The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Big Midtown deal looms over Savanna’s latest fundraising effort

Posted: 06 May 2020 03:30 PM PDT

A Garment District building purchase could drag down the latest fundraising effort of one of New York City’s most active real estate investors. Savanna went into contract in mid-February to buy 1375 Broadway for $435 million — the first purchase out of Savanna’s fifth private equity fund, which it launched late last year. But just a few weeks after the office building deal with seller Westbrook Partners, the coronavirus arrived in New York and virtually

He sold the Willis Tower and the GM Building. But can Doug Harmon sell the Mountain?

Posted: 06 May 2020 03:28 PM PDT

Top New York City investment-sales broker Doug Harmon snagged himself an assignment unlike any he’s had before — selling a 157-acre hilltop perch in Beverly Hills. The owner of the so-called Mountain of Beverly Hills, has brought in Harmon and his team at Cushman & Wakefield to sell the property, according to the Wall Street Journal. Harmon has sold some of the biggest office properties in the country, including the General Motors building in Manhattan

Aby Rosen seeks to rework Chrysler Building ground lease

Posted: 06 May 2020 03:00 PM PDT

RFR Realty’s Aby Rosen is in talks to restructure the ground lease for the Chrysler Building. Rosen, along with partner Sigma Holding GmbH, bought the landmark tower’s ground lease for $151 million from Tishman Speyer and an Abu Dhabi government fund last year. They pay Cooper Union, which owns the property, $32.5 million annually in ground rent, along with more than $23 million for what the building would typically owe in property taxes (though as

Landlord sues co-living firm for bailing on lease

Posted: 06 May 2020 02:45 PM PDT

A lawsuit accuses German co-living firm Quarters of “opportunistically” bailing on an $8 million lease in Brooklyn just as New York City became the global epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic. Entities controlled by Mark Tress of Cedar Holdings, a New Jersey-based real estate investor, owner and developer, sued Quarters in federal court May 4. The suit claims Quarters began using construction delays as grounds to terminate its 10-year lease at 251 DeKalb Avenue “only after

Plan to pedestrianize Park Avenue floated as mayor announces new street closures

Posted: 06 May 2020 01:55 PM PDT

It’s one of the country’s most iconic avenues, and if a Manhattan community board gets its way, it could also be closed to traffic. Community Board 8 is calling on the city to open Park Avenue to pedestrians between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., seven days a week, as Mayor Bill de Blasio announces which streets will be pedestrianized under a new plan to encourage social distancing and take pressure off parks. Last Friday, the

Outback Steakhouse cuts hours to the bone

Posted: 06 May 2020 01:05 PM PDT

Outback Steakhouse’s parent company is cutting hours for more than 2,600 employees across New York — the latest in a series of labor cuts in various states by the restaurant group. The Australian-themed chain’s parent company Bloomin’ Brands filed eight temporary layoff notices with the state’s Department of Labor for restaurants throughout New York. However, company spokesperson Elizabeth Watts said the firm was not actually letting go of any workers but just reducing their hours.

What Sam Zell is offering renters to keep occupancy rates high

Posted: 06 May 2020 12:45 PM PDT

Sam Zell’s Equity Residential had a collection rate of about 97 percent for April despite widespread concerns that tenants would be unable or unwilling to pay their rent amid the pandemic, the company reported on its first quarter earnings call. Equity Residential held its call on Wednesday morning, and CEO Mark Parrell maintained that the company was well-positioned to weather the ongoing pandemic despite acknowledging that it would still face challenges moving forward. “Equity Residential

Resort-town hotels bounce back in reopening states, providing industry with hope of a return

Posted: 06 May 2020 12:44 PM PDT

Hotels bounced back last week at tourist destinations in states like Florida and Texas which have begun reopening — a sign that the industry could rebound once more states relax pandemic restrictions. Texas cities like Galveston and Corpus Christie led the boost in occupancy last week, alongside Florida destinations such as Daytona Beach, Panama City and Fort Walton Beach, according to hospitality data firm STR. Overall, the hotel occupancy rate in the U.S. was 28.6

New listings in Manhattan finally rise — by 39%

Posted: 06 May 2020 11:30 AM PDT

Some Manhattanites are beginning to put their homes up for sale. A report by data firm UrbanDigs shows that 82 new listings appeared last week, a 39 percent increase from the prior week’s 59. It’s the first time since a sweeping statewide shutdown in late March that listing inventory has increased week-over-week. To be sure, the Manhattan residential market is far from back to normal. During the same period last year, 506 homes were listed.

The days of long-term retail leases may be over

Posted: 06 May 2020 11:00 AM PDT

As retailers and other businesses seek relief from landlords, one potential long-term fix to rent woes is on the horizon. Michael Phillips, who leads real estate investment manager Jamestown, told the Wall Street Journal that the days of reliance on standard long-term leases with fixed payments in retail are done. “The days of being the landlord as an overlord to collect rent are over,” he said. The landlord said he expects to see more revenue

All Year’s $346M multifamily portfolio sale to David Werner falls apart

Posted: 06 May 2020 09:05 AM PDT

All Year Management’s massive $346 million multifamily portfolio sale appears to have fallen victim to the economic fallout of coronavirus, as financing tightens and tenants struggle to pay rent. An agreement to sell the portfolio, which covers 73 multifamily buildings in Brooklyn and one in Queens, was announced by Yoel Goldman’s firm two months ago on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. The deal was expected to generate about $59 million in positive cash flow for

