The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Struggling cannabis retailer MedMen dumps REIT stake

Posted: 15 Nov 2019 03:15 PM PST

MedMen Enterprises’ national cannabis retail strategy is going up in smoke. And to trim costs, it’s selling its interest in Treehouse Real Estate Investment Trust. The Culver City-based MedMen was instrumental in forming Treehouse alongside Venice-based investment firm Stable Road Capital earlier this year. Treehouse had planned to make leaseback deals with MedMen for all classes of properties, including retail stores, and cultivation and production facilities. But that’s over now. As part of a larger

Huizenga lobbied Rick Scott to secure Opportunity Zone designation for West Palm site

Posted: 15 Nov 2019 02:45 PM PST

The son of Blockbuster video billionaire Wayne Huizenga successfully lobbied then-Gov. Rick Scott to include the site of his $100 million West Palm Beach development into an Opportunity Zone, according to a ProPublica investigation. The Opportunity Zone legislation, passed in December 2017 as part of President Trump’s tax code overhaul, was intended to help low-income neighborhoods. In this case, it benefits Wayne Huizenga Jr.’s plans to build luxury apartment towers on the Marina Village site.

Kushner Cos will need workout on Times Square loan

Posted: 15 Nov 2019 02:35 PM PST

The Kushner Companies’ $285 million loan on its big Times Square retail property will have to be reworked after tenants at the property broke their leases. The securitized loan managed by Wells Fargo will be sent to a special servicer to oversee negotiations, according to Bloomberg. Rental income for the retail condo at 229 West 43rd Street has fallen short of interest payments as months of tenant financial troubles have caught up with the Kushner

Mark your calendars: These are NYC’s top real estate events next week

Posted: 15 Nov 2019 02:00 PM PST

Here are a couple of real estate events coming up next week! Host: Commercial Observer Date: Nov. 20 Time: 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The Commercial Observer is hosting its 4th Annual Fall Financing Commercial Real Estate Forum at The Metropolitan Club, 1 East 60th Street. It will feature networking opportunities along with discussions on emerging markets across the country and trends in construction lending. Darrell Wheeler of CCRE will be the keynote speaker. Host:

Merchants scrambles to fill void after breakup with Playboy

Posted: 15 Nov 2019 01:48 PM PST

UPDATED Friday November 15, 2019, 5:28 p.m.: Merchants Hospitality is clapping back after Playboy Enterprises cut ties with the company and its former club at the Cachet Boutique NYC hotel. A week after losing its license to use the iconic bunny trademark, Merchants claimed that the Black Box theater will now be dedicated to events booked by entertainment company Live Nation. Until recently, the 14,000-square-foot space was operating as Elevate Nightclub. The rest of the

A $2.5B litmus test for the Century City luxury market

Posted: 15 Nov 2019 01:30 PM PST

Spurred by a mall – yes, a mall – luxury residential sales in Century City are up, and now the area’s most ambitious condo project in a decade is finally nearing completion. After a myriad of delays, Century City based-developer Woodridge Capital Partners is slated to finish both the 143-unit North Tower and the 125-unit South Tower by December 2020, according to Mary Ann Osborn, director of sales for the towers. Completing construction would be

SEC launches WeWork probe: report

Posted: 15 Nov 2019 01:03 PM PST

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has launched an inquiry into WeWork to determine if the company violated reporting rules ahead of its doomed planned public offering. Citing two unnamed sources, Bloomberg reported that SEC investigators are scrutinizing disclosures made to investors while the company embarked on aggressive fundraising efforts and completed transactions that posed potential conflicts of interest. The agency’s inquiry is reportedly in its early stages, and may not lead to allegations of

Jim Whelan, Michael Stern and more to join Future City 2020

Posted: 15 Nov 2019 12:00 PM PST

TRD is bringing some of the brightest minds in real estate to the Bahamas this winter. We’re excited to begin announcing some of the experts and innovators who will join us for our second annual Future City event. REBNY president Jim Whelan, JDS’ Michael Stern, Gil Dezer of Dezer Development, Young Woo, Anna Zarro and Rotem Rosen are just a few of the thought leaders who have already signed on. Future City is an exclusive

From Shaq to Leonardo DiCaprio, the latest celebrities to invest in real estate

Posted: 15 Nov 2019 11:15 AM PST

Celebrities from Jennifer Aniston to Sting to Oprah Winfrey regularly make headlines when they buy or sell lavish homes, but a handful of actors, athletes and public figures have taken their real estate investing to the next level. Retired all-star Yankee Alex Rodriguez — who was featured on The Real Deal’s cover last month — is a case in point. His firm, A-Rod Corp., has purchased more than 15,000 apartments nationwide since 2003 and is

