The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

New York votes to extend eviction ban through August

Posted: 03 May 2021 03:30 PM PDT

Certain residential and commercial tenants can now avoid eviction until at least Aug. 31. The state Senate and Assembly on Monday approved a measure that retroactively extends two recently expired laws that restrict evictions of residential and commercial tenants, as well as foreclosures on small landlords and businesses. Those seeking such protections must fill out hardship declaration forms, but do not have to submit proof that they are unable to pay. The bill extends two

Major plans: Major Food Group to open four more restaurants in Miami, Miami Beach

Posted: 03 May 2021 01:30 PM PDT

Major Food Group is serving up four new restaurants as part of its expansion in South Florida, The Real Deal has learned. The New York-based restaurant group, led by founders Mario Carbone, Rich Torrisi and Jeff Zalaznick, will open an Israeli concept in the South-of-Fifth neighborhood of Miami Beach and a French steakhouse in Brickell. It will also open two Sadelle’s restaurants, sources told TRD. Major Food Group inked a 10,000-square-foot lease for a Sadelle’s

Luxury rental complex in Fort Lee sells for $55M

Posted: 03 May 2021 12:45 PM PDT

A new luxury apartment complex in Fort Lee has been sold for $55 million. The Pinnacle, a 142-unit rental building at 69 Main Street along the Palisades, was developed by Philadelphia-based Pennrose. The complex was sold to a joint venture between Blue Diamond Equities and Skywood Properties, according to the Kislak Company, a commercial real estate brokerage firm based in Woodbridge, New Jersey. The sale price works out to just shy of $390,000 per unit.

Judge declines to block Soho rezoning; proposal remains on hold

Posted: 03 May 2021 12:18 PM PDT

The proposal to rezone Soho and Noho can technically move forward — but it remains on hold for now. Judge Arthur Engoron on Monday declined to issue a temporary restraining order barring the Department of City Planning from certifying the rezoning application, saying community groups fighting the proposal failed to show “immediate and irreparable harm.” Those groups and area residents filed a lawsuit last week seeking to halt the rezoning, alleging that the hearings held

Developer Eli Broad dies; vision for LA extended past real estate

Posted: 03 May 2021 12:00 PM PDT

Eli Broad, who founded a multibillion-dollar homebuilding firm and went on to become one of Los Angeles’ most influential and prolific philanthropists, died Friday at 87. He amassed a nearly $7 billion fortune and gave away an estimated $2 billion to support the arts, medical research, education and other endeavors, according to the Los Angeles Times and Associated Press. “Eli Broad, simply put, was L.A.’s most influential private citizen of his generation,” Los Angeles Mayor

Brooklyn nets $125M in signed luxury contracts

Posted: 03 May 2021 11:30 AM PDT

The total of asking prices for luxury contracts in Brooklyn climbed for the fifth week in a row. Forty homes asking more than $2 million went into contract last week, according to Compass’ weekly report. The total of those contracts’ asking prices was $124.8 million, up from the previous week’s $108 million. That’s the second highest total for asking prices since the week of March 22, when $133 million worth of contracts were signed. The

NY to lift Covid capacity restrictions May 19

Posted: 03 May 2021 11:23 AM PDT

Last week, Mayor Bill de Blasio vowed that New York City would fully reopen by July 1, just in time for weary city residents to have a “summer of fun.” It wasn’t his call to make, but — perhaps by design — it appears that day will come much sooner. His longtime nemesis Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced today that most capacity restrictions will be lifted throughout New York state, as well as in Connecticut and

More Manhattan luxury contracts have been signed in 2021 than in all of 2020

Posted: 03 May 2021 10:45 AM PDT

Four months in and 2021 has officially bested all of 2020 when it comes to luxury real estate deals in Manhattan. Last week saw 41 luxury contracts signed in the borough, bringing the total number of deals so far this year to 652, according to Olshan Realty’s weekly report. That’s seven more than were signed in all of 2020. And the total dollar amount for luxury contracts signed in the first four months of 2021

Shifting gears: Brooklyn condo tower to debut as rental

Posted: 03 May 2021 10:15 AM PDT

Avery Hall Investments had hoped to launch sales months ago at its Downtown Brooklyn condominium project. But the developer, citing the sluggish luxury condo market, is changing the 122-unit, $250-million development to a luxury rental complex. Its lenders and partners are on board with the switch. “We felt the right move for us and our investors and partners was to [create] a rental portfolio,” Avi Fisher, a founding partner of the company, told Bloomberg News,

