The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

As Hurricane Dorian barrels toward South Florida, developers and builders prepare

Posted: 30 Aug 2019 03:00 PM PDT

Across South Florida, developers and builders are securing tower cranes to blow with the wind like a weather vane, putting away debris that could become projectiles and emptying out dumpsters of loose materials as Hurricane Dorian barrels toward Florida’s coastline, projected to become a powerful Category 4 storm. As of Friday afternoon, the hurricane was a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 115 miles per hour, approaching the Bahamas. South Florida could begin […]

JPMorgan leads $335M refi for CIM and LIVWRK’s Watchtower renovation

Posted: 30 Aug 2019 02:15 PM PDT

CIM Group and LIVWRK have secured a new, smaller financing package for their redevelopment of the Watchtower Building in Dumbo, formerly home to the headquarters of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. City property records recorded on Friday show that the developers have received $335 million in new financing for the project, with JPMorgan Chase as the administrative agent on the loans. This is $40 million less than the $375 million provided by Blackstone and SL Green in […]

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wants to put rent regulation, mortgage fraud in the national spotlight

Posted: 30 Aug 2019 01:45 PM PDT

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez plans to introduce several of the housing-policy ideas floating around New York state at the federal level, the lawmaker said during a town hall in the Bronx on Thursday. The progressive congresswoman touted her plan to introduce “Just Cause” and Access to Counsel at a federal level. Those policies would mirror New York State Senator Julia Salazar’s failed “Good Cause” eviction bill and the Right to Counsel rule already in place in […]

AOC unveils rent regulation plan, Hong Kong real estate stocks are sinking: Daily digest

Posted: 30 Aug 2019 01:30 PM PDT

Every day, The Real Deal rounds up New York’s biggest real estate news, from breaking news and scoops to announcements and deals. We update this page throughout the day. Please send any tips or deals to tips@therealdeal.com This page was last updated at 4:30 p.m. Produced by Sabrina He A seven story Turtle Bay mansion originally listed for $53 million has been carved up into six separate units. The first unit was listed on […]

Authorities will conduct review of Stuy Town deal in light of Blackstone’s vacancy strategy

Posted: 30 Aug 2019 11:45 AM PDT

It was heralded as the most vital affordable housing deal in a generation, but now the city and state are reviewing their agreement with Blackstone Group after new rent regulations drove the landlord to dramatically pull back its investment into Stuyvesant-Town Peter Cooper Village, which it bought for a record $5.3 billion. In 2015, Blackstone, one of the world’s largest financial firms, received a $220 million financing package from the city in exchange for preserving […]

This seven-story $53M penthouse has been broken up into six units. The first just hit the market for $16M.

Posted: 30 Aug 2019 10:23 AM PDT

In 2017, the seven-story mansion atop the Even Hotel in Turtle Bay hit the market, asking a whopping $53 million. Two years later, that sprawling penthouse at 219 East 44th Street has been carved up into six separate units, instead of being marketed as one nearly 16,600-square-foot pad asking about $3,200 per square foot. The first of the six homes — the duplex penthouse — was listed on Thursday asking $15.8 million. It spans 4,321 […]

The Daily Dirt: The controversy around this High Line luxury project involves cab drivers, strip club owners, FBI agents and more

Posted: 30 Aug 2019 09:15 AM PDT

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Some cab drivers, some strip clubs owners and an FBI agent walk into a High Line luxury project… A project at 11th Avenue and 23rd Street has been delayed for seven years, and the reasons center on the most colorful cast of characters this side of a Mel Brooks movie. A partnership led by Israeli financier Jonathan Leitersdorf owns the leasehold on the rent-stabilized hotel property and […]

Nashville broker posts oral sex selfie alongside kitchen and pool listing pics

Posted: 30 Aug 2019 08:00 AM PDT

It happens all the time: a broker is showing a home to prospective buyers and almost has them ready to sign a contract, but they pull out at the last minute because they just can’t picture themselves having oral sex in the bedroom. People interested in the 2,900-square-foot four-bedroom home at 137 Saxon Mist Drive in Nashville would likely not have this problem, as Benchmark Realty’s Miguel Calvo uploaded a photo of himself receiving fellatio […]

Introducing ThorLogis, Thor Equities’ ambitious plan to break into logistics and e-commerce

Posted: 30 Aug 2019 07:15 AM PDT

The e-commerce industrial revolution has arrived for Thor Equities. After spending years as a champion of brick-and-mortar stores, the firm is launching a new business called ThorLogis that plans to spend $900 million on purchasing and developing logistics properties, according to the Wall Street Journal. It is already at work on two sites in Red Hook, Brooklyn and the Netherlands. Thor bought the site in Red Hook for $40 million in 2005, and originally intended […]

SoFla real estate deals on hold: Insurers delay closings ahead of Hurricane Dorian

Posted: 30 Aug 2019 06:45 AM PDT

Hurricane Dorian is putting real estate deals in a holding pattern as it approaches South Florida. Insurance companies hold the key to any real estate closing that involves a mortgage, so it’s no surprise that a major storm would throw a wrench in a buyer’s plans to close on a property. In recent years, insurers have moved away from using the box method – which meant that if a storm fell within a certain geographic […]

NYC developer raises $50M, will hunt for deals in Southern bayous and beaches

Posted: 30 Aug 2019 05:23 AM PDT

Josh Schuster’s Silverback Development has snagged a $50 million capital investment to seed a new Opportunity Zone Fund and expand to additional markets. The three-year-old firm wrapped up a second funding round from Silverpeak, the investment firm co-founded by former Lehman Brothers execs, which has backed Schuster since 2016. The developer said the new tranche will accelerate its expansion to markets including Louisiana and North Carolina, and will also be invested in local projects through […]

Not your mama’s staging job: inside ‘showcasing’ in the Hamptons

Posted: 30 Aug 2019 04:30 AM PDT

There’s staging and then there’s “showcasing.” Ignore the difference between the two at your peril, Hamptons brokers. Rather than staging — which East Hampton designer Greg McKenzie described as setting up a living room and bedroom to look like a hotel room — developers are hiring interior designers to do showcasing, in which they furnish homes down to the very last detail. When a home is showcased, buyers not only get to see it completely […]

Real estate stocks push up this week as U.S.-China trade tensions ease

Posted: 30 Aug 2019 04:00 AM PDT

A renewed optimism for trade talks between the U.S. and China helped push real estate stocks up so far this week, along with the broader stock market. Since Monday, the S&P 500 is up 2 percent. And 19 of the 28 real estate stocks The Real Deal follows — a mix of real estate investment trusts, real estate services firms and technology companies — also made gains for the week. Among TRD’s stock list, CBRE […]