The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Jeffrey Epstein’s Palm Beach house under contract

Posted: 02 Nov 2020 03:15 PM PST

Spec home developer Todd Michael Glaser is under contract to buy the Palm Beach property owned by the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The waterfront mansion at 358 El Brillo Way hit the market in July for $22 million, along with Epstein’s New York townhouse, which is asking $88 million. Kerry Warwick of the Corcoran Group has the Palm Beach listing. Glaser, who previously said he believed the home would sell for

New York denied rent relief for 57K applicants

Posted: 02 Nov 2020 02:45 PM PST

Of the approximately 94,000 applications for Covid-19 rent relief that New York’s Division of Homes and Community Renewal received between July 16 and Aug. 6, more than half were rejected, Crain’s reported, citing a report on the program from HCR. As a result, more than 57,000 New Yorkers who didn’t meet the program’s requirements did not receive aid from the agency. While the state has distributed about $23 million so far, around 5,400 applicants have

John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s former Palm Beach estate sells for $36M

Posted: 02 Nov 2020 01:30 PM PST

The Palm Beach estate formerly owned by the late John Lennon and Yoko Ono sold for $36 million, five months after it was listed for sale. Former Bear Stearns executive John Sites and his wife Cindy sold the oceanfront property at 720 South Ocean Boulevard, according to the Multiple Listing Service. It hit the market in May for $47.5 million with Christian Angle of Christian Angle Real Estate. The Corcoran Group represented the buyer. A

Corcoran axes broker who cursed at woman planting Biden signs

Posted: 02 Nov 2020 12:45 PM PST

Corcoran Group severed ties with a broker who was filmed calling a woman a vile term and giving her the finger during a confrontation over political signs last weekend. Long Island woman Alethea Shapiro posted a video on social media Saturday that showed broker Roy Silber walking back to his car after allegedly ripping out a pro-Biden sign she had planted. “Take a picture,” he is filmed telling Shapiro, his middle finger raised at the

Largest Covid-era multifamily portfolio sale closes for $200M

Posted: 02 Nov 2020 12:37 PM PST

A portfolio of nearly 50 apartment buildings concentrated around the northern edge of Central Park has traded for about $200 million, which makes it the largest multifamily deal to close since the start of the pandemic. Multifamily investment firm Black Spruce Management bought the buildings, comprising about 675 units on the Upper West Side and Harlem, from the Orbach Group, sources familiar with the sale told The Real Deal. The $200 million price tag works

Clinton Hill townhouse with sprawling garden is top Brooklyn deal of the week

Posted: 02 Nov 2020 11:30 AM PST

The final week of October was a solid one in terms of luxury home contracts inked in Brooklyn, though it paled in comparison to the week prior, which was the best the borough had logged since the pandemic. There were 14 deals signed last week for a total volume of $38 million, according to Compass’ weekly report on contracts of $2 million or more. Seven of the contracts were townhouses, while five deals were condominiums

Amazon inks deal for 312K-sf at Thor’s Red Hook warehouse

Posted: 02 Nov 2020 11:00 AM PST

Amazon is continuing its expansion spree in the five boroughs with a major warehouse deal in Brooklyn. The e-commerce giant signed a 20-year, 311,796-square-foot deal at 280 Richards Street in Red Hook, an industrial property owned by Joe Sitt’s Thor Equities, Commercial Observer reported. Thor originally planned to develop the 7.7-acre complex into an 800,000-square-foot office development, dubbed “Red Hoek Point,” that would have included retail and a waterfront esplanade. But in 2019, the developer

Extell sues Diamond District neighbor over lot line dispute

Posted: 02 Nov 2020 10:50 AM PST

For nearly two years, Extell Development’s efforts to build a hotel at 27 West 47th Street in the Diamond District have been hampered by an uncooperative neighbor who has denied access to his property, according to a new lawsuit. Details of the dispute, as well as the project itself, were revealed last week in a suit filed by Gary Barnett’s firm against Elo Realty Corp., PincusCo reported. The petition seeks a court order giving Extell

Mall owners CBL Properties and PREIT file for bankruptcy

Posted: 02 Nov 2020 10:20 AM PST

The Covid-accelerated retail apocalypse has claimed two more victims. Mall owners CBL Properties & Associates and Pennsylvania REIT (PREIT) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sunday, adding to the growing list of retail and mall owners that have faced a financial reckoning this year. Chattanooga-based CBL Properties first announced plans to file for bankruptcy in August to restructure its debt. By filing for bankruptcy, the company said, it can reduce its debt obligations by $1.5

Tishman, Suffolk back supply-chain startup

Posted: 02 Nov 2020 10:00 AM PST

Building materials cost around $250 billion a year. To help keep spending in check, construction heavyweights Tishman Speyer and Suffolk Construction have just backed a startup aimed at streamlining the supply chain. San Francisco-based Agora announced a $7 million Series A on Friday, bringing its total funding to $11 million. The company connects construction managers, purchasing agents and vendors on a single platform where they can place, track and manage orders in real time The