NJ developer lands $400M apartment loan

Posted: 03 May 2021 09:45 AM PDT

Developer Jack Klugmann landed a nearly $400 million loan from Madison Realty Capital for a portfolio of North Jersey apartments and a large development site at the former Newark Bears stadium. Klugmann’s Accurate Builders & Developers received a $395 million loan for the properties, which include more than 1,000 recently completed units and a large site where the developer plans to build 4,200 apartments. “We’re going to be building a min-city over here,” said Klugmann,

Avenue 8, a mobile-first brokerage, raises $14M

Posted: 03 May 2021 09:15 AM PDT

A week before the country went into lockdown last year, Avenue 8, a mobile-first residential brokerage, made its first agent hire. Now, the company has nearly 100 agents and said Monday that it has nabbed $14 million in new funding. The San Francisco-based company said the Series A will fuel its expansion beyond Southern California to new markets, including New York and Miami. “Brokerages of the past functioned as companies that agents worked at,” said

CoStar lures workers back to offices with cash prizes, Teslas

Posted: 03 May 2021 08:00 AM PDT

Three lucky CoStar employees and their guests will be heading to Barbados on a private plane, with all expenses paid by their employer. Who gets to take the fancy trip? Winners of a lottery that’s available only to workers who are vaccinated and physically present in their office, according to the Wall Street Journal. Office occupancy rates remain low as employees continue working from home. So employers — and real estate companies in particular —

Long Island man evades eviction for 20 years

Posted: 03 May 2021 07:02 AM PDT

For more than 20 years, a Long Island man has been living in the house that he had long lost to foreclosure. Guramrit Hanspal, 52, bought a 2,081-square-foot home in East Meadow for $232,000 in 1998, according to the New York Post. He made just one mortgage payment of $1,602.37 before defaulting on the loan. Washington Mutual, which had issued the loan, foreclosed on the home in 2000. After Washington Mutual went down in the

Meet Kirsten Jordan, MDLNY’s new female cast member

Posted: 03 May 2021 06:30 AM PDT

Kirsten Jordan drinks her morning tea from a Wonder Woman mug — fitting for the Douglas Elliman agent, who is the first woman to join the cast of Bravo’s “Million Dollar Listing New York.” Jordan talked to The Real Deal from her Upper West Side home about her decision to join the cast and put her business and family on television. “I can’t say I ever spent a ton of time fantasizing about being on

NY investment sales hit lowest point since pandemic began

Posted: 03 May 2021 06:00 AM PDT

New York City’s investment sales market hit a new low in the first quarter of 2021. The total dollar volume of deals recorded in the first quarter was $1.84 billion, down 75 percent compared from the same period last year, and down 67 percent from the fourth quarter of 2020, according to Ariel Property Advisors’ quarterly investment sales report. There were 311 total closed i-sales between January and March. While the data would seem to

City rent board missing landlord rep ahead of preliminary vote

Posted: 03 May 2021 05:30 AM PDT

With just three days until its preliminary vote, the city’s rent board is still one landlord voice short. The nine-person Rent Guidelines Board is poised to cast its preliminary vote Wednesday on what rent increases should be permitted on stabilized apartments for one- and two-year leases. The board usually consists of the chair, two tenant representatives, two owner representatives and four members who represent the general public. All are appointed by the mayor. Patti Stone,

Proptech CEO pay, the #s behind Sonder’s $2.2B SPAC deal

Posted: 03 May 2021 05:00 AM PDT

Proptech’s payday A year ago, Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman said he would forgo a salary after the tech brokerage had to furlough 40 percent of agents and staff. Other CEOs followed suit. But in the end, the pandemic didn’t cause a housing meltdown or a meaningful deterioration in CEO pay. In 2020, CoStar’s Andy Florance was compensated $21.3 million, according to the company’s recently filed proxy statement. Behind him was eXp World Holdings’ Glenn Sanford

Biden’s proposal to cut 1031 exchanges may be “tremendous blow” to real estate: experts

Posted: 03 May 2021 04:00 AM PDT

Last spring, Newmark broker Ken Zakin was hustling to find a buyer for a client’s retail property in Queens. The tenants had stopped paying rent because of the pandemic, leading to a major loss in income for the landlords, a family that owned the building for four decades. Zakin planned to take advantage of the 1031 exchange program, which allows real estate investors to swap one investment property for another while deferring capital gains taxes.