The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Build, baby, build — but not in a pandemic. Brooklyn City Council member Carlos Menchaca is calling for a moratorium on construction work citywide, in what would be one of the most significant industry-related disruptions since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak. “I’m calling on the moratorium of all construction site work in NYC,” tweeted Menchaca, who represents District 38 including neighborhoods such as Sunset Park and Red Hook. “Again, we are putting workers in

As the stock market saw its worst plunge since the coronavirus outbreak, real estate stocks fared no better. Stocks continued their downward fall Monday, nearly a day after the Federal Reserve unleashed another rate cut and measures to prevent the economy from further spiraling as the coronavirus continues to spread across the United States. The real estate sector was part of the turmoil, as a mass sell-off Monday morning triggered another circuit breaker that stopped

With a day’s notice, tens of thousands of bars and restaurants in New York City must close their doors to patrons indefinitely — leaving businesses, employees and landlords with little guidance on how to cope. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced late Sunday night that all bars and restaurants must limit their services to delivery and takeout Tuesday morning to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Then Gov. Andrew Cuomo, alongside the governors of New Jersey

The marketplace where lenders sell mortgages on office buildings, rental properties and other types of commercial real estate as securities has ground to a halt as traders try to figure out how to price in risk amid the coronavirus pandemic. It’s gut check time for the commercial mortgage backed securities market — which saw nearly $100 billion of new issuances last year — after pricing got expensive quick last week. “The CMBS market is shut

Boston has shut down all of its construction projects in the city, raising questions about whether other cities such as New York could follow its lead. Boston Mayor Martin Walsh ordered all of the city’s construction projects to shut down on Monday, according to the Boston Globe. He said the only work he anticipates happening in the city moving forward will be emergency work, such as utility hookups and street repairs. The move will impact

UPDATED, March 16, 6:33 p.m.: Douglas Elliman’s new-development marketing division has closed all its on-site sales offices and galleries nationwide for the next two weeks, citing mounting health concerns over the coronavirus. The decision came Friday in an email sent by the firm’s head of new development, Susan de França. The closure extends through March 31. In her email, França emphasized that the firm is “open to discussing with our clients the impromptu situations that

As cities around the country curtail large public gatherings, institute curfews and shut down schools to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, questions hang over the fate of malls — which have already been on a knife’s edge thanks to retailer bankruptcies and store closures. Some industry watchers have said retail will be among the first industries to take a hit, as people stay indoors to avoid catching the illness — or passing it on

New development condo report Manhattan • Inventory contracted as developers filed fewer units than were purchased • Developers filed two plans with a total of 84 units • The state approved 0 plans for sale • Buyers purchased 138 units valued at $396 million Supply Demand

There were 21 luxury contracts signed in Manhattan last week, a rare bright spot for the real estate industry as brokerages shut their doors and canceled showings to stem the coronavirus pandemic. The relatively strong showing could have been spurred by tumbling interest rates and price cuts on individual units, said Donna Olshan, who authors a weekly market report. Still, she said the number of signings defied her expectations. “I thought we would tail off

Landis, a startup that uses technology to boost homeownership, has inked a deal with Transcendent Investment Management, a major owner of single-family rentals, to turn some of its tenants into buyers. Through a strategic partnership, Transcendent’s tenants will be offered the option of purchasing their homes, the companies announced. “A lot of our tenants are ‘Try before you buy,’” said Adam Wolfson, chief investment officer of Florida-based Transcendent, which has purchased 6,000 single-family rentals around

A condo in Greenpoint was the priciest residential property to go into contract in Brooklyn last week. The three-bedroom unit at 155 Noble Street went for $4.75 million. It spans 2,558 square feet. The price works out to $1,857 per square foot. Overall, Brooklyn saw 15 contracts signed for $2 million or more last week, including 12 houses and three condos, according to the latest report from Compass. The report looks at homes in the

While New York State halted evictions Sunday, the fate of mortgage debt, foreclosures and bankruptcy proceedings remains in limbo. “Everything is still being worked out,” a court spokesperson wrote in a statement to The Real Deal, in response to a question of whether the court will extend the moratorium to bankruptcies, foreclosures and mortgage payments. It is unclear when a decision will be made on a plan to address the financial distress that will emerge