Covid survivor: Construction spending up from a year ago

Posted: 02 Nov 2020 09:46 AM PST

Construction spending this year is up 4.1 percent from last year, according to new data for September. During the first nine months of the year, some $1.058 trillion has been put toward public and private construction, compared with $1.016 trillion for the same period in 2019. The housing sector powered the gain, though growth tapered off in September. Construction spending for the month was estimated to be $1.4 trillion, seasonally adjusted, which is a marginal

ByteDance inks massive data-center deals in US

Posted: 02 Nov 2020 09:37 AM PST

ByteDance, the parent company of social video platform TikTok, has leased an enormous amount of data-center space in a Virginia corridor known as “Data Center Alley.” ByteDance was behind three data center transactions in northern Virginia in the first half of 2020, Business Insider reported, citing a person with knowledge of the transactions. The company’s new 53 megawatts of data center capacity — which is likely to take up hundreds of thousands of square feet

JLL says hasn’t seen “anything worth spending our…money on” after reportedly passing on Cushman

Posted: 02 Nov 2020 09:19 AM PST

JLL CEO Christian Ulbrich didn’t exactly say Cushman & Wakefield wasn’t worth a page out of its checkbook. But the executive did throw shade on a pipeline of M&A deals rumored to include JLL’s smaller rival. “The opportunities are increasing quite significantly at the moment,” Ulbrich said during the brokerage’s third-quarter earnings call Monday morning.” At the time we haven’t seen anything we think would be worth spending our shareholder’s money on.” The statement came

Friendly’s files for bankruptcy, enters sales agreement

Posted: 02 Nov 2020 08:33 AM PST

The Covid-19 pandemic hasn’t been friendly to Friendly’s. The restaurant chain announced Sunday that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to a press release. The company has already entered into a sales agreement with Amici Partners Group, which invests in and runs eateries. The sale price is less than $2 million, Restaurant Business reported. The filing isn’t expected to dramatically affect the chain’s more than 130 locations, nearly all of which should remain

Retailers prepare for possible Election Day unrest

Posted: 02 Nov 2020 07:45 AM PST

Retailers are preparing for the possibility of unrest following Tuesday’s presidential election by boarding up their storefronts. The number of work orders for plywood and enhanced security measures has increased, according to ServiceChannel CEO Tom Buiocchi, whose company connects national retail chains with local contractors, Business Insider reported. Precautionary measures are being taken based on retailers’ experiences over the summer following the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. In June, as protests and looting

Manhattan records biggest luxury deal since Covid hit

Posted: 02 Nov 2020 07:15 AM PST

UPDATED, NOV. 2, 2020, 11:15 a.m: It’s a red-brick building being used as a garage, but close your eyes and you can see it transformed into a huge mansion with an enviable rooftop terrace. At least that’s the vision brokers have been pushing since the property at 332 West 11th Street hit the market in January 2019 with an asking price of almost $50 million. And last week, with the asking price lowered to $45

Home Depot signs lease for Bed Bath & Beyond’s UES store

Posted: 02 Nov 2020 06:45 AM PST

It’s official: Home Depot is moving to the Upper East Side. The home improvement chain has signed a lease to take over a 120,000-square-foot location at 410 East 61st Street, which is currently leased to Bed Bath & Beyond, CNBC reported. Rumors of the move have been swirling in recent months. Home Depot currently operates two locations in Manhattan: One at Vornado Realty Trust’s 731 Lexington Avenue in Midtown, and the other at 40 West

Housing prices soar in mountain towns thanks to tech transplants

Posted: 02 Nov 2020 06:15 AM PST

Housing prices are rising fast in Western mountain communities where newly liberated tech workers are moving in. Major tech firms, including Facebook, Twitter and Stripe, have implemented flexible work-from-home policies for their employees — some permanent — since the onset of the pandemic. And some of their employees who were previously tied to the Bay Area are flocking to towns around the Rockies, such as Boise, Idaho, and Park City, Utah, the Wall Street Journal

CoStar’s next target, ex-Zillow execs eye mortgage market

Posted: 02 Nov 2020 05:00 AM PST

$4B burning a hole in CoStar’s pocket The giant has just purchased Germany-based Emporis, which has data on 700,000 buildings, to “jump start” its international business. The deal caps a string of buys for CoStar, including Ten-X ($190M), hotel data provider STR ($450M) and RentPath ($588M). CEO Andy Florance said CoStar’s international market opportunity is “more than twice” that of North America — and that’s pretty big. CoStar’s third-quarter revenue jumped 21 percent year over

Has there been a “Trump effect” on property values?

Posted: 02 Nov 2020 04:30 AM PST

In July, President Trump announced that the Department of Housing and Urban Development would repeal an Obama-era rule requiring localities that receive federal funding to break down barriers to fair housing. “I am happy to inform all of the people living their Suburban Lifestyle Dream that you will no longer be bothered or financially hurt by having low income housing built in your neighborhood,” Trump tweeted. “Your housing prices will go up based on the

What four years of Trump has done for real estate

Posted: 02 Nov 2020 04:00 AM PST

Nearly four years ago, Donald Trump was sworn in as the nation’s first developer-in-chief, surrounded by prominent figures from New York City real estate. The sight of his industry friends on the national stage seemed to send a clear message: Real estate had a powerful ally in the White House. But as Trump’s term comes to a close, a look back at his actions shows that his administration has been a mixed bag for the