The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Canadian developer Ray Junior Courtemanche, a former professional stock car racer, says “the timing was right” to accept cryptocurrencies for a condo project near Montreal. He might want to do some more research next time. Courtemanche said in a news release last week that he teamed up with Dello, a Montreal fintech company, to process crypto payments for units at SKYBLÜ Condos, 30 miles north of the city. His announcement came after the global crypto

A key Hong Kong Stock Exchange index removed six Chinese property developers, including Evergrande’s property management unit, that either sought debt payment extensions or defaulted and failed to release 2021 financial results. Evergrande, Sunac, Kaisa Group, China Aoyuan and Shimao Group were dropped last week from the Hang Seng Composite Index, according to Chinese business news outlet Caixin Global. The index, which measures 95 percent of the value of all companies listed in Hong Kong,

A Virginia suburb’s attempt to create housing for the “missing middle” is sparking heated debate among locals. Arlington residents flooded a public meeting recently to argue for and against a proposal that would end single-family zoning across the affluent suburb, allowing townhouses, duplexes and multi-unit buildings, the Washington Post reported. On Tuesday, county lawmakers will start discussing the draft framework, which was developed after a years-long study that looked at how medium-density homes could expand

Miki Naftali is ready to take a wrecking ball to an Upper West Side apartment building that he plans to convert to luxury condos. But the building’s lone holdout tenant says he isn’t going anywhere. The Naftali Group this week filed demolition plans at 215 West 84th Street, which the developer intends to replace with a 16-story condo building, Crain’s reported. The filing on its own does not indicate that Naftali has gotten any closer

The Trump Organization has nabbed a new tenant at 40 Wall Street, with Jay Suites inking a 12-year deal for 50,000 square feet. The co-working firm’s lease at the 1.3 million square-foot building covers floors 27 through 29 and was said to cost $40 per foot, a relative bargain for Class A office space in the Financial District. According to a Transwestern report, Class A asking rents Downtown averaged $58.06 per foot in the second

The City Council approved a 166-acre rezoning in Queens this week, clearing a path for the addition of hundreds of housing units. The rezoning is for a stretch of Edgemere, spanning from Beach 35th Street and Beach 50th Street. City Limits reported the rezoning could lead to the influx of more than 1,200 housing units. The council approved five applications from HPD for development projects that will feature mandatory inclusionary housing affordability rules. The developments

Here’s to hoping life doesn’t imitate art. Actor Nathan Lane, who on Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building” portrays a resident of an Upper West Side co-op building that was the site of a suspicious killing, just picked up a real-life co-op at West 71st and Broadway. Lane and his husband, writer Devlin Elliott, paid $4.1 million for a unit in the Dorilton at 171 West 71st Street, records show, slightly above its $3.95 million

Think the American Dream has had every problem a megamall could have? Dream on. The New Jersey retail complex is at the center of a dispute with local municipalities, which allege it owes them at least $9 million, NorthJersey.com reported. The localities had negotiated payments with the shopping and entertainment venue at a time when visions abounded of consumers flocking to the East Rutherford site. The crux of the dispute centers on the definition of

United Kingdom developer Quadrum Global is ready to continue its invasion of Brooklyn with the help of a nine-figure construction loan. The London-based firm landed a $126 million construction loan from Madison Realty Capital at 29 Huron Street, PincusCo reported. Madison Realty borrowed from Axos Capital, which was assigned an interest in the loans. The construction loan should allow Quadrum Global to get to work in Greenpoint, where the developer is planning two luxury condo

The ancient Greek epic poem “The Odyssey” chronicles a decade-long journey home from the Trojan War, in which its titular character is delayed by giants, sea monsters and vengeful gods. Thor Equities hasn’t had it quite that bad, but its quest to sell a Lenox Hill townhouse just hit a similar milestone. Ten years ago, when Thor first listed the six-story home at 60 East 66th Street, its portfolio company Town Residential was one of

UPDATED, July 15, 2022, 3:30 p.m.: Things keep getting worse for Better. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is probing the digital mortgage lender, according to a regulatory filing reported by Inman. Better and Aurora Acquisition Corp., the SPAC formed to take Better public, are cooperating with the voluntary request for documentation. The examination came out of a lawsuit filed by Sarah Pierce, the former executive vice president for sales and operations. Pierce accused the

Just months ago, Zelig Weiss was ready to take the helm of the William Vale hotel. All Year Holdings, the firm owned but no longer controlled by Yoel Goldman, his partner in the posh Brooklyn property, appeared set to accept Weiss’ bid for its stake. Then the winds shifted, and in late May, All Year Holdings reached a deal to sell to health care investor Avi Philipson. Now Weiss is fighting back. In a new

When Devin Someck, a principal at Living New York, started receiving unsolicited offers to rent unit 4B at 204 Montrose in Williamsburg, he and the seller decided to test the market. They listed it for rent at a number higher than it had previously achieved: $3,500 per month. The unit drew multiple offers within the first day of showings and ended up signing a lease at $4,050 per month, making the owner’s cash-on-cash return almost

When Terry Cohen began selling Hamptons real estate two decades ago, she started with the boutique firm Allan Schneider Associates, a shop she says was “all you ever need in the Hamptons.” Then National Realty Trust scooped up the firm in 2006, absorbing it into its  Corcoran Group subsidiary, and it lost its appeal. So when Saunders and Associates approached her, she jumped at the opportunity to once again work at a smaller firm.  But

