The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Cuomo to lose shutdown power, but could still extend Covid restrictions

Posted: 02 Mar 2021 04:00 PM PST

The state legislature has reached an agreement to strip Gov. Andrew Cuomo of emergency powers granted to him during the pandemic — but leaves the door open for him to extend Covid-related restrictions including limits on indoor dining. Roughly a year after expanding the governor’s executive powers to oversee the state’s pandemic response, the Senate and Assembly are moving to cut off the politically weakened governor. The chambers are expected to approve a measure that

States Title, now Doma, going public in $3B SPAC deal

Posted: 02 Mar 2021 03:27 PM PST

Title insurance startup States Title is going public in a $3 billion deal with a blank-check firm, the latest sign of investor interest in companies that digitize the residential real estate industry. The company — which has been renamed Doma — said Tuesday that it plans to merge with Capitol Investment Corp., a special purpose acquisitions company backed by investor Mark Ein. Since 2007, Ein has raised $1.5 billion through five SPACs. The deal will

Pastis to open Miami restaurant in Wynwood

Posted: 02 Mar 2021 03:00 PM PST

New York City institution Pastis is landing in Miami. James Beard award-winning restaurateurs Stephen Starr and Keith McNally plan to open in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood, in an 8,000-square-foot space at 380 Northwest 26th Street, The Real Deal has learned. The restaurant, Pastis’ first in South Florida, is expected to open in the summer of 2022. The Parisian-style bistro will be designed by McNally and Ian McPheely of Paisley Design, with wood planks, banquettes and the

Loss for LeBron? King James lists Brentwood mansion

Posted: 02 Mar 2021 02:30 PM PST

LeBron James isn’t used to losing, but it looks like he may be willing to accept an “L” on the Brentwood mansion he just listed. The future Hall of Famer and Los Angeles Lakers superstar is asking $20.5 million for the 9,440-square-foot home, according to the New York Post. James paid $20.9 million for the property in 2015. It was the first home he bought in L.A. and preceded his move to the Lakers from

How much Compass paid to scale up

Posted: 02 Mar 2021 01:57 PM PST

Since 2018, Compass has spent more than $300 million to scale its business, buying other brokerages and tech companies to support its “end-to-end platform,” according to the company’s IPO filing. Backed by $1.5 billion in venture capital from investors including Fidelity, Wellington and SoftBank, Compass’ growth story has been unmatched in residential real estate. The brokerage aggressively courted agents after launching in 2012, but six years later, it switched gears and began scooping up firms

Inside Compass’ S-1: How it measures the upside of its tech

Posted: 02 Mar 2021 12:20 PM PST

Compass’ pitch to investors is all about its agents. The company’s S-1 — a prospectus that details its financial performance and business strategy filed ahead of an IPO — kicks off with a founder’s letter from CEO Robert Reffkin, who said he started Compass to build better tools for real estate agents like his mom. “The brokerage model was originally designed to be a one-stop shop for everything an agent needed,” he wrote. But the

Internet, shminternet: Target adds, renovates stores as money pours in

Posted: 02 Mar 2021 11:58 AM PST

Target has hit the bullseye. The big box retailer is adding and renovating stores as well as warehouses as it thrives in the competition with Amazon and other internet retailers. The moves stem in part from Target’s stellar year: Its 2020 sales growth of more than $15 billion was greater than in the prior 11 years combined, the company announced Tuesday. Total revenue for the fourth quarter increased 21 percent to $28.3 billion. The retailer

These were Manhattan’s best office submarkets in Q4

Posted: 02 Mar 2021 10:30 AM PST

The pandemic-driven downturn has disrupted Manhattan’s office real estate market, where availability has hit record highs in recent months. But certain pockets of the borough have shown more resilience than others. The corridor along Park Avenue between 44th and 61st streets had the strongest demand relative to its availability in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to the relative strength submarket index (RSSI) figures issued by KPG Funds, in partnership with Newmark. The area’s availability

