The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Yard sale? NY-based co-working firm is hunting for equity

Posted: 06 May 2019 03:22 PM PDT

Executives at the Yard, a New York-based flexible-office space firm with 14 locations, have been in talks with competitors about potentially selling the company or a partial stake in it, sources familiar with the discussions told The Real Deal. According to the sources, the Yard held discussions with the Office Group, a London-based company owned by the Blackstone Group. Office Group has 33 locations globally and has been looking to crack into the New York […]

Bankrupt Hudson Heights dev site headed to the auction block

Posted: 06 May 2019 02:30 PM PDT

A bankrupt Upper Manhattan development site that ruined its developer’s finances is finally up for sale after a decade-long ordeal. Developer Rutherford “Ruddy” Thompson’s One Bennett Park condominium site at 33-35 Overlook Terrace is expected to go to auction in about three months, Crain’s reported, citing the site’s owner, his lawyer and other sources. Ariel Property Advisors has been hired to market the empty plot of land, which can be developed into 146,000 square feet […]

Austin MLS accuses CoreLogic of selling its data to appraisers group

Posted: 06 May 2019 02:00 PM PDT

The Austin Board of Realtors is accusing CoreLogic of selling home-sold data to a local appraisal organization. CoreLogic, a vendor of ABOR’s multiple listing service, is accused of selling the information to Travis Central Appraisal District, Inman reported. Both CoreLogic, a financial services and analytics firm, and TCAD didn’t respond to Inman’s requests for comment. In a statement, ABOR said the group is exploring options to address the situation and ensure TCAD cannot misuse MLS […]

Park Hotels to snap up Chesapeake Lodging Trust for $2.7B

Posted: 06 May 2019 01:30 PM PDT

Park Hotels is set become the second largest lodging real estate investment trust through the acquisition of Chesapeake Lodging Trust in a deal valued at $2.7 billion. With the addition of Chesapeake, Park Hotels would operate 66 hotels in 17 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., Bloomberg reported. Chesapeake Lodging Trust has 20 properties, including the JW Marriott San Francisco Union Square and the Royal Palm South Beach Miami. It’s set to sell five of its […]

US authorities list Jho Low’s LA spec mansion amid 1MDB scandal

Posted: 06 May 2019 01:05 PM PDT

The Malaysian government sold off Jho Low’s superyacht last month, and now U.S. prosecutors are hoping to recover additional millions from the sale of his Los Angeles spec mansion. Low, who faces money laundering charges in Malaysia for his alleged central role in the $4.5 billion theft of 1MDB, remains at-large. Malaysia ordered the arrest of the financier — whose real name is Low Taek Jho — last June. He denies all charges. His $39 […]

School Construction Authority exec tapped to lead DOB

Posted: 06 May 2019 11:16 AM PDT

The Department of Buildings has a new boss. Melanie La Rocca, a vice president at the School Construction Authority, is heading over to the DOB to take over the position vacated by Rick Chandler earlier this year, according to the Commercial Observer. She starts June 3. First Deputy Commissioner Thomas Fariello has been acting commissioner since Chandler stepped down at the end of January. La Rocca will lead an agency tasked with assuring 1.1 million […]

Tishman Speyer rolls out its co-working business in LA and Boston

Posted: 06 May 2019 11:00 AM PDT

As one of the country’s largest commercial landlords, Tishman Speyer is doubling down on its co-working model, putting it in direct competition with established players like WeWork and Knotel. The commercial landlord, which has 165 million square feet across 400 buildings, said Monday that it has opened locations for its co-working business, Studio, in Boston and Los Angeles this month. And the company has plans to open more in New York, as well as enter […]

Industrial tenants ramp up hiring to keep up with e-commerce demand

Posted: 06 May 2019 10:15 AM PDT

Surging e-commerce growth has led industrial tenants to ramp up hiring in order to keep up with all those online orders. Warehousing and storage companies added 5,400 jobs in April, and 70,000 jobs in the last 12 months, according to Labor Department figures cited by the Wall Street Journal. The overall unemployment rate fell to 3.6 percent last month, its lowest level in 50 years. That, combined with continued e-commerce growth, has made it hard […]

This massive Long Island land auction could bring in $34M

Posted: 06 May 2019 09:30 AM PDT

An auction later this month will seek to sell more than 230 mostly residential parcels in Suffolk County. Developer Robert Toussie — one of the largest private landowners on Long Island — is looking to shrink his portfolio, Long Island Business News reported. The land, which is mostly zoned for residential use, is located across Babylon, Brookhaven, East Hampton, Huntington, Islip and Southampton. The parcels range from a 5,000-square-foot wooded property in Eastport with a […]