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. Spiking interest rates, stubbornly high home prices and a volatile economic environment helped plunge housing affordability to a 15-month low in May, but did little to deter home buyers in Manhattan, where both prices and sales volume continued to

Brooklyn Nets player Ben Simmons isn’t the only person taking forever to get to work at the Barclays Center. Developer Greenland Forest City Partners was supposed to construct a sweeping glass atrium outside the arena by this May. The deadline, part of an agreement to build the Pacific Park megaproject in Downtown Brooklyn, came and went. Now, local activist group BrooklynSpeaks and elected officials are calling on Gov. Kathy Hochul to enforce a $10 million

Ivana Trump, the former model, skier and real estate developer whose rollercoaster marriage to Donald Trump and made-for-tabloids divorce from the mogul made her the subject of international fascination, has died, according to a statement from the Trump family. She was 73. Ivana was found dead in her Upper East Side apartment Thursday afternoon, according to ABC. “She was a wonderful, beautiful and amazing woman, who led a great and inspirational life,” Donald Trump wrote

Vlad Doronin’s OKO Group has sold another gem on Billionaires Row. An international buyer paid $34.8 million for a 3,700-square-foot condominium in Aman New York, the developer’s luxury hotel and residential project at 730 Fifth Avenue in Midtown. The three-bed, three-bathroom unit boasts a 1,000-square-foot terrace, and fetched its full offering price, according to plans filed with the New York State Attorney General. Jean-Michel Gathy of Denniston designed the interior, which includes views of Central

Lidl is leaning into its New York expansion once again, this time at the Queens Place Mall in Elmhurst. The German discount grocer is leasing 35,000 square feet at the shopping center, owner Madison International Realty announced Wednesday. The tenant plans to move into the space during the first quarter of 2024, replacing DSW, whose lease expires next month. Financial terms and the exact length of the long-term lease were not disclosed. Lidl will occupy

Amazon was at a retail crossroads when it shut down its “4-star” stores. Now it’s being sued by the Crossgates Mall — despite still paying its rent. An affiliate of Pyramid Management Group, which owns the Albany mall, is taking the retail giant to court, the Times Union reported. The lawsuit alleges that Amazon, which shut down its store in March, owes the mall $629,000. The lawsuit is not about rent, which Amazon is paying

The country’s housing shortage has taken center stage in recent years, but its origins pre-date the pandemic as strapped supply spread across the country, amounting to a national issue. The United States was short 3.8 million homes in 2019, fueled by a rise in underproduction in states previously resistant to the problem, according to recent analysis reported by Bloomberg. The analysis came from Up for Growth, an organization dedicated to solving the housing shortage. The

The notorious Cecil Hotel — backdrop of both fictional and real-life horror stories — is now the subject of a lawsuit over a real estate deal gone sour. Tishman Realty claims that an entity tied to Simon Development and Baron Property Group owes it at least $1.3 million in damages related to its proposed investment in the Downtown Los Angeles hotel. A source familiar with the deal said the proposal came as Tishman was negotiating

Staten Island has no street grid, lacks free bridges and voted for Donald Trump, but the “forgotten borough” has one thing in common with the rest of New York City: its housing market. Rising prices? Check. Depleted inventory? Yup. Falling sales? You bet. New listings on Staten Island in June fell 15.5 percent from the same month last year to 612, while pending sales were down 27 percent to 379, according to ​​a report from

The estate of late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has executed what could be the most expensive co-op sale in New York’s history. Two apartments at 4 East 66th Street on the Upper East Side traded for $101 million, the Wall Street Journal reported. The outlet noted that if considered as one property, the sale smashed the previous co-op record set in 2015 at $77.5 million, according to real estate appraiser Jonathan Miller. The sale includes

UPDATED July 14, 2022, 4:25 p.m.: The property tax break known as 421a may have lapsed, but the legal battles it has long inspired will continue. In the latest salvo, Lower East Side tenant Charles Abbate claims landlord L+M Development Partners “hoodwinked” both him and state housing authorities by imposing a rent increase far beyond the legal limit on his regulated apartment at 180 Broome Street. The complaint, filed in state Supreme Court this week,

New York City dealmarkers came out of the Fourth of July weekend and drove another busy week of mid-market investment sales to open up the second half of 2022. Eleven deals for commercial properties between $10 million and $40 million hit city records last week. Four each were in Manhattan and Brooklyn, while two were in Queens and one was in the Bronx. Below are more details on each transaction: 1. Kenneth Fishel’s Renaissance Properties

As ever, Joseph Hoffman’s mind was on the details. The Bushburg founder was driving through southwestern Brooklyn when he noticed a masonry supply showroom, a roadside discovery about as exciting to most as a gray Toyota Camry.  But Hoffman began puzzling over the possibilities — thousands upon thousands of possibilities lining the walls of that brick emporium, and whether any of them might be the missing piece of the puzzle at Empire State Dairy, his

If a hot housing market brought rents to boil, the cool-down should cause apartment prices to fall, right? Wrong. In June, the average Manhattan rent topped $5,000, a historical first, according to a report by appraisal firm Miller Samuel for Douglas Elliman. Meanwhile, the borough’s median rent, which reached a record $4,000 in May, edged up to $4,050 last month. Those gains came as surging mortgage rates caused home sales to dip. And where did