The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Hamptons Cheat Sheet: After ‘Trump bump,’ Joe Farrell taps Saunders to market $200M portfolio, East Hampton still tops for renters… & more

Posted: 10 Apr 2019 03:30 PM PDT

After ‘Trump bump,’ Saunders to market $200M in homes Prominent Hamptons developer Joe Farrell has hired Saunders & Associates to market 19 of his properties worth a combined $200 million, including his Sandcastle mansion in Water Mill that once hosted Beyoncé and Jay-Z, the New York Post reported. Farrell, of Farrell Building Co., considers the mansion his dream home and is asking $19.95 million for the property. The 17,000-square-foot home has 10 bedrooms, 15 bathrooms, a […]

Extell outmaneuvered Silverstein at the Helmsley Carlton House. But its CEO now owns a slice of it.

Posted: 10 Apr 2019 03:28 PM PDT

Looks like Marty Burger will get a chunk of Helmsley Carlton House after all. The Silverstein Properties CEO and his wife Alison Burger shelled out $10.2 million for a pad at 21 East 61st Street— now known simply as the Carlton House, property records filed Wednesday show. The records show another unit — most likely for storage — was included in the deal, but the type of unit could not be confirmed. Silverstein had bid […]

Halstead hires consultant Carole Bloom to expand its rental division

Posted: 10 Apr 2019 03:00 PM PDT

Halstead Development Marketing has tapped a new executive lead the expansion of its leasing division. The company has hired Carole Bloom, of Bloomstone Group, as executive president of leasing, Halstead said in a statement. Bloom will help grow the firm’s rental division, which works with landlords and developers on pre-development consulting through marketing and leasing. Bloom said she chose to jump from her own firm to Halstead because being part of a larger company would […]

WeWork is coming to Times Square

Posted: 10 Apr 2019 02:41 PM PDT

Hipster-ish office workers will soon be joining the costumed characters in Times Square. WeWork has inked a lease for about 45,000 square feet at 1410 Broadway in Midtown, the company announced on Wednesday. The office-leasing arm of the We Company will occupy space on the eighth, ninth and 16th floors of the building, taking an average of about 15,000 square feet on each floor. Its new location will open over the summer. L.H. Charney Associates […]

REBNY gearing up for policy fight on commercial rent control

Posted: 10 Apr 2019 02:30 PM PDT

With the defeated pied-à-terre tax in its rearview mirror, the real estate industry is now gearing up to soften the bite of the city’s so-called commercial rent control legislation. The Real Estate Board of New York is working to propose alternatives to the City Council’s Small Business Jobs Survival Act (SBJSA). The legislation would give commercial tenants a right to a lease renewal, and would have an arbitrator set the rent when a property owner […]

Chetrit Group just bagged a $152M refi for historic FiDi office building

Posted: 10 Apr 2019 02:00 PM PDT

Don’t leave home without your financing, Joe. The Chetrit Group just landed a $152 million refinancing package on the American Express building at 65 Broadway, the real estate firm confirmed on Wednesday. CCRE provided Chetrit and its partner Read Property Group with the refinancing package, and a team from Galaxy Capital brokered the deal. About a quarter of the debt package is CMBS. Representatives from Galaxy declined to comment. CCRE did not immediately respond to […]

Construction worker falls to his death working on Brooklyn rooftop

Posted: 10 Apr 2019 01:34 PM PDT

A young construction worker fell to his death while doing work on One Pierrepont Street in Brooklyn Heights. The 23-year-old worker was only on the job for a week, NBC 4 New York reported. He fell from the roof of the 13-story luxury building. He had died by the time authorities arrived and his identity hasn’t been released, the report said. The investigation is ongoing. According to the Department of Buildings, two workers were laying […]

A Chelsea condo with swimming pools for everyone files for bankruptcy. Again.

