The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Benchmark buys West Village multifamily building for $21M

Posted: 29 Jan 2019 03:00 PM PST

After years of selling off properties, Benchmark Real Estate Group is back in the buying game. The firm paid Renaissance Properties $21 million for a six-story building in the heart of the West Village, according to sources familiar with the deal. The property at 35 Bedford Street has 33 apartments and three retail units. Renaissance has owned it since at least 1982, according to property records. Aaron Jungreis of Rosewood Realty Group brokered the transaction. Renaissance […]

Hamptons Cheat Sheet: ‘The Mooch’ seeks $10M for Water Mill home, Sag Harbor broker returns to Elliman, East End home sales slip … & more

Posted: 29 Jan 2019 02:30 PM PST

‘The Mooch’ relists his Water Mill mansion for $9.75M Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci, fresh off his cameo on CBS’ “Celebrity Big Brother,” is again trying to sell his Water Mill home for $9.75 million, the New York Post reported. “The Mooch,” as the former Harvard Law School graduate-turned-hedge fund executive calls himself, put the then-unfinished home on the market in May 2018, just nine months after he bought the property for $7.49 million. Built […]

New York’s most viewed building is getting a facelift

Posted: 29 Jan 2019 02:00 PM PST

Jamestown is planning to redevelop the most viewed building in the world. The tower 1 Times Square, which becomes the center of attention every New Year’s Eve thanks to the famous ball drop, will be getting new signage and perhaps some tenants down the line, Crain’s reported. Jamestown plans to install 32,000 square feet of new signage at the property, including a 350-foot-tall digital sign on the north façade. Already, the landlord was charging top […]

Tax perk meant for mom-and-pop owners will instead benefit major property investors

Posted: 29 Jan 2019 01:30 PM PST

Small-time real estate investors are being blocked from a tax break that was originally meant to benefit them. The Treasury Department recently released final rules detailing how owners of businesses including limited liability companies can receive a deduction of up to 20 percent, according to Bloomberg. The law, which was part of 2017 tax reform, lets real estate firms claim the deduction in full, but bars part-time property owners from the benefit. Part-time property owners […]

Here’s what the $20M-$30M NYC investment sales market looked like last week

Posted: 29 Jan 2019 01:00 PM PST

A package of retail condominiums and an Astoria apartment building were the two New York City investment sales transactions in the $20 million to $30 million range made public last week. 1.) Joaquin Garcia-Quiros Rodriguez, described by his broker as an international investor, bought a trio of retail condos at 212 Fifth Avenue in NoMad for $26.5 million, according to a public filing recorded with the Department of Finance last week. That comes out to […]

This 520 Park pad just closed for $64M

Posted: 29 Jan 2019 12:30 PM PST

One of the priciest residential deals to start off the year is another penthouse closing at Zeckendorf Development’s 520 Park Avenue. The duplex penthouse sold for $64.25 million, according to records filed with New York City’s Department of Finance. The buyer is listed as “CJFGK, LLC.” The buyer financed the purchase with a $32.13 million mortgage from JPMorgan Chase, records show. The LLC is managed by Moshe Oppenheim, an attorney with First Quality in Great […]

A look inside NYC’s dirty money files

Posted: 29 Jan 2019 12:00 PM PST

In 2012, Joseph Chetrit , a Moroccan real estate investor known for his New York City developments, allegedly flew to Geneva to meet Nicolas Bourg, a Belgium-based real estate fund manager, to talk about raising equity for several new projects. Bourg was representing an investment fund backed with money allegedly stolen by two Kazakhstani investors — Viktor Khrapunov, the former mayor of Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan, and Mukhtar Ablyazov, the former chairman of […]

Hitting the brakes: Compass won’t expand to new markets this year

Posted: 29 Jan 2019 11:40 AM PST

After a nationwide expansion spree last year, Compass is taking a breather. The brokerage won’t enter any new markets in 2019, according to Inman. CEO Robert Reffkin said the company will instead be focusing on hiring and growth in its current markets. “For us, this year, we don’t want to spread ourselves thin,” Reffkin said. “Last year we did a bit.” The firm is hitting pause after encountering a few challenges in some of its […]

Turnbridge Equities buys 1M sf industrial site in NJ Opportunity Zone for $61M

Posted: 29 Jan 2019 11:00 AM PST

Turnbridge Equities, which owns last-mile distribution sites in Brooklyn and the Bronx, just paid $61 million to buy a 1 million-square-foot campus in an Opportunity Zone in the tri-state area. The Midtown-based firm teamed up with JP Morgan’s asset management arm to buy the former Ballantine Brewery property in Newark, N.J., for $61 million, a representative for the partnership told The Real Deal. Turnbridge managing principal Ryan Nelson said the property is leased to tenants […]

Taconic, Mitsu Fudosan land $200M loan for Hell’s Kitchen apartment building

Posted: 29 Jan 2019 10:20 AM PST

Nearly two years after finishing construction on one of Hell’s Kitchen’s largest rental buildings, Taconic Investment Partners and Mitsui Fudosan America have taken out permanent financing for their Far West Side project. The joint-venture partners locked in $200 million in long-term debt for the 392-unit, mixed-income apartment building at 525 West 52nd Street that they completed in 2017, according to the brokers who arranged the financing. Wells Fargo Multifamily Capital provided the fixed-rate debt through a […]

