The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

32BJ SEIU, office owners avoid strike with tentative labor contract

Posted: 20 Dec 2019 01:43 PM PST

Union office cleaners and landlords have reached a tentative deal for a new four-year contract — more than a week ahead of the Dec. 31 deadline. 32BJ SEIU and the Realty Advisory Board on Labor Relations have agreed to an annual weighted average wage increase of 2.54 percent, meaning that an average office cleaner stands to make $61,304 by the end of the contract in December 2023, the parties announced Friday. As part of the

These were the biggest broker comings and goings of 2019

Posted: 20 Dec 2019 01:30 PM PST

While brokers didn’t have to worry about any big firms unexpectedly shuttering this year, a mega merger and the allure of shiny and new largely drove agent movement in 2019. On the commercial side, JLL’s $2 billion acquisition of HFF predictably led to several JLL brokers to decamp for other firms. Some of the bigger names included Anthony Ledesma, who is now at Hodges Ward Elliott, and Aaron Appel, who along with former JLL colleagues

StreetEasy drops fees for Hamptons brokers

Posted: 20 Dec 2019 12:50 PM PST

After clashing repeatedly with Hamptons brokers over the past year, Out East is scrapping its subscription model — which required agents to pay a monthly fee to post listings on the Zillow-owned site. Starting January 1, agents will be able to use Out East for free, the company said Friday. Previously, Out East charged firms a base monthly fee of $1,000 to $3,000, depending on the size of the brokerage. It also charged a per-agent

Fire breaks out on roof of Park Slope’s Grand Prospect Hall

Posted: 20 Dec 2019 12:34 PM PST

UPDATED, Dec. 20, 2019, 3:56 p.m.: A fire broke out on the roof of the historic Grand Prospect Hall in Park Slope. The fire department received a call around 2:30 p.m. of a fire on the roof of the four-story structure, a spokesperson said. It was an “all-hands” call, with twelve units — 60 firefighters — responding. The fire was put out as of 3:20 p.m. and no one was injured, according to the spokesperson. The

Developers might drop affordable housing plan after Inwood ruling

Posted: 20 Dec 2019 12:00 PM PST

A massive affordable housing project planned for Inwood could turn into an industrial development after Thursday’s shocking ruling overturning the neighborhood’s rezoning. Jorge Madruga’s Maddd Equities and Eli Weiss’ Joy Construction were poised to take advantage of the rezoning with a development at 3875 Ninth Avenue by West 207th Street. The frequent real estate partners had pre-filed plans with the Department of Buildings in August for a 30-story, 544,000-square-foot project with 611 residential units and

REBNY throws support behind CHIP, RSA rent law challenge

Posted: 20 Dec 2019 11:52 AM PST

After staying relatively quiet, the Real Estate Board of New York has thrown its support behind a federal lawsuit challenging the state’s rent law. REBNY filed a friend of the court brief on Friday backing the Rent Stabilization Association and the Community Housing Improvement Program’s lawsuit alleging that rent stabilization violates the U.S. Constitution. The complaint, filed in July, alleges that rent stabilization as a concept violates the “takings clause” of the Fifth Amendment and

House votes to lift SALT deduction cap — but don’t celebrate

Posted: 20 Dec 2019 11:05 AM PST

House Democrats on Thursday passed a bill that would ease the state and local tax deduction cap that shook the residential real estate market in New York and other high-tax states. But the “Restoring Tax Fairness for States and Localities Act” has little chance of getting anywhere in the Republican-controlled Senate. The measure would increase the SALT cap to $20,000 from $10,000 for a joint return filed in 2019, and eliminate the cap for 2020

Former WeWork exec joins CompStak board

Posted: 20 Dec 2019 10:00 AM PST

One of the key figures behind WeWork’s rapid growth has joined real estate data firm CompStak’s board of directors. David Fano, WeWork’s former chief growth officer, will help Manhattan-based CompStak navigate its next stage of expansion. “I got to know David from when he was a customer and I’ve always been really impressed with what he’s done,” CompStak CEO Michael Mandel told The Real Deal. CompStak recently completed a $14 million Series B fundraise and