Posted: 10 Apr 2019 01:15 PM PDT

The Pool House is taking another dive. The LLC behind Six Sigma’s stalled condominium development at 435 West 19th Street, which includes a personal pool in each unit, filed for bankruptcy a second time last Friday as the project’s restructuring firm gets ready to start from scratch, Commercial Observer reported. “The scope of the project has changed. It no longer appears that a ‘gut rehabilitation’ of the building can be done efficiently,” William Henrich, the […]

South Florida developer among parents facing new charges in Varsity Blues case

Posted: 10 Apr 2019 12:30 PM PDT

Miami developer Robert Zangrillo is among the 16 parents now facing additional charges in the Justice Department’s largest-ever college admissions investigation. Zangrillo was among the 33 parents indicted in March for paying to get their children into schools that included the University of Southern California, Stanford, Georgetown and Yale. In addition to being charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud, the Department of Justice now charged Zangrillo and 15 other […]

Why this grocery store chain is stocking up on real estate

Posted: 10 Apr 2019 11:45 AM PDT

As Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods threatens to upend the entire grocery sector, those currently sitting atop the retail food chain are working hard to solidify their standing. Publix Super Markets, the dominant chain throughout Florida with 227 locations in the tri-county South Florida region alone, is doing just that. The company is making moves to ensure that it can weather any market challenges by increasingly becoming owners of their stores, as well as the […]

Netflix in talks to buy Hollywood’s historic Egyptian Theatre

Posted: 10 Apr 2019 11:00 AM PDT

Netflix may be killing the traditional movie industry, but the streaming giant now appears to be in talks to buy one of Hollywood’s most famous brick and mortar theaters. The streaming giant is negotiating to acquire the landmarked Egyptian Theater on Hollywood Boulevard, according to Deadline. The owner is nonprofit group American Cinematheque. The deal would reportedly allow American Cinematheque to run the Egyptian’s schedule on weekends, while Netflix would operate it on weekdays, including […]

Here’s what the $10M-$20M NYC investment sales market looked like last week

Posted: 10 Apr 2019 10:30 AM PDT

In the world of New York City mid-market investment sales, a Queens property traded between credit unions and Yoel Goldman bought in Bushwick, according to property records made public last week. 1. An entity tied to developer Yoel Goldman snapped up 25 Stewart Avenue in Bushwick, which at one point had been the site of a proposed hotel. Longtime owners James Ruggiero and Louis Ruggiero sold the parcel, where a one-story commercial building once stood, […]

After a short boom, higher rates are driving down mortgage refis

Posted: 10 Apr 2019 09:45 AM PDT

The mortgage refinance boom was short-lived. The rebound in interest rates has slowed borrowers seeking to refinance their mortgages, CNBC reported. Mortgage application volume fell 5.6 percent from the previous week — but applications were still 24 percent higher year-over-year because of the recent increase in refinancing. After rates fell for four straight weeks to the lowest level in more than a year, the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages ticked up to […]

Leasing brokers on one of the city’s “ugliest” buildings bring home REBNY’s Most Ingenious Deal award

Posted: 10 Apr 2019 09:00 AM PDT

One of Manhattan’s ugliest buildings ended up being a real eye catcher for the city’s top brokers. CBRE’s Gregg Rothkin and Gerry Miovski – leasing agents on the former Verizon building in the Financial District – took home the Real Estate Board of New York’s Most Ingenious Deal of the Year award for their work helping to transform the former eyesore. The “brazen leasing duo” took home the Henry Hart Rice Achievement Award for their […]

Second man convicted in gruesome murder and kidnapping of Williamsburg landlord

Posted: 10 Apr 2019 07:30 AM PDT

It’s the second conviction in a case that rocked the tight-knit Satmar community. Erskin Felix, a 40-year-old man from Crown Heights, was found guilty Monday for the kidnapping and murder of Menachem Stark, a controversial landlord and developer in Williamsburg and Greenpoint. He was convicted of first-degree kidnapping, second-degree murder and tampering with physical evidence, Gothamist reports. Felix’s cousin, Kendel Felix, was convicted of first-degree kidnapping and second-degree murder in September 2016. He is awaiting […]

