The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Aby Rosen’s RFR Holding to drop $300M on Midtown office building

Posted: 14 Dec 2021 03:26 PM PST

A big-ticket office buy in Midtown this week shows investors still have an appetite for older properties, if the bones are good and location is right. RFR Holding agreed to acquire a near-century-old tower overlooking Bryant Park from Nuveen Real Estate for just under $300 million, Green Street first reported, or an estimated $1,085 per square foot. It appears to be the city’s largest office play since CommonWealth Partners said last month it would buy

Council strikes deal on Two Trees’ River Ring in Williamsburg

Posted: 14 Dec 2021 02:30 PM PST

It’s going to be a happy holiday season for Two Trees Development. The Dumbo-dominating developer has struck a deal with Brooklyn City Council member Stephen Levin that ensures approval of River Ring, its 1,050-unit development on the Williamsburg waterfront. The pact wraps up a breakneck land use review in which Two Trees steered its project through the community board, borough president, City Planning Commission and City Council in an astounding four months, which is about

Tishman Speyer selling Rockefeller Center Christmas tree (as an NFT)

Posted: 14 Dec 2021 02:00 PM PST

This holiday season, you could become the proud owner of the world-famous Christmas tree at Tishman Speyer’s Rockefeller Center. A non-fungible token of it, at least. Tishman is auctioning off an animated illustration of this year’s tree at Rockefeller Center as an NFT, the firm said Wednesday. The minimum bid is 0.13 units of the cryptocurrency Ethereum — or just shy of $500 as of Tuesday afternoon, when the NFT was still awaiting its first

Hard Rock paying $1B for Mirage Hotel and Casino

Posted: 14 Dec 2021 01:00 PM PST

You’ll no longer have to go to South Florida to rock out in a guitar-shaped hotel. Hard Rock International on Tuesday announced it is acquiring the operations of The Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas from MGM Resorts International. The company said in a release on the deal it intends to build a guitar-shaped hotel along the Las Vegas Strip. The cost of the operating assets of the Mirage is nearly $1.1 billion, subject

Three Gowanus projects lead spate of new development filings

Posted: 14 Dec 2021 12:15 PM PST

Developers have filed plans to build three more largely residential buildings in recently rezoned Gowanus. Rabsky Group affiliate Galaxy Developers and Monadnock Development each submitted plans for a 22-story building with approximately 300 residential units at 395 Carroll Street and 155 3rd Street, respectively. Avery Hall Investments put in paperwork to build nearly 200 units at 653 Union Street. A steady flow of Gowanus developments have been filed since October, when it became clear the

Retail space at 1600 Broadway, home to M&M’s World, sells for $190M

Posted: 14 Dec 2021 12:00 PM PST

As tourists slowly return to New York City, concerns surrounding the future of Times Square appear to be melting away. Paramount Group and an unnamed partner have reached a deal to acquire the retail space at 1600 Broadway from Sherwood Equities for more than $190 million, the Wall Street Journal reported. The three-story, glass-enclosed space is home to M&M’s World, a 25,000-square-foot candy and gift shop, which will remain in the building on a lease

City Council to raise J-51 from the dead

Posted: 14 Dec 2021 11:18 AM PST

A tax break for residential renovations that has been dead for more than a year is now one step from being revived. The City Council Committee on Housing and Buildings on Tuesday approved the renewal of the J-51 abatement and exemption program for the next six months. The program expired last year, prompting calls from the real estate industry to restore it. In June, the state legislature passed a measure that authorized the city to

Game of Thrones creator sells Tribeca co-op

Posted: 14 Dec 2021 10:31 AM PST

Winter is coming and screenwriter David Benioff and actress Amanda Peet are cashing in on the demand for luxury homes in Manhattan. Benioff, who created the HBO hit show “Game of Thrones” with D.B. Weiss, has sold the Tribeca loft he shared with Peet for $4.65 million, property records show. The off-market deal closed a week before Thanksgiving. The unit is on the top floor of the six-story prewar co-operative on Duane Street, which sits

Edgewater board gives thumbs up for 3 towers on former Hess site

Posted: 14 Dec 2021 10:30 AM PST

The Edgewater planning board last week gave its final approval for the redevelopment of 615 River Road, paving the way for significant additions to New Jersey’s Gold Coast. The unanimous decision clears the way for developers — New York-based Maxal Group and Denver-based Envirofinance Group — to build 1,200 apartments on 19 acres on the Hudson waterfront. The site was formerly owned by Hess Oil. “We want to thank the planning board for granting us

Here’s where Mitch Kossoff’s stolen money went

Posted: 14 Dec 2021 10:00 AM PST

Convicted real estate attorney Mitch Kossoff is on the hook to repay more than $14 million he stole from dozens of clients to support his lavish lifestyle, authorities said. After Kossoff pleaded guilty Monday to several charges of grand larceny and fraud, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said the disgraced lawyer will be subject to judgment orders that require him to repay $14.6 million. It’s unclear, though, how he will come up with the money.