The City University of New York is looking to generate more money for academic programs by selling off some of its 300-building portfolio. The Facilities Planning and Management Committee on CUNY’s board of trustees unanimously approved a $750,000 contract with Real Estate Solutions Group last week to assess the value of all of its buildings, according to the New York Post. The review will likely also look at possibly selling air rights above CUNY properties.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is teaming up with his counterparts in Connecticut and New Jersey to combat the rapidly spreading coronavirus. Cuomo announced that he would partner with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont on a regional approach to fighting the virus amid what they criticized as a lack of direction from the federal government. The three governors will impose uniform standards throughout their states, including limiting social gatherings to no more

  To the Real Estate Community: This is a difficult time for the industry. If 2020 didn’t already feel hard enough as a real estate professional with a sluggish market, rent reform laws, broker fees lawsuits, plunging stock prices and the looming recession, the coronavirus took this year to a different – and much more serious – place. As Americans continue to navigate this new environment, The Real Deal is committed to ensuring that we continue our

Amid intense market turmoil, Realogy is sticking with the leader it hired in 2017 to turn the company around. UPDATED, March 16, 2020, 5:00 p.m.: In a regulatory filing, the real estate holding company said it signed a three-year employment agreement with CEO Ryan Schneider. His prior agreement was set to expire in October 2020. A copy of the agreement, dated March 11, shows that Schneider’s base salary is unchanged at $1 million, and he

Real estate scion Robert Durst’s Los Angeles murder case could be suspended, as courts prepare to shutter in the face of the coronavirus outbreak. An internal police memo obtained by CNN said that all jury trials in L.A. would be suspended as of Monday, whether they are ongoing or have yet to start. The report said the trial would resume after April 6; a suspension had already been scheduled starting March 29. The long-awaited trial

WeWork has been keeping most of its spaces open throughout the coronavirus pandemic, even as other co-working spaces have closed their doors. The company has 739 locations and has shut down two of them in Wuhan, China, according to Bloomberg. It also shut down and reopened locations in Seattle and New York after people at them tested positive for the coronavirus. Other co-working companies have been more aggressive about shutting down. The Wing closed all

Ample Hills Creamery is melting down, but not quite liquidating. The Brooklyn-based ice-cream maker filed for Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Eastern District of New York. Chapter 11 would give the company a chance to pare down its debt and reorganize its operations. Ample Hills released a statement that described the filing as part of “the necessary next steps to preserve and ultimately bring Ample Hills into its next phase,” as

Wynn Resorts and MGM Resorts International will temporarily close their Las Vegas casinos in an effort to help contain the spread of coronavirus. Wynn Resorts will close its casinos for two weeks starting Tuesday, according to the Wall Street Journal. MGM will close its eight resorts, which include Bellagio and Mirage, indefinitely. Casino operators had already been closing portions of their resorts like theaters and nightclubs, and tourism to Las Vegas has dropped in the

Restaurants, bars and schools in New York City will shut down, marking the latest aggressive moves to slow the spread of coronavirus. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Sunday that he would limit bars and restaurants to to takeout and delivery services effective 9 a.m. Tuesday, according to the New York Times. The state previously called on restaurants to close or cut their seating capacity in half, and food delivery company Seamless has said it will

The multifamily market in New York City may have just suffered through one of its slowest years in recent memory, but things are not nearly as bleak across the river — particularly for Kushner Companies. The firm made a big bet on the state’s multifamily market early in 2020, buying seven rental buildings from First Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) of New Jersey for $266.5 million. The portfolio consists of 1,058 units in Wayne, River

There were four properties that traded in New York’s mid-level investment sales market last week: a trio of adjacent sites on the Upper East Side and a warehouse in Brooklyn. Here are the details: 1. HFZ Capital bought 150-152 East 79th Street on the Upper East Side for about $30.5 million from Montrose Lexington Associates. Both mixed-use properties stand four stories tall with two residential units, according to the city. The purchase appears to be

Jo Sheeley, a 23-year-old graduate student, started hunting for a rental apartment before news of the broker fee ban changed the equation. Sheeley and her partner initially found a place in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, in early February, they said. Then other realities set in. “It was listed as having a broker’s fee, which, at the time, we didn’t have a second thought about,” Sheeley said. “We knew it was something we might have to pay.” Once

Voters in San Francisco recently approved a measure that has been floated before in New York — a tax on landlords that fail to fill their vacant storefronts before the clock runs out. That tax, approved by 70 percent of voters, covers stores in some parts of the city that have been empty for at least 182 days and will go into effect next year. The annual revenue from the tax, which does not have