The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

East Village facade plunges to street, Brooklyn building falls during storm

Posted: 04 Aug 2020 04:33 PM PDT

As Tropical Storm Isaias tore through New York City Tuesday, a Brooklyn building partially collapsed and part of a Manhattan building’s exterior wall plummeted to the street below. Chunks of facade fell from an East Village co-op building at 12th Street and Fourth Avenue, stripping the property’s rust-colored exterior wall from the eighth through 13th floors, WABC reported. The cause of the collapse is not yet known, but Department of Buildings filings indicate that agency

Navillus CEO temporarily steps down amid fraud allegations

Posted: 04 Aug 2020 03:55 PM PDT

The CEO of Navillus Contracting is temporarily stepping down amid claims that he and others cheated various construction unions out of more than $1 million. In an Aug. 3 letter to clients, obtained by The Real Deal, Donal O’Sullivan said he — along with his sister Helen O’Sullivan, the company’s treasurer, and Padraig Naughton, Navillus’ comptroller — will “temporarily step aside.” The three were indicted last week on charges that they schemed to avoid making

Moody’s looks to sublease its 1 WTC office

Posted: 04 Aug 2020 03:00 PM PDT

As New York City’s office leasing market picks up a bit of steam, a 75,000-square-foot spread at One World Trade Center is now up for grabs. Moody’s is looking to find a tenant to sublease two floors at the Durst Organization and Port Authority’s roughly 3 million-square-foot tower, according to marketing materials seen by The Real Deal. The financial research giant had signed a lease for the 56th and 57th floors of the building in

Inside Hudson Pacific and Blackstone’s field of streams

Posted: 04 Aug 2020 02:00 PM PDT

As many developers just try to hang on during the pandemic, Victor Coleman is celebrating. During an earnings call at the end of July, Coleman could hardly contain his excitement about what he called “the milestone.” Blackstone Group, the New York-based investment giant, had agreed to buy a 49 percent stake in his company and its $1.65 billion Hollywood real estate portfolio. “Our sale of 49 percent to Blackstone, arguably, the preeminent institutional real estate

Vornado may convert Midtown J.C. Penney space to last-mile facility

Posted: 04 Aug 2020 01:00 PM PDT

Despite the cloud of uncertainty hanging over New York City real estate in recent months, Vornado Realty Trust’s latest earnings call started on a positive note thanks to Facebook’s finalized deal to lease the Farley Post Office redevelopment. “We normally don’t go for the drama of timing deals with earnings calls, but this one just worked out that way,” CEO Steve Roth said on Tuesday’s call, referring to the announcement the day before that the

SEC opens investigation into hotelier Monty Bennett’s companies

Posted: 04 Aug 2020 12:30 PM PDT

Texas-based Hotelier Monty Bennett and his affiliated companies came under public scrutiny in the spring when they received $68 million in coronavirus-related federal funding, despite having paid out millions in preferred dividends. Now, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has opened an investigation into at least three companies tied to Bennett, the Wall Street Journal reported. They are: Ashford Inc., along with subsidiaries Ashford Hospitality Trust and Braemar Hotels & Resorts Inc. The investigation targets

The Getty condo chops prices up to 53%

Posted: 04 Aug 2020 11:45 AM PDT

The developers of the Getty condominium are slashing prices in an effort to sell out the remaining third of the building. The cuts on four unsold residential units, which come just two years after a penthouse at the project fetched a record $59 million, range from 42 percent to 53 percent, according to a release from Victor Group, which co-developed the West Chelsea building along with Michael Shvo as a minority investor. Ran Korolik, Victor

J.C. Penney taps Cushman, B. Riley to sell 163 locations

Posted: 04 Aug 2020 11:15 AM PDT

As part of its plan to reduce its portfolio and cut costs amid Chapter 11 bankruptcy, J.C. Penney is looking to sell off its interest in 163 locations across the country. The department store chain has tapped Cushman & Wakefield and B. Riley Real Estate to sell the leases for 142 locations, as well as 21 stores it owns, Business Insider reported. “There’s all kinds of interest and there are some good properties here,” B.

“Blank-check” companies make a comeback in real estate

Posted: 04 Aug 2020 10:40 AM PDT

The 1980s called. They asked for their investment strategies back. In July, an affiliate of prominent New York-based real estate investment firm Benchmark Real Estate Group raised money through a vehicle known as a blank check company. The Benchmark entity, Property Solutions Acquisition, raised $200 million by selling shares of a shell corporation to private and public investors. Such an entity — also called a special-purpose acquisition company, or SPAC — has no underlying assets.

Billionaire’s townhouse sale is a window into pandemic-era luxury deals

Posted: 04 Aug 2020 10:30 AM PDT

When hedge funder Michael Price put his Upper East Side townhouse on the market with Sotheby’s International Realty in 2016, it was priced at $38 million. By 2019, Corcoran Group had taken over the listing at 20 East 78th Street, and the asking price was lowered to $26.5 million. This February — with the pandemic looming — the price was dropped again, to $24.9 million. Only then was a deal reached for the 8,760-square-foot manse,

TRD Insights: Nationwide office leasing demand hits two-decade low

Posted: 04 Aug 2020 10:00 AM PDT

The coronavirus pandemic and its economic aftermath have put a damper on office leasing across the U.S. By one measure, the decline in demand for office space in the second quarter was the largest the country has seen since the dot-com crash. Net absorption in the U.S. office market — the amount of space leased minus vacated space and new space — turned negative for the first time a decade in the second quarter, totalling

