The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Richard Leibovitch wants $10M more for the 220 Central Park South home he bought a year ago

Posted: 21 Jan 2020 03:37 PM PST

What might end up being the first resale at the Billionaires’ Row tower 220 Central Park South is up for grabs — and the seller is seeking $10 million more than what he paid for it just a year ago. Richard Leibovitch, who co-founded Arel Capital, shelled out $26.2 million for unit 31A at the ultra-luxury, 70-story tower in December 2018. Now, he wants $36 million for the 3,703-square-foot condominium, according to the listing. That’s

Overzealous investigators went too far in pursuit of Brooklyn landlord, appellate court rules

Posted: 21 Jan 2020 02:10 PM PST

A Brooklyn landlord who served 20 days in jail after pleading guilty to mortgage fraud has successfully had his conviction overturned. Daniel Melamed won his case by convincing a panel of New York state appellate judges that the warrant the state’s attorney general used to search Melamed’s office in 2015 was so broad that it violated the United States Constitution’s Fourth Amendment protection against illegal search and seizure. “Most notably, other than a date restriction

US is short nearly 4M new homes: report

Posted: 21 Jan 2020 01:54 PM PST

The housing shortage in the U.S. is deepening despite strong demand, and a new report found that builders must construct nearly four million new homes to catch up. Almost 9.8 million households were formed between 2012 and 2019, but just 5.9 million new single-family homes were constructed during that period, according to listings website Realtor.com. The report found it could take four to five years to fill the void of 3.8 million homes. That estimate

Cuomo spares real estate in plan to close $6B budget gap

Posted: 21 Jan 2020 01:40 PM PST

New York is facing a $6.1 billion budget deficit, but Gov. Andrew Cuomo said new revenue streams — for example, a controversial high-end real estate tax — are not how he will close it. Cuomo outlined his annual budget proposal Tuesday, calling for the revival of a panel tasked with reforming the state’s Medicaid program and freezing spending on local assistance programs. “This is not the time to come up with major new revenue sources

Meryl Streep parts with Tribeca PH for $15.8M

Posted: 21 Jan 2020 12:08 PM PST

Oscar-winner Meryl Streep has sold her Tribeca penthouse for $15.8 million. Located at River Lofts, a private condominium popular with A-listers, Streep’s condo spans 4,000 square feet with four bedrooms, a wood-burning fireplace and media room. The full-floor pad also has a landscaped wraparound terrace. Streep and husband Donald Gummer paid $10.13 million for the loft in 2006, according to records. They listed it for $24.6 million in 2018. After a broker swap and price

TF Cornerstone pays $140M for Williamsburg multifamily building

Posted: 21 Jan 2020 12:00 PM PST

TF Cornerstone has purchased a Brooklyn apartment building for $137.75 million — more than $30 million less than the seller paid a few years ago. The developer bought the 234-unit property at 250 North 10th Street in Williamsburg, and secured an $82.75 million mortgage from M&T Realty Capital, according to property records. The seller was Nuveen, which paid $169 million for the property in 2015. TF Cornerstone partnered on the purchase of the 150,000-square-foot building

Raphael Toledano’s “ghostly” East Village portfolio

Posted: 21 Jan 2020 11:27 AM PST

Nearly half of Raphael Toledano’s East Village portfolio is sitting vacant — mired in bankruptcy proceedings with lender Madison Realty Capital. Andrea Shapiro, program manager of tenants’ rights group Met Council, estimated that half of the 279 units have been “warehoused” since 2016. The portfolio includes 226 rent-stabilized apartments, according to tax filings. A Madison Realty Capital spokesperson blamed Toledano, saying, “The owner of the properties demolished the vacant units a few years ago and

Brooklyn Heights townhouse is priciest Brooklyn contract

Posted: 21 Jan 2020 11:11 AM PST

A tony townhouse in Brooklyn Heights was the priciest residential deal to go into contract in Brooklyn last week. The five-bedroom property at 35 Sidney Place went for $6.25 million. It spans 5,900 square feet and went into contract at its asking price after 76 days on the market. Overall, Brooklyn saw 12 contracts signed for $2 million or more last week, split between 10 houses and two condos, according to the latest report from

Data Alert! Manhattan condo inventory through November 2019

Posted: 21 Jan 2020 09:10 AM PST

New development condo report Manhattan • Inventory contracted as developers filed fewer units than were purchased • Developers filed 3 plans with a total of 46 units • The state approved 1 plan with 100 units valued at $223 million for sale • Buyers purchased 133 units valued at $544 million Supply Demand

“We are still in it”: Softbank still believes in WeWork’s core business

Posted: 21 Jan 2020 07:31 AM PST

After committing a $9.5 billion rescue package for WeWork and shaking up the firm’s management, SoftBank still believes in the embattled co-working giant’s core business idea. That’s according to Deep Nishar, senior managing partner at SoftBank’s Vision Fund, who spoke at Munich’s Digital Life and Design conference Saturday, according to Bloomberg. “We are still in it. We are involved. We are helping the company because we believe the idea at its core is very, very

Real estate fundraising hits lowest level since 2013

Posted: 21 Jan 2020 06:36 AM PST

As high-yielding real estate deals become harder to come by, institutional investors are starting to become more selective — making it harder for private equity real estate funds to raise capital. Real estate funds closed in the fourth quarter of 2019 totaled $18 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing data from Preqin. That’s down from the $47 billion raised in the third quarter and was the slowest quarter since 2013. “I notice in our

Brooklyn i-sales see biggest drop since financial crisis

Posted: 21 Jan 2020 05:46 AM PST

Brooklyn’s multifamily-heavy investment sales market had a tough year in 2019, thanks to new rent laws and new development. The total dollar volume of commercial property sales in the borough declined by more than 30 percent year over year to $5.1 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing data from TerraCRG. This was the largest decline since the financial crisis, and was driven by a 56-percent drop in apartment-building sales. “We are going to see

John Catsimatidis on why he should be mayor

Posted: 21 Jan 2020 05:00 AM PST

John Catsimatidis ran for mayor once, and he might just do it again. In an interview, the Red Apple Group CEO lamented the current state of affairs that have some folks wanting to leave New York City. Catsimatidis placed second in the Republican primary in 2013, then sat out the race for Gracie Mansion four years later. But with Mayor Bill de Blasio term-limited in 2021, Catsimatidis said he’s considering launching another bid — perhaps

Inside Related’s growing reach beyond real estate

Posted: 21 Jan 2020 04:30 AM PST

It was the spring of 2014 when the Related Companies’ president, Bruce Beal, realized he had a façade problem. Construction was finally booming again after grinding to a halt during the financial crisis. But a scarcity of glass for a new crop of skyscrapers was driving up prices and delaying projects nationwide — including Hunter’s Point South, a 925-unit affordable development where Related and its partners waited several months for a $13 million delivery of windows.

Brexits and Bubbles: How investors view Europe’s shaky real estate market

Posted: 21 Jan 2020 04:00 AM PST

For the first time in three years, foreign investors poured more money into U.S. real estate assets than European property last year. The change marked a shift for investors who had been drawn to Europe’s ultra-low interest-rate environment, which has fueled an overvalued commercial market and a housing boom that could be approaching a bubble. Now, with Brexit on the horizon and fears of a global slowdown, foreign investors have begun to pull back on