The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Year of the ‘Revenge Traveler’

Posted: 08 Dec 2021 12:00 PM PST

Alison Aplin cashed in air miles from pandemic-punctured trips to Hawaii and London for a Thanksgiving break in Los Cabos, her third vacation in as many months. The all-inclusive resort stay follows a trip to San Diego and another to Fort Myers, Florida, with a friend, which she described as a get-together for two “stir-crazy women before we’re forced back into the office.” Long-homebound “revenge travelers” are propping up the nation’s hotel industry, targeting sunny

New buildings must go electric under City Council deal

Posted: 08 Dec 2021 11:46 AM PST

The City Council is poised to ban the use of gas in new buildings, requiring most to use electricity-powered heat and hot water. Lawmakers reached a deal late Wednesday on a bill requiring new buildings shorter than seven stories to go electric on Jan. 1, 2024, and taller ones beginning July 1, 2027. Projects that get their construction documents approved before those dates will be exempt. A building with fewer than seven stories and at

Multifamily sales show market’s split personality

Posted: 08 Dec 2021 11:00 AM PST

Two property deals recorded this week showcase a stark divide between Manhattan’s disparate ends. Downtown, the market for investment sales is rapidly heating up; Uptown, it’s stagnating. Shel Capital and Bluestone Investments’ $51.5 million acquisition of a four-building portfolio in the East Village is evidence of the former. The buildings, located off Second Avenue between East Fifth and East 12th streets, traded at an average price per square foot of $640. The price was in

Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton trades Tribeca penthouse for $50M

Posted: 08 Dec 2021 10:00 AM PST

Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton has brought his winning ways to New York real estate. Property records show Hamilton last month sold his penthouse at 443 Greenwich Street for $49.5 million, hitting the unit’s asking price. The identity of the buyer is unclear, as property records list a shell company registered in Seattle. The home was the most expensive to go into contract in Manhattan during October’s penultimate week. The six-bedroom condo includes a 3,246-square-foot

Better.com CEO apologizes for botching layoffs, anonymously leaking video

Posted: 08 Dec 2021 08:45 AM PST

Mortgage originator Better.com CEO Vishal Garg has apologized for his handling of recent layoffs by the company, in which he announced the firing of more than 900 employees over Zoom, accused them of being unproductive and then anonymously leaking video of the rant. Days after video of the Zoom call showed the chief executive announcing the layoffs and accusing some staff of stealing from the company by wasting time, Garg said in a leaked email

Rego Park apartment project lands $125M construction loan

Posted: 08 Dec 2021 07:15 AM PST

A large new apartment building is moving forward in Rego Park. RB Realty Capital landed a $125 million construction loan from Madison Realty Capital for its 186-unit multifamily project in central Queens. The 22-story building at 98-08 Queens Boulevard will include 155 rentals and 31 condominiums. “Rego Park is a rapidly expanding neighborhood with exciting new retail developments, yet newly built, high-quality living options have not kept pace with growing demand,” Madison Realty Capital’s Josh

iBuyers reached record housing market share, sales volume

Posted: 08 Dec 2021 06:44 AM PST

iBuyers were all the rage in the third quarter, accounting for a record share of the housing market. But the new heights for selling and buying came at a price. Homeowners sold 27,244 homes totaling $10.6 billion through iBuying services, according to Zillow’s iBuyer report for the third quarter, which evaluated the four largest: Opendoor, Zillow Offers, Offerpad and RedfinNow. The period saw iBuyers account for 1.9 percent of home sales, nearly doubling their previous

These are the 10 largest real estate fundraisers of the last 5 years

Posted: 08 Dec 2021 05:45 AM PST

The following is a preview of one of the hundreds of data sets that will be available on TRD Pro— the one-stop real estate terminal that provides all the data and market information you need. When it comes to the top real estate fundraiser of the past five years, the results can be written in stone — Blackstone, that is. The longtime industry titan has raised nearly $64 billion in real estate funds over the

Toby Moskovits pitches Bronx project rescue, financed by [redacted]

