The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

WeWork bonds hit low, new LLC legislation went farther than intended: Daily digest

Posted: 15 Oct 2019 02:55 PM PDT

Every day The Real Deal rounds up New York’s biggest real estate happenings, from breaking news and scoops to announcements and deals. We update this page throughout the day, starting at 9 a.m. Please send any tips or deals to tips@therealdeal.com. This page was last updated at 5:55 p.m. Video produced by Sabrina He MGM Resorts International is selling the Bellagio on the Las Vegas Strip. A joint venture controlled by Blackstone Group real estate investment trust

What, We Worry? Execs remain confident in WeWork-anchored Brooklyn project

Posted: 15 Oct 2019 01:30 PM PDT

WeWork’s recent troubles were largely out of sight and out of mind at the launch event for a massive office project at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The completion of Rudin Development and Boston Properties’ Dock 72, a 16-story, 675,000-square-foot project, marks Brooklyn’s first ground-up commercial development in more than a decade. WeWork — whose CEO Adam Neumann stepped down amid the startup’s botched initial public offering — is anchoring the development, with 222,000 square feet

Big building owners prevent city from dumping container-pickup in trash-collection reform

Posted: 15 Oct 2019 01:00 PM PDT

When the City Council introduced its controversial bill in the spring to remake the commercial trash-hauling industry, it made no mention of protecting a form of garbage pickup that’s used by hundreds of the city’s largest buildings. But after industry groups applied pressure, the city now plans to maintain the ability of office towers and other major trash producers to have their waste hauled off in containers rather than by the packer trucks that do

By the numbers: Breaking down national housing agendas from the far left

Posted: 15 Oct 2019 12:00 PM PDT

Just a few months after New York passed historic reforms that infuriated landlords and thrilled tenants — with California following suit — several Congress members and presidential candidates are throwing their weight behind even more aggressive proposals. Mostly promoted by Democrats on the far left, those policies include the mid-September doozy from U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders calling for nationwide rent control under his $2.5 trillion housing plan. Despite more than two dozen states prohibiting limits

Robert Shapiro gets 25 years in prison for massive Ponzi scheme

Posted: 15 Oct 2019 10:38 AM PDT

UPDATED, Oct. 15, 11:04 a.m.: When developer Robert Shapiro pleaded guilty in August to leading a $1.3 billion real estate Ponzi scheme, he faced up to 25 years in prison. On Tuesday, a federal court judge sentenced Shapiro to that maximum, closing the criminal chapter on what has been a two-year-long saga surrounding the massive fraud perpetrated by Shapiro’s now-defunct Sherman Oaks-based investment firm, Woodbridge Group of Companies. In all, more than 7,000 property investors

Terra sells part of RealPlus stake to Corcoran and Elliman

Posted: 15 Oct 2019 10:24 AM PDT

Four of the city’s top residential firms are teaming up on a shared listing system amid the industry’s long-running feud with StreetEasy. In a deal that was months in the making, the Corcoran Group and Douglas Elliman agreed to buy a partial stake in RealPlus from Terra Holdings, sources told The Real Deal. Terra, the parent of Brown Harris Stevens and Halstead, has owned 50 percent of the listings company since 2001. RealPlus founder Eric

London real estate at the heart of mysterious Vatican scandal

Posted: 15 Oct 2019 07:30 AM PDT

A new scandal is sweeping through the Vatican and, despite scant details, the center of the storm appears to be one of the Holy See’s property investments in London. An internal probe that’s led to at least five Vatican staffers’ suspension is focused on a Chelsea building that the Holy See bought Italian financier Raffaele Mincione, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Vatican bought out Mincione last year and the financier claims the building

NYC’s bid to kill property-tax lawsuit back in court

Posted: 15 Oct 2019 06:45 AM PDT

Another court showdown is on tap for the real estate industry’s lawsuit against New York City’s property-tax system. The plaintiff, an industry-backed coalition called Tax Equity Now New York, alleges the system discriminates against landlords and minority homeowners by overvaluing homes in the city’s poorest neighborhoods and undervaluing those in wealthy ones. The defendants — New York City and state — have been trying to get the suit dismissed for a year and, in a

These were September’s top 3 residential sales

Posted: 15 Oct 2019 05:30 AM PDT

Once the city’s most expensive listing, a luxury co-op at at 834 Fifth Avenue sold for $53 million to billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller. That and another condo sale at 220 Central Park South were some of the priciest residential property trades in September. Watch this video to see the full list.

Is history repeating itself for Steve Croman and his renters?

Posted: 15 Oct 2019 04:30 AM PDT

In May, three New York University students moved into the cellar of a pre-war East Village apartment building, excited to have a small — yet highly coveted — outdoor space. Little did they know, they’d soon be forced out. Two months later, the college students received notice that a new property manager was taking control of the six-story building at 60 Avenue B. Within a few weeks, the city declared the apartment illegal and ordered

Sweeping LLC law surprised even legislators

Posted: 15 Oct 2019 04:00 AM PDT

The outlawing of anonymous condo ownership in New York shocked the very lawmakers who passed it. And now the equally shocked real estate industry is trying to undo it. “We have to make noise,” said real estate attorney Adam Leitman Bailey, who is organizing an effort to exclude New York City from the law. “If we don’t make noise, nothing will happen.” It might be too late, given the suspicion surrounding multimillion-dollar purchases of apartments