The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Biden to approve new, targeted eviction ban as landlords plead for rent relief

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 03:34 PM PDT

Three days after the federal eviction ban lapsed, President Biden is expected to introduce a new moratorium that would freeze proceedings for up to 60 days in areas with the highest rates of new Covid infections. The White House expects those areas to cover about 90 percent of the nation’s renters, the New York Times reported Tuesday. Like using duct tape to stop a major leak, landlords see the possibility of yet another stay on

JetBlue cancels flight to Florida, keeps HQ in New York City

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 02:00 PM PDT

After publicly floating the idea of taking flight from Long Island City, JetBlue has decided to stay in New York. The airline announced that it would not relocate to Florida and would instead expand its flagship terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens. The company will also add jobs at all three regional airports — JFK, LaGuardia and Newark — according to Crain’s. JetBlue reviewed the landscape before making its decision, even going

Keller Williams breaks sales records for fourth straight quarter

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 01:35 PM PDT

Keller Williams is no stranger to breaking records, and last quarter was no different. The brokerage set all-time production records in sales volume and closed transactions in the second quarter, marking a full year of quarterly records, the brokerage announced Tuesday. Agents closed $145.3 billion in sales across 367,248 transactions in the second quarter of 2021 in the U.S. and Canada. That’s a 70.3 percent increase in sales and a 35 percent increase in transactions

Homebuilder Plant Prefab nabs Series B funding, eyes 3rd factory

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 01:30 PM PDT

Prefabricated homebuilder Plant Prefab has raised $30 million in a Series B funding round and said it had opened a second factory and plans a third next year. The latest funding round for the Southern California-based firm again included Amazon Alexa Fund. Leading the round were Asahi Kasei Corporation — which owns one of Japan’s largest homebuilders — and Paris Ventures, the corporate venture capital program of Brazilian steel producer Gerdau. Plant Prefab CEO Steve

NYC to require vaccines for indoor dining, gyms and performance venues

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 01:00 PM PDT

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced new requirements for indoor activities as New York City tries to increase vaccination rates amid rising caseloads driven by the Delta variant. On Tuesday, the mayor announced that proof of vaccination against Covid will be required for activities such as indoor dining, going to the gym or attending performances. Workers at those places will also need to be vaccinated, according to the New York Times. Enforcement of the requirements, the

“Skillful con man” sentenced for defrauding 2K homeowners

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 12:30 PM PDT

For three years, Patrick Joseph Soria defrauded more than 2,000 homeowners and prospective homebuyers out of around $7.6 million. He targeted property owners around the country — including in Southern California — faking title filings with county recorders’ offices to make it appear to homebuyers that he owned the home, federal prosecutors said. Then Soria “sold” the properties to those victims, using the proceeds for among other things, escort services and luxury car rentals. He

Brookfield lands $500M for next Greenpoint Landing development

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 12:20 PM PDT

Brookfield Property Partners has landed $500 million in construction financing for its fourth market-rate development at the massive Greenpoint Landing project. Blackstone Mortgage Trust provided $400 million in the form of a senior mortgage for 227 West Street — a pair of 30- and 40-story towers that will have a combined 745 rental apartments when completed, property records filed with the city Tuesday show. The financing package also includes a $100 million mezzanine loan from

Clinton Street condo edges Park Slope townhouse in Brooklyn sales’ slow week

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 11:45 AM PDT

The mid-summer slide in Brooklyn’s luxury market continues. Fifteen contracts for homes asking $2 million or more were signed in Brooklyn last week, down from the 19 contracts the previous week, according to Compass’ weekly report. The asking prices of those contracts amounted to $49.5 million, a decrease from the previous week’s $60 million but up slightly on a per-home basis to $3.3 million. Contracts were signed for eight townhouses, six condominiums and one co-op.

Cuomo sexually harassed staffers, others: AG report

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 11:35 AM PDT

Gov. Andrew Cuomo harassed several women and cultivated a culture of “fear and intimidation,” according to a report released Tuesday by state Attorney General Letitia James. The highly anticipated investigation detailed numerous allegations of sexual harassment against the governor by staff members and others. The report concluded that the governor “sexually harassed a number of state employees through unwelcome and unwanted touching, as well as by making numerous offensive and sexually suggestive comments,” and that

After scandal, Scott Rudin sells San Remo pad for $13M

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 11:00 AM PDT

A disgraced movie mogul may be looking for a fresh start. Film, television and theater producer Scott Rudin has sold his long-time San Remo co-op unit to Sparknotes founder and publisher Dan Weiss and his wife, literary agent Amy Berkower, for $13.1 million, according to property records. Rudin had been a resident of the luxury 27-floor two-tower building since at least the 1990s. The Upper West Side building has been home to many celebrities including