Posted: 08 Dec 2021 05:00 AM PST

Scrambling to save their Bronx residential development, Toby Moskovits and Michael Lichtenstein say they’ve secured up to $14 million to pluck it out of bankruptcy. But the lender and restructuring team for the 286 Rider Avenue project might take some convincing. In court filings, one attorney fighting the pair calls their financing offer — backed by a heavily-redacted letter from Moskovits’ anonymous investor — a “Rube Goldberg contraption.” A lawyer for the lender, Be-Aviv, calls

CoStar comes home to play

Posted: 08 Dec 2021 04:30 AM PST

For CoStar, 2021 has been a wild ride. The commercial real estate data giant kicked off the year by aggressively pursuing, then abandoning, a bid to acquire residential property intelligence firm CoreLogic for over $7 billion. “Now is not the time for us to aggressively buy into the residential mortgage market,” CoStar CEO Andy Florance said at the time, citing rising interest rates. Notwithstanding that failed attempt, CoStar is determined to parlay its dominant position

Biggest project filings: Developers propose 1,500 apartments in Gowanus

Posted: 08 Dec 2021 04:00 AM PST

Five of the 10 biggest construction projects filed in November are in Gowanus. Late in the month, the City Council approved a rezoning that allows for about 8,500 new apartments in an 82-block swath of the Brooklyn neighborhood. Anticipating the City Council’s approval, and fearing the expiration in June 2022 of the controversial tax break known as 421a, developers have been filing permit applications for Gowanus sites in recent months, and the trend continued with

Mack-Cali rebrands as Veris Residential, signifying shift in focus

Posted: 07 Dec 2021 04:21 PM PST

Mack-Cali Realty is making its office-to-multifamily pivot official. On Friday, the New Jersey-based real estate investment trust will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol VRE, reflecting its name change to Veris Residential. The REIT has spent the last several months retreating from the suburban office market, its former bread and butter, tallying more than $1 billion in property sales in New Jersey since March. The shift in focus has

Italians under indictment bought more than 130 South Florida homes: Pandora Papers

Posted: 07 Dec 2021 04:00 PM PST

In the latest Pandora Papers investigation involving South Florida real estate deals, a group of Italian nationals went on a mega-buying spree while under indictment in their home country. While facing charges in two separate real estate money laundering probes connected to an alleged organized crime syndicate, Italian developer Antonio Velardo and three associates bought more than 130 South Florida properties, primarily in Miami-Dade County, through shell corporations since 2012, according to the Miami Herald.

Another Miami luxury broker journeys into the metaverse for sales

Posted: 07 Dec 2021 03:00 PM PST

UPDATED, Dec. 7, 8:10 p.m.: As seasoned real estate and stock experts warn investing in metaverse assets is a fad, another luxury broker is jumping into the virtual mansion sales business. Tony Rodriguez-Tellaheche, owner of Miami-based Prestige Realty Group, told The Real Deal he’s going to handle some listings for a start-up cryptocurrency company that wants to sell 8,888 digital luxury homes in the metaverse. Rodriguez-Tellaheche is partnering with Vancouver-based Keys Token, which launched its

At Soho rezoning’s 11th hour, housing may be cut

Posted: 07 Dec 2021 02:16 PM PST

Housing advocates fear that hundreds of prospective homes will be cut in favor of commercial development as Soho and Noho rezoning negotiations wrap up this week. One group that has opposed the de Blasio administration’s vision for the neighborhoods is pushing to lower the residential density allowed in parts of Noho. It calls for most north Noho residential development to have a floor-area ratio of 7.2, and only 6.0 in a pocket of that area

Big Silicon Valley firm grabs 34K sf in Soho

Posted: 07 Dec 2021 01:45 PM PST

Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, which also uses the moniker a16z, will open an office at 200 Lafayette Street in SoHo, more than quadrupling its New York City footprint. The Menlo Park, California–based investment group led by Marc Andressesen and Ben Horowitz has leased 33,560 square feet across the entire third and fourth floors, which had an asking rent of $95 per foot. Adam Henick and Brandon Charnas of Current Real Estate Advisors