The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Yoel Goldman gets his Rheingold Brewery funds. But at a far greater cost.

Posted: 12 Feb 2019 03:52 PM PST

Yoel Goldman now has the money to finish his much-hyped Bushwick rental megaproject. But the debt’s likely going to cost him a lot more than he had hoped, after an accounting scandal in Israel involving the prolific Brooklyn developer spooked U.S. banks and stymied a senior-loan deal. In November, The Real Deal reported that Goldman’s All Year Management had a term sheet in place with a lender for a $230 million refinancing of the second […]

Head of NYCHA’s beleaguered elevator division is suspended

Posted: 12 Feb 2019 03:28 PM PST

The head of the New York City Public Housing Authority’s elevator division has been suspended following allegations that he violated the agency’s anti-discrimination policies. The agency is moving to fire Ivo Nikolic, who until last week oversaw the safety and maintenance of NYCHA’s 3,237 elevators, following an issue raised with the agency last week. Nikolic was in charge of the elevator division when three senior elevator directors, Derrick Graham Virgel Fincher and Alan Guadagno, who […]

RXR joining TF Cornerstone, MSD Capital on $3B Grand Hyatt redevelopment

Posted: 12 Feb 2019 03:02 PM PST

RXR Realty will join TF Cornerstone and Michael Dell’s investment firm on the $3 billion redevelopment of Grand Central’s Grand Hyatt hotel. Scott Rechler, RXR’s CEO, will step down from his role as a board member at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in order to avoid a potential conflict of interest, Crain’s reported. “This is a unique development that fits into our model of focusing on irreplaceable locations closely connected to transportation,” Rechler said. “We’re one […]

Hamptons Cheat Sheet: Christie Brinkley sells Sag Harbor mansion for $17.5M, Hampton Bays motel conversion moves forward… & more

Posted: 12 Feb 2019 02:30 PM PST

Christie Brinkley’s Sag Harbor home sells after steep price cut Not even Christie Brinkley is immune from price pressures in the Hamptons home sales market. The model is now in contract to sell her wood-shingled Sag Harbor mansion at 1 Fahys Road for just under its last ask of $17.5 million, according to the New York Post. The 4.44-acre property first listed for $25 million in October 2016 — about 30 percent more than it finally moved […]

A condo at Vornado’s 220 Central Park South just sold for $34M

Posted: 12 Feb 2019 02:15 PM PST

It looks like Ken Griffin has a new neighbor in the ultra luxe 220 Central Park South. An anonymous buyer paid $33.5 million for Unit 35A at the 79-story limestone tower, developed by Vornado Realty Trust and designed by Robert A.M. Stern. According to the offering plan filed with the New York Attorney General’s office, Vornado initially sought $30 million for the unit but later raised the price to $34.5 million. The buyer used an […]

JLL credits rise of co-working, new proptech investments for big Q4 revenue boost

Posted: 12 Feb 2019 02:00 PM PST

JLL CEO Christian Ulbrich credited his firm’s growing focus on co-working and real estate technology investments for $4.9 billion in reported revenue in the fourth quarter, a 13 percent increase year over year. The boost was driven in part by a 25 percent year-over-year increase in global leasing revenue for the Chicago-based real estate services giant, with a 34 percent spike in the Americas alone, Ulbrich said during an earnings call Tuesday. Shares in JLL […]

Midtown Equities, HK Organization recapitalize Empire Stores in $420M deal

Posted: 12 Feb 2019 01:30 PM PST

The owners of Dumbo’s Empire Stores have recapitalized the office-and-shopping complex in a deal that values the property at nearly $420 million. Midtown Equities and the HK Organization bought out the majority stake previously owned by partner Rockwood Capital, and then refinanced the centuries-old former warehouse with a $280 million loan from AIG, sources told The Real Deal. “It’s a 100-percent fully stabilized property,” said Aaron Appel of JLL, whose team secured the financing for […]

CRE scorecard: Manhattan office leasing through December 2018

Posted: 12 Feb 2019 01:00 PM PST

OFFICE LEASING IN MANHATTAN Midtown office leasing rose a whopping 81 percent in December compared to November, totaling 3.15 million square feet and making 2018’s fourth quarter the submarket’s strongest quarter since 2001. The availability rate dropped by 0.4 percentage points to 10.3 percent, while the average asking rent rose to $78.43 per square foot. The largest deal in Midtown and citywide was Deutsche Bank’s 1.1 million-square-foot lease at 60 Columbus Circle. Leasing activity in […]