How to restart retail on today’s TRD Talk

Posted: 06 May 2020 08:59 AM PDT

On today’s episode of TRD Talks Live, associate publisher Hiten Samtani will discuss the future of retail with TSCG and SCG Retail’s David Firestein, Newmark Knight Frank’s Jeffrey Roseman and Meridian Retail Leasing’s James Famularo. Long before coronavirus kept shoppers off the streets, retail was struggling to adapt to changing times. In an interview with TRD, Fifth Wall’s Brendan Wallace spoke to the need for a retail bailout. And in an interview with Bloomberg, billionaire Sam

Welcome back to your post-corona office. You probably won’t recognize it

Posted: 06 May 2020 08:30 AM PDT

Thermal cameras, bacteria-fighting HVAC systems and contactless coffee machines. Welcome back to the office – you may not recognize it. As New Yorkers gear up to go back to work, landlords are scrambling to cater to a totally different set of priorities. Over the past few years, office spaces have been designed to maximize social interaction. Now, however, minimizing risk of spreading disease is the first order of business. Marx Realty, which has been planning

Anbang’s $5.8B hotel portfolio sale scrapped

Posted: 06 May 2020 08:00 AM PDT

UPDATED, May 6, 2020, 5:14 p.m.: Anbang Insurance Group’s sale of its U.S. hotel portfolio has fallen apart. The buyer, South Korea’s Mirae Asset Global Investments, announced the termination of its $5.8 billion purchase contract for Anbang’s 15 hotels, accusing the Chinese insurer of breaching contract, Reuters reported. “Among other things, AnBang had failed to timely disclose and discharge various material encumbrances and liabilities impairing the hotels and failed to continue the operation of the

Even Sam Zell isn’t ready to dance on graves

Posted: 06 May 2020 07:15 AM PDT

When the markets begin to melt, people usually look to see what Sam Zell is up to. The billionaire real estate investor made his fortune and reputation by acquiring distressed assets on the cheap and disposing of properties at the zenith of the market. He sold Blackstone Group the Equity Office portfolio for $39 billion in 2006, the largest-ever leveraged buyout at the time. In 2012, he bought the 45,000-unit Archstone multifamily portfolio for $16

Michael Bloomberg picks up $44M estate in Colorado

Posted: 06 May 2020 06:30 AM PDT

Michael Bloomberg’s got the mother of all homes to quarantine in. The former presidential candidate quietly bought a 4,600-acre ranch in Colorado last month for $44.79 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. The estate, known as Westlands, was developed by KKR co-founder Henry Kravis over nearly three decades. Kravis bought the ranch in 1991 for $5.5 million and constructed the main, 19,000-square-foot residence, which contains five bedrooms, an indoor hot tub, wine cellar and

Vornado might never reopen century-old Hotel Pennsylvania, CEO says

Posted: 06 May 2020 06:00 AM PDT

For more than 20 years Steven Roth has wanted to close the Hotel Pennsylvania, demolish it, and build a tower in its place. Now that the coronavirus pandemic has forced the Vornado Realty Trust CEO to take that first step, he is thinking anew about the other two. As tourism dried up, Vornado closed the not-quite-prestigious hotel at 401 Seventh Avenue on April 1 and furloughed 414 of its employees. Then, on an earnings call

Real estate pros and foes clash on rent strike, Covid response

Posted: 06 May 2020 05:30 AM PDT

Real estate professionals and tenant advocates agree that the federal government needs to provide more relief. But that’s where their common ground seems to end. During the latest TRD Talks Live panel Monday, representatives from both sides of the landlord-tenant divide sparred over a planned nationwide rent strike. Cea Weaver, tenant organizer with Housing Justice for All, said the strike is aimed at pressuring the government. New York State legislators have proposed a bill that

Offerpad to resume home-buying

Posted: 06 May 2020 05:00 AM PDT

Following in the footsteps of rival Opendoor, another iBuyer will resume home buying this week. Arizona-based Offerpad said it will restart purchases after suspending that part of its operation in March due to the coronavirus. Starting Friday, Offerpad will also roll out new safety procedures, including 3D walkthroughs and video tours. At Offerpad-owned homes, prospective buyers can tour vacant, sanitized properties. Founded in 2015, Offerpad is one of several iBuyers whose business model hinges on

Home-purchase loan requests rise for third straight week

Posted: 06 May 2020 05:00 AM PDT

An index tracking mortgage applications to buy single-family homes gained 6 percent, seasonally adjusted, last week from the week before. It was the third straight weekly increase, and a sign of life in a residential market depressed by the coronavirus. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s metric, called the purchase index, had jumped by 12 percent the previous week and by 3 percent the week before that. Arizona, Texas and California powered last week’s gains. However, purchase-loan

TRD INSIGHTS: High-end homes vanish from market

Posted: 06 May 2020 04:30 AM PDT

The high-end residential market has shriveled more than any other during the coronavirus pandemic. In the five weeks beginning March 15, more $1 million-and-up homes were pulled off the market than were listed, according to an analysis of listing activity from online real estate brokerage Redfin. It was a dramatic difference from the same period last year, when new listings of homes with seven-figure price tags made up 28 percent of the high-end market, after

The top 10 biggest real estate projects coming to NYC

Posted: 06 May 2020 04:00 AM PDT

The coronavirus pandemic did not stop companies from filing plans for major construction projects last month. The top 10 largest projects in April totaled more square feet than any other month of the year: about 2.6 million. That compared to 1.9 million square feet in March, 1.7 million square feet in February and 1.3 million square feet in January. Overall, the list for April was split between five projects in Manhattan, three projects in Brooklyn,