The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Last Howard Johnson’s restaurant closes in Lake George

Posted: 04 Jun 2022 06:00 AM PDT

Another baby-boomer icon has bitten the dust. The last remaining Howard Johnson’s restaurant, the orange-roofed baby-boomer favorite known for fried clams and 28 flavors of ice cream including both peanut and pecan brittle, shut its doors, bringing down the curtain on a chain that once had 1,000 locations across the nation, the Times Union reported. The outlet, in Lake George, New York, closed this spring after almost 70 years. The restaurant and motel chain was

Cushman & Wakefield on the hunt for new NYC office

Posted: 03 Jun 2022 02:54 PM PDT

Cushman & Wakefield could be moving on from its New York City headquarters at 1290 Sixth Avenue in Midtown. The commercial real estate firm has formed a committee to identify potential new office space in the city, The Real Deal has learned. Toby Dodd, the firm’s tri-state president, has been tapped to lead the search, according to people with knowledge of the matter. A Cushman spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions about where the

RXR, Blackstone move to sell 1330 Sixth Avenue

Posted: 03 Jun 2022 01:15 PM PDT

A venture between two large players in New York real estate is looking to sell a Midtown office tower. RXR and the Blackstone Group are marketing the property at 1330 Sixth Avenue, otherwise known as 1330 Avenue of the Americas, a person with knowledge of the deal told the Commercial Observer. The joint venture is reportedly aiming to get more than $350 million in a sale of the 40-story office tower. RXR led a group

CoStar takes action against meme account; fired employees allege retribution

Posted: 03 Jun 2022 12:15 PM PDT

The joke seems to have been lost on CoStar’s leadership. The real estate data giant, which has come under fire recently for its allegedly draconian managerial style that is said to have included surveilling remote workers, is now seeking an injunction to stop an ex-employee from mocking the company on social media. Within 24 hours of filing an arbitration demand last week against Nate Peterson, a researcher it fired last year for poor performance, CoStar

Editor’s note: Of mayors and moguls

Posted: 03 Jun 2022 11:30 AM PDT

There’s a delicate dance between mayors and the real estate developers who build the city. That intricate two-step was on display at The Real Deal’s NYC Real Estate Showcase + Forum last month, when Mayor Eric Adams took the stage to tell the packed crowd he wanted to “roll out the red carpet” for builders. It was a welcome change from eight years of Bill de Blasio, who ran for mayor on the idea that

Checkout time: Aby Rosen booted from Gramercy Park Hotel

Posted: 03 Jun 2022 10:52 AM PDT

Aby Rosen has officially overstayed his welcome at the storied Gramercy Park Hotel. Rosen was ejected this week from his lease controlling the hotel by the judge presiding over a lawsuit filed by his landlord, the Goldman family’s Solil Management. The 190-room hotel, which featured Danny Meyer’s Italian restaurant Maialino and works by such artists as Jean-Michel Basquiat and Damien Hirst, shuttered its doors as the start of the pandemic in March 2020 and never

Leisure, hospitality, construction lead strong May job gains

Posted: 03 Jun 2022 10:20 AM PDT

Last month was a strong one for real estate–related hiring as the U.S. economy approached pre-pandemic job levels. Employers hired 390,000 workers last month with substantial gains in leisure and hospitality, construction, and warehousing and storage. Unemployment remained at 3.6 percent as the number of nonfarm jobs rose to within 822,000, or 0.5 percent, of its pre-pandemic mark. “By almost any measure, this is one of the strongest job markets in the past 50 years,”

Battle rages for $100M settlement to Valentino’s Fifth Ave. landlord

Posted: 03 Jun 2022 09:30 AM PDT

A $100 million settlement was not enough to settle all of the differences at a Fifth Avenue retail property. Lender Wells Fargo is holding the property owner at 693 Fifth Avenue, previously identified as French holding company Financière Marc de Lacharrière, in default. The bank is demanding full payment of a $227 million loan balance, Crain’s reported, alleging a number of issues with the landlord’s settlement with Valentino. The settlement with the luxury fashion house’s

Housing suffers crushing defeat as mayor, speaker do nothing

Posted: 03 Jun 2022 08:30 AM PDT

It was the real estate equivalent of the Kitty Genovese murder: City leaders stood by idly as a local politician killed a Harlem apartment project. The next morning, in an ironic coincidence, Mayor Eric Adams announced he would never let something like that happen. “We are going to turn New York into a City of Yes,” he declared Wednesday. “Yes in my backyard, yes on my block, yes in my neighborhood.” Bruce Teitelbaum must have

Capital offense: Legislature largely ignores real estate

Posted: 03 Jun 2022 07:46 AM PDT

With a week to go in the legislative session, Mayor Eric Adams went to Albany to pitch state lawmakers on renewing or replacing 421a, a lucrative property tax break for multifamily developers. Upon returning, the mayor said he was hopeful the legislature would “at least” extend the tax exemption. But it never got close to doing so. That was not the only real estate–related measure left on the cutting-room floor as lawmakers prepared to adjourn

Jared Kushner’s investment firm draws House Oversight scrutiny

Posted: 03 Jun 2022 07:00 AM PDT

Jared Kushner is drawing the attention of the House Oversight Committee after landing a $2 billion investment from a fund led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia for his private equity firm. New York Rep. Carolyn Maloney sent a letter to Kushner on Thursday, asking him to provide documents linked to the Public Investment Fund’s investment in Affinity Partners, the New York Times reported. Maloney also wants any correspondence between Kushner and