Check out Manhattan’s latest condo inventory stats

Posted: 20 Dec 2019 09:15 AM PST

New development condo report Manhattan • Inventory contracted as developers filed fewer units than were purchased • Developers filed three plans with a total of 84 units • The state didn’t approve any plans for sale • Buyers purchased 128 units valued at $546 million Supply Demand

Apartment-hotel brand raises $100M with backing from Softbank, GGV Capital

Posted: 20 Dec 2019 08:00 AM PST

Apartment-hotel brand Domio just closed a $100 million funding round and is attracting big investors including SoftBank, GGV Capital and Lehman Brothers–spinoff Tenaya Capital. The funding was split equally between equity and debt, according to the announcement. The equity round was led by GGV Capital, a global venture capital firm that manages $6.2 billion across 13 funds and has also funded Airbnb and Opendoor. Investors also included SoftBank NY, a subsidiary of Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank,

The 10 biggest real estate tech funding rounds of 2019

Posted: 20 Dec 2019 07:30 AM PST

If 2018 was the year of big money for real estate tech startups, 2019 was a reckoning. After the world’s largest office space company, WeWork, saw its $47 billion valuation plunge by more than 80 percent, investors began second-guessing the eye-popping valuations being assigned to startups. “WeWork has gone through a massive correction because the public markets didn’t believe in how it was valued,” Travis Putnam, a managing partner of venture capital firm Navitas Capital,

De Blasio fundraiser and witness Jona Rechnitz sentenced to prison

Posted: 20 Dec 2019 06:47 AM PST

A federal judge has sentenced Jona Rechnitz — prolific witness, political fundraiser and the head of real estate firm JSR Capital — to serve five months in prison and pay $10 million in restitution. Since pleading guilty in 2016 to bribing police officers, public officials and a union boss, Rechnitz has spent hundreds of hours assisting in a municipal-corruption probe, the Wall Street Journal reported. In 2017, Rechnitz was booted from the Borough Park real

Industry City gets $720M refinancing

Posted: 20 Dec 2019 05:45 AM PST

The developers of Industry City scored a $720 million refinancing package. Blackstone led the debt package, along with Bank of China, Deutsche Bank and SL Green Realty Corp., Commercial Observer reported. The deal also includes mezzanine debt. The financing replaces a previous $647 million loan provided in 2017. Iron Hound Management negotiated the financing. The 6-million-square-foot, 35-acre waterfront development in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park is owned by Jamestown Properties and Belvedere Capital, Angelo Gordon & Co.,

The best gifts for the real estate-obsessed

Posted: 20 Dec 2019 05:15 AM PST

If you’re a regular TRD reader, chances are that there are at least a few people in your orbit who are obsessed with real estate. And hey, that probably describes you too! Since the holiday season is in high gear — and you really should’ve gotten all your shopping done already — we present you with some gift ideas for your friends, family, broker or landlord (although, shouldn’t he/she really be giving YOU a present?)

No regrets on WeWork bets: Rudin confident on weathering WeWork storm

Posted: 20 Dec 2019 04:30 AM PST

Bill Rudin spent time this summer at the Brooklyn Navy Yard — not exactly one of his haunting grounds. In its 94 years, his family real estate firm had never done a project in Brooklyn, let alone in an out-of-the-way industrial campus — and with an anchor tenant about to plunge into crisis. The CEO of Rudin Management was overseeing the finishing touches at Dock 72, a 675,000-square-foot building overlooking the East River. Complete with

Chain stores decline in every borough

Posted: 20 Dec 2019 04:00 AM PST

For the second time in a row, New York City will end the year with fewer national chain stores than it started with. According to the Center for an Urban Future’s latest State of the Chains report, the city saw a net loss of 304 chain-store locations in the past year, reducing the total to 7,832. Since the Center began publishing the annual study in 2008, the number has only declined twice — last year