Convictions in fatal gas explosion; green roof mandate kicks in

Posted: 15 Nov 2019 10:40 AM PST

Every weekday The Real Deal rounds up New York’s biggest real estate news. 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 5:20 p.m. Video produced by Sabrina He The three defendants charged in a fatal East Village gas explosion four years ago were convicted Friday. The blast killed two people and leveled three buildings, leading to the discovery of an

Inwood site goes for twice what seller paid last year

Posted: 15 Nov 2019 10:30 AM PST

The Arden Group has closed on its purchase of a 47,350-square-foot development site at the edge of a rezoned section of Inwood. The deal for 4650 Broadway closed earlier this week between Philadelphia-based Arden and Abraham Fructhandler’s FBE Limited for $54 million, according to a person familiar with the transaction. Arden did not immediately return a request for comment. A person who answered the phone at FBE’s office said she had no information. Capital Property

Landlords lob another lawsuit at new rent law

Posted: 15 Nov 2019 09:48 AM PST

UPDATED, Nov. 15, 2019, 3:10 p.m: A group of landlords has filed another lawsuit challenging New York’s new rent law, alleging that the measure is unconstitutional. The complaint — filed by a group of landlords including Dino, Dimos and Vasiliki Panagoulias — refers to the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 as a “regulatory scheme” and a “regime in which tenants, not property owners, control who occupies the property, how it is used,

Coming soon: TRD’s 250th issue!

Posted: 15 Nov 2019 09:05 AM PST

The Real Deal will be celebrating its 250th issue this January! This special commemorative issue will include a look back at the first two decades of New York real estate in the new millennium, and some of The Real Deal’s most notable coverage. Don’t miss our stories on the billion-dollar dealmakers and the billion-dollar deals that have helped shape the city and its skyline. Our first issue of the new decade will also include a

Massive, controversial Queens site back on market

Posted: 15 Nov 2019 08:30 AM PST

An 18-acre Queens development site has hit the market, and its owner hopes to fetch more than $40 million, sources said. The property, at 151-45 Sixth Road on the Whitestone waterfront, is being marketed by a Cushman & Wakefield team led by Stephen Preuss. It is being pitched as shovel-ready and approved for 52 single-family homes of typically 2,500 to 5,000 square feet, along with 26 boat spaces. The site is split between 12.8 upland

SoftBank wanted Jared Kushner to divest from Cadre

Posted: 15 Nov 2019 07:15 AM PST

Talks for SoftBank to fund crowdfunding startup Cadre ended when Jared Kushner declined to divest his ownership stake in the company. Ryan Williams — who co-founded the platform with Jared and Joshua Kushner in 2014 — was in talks with SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son in early 2018, Bloomberg reported. Williams had even flown to Tokyo at Masayoshi Son’s invitation, but the talks fell through. Son, SoftBank’s CEO, was concerned that Jared Kushner may have had

Unions at bay, but hostility for real estate worse than ever

Posted: 15 Nov 2019 06:30 AM PST

Inside an elegant dining room at the Pierre hotel Thursday, panel moderator Robert Blumenthal scanned the floor — packed with real estate’s biggest names — for signs of unrest. It was a decidedly calmer scene than at the same Schack Institute of Real Estate capital markets conference a year ago, when protesters interrupted the panel discussion to blast Stephen Ross, the Related Companies chairman, whose firm was in a dispute with unionized construction workers. “I’m

Housing court could get a lot more political under reform plan

Posted: 15 Nov 2019 05:15 AM PST

The city’s housing court judges could become political appointees under a proposal to dramatically rework the state’s judicial system. Housing court judges today are appointed by a judicial advisory council. But under a plan examined at a state legislative hearing Wednesday, the mayor’s office could be making those appointments. That’s concerning to some, considering the hostile political climate for landlords and Mayor Bill de Blasio’s pro-tenant history. “This mayor has been notoriously, blatantly anti-owner,” said

‘Thank God’ for techies: Silicon Valley execs ramp up NYC resi purchases

Posted: 15 Nov 2019 04:30 AM PST

The news about New York’s luxury residential market has been grim lately — at least for developers and brokers. Sales volume is down. Inventory is piling up. And discounts are the norm. But brokers say there’s one group of buyers who have been eager to pull the trigger on deals: wealthy tech executives. And those buyers have, in some cases, been emboldened after their startups have been bought — and in the wake of a

“Something is rotten” at Chelsea co-op, owners say

Posted: 15 Nov 2019 04:00 AM PST

Homeowners in a land-lease cooperative in Chelsea are facing eviction after skyrocketing maintenance fees and a hostile takeover of their board. “Something is rotten in the state of 101 West 23rd Street,” co-op board member and resident David Hillman said in a New York Supreme Court affidavit. In a 2015 lawsuit against the firm that owns the land and now controls 85 percent of the six-story co-op, 11 homeowners alleged foul play. They said E&M