Tishman Speyer makes first major resi play in LA

Posted: 14 Dec 2021 09:59 AM PST

Tishman Speyer is making a big splash in Santa Monica’s residential market, with a nearly $150 million deal for prime development parcels, The Real Deal has learned. The New York-based commercial giant is in hard contract for eight fully entitled sites being sold by Neil Shekhter’s WSC Communities, according to sources familiar with the transaction. Tishman Speyer is expected to close on the parcels by year-end. WSC – controlled by Shekhter and his sons and

Ex-HFZ principal Meir agreed to scrape Steinmetz’s name from Belnord chart

Posted: 14 Dec 2021 09:39 AM PST

An alleged associate of Beny Steinmetz, the Israeli diamond magnate recently convicted of bribery, successfully sought in 2017 to alter an organizational chart that showed Steinmetz was tied to one of developer HFZ Capital Group’s marquee projects, court documents show. The emails included in federal court proceedings suggest that a top HFZ executive had direct communication with a company tied to Steinmetz after he had been arrested on bribery charges over mining rights in Guinea

The Real Deal cleans up at 2021 NAREE Journalism Awards

Posted: 14 Dec 2021 08:50 AM PST

Last year, The Real Deal crushed it at the NAREE Journalism awards, taking home 14 separate honors, a record for the publication. This year, “the bible of the real estate news industry” — as one judge put it — upped the ante with 15 awards. The New York City-based media company won Gold in the Best Commercial Trade Magazine category for the fourth consecutive year, further cementing its status as the premier news authority on

SL Green unloads 707 11th Ave less than two years after buying it

Posted: 14 Dec 2021 08:33 AM PST

After almost two years of ownership, SL Green has sold 707 11th Avenue. The company sold the 160,000 square foot, loft-style building for $95 million to an undisclosed domestic buyer. The sale comes after the real estate investment trust purchased the West Side office building in January 2020 for $90 million. The company declined to identify a buyer, but a person familiar with the deal told Crain’s Georgetown Co. and Beacon Capital Partners had snagged

Purchase of former oyster farm puts town in a pickle

Posted: 14 Dec 2021 08:00 AM PST

Scott Russell saw this one coming. Some years ago, a developer had proposed a North Fork waterfront project far too intense for its would-be neighbors’ liking. But it complied with the East Marion site’s zoning, leaving opponents little legal ground to stop it. The site would make any developer salivate: 18 acres on Gardiners Bay and minutes from the trendy summer community of Greenport. Aside from unhappy locals, the site’s only downside was a hulking,

Morgan Stanley targeting student housing rebound with joint venture

Posted: 14 Dec 2021 07:16 AM PST

Morgan Stanley is the latest major player to dip its toes into the rebounding student housing market. The bank formed a joint venture with Global Student Accommodation, which put forth a $1.6 billion portfolio for the partners to snag a piece of the recovering student housing sector, Bloomberg reported. The starting portfolio accounts for nearly 15,000 beds spanning 21 states and 29 cities, according to Bloomberg. Cities included in the initial portfolio include Cincinnati, Raleigh,

Rockefeller Group jumps into Greenpoint Landing project

Posted: 14 Dec 2021 06:31 AM PST

As the Greenpoint Landing development continues to take shape, Park Tower Group is set to receive a helping hand on the residential tower slated for 16 Dupont Street. Park Tower has entered into a joint venture with Rockefeller Group to develop the multifamily property at the site in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, the Commercial Observer reported. Terms of the deal and equity split were not immediately disclosed. In August, Park Tower picked up more than 224,000 square

Monsey drive-in razed for $40M office project

Posted: 14 Dec 2021 05:45 AM PST

The Rockland Drive-In Theater showed its last film in 1987, but now the screen itself has met its cinematic demise. The 77-foot screen along Route 59 in the hamlet of Monsey was torn down last week, the Rockland/Westchester Journal News reported. A 77-foot, five-and-a-half-story office building has been proposed to replace the theater in hopes of attracting businesses moving out of New York City in the wake of the pandemic. The drive-in was a mainstay

Fight over Extell’s UWS tower could crush century-old City Club

Posted: 14 Dec 2021 05:00 AM PST

After five years of legal skirmishes, Gary Barnett won the right to build the tallest tower on the Upper West Side. But the developer has one final battle, and he’s not fighting only for himself. Barnett’s firm, Extell Development, is still pursuing a lawsuit in which it accuses a storied nonprofit of reneging on an agreement that would have spared the developer years of headaches, legal fees and carrying costs. The nonprofit, the City Club

Miami redevelopment wave sparks fears of climate gentrification

Posted: 14 Dec 2021 04:30 AM PST

For 40 years, Louis Rosemond lived in Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood, feeling like he was in his native Port-au-Prince. “We have the same restaurants as in Haiti, the same barbershops, the same rara,” said the 64-year-old artist, referring to the Haitian street festival music. “Little Haiti is Haiti.” Yet all that is changing. The neighborhood has caught the eye of developers, pushing up property values and leading owners of older housing to sell to the

Drones’ role in facade inspections up in air

Posted: 14 Dec 2021 04:00 AM PST

On Friday it will be exactly two years since Erica Tishman was killed by falling terra-cotta as she walked past 729 Seventh Avenue. Within a month of the architect’s death, lawmakers were debating a bill to require the Department of Buildings to study whether building façades could be inspected with drones. Now, the agency is cautiously optimistic that the technology can be part of the process — with an emphasis on cautious. The department recently