Koch Industries goes all in on distressed properties

Posted: 02 Mar 2021 09:45 AM PST

UPDATED, March 2 2021, 5:05 p.m.: Koch Real Estate Investments, the property-focused arm of the billionaire conglomerate’s empire, has become one of most active players when it comes to snapping up distressed real estate during the pandemic. The real estate firm, led by Jacob Francis, aims to diversify its business and buy real estate at depressed prices, according to the Wall Street Journal. At the beginning of the pandemic, it provided Ladder Capital with a

Court saves SJP’s 200 Amsterdam from wrecking ball

Posted: 02 Mar 2021 08:58 AM PST

The controversial Upper West Side condo tower that a judge ruled was built too tall may avoid the wrecking ball after all. A New York State appellate court on Tuesday reversed a lower court’s ruling that would have forced the developers of 200 Amsterdam Avenue to remove about 20 floors from the nearly complete 52-story tower. The appeals court rejected the argument by opponents of the tower that the developers illegally gerrymandered a zoning lot

Order up: Real estate investors line up to buy drive-throughs

Posted: 02 Mar 2021 08:10 AM PST

Real estate investors are placing their bets on a new property type: drive-throughs. Restaurants with drive-through lanes are seeing their values increase as the coronavirus pandemic forced social distancing rules and the closure of indoor dining, the Wall Street Journal reported. Chains such as Chick-fil-A and McDonald’s have reported an increase in sales thanks to their drive-through business. Now, other fast-food spots are getting in the game: Shake Shack, which previously did not have any

NYC to revive $17B in public construction projects

Posted: 02 Mar 2021 07:15 AM PST

The city is planning to revive about $17 billion in municipal construction projects after the city stopped contracting projects at the start of the pandemic. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Monday that work can begin on public projects, according to Commercial Observer. City-contracted projects — for things like schools, housing projects and parks — have been largely stalled due to coronavirus restrictions. The construction revamp will be led by Lorraine Grillo, the city’s recently

Manhattan DA narrows focus on Trump Org CFO

Posted: 02 Mar 2021 06:30 AM PST

The Manhattan District Attorney’s office is increasing its focus on a longtime employee of the Trump Organization as it investigates former President Donald Trump’s real estate business. Prosecutors working for Cy Vance are turning their attention to Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg, who has worked for the company for more than two decades, according to the New York Times. The publication reported that Weisselberg is a person of interest in the district attorney’s investigation, citing

Developer Matt Lee to auction off East Village condo

Posted: 02 Mar 2021 06:00 AM PST

Developer Matt Lee’s decision to auction off a condo unit online later this month recalls another dire time in New York City’s new development market. In 2010, in the aftermath of the Great Recession, Paramount Realty USA held an auction of six unsold condos at a Madison Avenue development known as m127. The unusual move by developer Cardinal Real Estate Investments garnered widespread media attention and massive interest from bidders. The nine-unit project had been

Hotel stocks went bonkers in February

Posted: 02 Mar 2021 05:30 AM PST

Hotel investors can rest a little easier at night. Robust gains in February put share prices of publicly traded hotel companies back up to pre-Covid levels, a year after the pandemic sent valuations into a nosedive. Share price indexes of firms that operate hotels, and own their physical assets as REITs, grew more than 20 percent last month, despite much of the hospitality industry still suffering. The gains were roughly five times that of the

A year later, deferred rent may be restaurants’ downfall

Posted: 02 Mar 2021 05:00 AM PST

In an effort to survive the financial fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, thousands of New York City restaurateurs entered into a perilous agreement with their landlords: deferring rent in the hopes that they’d be able to pay when their fortunes improved. Thirty-seven percent of restaurants have deferred their rent due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a recent report by the New York City Hospitality Alliance. But that pales in comparison to the number of

Here’s what Amazon and others are paying at 601W’s 410 Tenth Avenue

Posted: 02 Mar 2021 04:00 AM PST

Manhattan’s investment sales market got some much-needed good news last fall, when 601W Companies acquired the Amazon-anchored office redevelopment at 410 10th Avenue for $950 million. SL Green had acquired a majority stake in the property, previously known as 460 West 34th Street, from the Kaufman Organization in 2019 in a deal that valued the building at $440 million. The landlord undertook a complete gut renovation at a cost of about $145 million, and soon