Revamped design for 550 Madison receives Landmarks’ approval

Posted: 12 Feb 2019 12:19 PM PST

UPDATE, Feb. 12, 7:10p.m.: The messy makeover of 550 Madison is officially cleaned up and back on track. The Landmarks Preservation Commission has approved the latest design proposal for renovating the iconic 37-story office tower designed by late architect Philip Johnson and John Burgee “with modifications,” according to a release. This is the second time the development team – the Olayan Group and Chelsfield – and architecture firm, Snøhetta, have tried to transform the 1984 […]

Vornado may now be targeting tech tenants at Farley Post Office redevelopment

Posted: 12 Feb 2019 12:11 PM PST

Despite previous reports that it was targeting tenants from the high-growth life sciences industry, Vornado Realty Trust now appears to be broadening its reach at the Farley Post Office redevelopment. The project, a key part of the redevelopment of the Penn Station complex, will be “the best creative space in Manhattan,” Vornado CEO Steve Roth said on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call Tuesday morning. “It is a horizontal campus in an iconic landmarked building, much […]

Home prices are rising more slowly amid the affordability crunch

Posted: 12 Feb 2019 11:30 AM PST

A new wave of inventory is putting a damper on rising U.S. home prices. Price gains slowed in the fourth quarter amid a market that has created affordability challenges, Bloomberg reported. The median price for an existing single-family home was $257,600, a 4 percent increase from a year earlier, according to the National Association of Realtors. In the third quarter of 2018, the price rose 4.8 percent year over year. “Home prices continued to rise […]

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

Posted: 12 Feb 2019 11:01 AM PST

In New York City’s $20 million to $30 million investment sales market last week, developers snapped up vacant land in Rego Park and Midtown. Here are the details, which were made publicly available last week. 1. The Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady of the Angelus sold vacant land at 98-04 63rd Road in Queen’s Rego Park neighborhood for $30 million, according to property records filed with the New York City Department of Finance. The […]

What Vornado plans to do with the massive profits from 220 CPS

Posted: 12 Feb 2019 10:35 AM PST

As closings at 220 Central Park South have started rolling in, Vornado Realty Trust knows exactly what it will be doing with the massive profits, estimated at $1 billion. “Big picture, our financial plan is to redeploy the proceeds of 220 CPS sales into the cap[ital] ex[penses] of Farley, Penn One, and Penn Two,” Vornado CEO Steve Roth said on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call Tuesday morning. “Give or take, we expect to fund all […]

Broadway producers to sell UES townhouse at steep discount

Posted: 12 Feb 2019 10:02 AM PST

The contract price of this luxury townhouse shows we are truly entering a season of serious discounts. Broadway producers Janet and Howard Kagan’s Upper East Side townhouse has gone into contract for $29.5 million, down from an original listing price of $44 million. Built in 1895, the six-story townhouse at 11 East 82nd Street spans nearly 13,000 square feet. The mansion, half a block from Central Park, has nine bedrooms and seven bathrooms. It also […]

The house that launched a billion packages: Birthplace of Amazon hits market

Posted: 12 Feb 2019 09:30 AM PST

Before HQ2 or even HQ1, Amazon was headquartered in a 1,500-square-foot Craftsman home in the tony Seattle suburb of Bellevue. Now that house is for sale. The owners of the three-bedroom house where Bezos famously started the trillion-dollar company in 1994 are asking $1.5 million for the keys to the landmark, according to the Seattle Times. Bezos was only renting the home for a few months when he drew up articles of incorporation, and a […]

Introducing TRD’s tri-state quarterly issue

Posted: 12 Feb 2019 08:45 AM PST

The Real Deal is expanding our coverage of the tri-state area with a quarterly issue looking at the real estate markets in Long Island and the Hamptons, New Jersey, Westchester and Fairfield counties. Each issue will be divided into market-specific sections and packed with the data-driven reporting, analysis and profiles the industry relies on from TRD. The tri-state issues will be published in February, May, August and November of 2019 and 55,000 copies will be […]

HUD official Lynne Patton has moved into NYCHA housing

Posted: 12 Feb 2019 08:00 AM PST

The latest resident in New York City’s public housing system is the federal government’s top housing official in the region. Lynne Patton, the regional administrator for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, arrived at the Patterson Houses in Mott Haven, the New York Daily News reported. Patton, who makes an annual government salary of $161,000, said the stint is aimed at getting a firsthand look at conditions in the nation’s largest public housing […]

Marketing tech unicorn is taking 23K sf at 3 Park Ave.