Brookfield’s nixed mall redevelopment may signal strategy shift

Posted: 04 Aug 2020 09:31 AM PDT

A tough economic environment has led Brookfield Property Partners to cancel plans to redevelop a mall in Burlington, Vermont, and local officials aren’t happy. Brookfield became involved in the project in 2017, with plans to build apartments and a 10-story office tower on the now-empty site. But last month, it sold its interest in the project to local partner Devonwood Investors. “We made a lot of progress over the past three years, completing the assembly

Bryant Park Hotel being marketed as office space

Posted: 04 Aug 2020 09:00 AM PDT

The coronavirus pandemic is forcing hotel owners to consider new strategies for their properties — including turning them into offices. The landmarked Bryant Park Hotel at 40 West 40 Street is the latest property to make the switch, the New York Post reported. The owners, Philip Pilevsky, Raymond Gindi and Joseph Chehebar, have tapped Philips International to market the entire 25-story building as “boutique” office space. The building’s 122,000 square feet will be available in

End of eviction ban to unleash 14,000 warrants in NY

Posted: 04 Aug 2020 08:21 AM PDT

With one of New York’s eviction moratoriums set to expire tomorrow, some 14,000 active eviction warrants are poised to move forward, legal services providers warn. The cases were brought prior to the state’s suspending evictions early in the pandemic. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has since extended but narrowed the moratorium. The latest 30-day extension of the eviction and foreclosure ban will lapse Wednesday night, Aug. 5. A law enacted at the end of July allows tenants

Council members call for override on Industry City rejection

Posted: 04 Aug 2020 07:45 AM PDT

It’s extremely rare for the City Council to support a project over the objections of the member whose district would be rezoned to accommodate it. But it’s equally rare for the local member’s colleagues to openly call for that, as Ritchie Torres and Donovan Richards just did. The two members penned an op-ed in the Daily News that avoided naming their colleague from Sunset Park, Carlos Menchaca, yet minced no words in arguing that he

StreetEasy to agents: Post listings within 24 hours or lose privileges

Posted: 04 Aug 2020 07:06 AM PDT

StreetEasy is once again tightening its grip on New York City listings, informing agents they must post sales listings within 24 hours — or risk losing professional access to the site. In an email to agents on Monday, StreetEasy said it would contact those who are not advertising listings, or who are limiting or delaying listings on StreetEasy. “It is our intent to gain confirmation from agents that all sales listings will be advertised on

SL Green looks to sell loan on RXR, Werner’s 5 Times Square

Posted: 04 Aug 2020 07:00 AM PDT

A big test of confidence in the future of Manhattan’s office market is coming up in Times Square. SL Green Realty is looking to sell a $126 million mezzanine loan on the 1.1 million-square-foot 5 Times Square tower, sources told The Real Deal. The building’s anchor tenant, accounting firm EY, is relocating to Brookfield Property Partners’ Manhattan West — which will create a large vacancy to fill. A representative for SL Green declined to comment.

Trump Org may be focus of broader fraud investigation by Manhattan DA

Posted: 04 Aug 2020 06:30 AM PDT

In its efforts to compel President Trump’s accountants to hand over his tax returns, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance’s office has indicated that the scope of its investigation is wider than previously thought. While the grand jury inquiry previously appeared to focus on hush-money payments made by the Trump campaign prior to the 2016 election, a new filing from Vance’s office cites news reports regarding a much broader range of the Trump Organization’s business practices.

Manhattan’s office leasing sees busiest month since January

Posted: 04 Aug 2020 06:00 AM PDT

Manhattan’s office leasing activity in July was the strongest since January, but that doesn’t mean the market is on its way to recovery. Leasing volume last month was 2.39 million square feet, nearly six times more than the volume in June when only 0.42 million square feet was leased. However, July volume was less than half of the 5.17 million square feet leased a year ago, according to a report by Colliers International. Notably, 71

Brooklyn’s luxury market reaches new pandemic high

Posted: 04 Aug 2020 05:30 AM PDT

For the second week in a row, Brooklyn’s luxury market saw sales volume climb to record levels during the pandemic. Last week, 12 properties went into contract for a combined total of almost $36.1 million, according to a Compass weekly report. The data tracks the borough’s contract activity for properties asking $2 million or more. The previous week saw 10 properties go into contract for a total of $30.2 million. The pre-coronavirus bar was set

Here’s where resi prices fell the most in Miami in Q2

Posted: 04 Aug 2020 05:00 AM PDT

In the second quarter, condo sales took the biggest hit in Brickell and Coconut Grove, while prices surged in Flagami, Overtown and Park West, a new analysis of residential closings in the city of Miami shows. The Real Deal’s second quarter analysis of MLS data also shows where single-family home prices experienced the steepest declines. As the pandemic continued to take a toll on sales, the number of single-family and condo closings fell across the

TRD Insights: More homeowners are skipping mortgage payments in favor of credit card bills

Posted: 04 Aug 2020 04:30 AM PDT

More homeowners are choosing to skip their monthly mortgage payments in favor of paying off other debt obligations. A newly-published Fitch Ratings report attributes the reason in part to coronavirus-related government relief programs that provide grace periods for home loans payments. Fitch also said that cash-strapped mortgage borrowers are paying off credit cards and other consumer debt instead because those bills are lower, and have greater short-term consequences. The federal government’s $2 trillion CARES Act