The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Elliman, RE/MAX, Keller Williams subpoenaed in discrimination probe

Posted: 27 Feb 2020 04:33 PM PST

Major brokerages have been summoned to a State Senate hearing on unequal treatment of minority homebuyers in Long Island. Douglas Elliman, RE/MAX, Coldwell Banker, Keller Williams, Charles Rutenberg Realty and Realty Connect USA were all sent subpoenas, state officials told Newsday. The hearing, scheduled for April 17, is part of a Senate probe examining housing discrimination. The probe was launched after a three-year Newsday investigation found real estate agents sometimes steered minorities to certain neighborhoods

One World Trade Center signs 200K sf deal with marketing firm MDC

Posted: 27 Feb 2020 03:43 PM PST

MDC Partners, a holding company for some of the world’s biggest marketing and communications firms, has just signed a massive lease at One World Trade Center, in a deal that takes the skyscraper close to full occupancy. MDC is taking just shy of 200,000 square feet at the Durst Organization and Port Authority’s 2.9 million-square-foot tower, boosting the building’s occupancy rate to 93 percent, the New York Post reported. The company, which controls firms such

Coronavirus delays $1B sale of SF’s Oceanwide Center

Posted: 27 Feb 2020 03:30 PM PST

It’s been over a month since Chinese developer Oceanwide Holdings announced a deal to sell its flagship San Francisco development for $1 billion, but it could take another month for the deal to officially close — and the new coronavirus outbreak is to blame. Oceanwide and the buyer, an affiliate of Beijing-based asset manager SPF Group, have agreed to postpone the completion of due diligence and the delivery of Oceanwide Center by a month amid

Rockwood looks to get nearly $600M for Grand Central office tower

Posted: 27 Feb 2020 03:25 PM PST

A Midtown office tower that Harry Macklowe developed at the start of the 1980s building boom is up for sale. Rockwood Capital has put the 44-story 2 Grand Central Tower on the market, sources told The Real Deal. The New York-based real estate private equity investor is expecting pricing in the mid $800 per-square-foot range, which would put the cost in the neighborhood of $580 million, according to a source familiar with the offer. A

Judge scolds 200 Amsterdam developers: “Owner must bear the responsibility”

Posted: 27 Feb 2020 03:22 PM PST

The real estate industry was stunned by a recent ruling that could force developers to chop off the top of a near-complete residential tower. But they should have known better than to continue construction during a legal challenge, the judge wrote in his ruling, which was made public Thursday. Justice W. Franc Perry rejected the argument that invalidating the permit for 200 Amsterdam would be “unduly prejudicial,” noting that the dispute over the building had

Tony Malkin throws shade at Hudson Yards’ new observatory

Posted: 27 Feb 2020 03:00 PM PST

The battle for views is heating up but Empire State Realty Trust CEO Tony Malkin isn’t worried. In fact, he’s “eager” to “play it out,” he said during the real estate investment trust’s fourth-quarter earnings call in reference to the March opening of Related Companies’ 1,100-foot-high observation deck at 30 Hudson Yards, dubbed The Edge. When it comes to The Edge’s imminent launch, Malkin said he was “confident” it would open “with quite a splash,

Stung by NY rent laws, Rosewood Realty is going nationwide

Posted: 27 Feb 2020 02:58 PM PST

Rosewood Realty Group is launching a national brokerage division that will focus solely on off-market properties outside its New York metro area base, which the company said is in response to strict state rent laws passed last year. Rosewood announced the expansion Thursday. Led by Aaron Jungreis, Rosewood has tapped in-house broker Jonathan Brody to lead the new division as its vice president of national investment sales, and Rosewood’s Alan Soclof will be the director

Court throws out real estate-backed property tax lawsuit

Posted: 27 Feb 2020 01:34 PM PST

A New York state appeals court on Thursday threw out a real estate industry-backed challenge to the city’s property tax system. The group Tax Equity Now New York in 2018 filed a lawsuit claiming that aspects of the system resulted in discrimination. According to Tax Equity Now, the system undervalues homes in many wealthy neighborhoods while overvaluing properties in poorer ones. In the suit, the group pointed to the effects of a 6 percent cap

Employees fleeing “toxic” team at Newmark Knight Frank

Posted: 27 Feb 2020 11:15 AM PST

Fed-up employees are exiting en masse from one of the city’s top debt brokerage teams. Some have described Newmark Knight Frank’s debt and structured finance group as a “toxic” work environment — even for the high-pressure world of commercial real estate. Within the past few days, more than half of the team led by Dustin Stolly and Jordan Roeschlaub has left the group or made plans to leave imminently, sources told The Real Deal. The