Back to humans? Opendoor program will refer some sellers to partner agents

Posted: 10 Apr 2019 07:00 AM PDT

Opendoor CEO Eric Wu said in March that agents needed to face up to automation and accept an “adviser” role. Now it looks like the company is pivoting back to humans. The iBuying start-up announced a new program Tuesday that will refer some of its seller clients to partner real estate agents outside the company, Inman reported. The “Opendoor Agent Partner Program” will refer sellers whose property falls outside Opendoor’s requirements for all-cash offers to […]

Wee Wee Pad inventor not taking the piss with price of Fifth Avenue condo

Posted: 10 Apr 2019 06:30 AM PDT

It’s hardly been a dog’s life for this pet product mogul. Allen Simon, inventor of the Wee Wee Pad for dogs, is listing his Fifth Avenue condo for $39.9 million. Simon and his wife Cynthia bought the home for $10.8 million in 2000, the Wall Street Journal reported. The over 5,400-square-foot apartment covers a full-floor at 838 Fifth Avenue. Accessible via a private elevator, it has five bedrooms and five-and-a-half bathrooms. The great room and […]

Worker killed by falling masonry at Turtle Bay rental building

Posted: 10 Apr 2019 06:00 AM PDT

A construction worker repairing masonry on a scaffold at 311 East 50th Street was killed Monday after being struck in the head by a falling coping stone. The 51-year-old man’s name has not been released, the New York Times reports. He was rescued by firefighters following the incident, but died later at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. The 14 story rental building is owned by Kenneth Rotner of Great Bay Building Company. Last year, the company was granted […]

This real estate investor is suing his partner for pocketing rental income

Posted: 10 Apr 2019 05:30 AM PDT

Since 2015, a New Jersey real estate investor has allegedly pocketed rental income from two properties. Now one of his partners is suing for more than $2.5 million after discovering the stolen payments late last year. Marc Gleitman filed the civil complaint Wednesday in New York State Supreme Court — individually and on behalf of Review-Railroad Realty LLC and 37-80 Review LLC — against David Kushner and Lujabri 2 Corp., an entity that Kushner […]

Brazil is back: Brasileiros lead foreign investment in South Florida homes in 2018

Posted: 10 Apr 2019 05:00 AM PDT

Miami real estate agents have one reason to be happy – Brazilian buyers are back as a dominant buyer pool in South Florida, amid an increase in foreign investment. Political turmoil in Brazil and a strong dollar have kept buyers away from South Florida in recent years – until now. Brazil ranked as the top country buying South Florida homes in 2018, according to a new report from the Miami Association of Realtors. In 2018, […]

Against all odds: A by-the-numbers look inside Vornado’s 220 Central Park South

Posted: 10 Apr 2019 04:30 AM PDT

Another day, another multimillion-dollar purchase at Vornado Realty Trust’s ultra-luxury tower 220 Central Park South. With the final 27 apartments at the 118-unit building reportedly under contract, Vornado CEO Steve Roth seems to have struck gold with his Robert A.M. Stern-designed tower. The cherry on top came early this year when hedge funder Ken Griffin bought a penthouse in the building for $238 million, shattering New York’s residential record for priciest residential sale (by a […]

Williamsburg market rebounds after reversal of L train shutdown

Posted: 10 Apr 2019 04:00 AM PDT

Buyers hoping to find a good deal in Williamsburg may have waited too long. After years of uncertainty in the neighborhood over the pending L train shutdown, prices, deals and interest have all shot back up following Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s abrupt reversal of the plan at the beginning of the year, according to multiple sources in the real estate industry. “Literally 24 to 48 hours after the announcement that Cuomo made — overnight — people […]