Clipper Equity gets $136M refi for GWB apartment complex

Posted: 29 Jan 2019 09:15 AM PST

David Bistricer’s Clipper Equity just got a debt injection from Freddie Mac for an apartment complex that straddles the interstate leading to the George Washington Bridge. The owner entity, which includes investor Jacob Schwimmer, secured a $136 million refinancing of the 480-unit Bridge Apartments at 111 Wadsworth Avenue and 1360 St. Nicholas Avenue, according to filings recorded Tuesday with the city’s Department of Finance. There are four, 32-story buildings in the complex. The main lender […]

Ginnie Mae ramps up scrutiny of nonbank mortgage lenders

Posted: 29 Jan 2019 08:30 AM PST

Ginnie Mae, the agency that guarantees mortgages made by various government institutions, is taking unprecedented steps to address concerns over the role of nonbank lenders in U.S. housing markets. For the first time in years, the agency has asked a number of these lenders to improve financial metrics before receiving full approval to continue issuing Ginnie-backed mortgage bonds. Maren Kasper, who became the agency’s acting head this month, declined to name the specific firms but […]

A brief history of candidates rejecting New York real estate money

Posted: 29 Jan 2019 07:45 AM PST

When Council Speaker Corey Johnson announced yesterday that his campaign would not accept donations from real estate developers or their employees, he was the latest in a growing line of Democratic politicians to do so recently. Other candidates who have made similar pledges include: Queens City Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer, considering a run for borough president in 2021 Brooklyn Democratic Socialist Julia Salazar, who defeated an eight-term incumbent state senator Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest […]

Follow The Real Deal’s Deal Sheet on Instagram!

Posted: 29 Jan 2019 07:00 AM PST

Shaya Sonnenschein and Shaya Ackerman of Meridian Capital Group represented the owner, Marx Development Group. The loan was issued by Mack Real Estate Credit Strategies. #commercialrealestate #nycrealestate #trdny #trddealsheet #nyc #nycloans #trdloans A post shared by The Real Deal’s Deal Sheet (@trddeals) on Jun 20, 2018 at 10:17am PDT The Real Deal’s Deal Sheet is on Instagram! Our latest social media channel features snaps of retail and office leases, financing acquisitions and commercial and residential […]

Bond New York taps Keller Williams veteran to head downtown offices

Posted: 29 Jan 2019 06:15 AM PST

Following its recent northward expansion, Bond New York has brought in Keller Williams’ Fanny Montalvo to be managing director of its offices in Chelsea and Union Square. In October, Bond inked a lease for its new corporate headquarters at 810 Seventh Avenue in Midtown. The former managing director for the brokerage’s Chelsea office, Adam Taylor, is relocating to the 17,000-square foot flagship where he will manage 250 agents. Montalvo was the Managing Broker of Record […]

In retreat, Chinese investors are now targeting more mundane US real estate

Posted: 29 Jan 2019 05:35 AM PST

The Chinese real estate selling spree continues to break records. After being net sellers of U.S. real estate in the second quarter of 2018, which was the first time since 2008, Chinese investors have now gone three straight quarters selling more than they have bought, for the first time ever. In fact, Chinese investors sold more real estate in 2018 than the previous seven years combined, according the Real Capital Analytics data cited by the […]

Compass hires Solil’s Brett Weinblatt, rounding out NYC commercial offerings

Posted: 29 Jan 2019 05:00 AM PST

With investment sales and office leasing teams in place, Compass is beefing up its commercial offerings in New York with the hiring of another veteran agent. The SoftBank-backed brokerage brought in longtime Solil Management agent Brett Weinblatt last week, to head a team focused on retail and industrial leasing throughout the city, according to PincusCo. Compass announced its arrival in the commercial space last August, with the hire of Eastern Consolidated’s Adelaide Polsinelli to join […]

NY’s McMansions are definitely not dying

Posted: 29 Jan 2019 04:30 AM PST

National Drive in Mill Basin, Brooklyn, is a museum of late-20th-century suburban hodgepodge: A modest colonial here, a questionable Spanish villa there. Stucco sits beside stone and brick beside vinyl. None are so remarkable, however, as the edifice sitting where National Drive ends near the Mill Basin inlet, just off Jamaica Bay. With its white façade, black windows and wall-to-wall marble, 2458 National Drive is an acquired taste. A buyer put up $10 million last […]

REBNY will fine agents $500 to $5,000 for listing violations

Posted: 29 Jan 2019 04:00 AM PST

In an effort to clean up its listings feed, the Real Estate Board of New York on Monday said it would fine agents between $500 and $5,000 for violating new data-sharing rules. The penalties are part of a new compliance system designed to improve information submitted to REBNY’s residential listing system (RLS), the board said in an email to agents. The new system will “read” all listings entered into the RLS and automatically notify agents […]