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Posted: 03 Aug 2021 10:30 AM PDT

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Construction worker accuses JDS Development of discrimination

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 10:00 AM PDT

A construction worker assigned to JDS Development projects filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against the company, saying a supervisor repeatedly used a racial slur against him and once menaced him with a knife. Christopher Otigho, who is Black, said he had to endure a hostile work environment where he was repeatedly subjected to “severe and pervasive discriminatory conduct and comments” by his supervisor, identified as Cristino Torruella. After the final incident — in which Torruella

Diane Ramirez, after leaving BHS, joins Berkshire’s HomeServices

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 09:30 AM PDT

Diane Ramirez has a new gig: chief strategy officer for the New York office of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New York Properties. Tuesday will be Ramirez’s first day, the company announced. She will focus on growing the operation by recruiting agents and acquiring smaller firms. Ramirez called her new role a privilege. “This is everything that I love and believe that I’m good at,” she said. “I can go back to skipping to work and that

“Just not right.” Texas sovereign wealth fund official scrutinizes Greenbrook

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 09:00 AM PDT

UPDATED Tuesday August 3, 2021, 3:19 p.m.: Most teachers don’t spend their midsummer weekends on field trips, but Aicha Davis is no ordinary educator. Based in Dallas, she is an elected member of the Texas State Board of Education, which monitors the activity of the state’s public school educators and oversees the Texas Permanent School Fund, a sovereign wealth fund with a nearly $50 billion endowment. Last weekend, she traveled up to New York City

Related the latest company to mandate vaccines for employees

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 08:00 AM PDT

Related Companies is the latest in a growing list of companies telling employees to get a Covid vaccine or get a new job. In a memo Monday, the developer informed employees that both union and nonunion workers must receive at least one vaccine dose by August 31 or face termination, Crain’s reported. Workers will be entitled to medical or religious exemptions. Related began mandating vaccines for its employees in early April, with more than 1,000

Dottie Herman out as Elliman CEO, Scott Durkin to assume role

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 07:00 AM PDT

Douglas Elliman CEO Dottie Herman has stepped down. Scott Durkin, the brokerage’s president and chief operating officer, will assume her role effective immediately. In an interview, Durkin said the move had been in the works for six months. “It’s not sudden and it’s in line with our plans for the company,” he said. “It was in the planning and this was exactly the time that we were planning on announcing it.” Bloomberg first reported the

Michael Stern forms $200M SPAC with former Citadel analysts

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 06:24 AM PDT

JDS Development’s Michael Stern has found his next venture, confidentially filing to form a SPAC with two former Citadel credit analysts. The blank-check firm, called Onyx Acquisition Co. I, will seek $200 million to target general industrial and construction-tech companies valued at between $1 billion and $2 billion, Bloomberg News reported, citing sources familiar with the matter who said paperwork has already been filed with the SEC. Stern will be the chairman and CEO of

HGTV founder buys One57 condo for $12.7 million

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 05:30 AM PDT

The founder of HGTV won’t need to call the Property Brothers for his new luxury condo on Billionaire’s Row. The former Scripps CEO and chairman Kenneth Lowe and his wife Julia Lowe have purchased a unit in the One57 tower for $12.7 million, according to newly released property records. Gary Barnett’s Extell Development completed One57 in 2014. Its 94 condo units sit on top of the Park Hyatt Hotel, which occupies the lower levels of

Proptech startup Rentable secures $22M in Series B funding

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 05:00 AM PDT

Rentable, an online multifamily rental and property management platform, raised $22.5 million in Series B funding. Private equity and venture capital firm Susquehanna Growth Equity led the round, Rentable said. Other investors included 4490 Ventures and Flyover Capital, both of which had participated in the startup’s $5 million Series A round in 2016. The capital raise saw a “significant increase” in valuation relative to Rentable’s last round of financing, the startup said. It did not

Family feud for $11M Lundy’s restaurant building boils over

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 04:00 AM PDT

Lundy’s used to serve heaps of fresh seafood to nearly a million diners a year in its iconic Sheepshead Bay dining hall. But now, the owners of the 49,000-square-foot building are only dishing out courtroom beef. A lawsuit filed Wednesday aims to compel a dead shareholder’s estate to sell his stake in the company that has owned the Lundy’s building since 1988. When Brooklyn entrepreneur Dimitrios Kaloidis died in September 2019, he left behind 25