One down, six to go: Elon Musk sells Bel Air mansion for $29M

Posted: 19 Jun 2020 03:05 PM PDT

Elon Musk may yet colonize Mars, and in the meantime he has vowed to shed all his earthly real estate holdings. So far so good. The Tesla and SpaceX co-founder sold his 16,000-square-foot Bel Air mansion for $29 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. The buyer of the home at 10911 Chalon Road was William Ding, a Chinese billionaire and founder of the technology company NetEase, the Journal reported. The sale price was 40

Mayoral candidate sues Moinian

Posted: 19 Jun 2020 01:45 PM PDT

A little-known candidate for New York City mayor is suing his big-name landlord. His complaint, filed today in state Supreme Court, seeks at least $300,000 in damages and attorney fees from the Moinian Group. The plaintiff, Aaron Foldenauer, alleges that the real estate firm gave him a market-rate lease when he was entitled to a rent-regulated lease at 90 Washington Street. The Moinian Group last year offered to move Foldenauer to a different apartment —

Climate change is shifting terms on 30-year mortgages

Posted: 19 Jun 2020 01:00 PM PDT

Climate change is affecting the viability of the classic 30-year mortgage, a keystone of the American housing market. Borrowers and lenders are changing their calculus when it comes to mortgages, according to New York Times. Both sides are looking for more flexibility and certainty in the face of the unknown. Borrowers are increasingly using mortgages that give them an out in the event of a flood or other event related to climate change that reduces

StreetEasy settles Elliman dispute with a major concession

Posted: 19 Jun 2020 12:41 PM PDT

A dispute between New York City’s most popular listing portal and a top-producing brokerage has been settled — but not without a major concession. StreetEasy is halting manual entry for Douglas Elliman agents and accepting the brokerage’s sales and rentals feed, according to an internal memo sent to Elliman agents on Friday. The deal marks a departure from the listings portal’s move toward manual entry, which it has argued reduces data errors. “As of today,

TRD Insights: Real estate lending from banks strong in first quarter

Posted: 19 Jun 2020 11:35 AM PDT

Federally-insured banks boosted their real estate lending to historic highs in the first quarter of 2020, even as the coronavirus was taking hold. According to a Q1 report from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, banks reached an all-time high from January through March by providing $5 trillion in real estate lending. At the same time, FDIC-insured banks’ aggregate net income fell by 70 percent, to $42.4 billion in the first quarter. The record-breaking real estate

What phase 2 will look like for NYC real estate

Posted: 19 Jun 2020 10:38 AM PDT

With Covid-19 cases at an all-time low since the outbreak, New York City is launching phase two of reopening Monday. Gov. Andrew Cuomo confirmed Friday that the city had met the state’s requirements to allow activities at offices, real estate firms, retail locations and restaurants, with restrictions. Mayor Bill de Blasio said this week that he expected some 5,000 eateries to reopen, which could save 45,000 jobs, the Daily News reported. “Restaurants are the backbone

The breakdown: Inside Virgin Hotels’ $330M vision for South Beach and how it vanished

Posted: 19 Jun 2020 10:15 AM PDT

Virgin Hotels had been looking for the right redevelopment opportunity in South Beach for years, and appeared to have found it a few months ago in HFZ Capital Group’s Shore Club. An offshoot of Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, Virgin Hotels created a proposal to purchase the 309-key beachfront hotel for $235 million, The Real Deal has learned. It put together a 46-page offering document likely aimed at potential investors. The booklet included detailed financials about

Kennedy family’s former “Winter White House” sells for $70M

Posted: 19 Jun 2020 09:30 AM PDT

The Kennedy family’s former Palm Beach compound, where President John F. Kennedy worked on his 1961 inaugural address, sold for $70 million. Jane Goldman, a prominent New York City landlord, sold the 11,334-square-foot oceanfront estate at 1095 North Ocean Boulevard to a trust managed by West Palm Beach attorney Maura Ziska, property records show. The late Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., a former U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom and father of John F. Kennedy, Robert

Cuomo to NYC: “It’s on!”