International Center of Photography closes on $29M space at Essex Crossing

Posted: 06 May 2019 08:45 AM PDT

The International Center of Photography closed on its nearly $30 million new home at Essex Crossing, and sold off its old space just a few blocks away. The ICP paid $29 million to pick up two condominium units at the Lower East Side’s 242 Broome Street in the new Essex Crossing megadevelopment, according to property records filed last month with the New York City Department of Finance. New Jersey-based Connect One bank provided a $13.3 […]

In Brooklyn’s luxury market, 14 contracts closed above $2M last week: Stribling

Posted: 06 May 2019 08:00 AM PDT

There were 14 contracts signed in Brooklyn’s luxury market last week worth about $49.9 million overall. The properties were split between nine townhouses, four condos and one co-op, and they went for an average price of about $3.56 million, according to the latest report from Stribling & Associates. The firm defines the borough’s luxury market as all homes priced at $2 million or higher. While total sales stayed flat, dollar volume was up from the […]

NYC saw at least dozen construction deaths in 2018. Only 1 was reported

Posted: 06 May 2019 07:30 AM PDT

Starting June 1, the DOB will issue $2,500 initial violations to building owners who fail to report deaths or injuries, with the possibility of additional daily $1,000 fines, The City reported. “We’re implementing dozens of new laws and have had to allocate our resources among many major priorities,” a DOB spokesperson told The City in a written statement. “Developers need to be aware that we will be holding them to their obligations under the law […]

NYCHA’s plans for market-rate housing in East Williamsburg are on hold

Posted: 06 May 2019 06:31 AM PDT

In the midst of a budget crunch and an administrative overhaul, the New York City Housing Authority is hitting pause on yet another development plan. The city has postponed plans to lease a parking lot at Cooper Park Houses in East Williamsburg to private developers, Politico reported. The project has faced opposition from residents of the 11-building complex as well as the local city council member, Antonio Reynoso. “We need to make sure that whatever […]

There were 25 deals last week in Manhattan’s luxury market: Olshan

Posted: 06 May 2019 06:00 AM PDT

Manhattan’s luxury market saw 25 contracts signed last week for a total of about $167 million, according to the latest report from Olshan Realty. The contracts signed at $4 million or above included 14 condos and eight co-ops, as well as three townhouses. While total sales stayed flat, dollar volume was down from the week before, when 25 contracts were signed for about $187 million. The top contract last week was for a 56th-floor sponsor […]

De Blasio selects Louise Carroll as new HPD chief

Posted: 06 May 2019 05:30 AM PDT

There’s a new commissioner in town. Mayor Bill de Blasio has tapped Louise Carroll, currently general counsel of the Housing Development Corporation, to be the new commissioner of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, Crain’s reported. “I’m going fight to ensure New Yorkers can afford to live and thrive in this City,” Carroll said in a statement. “Fighting means cutting through the red-tape, rejecting business as usual, and enacting policies that focus on the […]

China Overseas looking to build 31-story tower in Murray Hill

Posted: 06 May 2019 05:00 AM PDT

The developer behind the tallest residential building in Jersey City may soon bring a 31-story tower to Manhattan’s East Side. China Overseas Land and Investment wants to construct a 135,000-square-foot mixed-use complex at 501 Third Avenue, also known as 200 East 34th Street, according to a pre-filed application filed with the city’s building department. The 328-foot-tall tower, which will replace a five-story mixed-use building, will house 144 apartments, according to the filing. Just under 3,000 […]

The 520 Park posse: A unit-by-unit breakdown of all of the closed sales at the Zeckendorf’s ultraluxe building

Posted: 06 May 2019 04:30 AM PDT

Zeckendorf Development’s 520 Park Avenue has locked in some of Manhattan’s priciest sales since closings began in September. The 35-unit Robert A.M. Stern-designed Billionaires’ Row tower — which has a projected sellout of $1.25 billion — had closed on 20 units as of last month for a total of $647 million. While the Zeckendorfs have shaved down their initial asking prices on a number of the closed units, they are still locking in hefty numbers […]

Going green has some city landlords seeing red

Posted: 06 May 2019 04:00 AM PDT

All stick, no carrots. That’s how some in the real estate industry — or at least several building owners — are interpreting New York City’s recent adoption of lower greenhouse-gas emissions standards on properties larger than 25,000 square feet and the imposition of potentially hefty penalties for those who don’t retrofit their properties in time. Real estate plays a significant role in the city’s greenhouse gas emissions. In 2015, New York’s buildings were responsible for […]