Coronavirus contingency clause added to Bay Area condo deal

Posted: 27 Feb 2020 11:06 AM PST

At least one condominium contract in the Bay Area has a contingency clause related to coronavirus. The seller travelled to Wuhan, China for Chinese New Year celebrations after their condo went into contract on Jan. 25, and has yet to return to the U.S. due to the fast-growing spread of the virus and a local lockdown, Inman reported. As a result, local brokerage Red Oak Realty, which is representing the buyer, advocated for the addition

Attorney general sues Chestnut Holdings for lead paint

Posted: 27 Feb 2020 11:00 AM PST

New York Attorney General Letitia James is going after one of the largest multifamily landlords in the city for alleged lead-paint violations. According to a complaint her office filed today, Chestnut Holdings repeatedly exposed children to lead paint and fraudulently certified that it had complied with the law passed to prevent that. Bronx-based Chestnut, which has more than 6,000 units across 134 buildings, mostly in the Bronx, repeatedly failed to conduct annual inspections or remediate

Negative leaks and a ‘honey trap’: SoftBank Vision Fund boss reportedly schemed to topple rivals

Posted: 27 Feb 2020 09:30 AM PST

The head of SoftBank’s Vision Fund Rajeev Misra identified two high-ranking colleagues as obstacles in his pursuit of power to lead the company’s $100 billion tech fund after he joined the company in 2015. And so, the former Wall Street banker set about orchestrating a campaign of sabotage to create suspicion around the men and topple them from their posts, according to an investigation by the Wall Street Journal, which cited sources with knowledge of

Sam Zell’s mobile-home firm stock up 1,200% since housing crash

Posted: 27 Feb 2020 08:30 AM PST

From the wreckage of the housing crash, trailer parks have emerged as a lucrative investment option. Since March 2009, shares in Sam Zell’s mobile-home business, Equity LifeStyle Properties, have returned 1,186 percent, according to an analysis by the Wall Street Journal. Shares in Sun Communities Inc., another big owner, returned 4,137 percent. “It’s baffling how good of a business it has been,” analyst John Pawlowski, of Green Street Advisors, told the newspaper. But it has

Stephen Ross, Jeff Blau among donors to Donovan Richards’s Queens BP campaign

Posted: 27 Feb 2020 06:30 AM PST

Donovan Richards has made no bones about welcoming real estate donations in his bid for Queens borough president, and his requests have drawn in thousands of dollars from real estate figures in the past few weeks. Disclosures filed with the New York City Campaign Finance Board show that Richards received donations between February 12 and 14 from senior executives at the Related Companies, including founder Stephen Ross ($160) and CEO Jeff Blau ($150). The developer

St. John’s Terminal redevelopment secures $973M construction loan

Posted: 27 Feb 2020 05:45 AM PST

Oxford Properties Group’s redevelopment of the St. John’s Terminal has secured a $973 million construction loan. Wells Fargo will lead the loan, with other banks coming on board as syndicate participants, according to Commercial Observer, which cited sources familiar with the matter. The high-profile nature of the deal meant several major banks were reportedly vying for the spot, with one lender telling CO, “If you can compete on this deal, you’ll compete.” CBRE’s James Millon,

The best party story from Future City’s beach dinner

Posted: 27 Feb 2020 05:00 AM PST

After a day of talking shop in Baha Mar’s conference center, executives attending Future City cut loose, hitting the beach for dinner and cocktails al fresco. Over cocktails and the three-course meal, conversations at the dozens of tables grew more boisterous as guests shared tales of humorous happenings and unlikely triumphs in their respective C-suites. One story in particular, relayed by a prolific New York-based architect and an executive at a proptech startup to their

How much bigger can Brookfield get?

Posted: 27 Feb 2020 04:30 AM PST

You don’t become the city’s biggest commercial landlord without taking some big risks. Buying malls when everyone says brick-and-mortar retail is dying. Building a megaproject in the South Bronx where other developers still fear to tread. Taking on 666 Fifth Avenue when the notorious office building’s reputation has lived up to its address. Brookfield Asset Management did all of these things, all while taking on acquisitions that few other firms would be able to absorb.

CoStar sees net income jump 32% in year marked by acquisitions

Posted: 27 Feb 2020 04:00 AM PST

CoStar Group reported $315 million in net income in 2019, following a year of acquisitions and the conclusion of a protracted legal fight. The real estate data firm said Tuesday that it generated $1.4 billion revenue in 2019, up from $1.2 billion in 2018. Its income was up 32 percent from the previous year, while its cash and cash equivalents dipped slightly from $1.1 billion to $1.07 billion. CoStar’s revenue for the fourth quarter was