Posted: 19 Jun 2020 09:03 AM PDT

New York City will enter phase two of reopening on Monday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in his last daily briefing Friday. “All regions of the state have lower infection rates, and the state experts have gone over all the data, and they will allow New York City to begin phase two on Monday,” Cuomo said. “We reopened the economy and we saved lives, because it was never a choice between one or the other —

“Act of God” legal strategy to skip rent worked for this eatery

Posted: 19 Jun 2020 08:30 AM PDT

A Chicago restaurant got a big break on its rent by using a legal strategy other retailers may hope to copy. A federal bankruptcy judge reduced Giglio’s State Street Tavern’s rent to just 25 percent from April to June, the Wall Street Journal reported. Giglio’s will still have to pay its March rent in full. Judge Donald Cassling agreed that the government’s March 16 ban on dining, which sent the restaurant’s revenue plummeting, amounted to

By the numbers: Viral and volatile times

Posted: 19 Jun 2020 07:40 AM PDT

Businesses and individuals are taking stock of their losses stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, as reopenings begin in major cities across the country. The full impact has yet to be seen, as office buildings, stores and hotels open back up at reduced capacities and people slowly adjust to new routines. But for the first time since the pandemic hit, the U.S reported job growth. At the same time, tens of thousands of people have taken

Hotel distress could strip NYC of $1.8B in tax revenue

Posted: 19 Jun 2020 06:35 AM PDT

The loss of tourism alone could drain New York City of $1.8 billion in tax revenue from hotels. The estimated loss includes $968 million in room-occupancy taxes and $342 million in other taxes, Crain’s reported, citing research from Oxford Economics. Property taxes paid by those businesses — due July 1 — were not included in that figure. (Though the real estate industry has called for the city to extend the payment deadline, no such measure

Target inks two Manhattan leases

Posted: 19 Jun 2020 06:00 AM PDT

Target is bringing two new stores to Manhattan. The big-box retailer has taken nearly 80,000 square feet on the Upper East Side and Upper West Side, PincusCo reported. Target signed a 20-year, 55,614-square-foot lease at Vornado Realty Trust’s 150 East 86th Street, and a 15-year, 23,562-square-foot deal at the Chetrit Group’s Columbus Square complex at 795 Columbus Avenue. Target is represented in New York City by Richard Skulnik of Ripco Real Estate. The leases come

Troubled crowdfunding firm sells building at $10M loss

Posted: 19 Jun 2020 05:00 AM PDT

Crowdfunding firm Prodigy Network has sold one of its commercial properties at a $10 million loss, creating further uncertainty for investors in the troubled firm. The company sold 114 East 25th Street — where it operates the co-working space “The Assemblage” — for $41.3 million, property records show. Prodigy purchased the 12-story building for $51 million in 2016, borrowing $35 million. Investors in the building were required to put in a minimum of $50,000, according

TRD Insights: Here’s what tenants are paying at Michael Shvo’s latest office acquisitions

Posted: 19 Jun 2020 04:30 AM PDT

In the 18 months leading up to the coronavirus crisis, developer Michael Shvo and his partners were among the most aggressive investors in the market, acquiring $3.5 billion in real estate across the U.S., including Chicago’s “Big Red” office tower and San Francisco’s Transamerica Building. In New York, the group’s big-ticket buys included a pair of mixed-use office buildings: the Coca Cola building at 711 Fifth Avenue, and Jeff Sutton and Joe Sitt’s 530 Broadway.

Landlord leader opens up on rent law

Posted: 19 Jun 2020 04:00 AM PDT

Last May, Rent Stabilization Association President Joseph Strasburg warned lawmakers that planned reforms to New York’s rent stabilization law would devastate the city’s housing stock. “The sky isn’t going to fall overnight,” Strasburg testified at an Assembly hearing. “You don’t have to believe anything. In three years or less, some of your actions will prove out. And then we will determine who was right.” Twelve months later, The Real Deal checked back with Strasburg, whose