David Walentas finally finds buyer for Hamptons home

Posted: 03 Jun 2022 06:00 AM PDT

A pair of tech executives are finally cutting developer David Walentas some slack. The Two Trees Development founder has sold his Southampton mansion at 199 Coopers Neck Lane for $32.2 million, the Wall Street Journal reported. The estate was first listed in April 2021 for $35 million before it was increased to $37 million in March. Walentas, known for building up much of Brooklyn’s Dumbo neighborhood, told the Journal he intends to donate the proceeds

The real estate stocks that won (and lost) the most during Covid

Posted: 03 Jun 2022 05:00 AM PDT

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. Last year was a strong one for real estate investment trusts, and now, two years since the start of the pandemic, most publicly traded real estate firms have regained their footing. But their gains — and losses — have

TRD’s June issue is live for subscribers!

Posted: 03 Jun 2022 04:30 AM PDT

The Real Deal’s June 2022 issue is live for subscribers and slated to hit your doorstep early this month. Our cover story profiles enigmatic developer Joseph Chetrit. Hailing from Casablanca, the Chetrit Group founder has “a penchant for megadeals,” but not for media coverage. Chetrit does not do interviews, but this month, a family member spoke with TRD contributor (and “The New Kings of New York” author) Adam Piore about the man the New York

Ranking Brooklyn’s top resi brokerages of 2021

Posted: 03 Jun 2022 04:00 AM PDT

Brooklyn’s residential market soared past pre-pandemic heights and into a new league last year. The borough held on to its scorching momentum from late 2020, when Manhattanites began to flee crowded highrises and tiny condos for townhouses and backyard space across the East River. Add in historically low interest rates and a rush of buyers returning to the city, and the result was Brooklyn’s ascent from longtime affordable Manhattan alternative to a primary market in

Luis D. Ortiz denies alleged abuse, calls ex “evil”

Posted: 02 Jun 2022 02:30 PM PDT

Former Douglas Elliman broker and reality TV star Luis D. Ortiz took to Instagram Thursday to defend himself against allegations of domestic abuse brought by Nikita Singh, the mother of his three-year-old daughter. His decision to speak out, he hinted, was triggered by the Amber Heard-Johnny Depp trial. In a seven-slide post, Ortiz denied accusations of physical, sexual and emotional abuse made by Singh last year, which he called a “false pretense” for Singh to

Manhattan lawmakers pitch 3-year pause of commercial rent tax

Posted: 02 Jun 2022 02:11 PM PDT

As New York City’s economy recovers from the pandemic, a trio of Manhattan lawmakers is pushing to suspend their borough’s commercial rent tax. City Council members Keith Powers and Gale Brewer and Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine introduced legislation Thursday that would halt the 3.9 percent surcharge for three years. The pause would help keep struggling Manhattan establishments afloat and spur the city’s ongoing recovery from Covid, the lawmakers said. “Relieving the commercial rent tax

Hamptons home market shifting; North Fork down to 89 listings

Posted: 02 Jun 2022 01:35 PM PDT

The Hamptons housing market is showing signs of stabilizing for the first time since the pandemic, but that doesn’t mean homes will become more affordable anytime soon. While inventory remains near historic lows, constraining sales, the area’s new supply rose, according to a report compiled by Miller Samuel for Douglas Elliman. Supply rose 13 percent from quarter to quarter to hit 5.1 months, though it’s still down annually by 25 percent. “The market remains extremely

Former WeWork hub, hollowed out by IBM’s exit, gets $70M refi

Posted: 02 Jun 2022 12:45 PM PDT

After two years of turmoil, a Greenwich Village office building is mounting a comeback. Arch Companies is refinancing 88 University Place to pay for renovations and lure new tenants after IBM vacated WeWork’s space in the early days of the pandemic, leaving the office building largely empty. The firm closed on a $70.5 million refinancing loan to upgrade the 11-story property, its representatives told The Real Deal. The Greenwich Village building was the site of

WATCH: Rob Speyer on big bets, past mistakes and the future of NYC

Posted: 02 Jun 2022 11:45 AM PDT

Tishman Speyer can’t be avoided. As The Real Deal’s Hiten Samtani writes, the firm is the 800-pound-gorilla in “most real estate rooms”. So, how does a company that large, with developments from Santa Monica to New York to Paris, stay light on its feet? That’s the challenge facing CEO Rob Speyer, who took the reins at the commercial real estate giant in 2015 after sharing them with his father, Jerry, for nearly seven years. That

Larry Ackman, former Ackman-Ziff CEO, dies

Posted: 02 Jun 2022 11:00 AM PDT

Larry Ackman, who led finance brokerage Ackman-Ziff Real Estate Group for two decades, doing deals for the likes of Sol Goldman and Seymour Durst, died this week. He was in his 80s. Ackman, the son of founding partner Herman Ackman, joined the real estate firm in the 1960s. He became president of the company in 1968 and CEO in 1977. After Simon Ziff became president of the firm in 1995 and took over day-to-day operations,

NoMad hotel market set for 25% property boost

Posted: 02 Jun 2022 10:15 AM PDT

NoMad is slated for the debuts of several new hotels that could bring a business boost to the area not accustomed to large amounts of tourists. Six hotels are expected to open in the neighborhood by the end of this year, Crain’s reported, raising the area’s stock of properties 25 percent. The Ritz-Carlton New York, NoMad is scheduled to open next month. General manager Bastian Germer told Craiin’s he expected to be fully booked at