Posted: 12 Feb 2019 07:31 AM PST

A tech startup is snagging 23,000 square feet at Charles S. Cohen’s 3 Park Ave. Zeta Global — a unicorn valued at more than $1.4 billion — will move into the single-floor space this summer, the New York Post reported. The company is upgrading from its 18,000 square feet of space across five floors at 185 Madison Ave. Zeta Global is a marketing tech company that helps brands acquire and retain more customers — using […]

New Yorkers favor Amazon deal despite lawmaker opposition, poll says

Posted: 12 Feb 2019 07:00 AM PST

Even as Amazon’s plan for a campus in Long Island City faces strong opposition from local lawmakers and activists, the majority of voters in New York City and the state support the move, a new poll claims. About 56 percent of voters across the state support the project, according to a new poll by the Siena Research Institute. Roughly 58 percent of city residents support the plan, while 35 percent opposed it when told about […]

Manhattan luxury condos tied to alleged Venezuelan money-laundering scheme

Posted: 12 Feb 2019 06:30 AM PST

Amid Venezuela’s growing crisis, the U.S. government has tied seven Manhattan condo buildings to a currency exchange scam run by the country’s so-called “boligarchs.” The condos are part of a portfolio of holdings that, according to court filings, are “subject to forfeiture,” the New York Post reported. They’re worth more than $40 million. The move follows allegations of bribery and money laundering against Venezuelan TV mogul Raul Gorrin, who has close connections to President Nicolas […]

Thor Equities is in a very precarious position at 597 Fifth

Posted: 12 Feb 2019 06:00 AM PST

Lululemon’s departure from 597 Fifth Avenue could put Thor Equities in a pickle. The retailer’s impending vacancy again puts landlord Thor Equities in danger of having to hand over the property to lender SL Green Realty, according to Crain’s. Without a high-paying tenant to replace Lululemon, the property might not generate enough income to cover its mortgage payments. SL Green has a $25 million mezzanine loan and another lender has a $10 million mezzanine loan. […]

Here’s the latest project headed to rezoned East Harlem

Posted: 12 Feb 2019 05:30 AM PST

A new 20-story mixed-use building is headed to East Harlem, which already has a handful of major projects underway following the neighborhood’s rezoning. The project, at 2252 Third Avenue, between 122nd and 123rd Streets, will span 53,900 square feet and hold 61 residential units and retail space, according to an application pre-filed with the city’s Department of Buildings. It would replace a three-story commercial building currently on the lot. The residential units will be rentals, […]

Qatar is changing its investment strategy following Brookfield’s 666 Fifth deal

Posted: 12 Feb 2019 05:00 AM PST

Qatar is rethinking how it invests its money abroad following the deal Brookfield struck last year to bail the Kushner Companies out of 666 Fifth Avenue. The Qatari government had invested with Brookfield but played no part in the 666 Fifth Avenue deal, which it first learned about in the media, according to Reuters. The country’s Qatar Investment Authority will now try to avoid putting money in funds or other investment vehicles it does not completely […]

Office leasing hits record levels in Manhattan, and more of the biggest trends in CRE right now

Posted: 12 Feb 2019 04:30 AM PST

Office leasing hits record levels in Manhattan Although 2018 was rough for some segments of the real estate industry, it was a record-setting year for Manhattan’s office market. Leasing activity, which includes new deals and expansions, hit 32.4 million square feet, the highest annual total since 2000, according to CBRE. The gains were driven by a strong economy, expanding office employment and, until recently, a surging stock market. Financial services firms accounted for 28 percent […]

Vornado wants to clean up “crack alley” around One Penn Plaza

Posted: 12 Feb 2019 04:00 AM PST

A host of undesirables engaging in lewd behavior are proving a major headache for the Penn Station area’s largest landlord. Vornado Realty Trust is undertaking a $200 million renovation of One Penn Plaza, and wants the city’s help in fixing what’s become known as “crack alley,” public documents show. “You need to do something about the vagrants, bums, crackheads, crack-whores, scallywags, ne’er-do-wells, drunks, drug addicts, knife-fights, fist fights, bi**ch-slapping, and yelling sessions that are beginning […]