The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Property tax-deferral bills on City Council’s fast track

Posted: 08 Jun 2020 04:44 PM PDT

Two new bills in the City Council would allow New Yorkers to defer their property taxes and tenants to put off their rent, too. The first bill would allow property owners whose buildings are assessed at more than $250,000 to put off paying the full amount of their property taxes. To qualify, taxpayers would have to show the occupant of the building was affected by limitations on “seating, occupancy or on-premises service limitations” from an

Here’s what New York’s reopening will look like for real estate

Posted: 08 Jun 2020 02:05 PM PDT

On Monday, New York City became the 10th (and final) region in the state to begin reopening after the sweeping coronavirus closures. For real estate, the biggest impact of the nearly three-month shutdown was that non-essential retailers could not operate, and non-essential construction work was halted. Some of that will change during the first of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s four-part reopening plan. The construction, retail, manufacturing, wholesale trading and agriculture industries can begin to get back

A trifecta! NAR sued again over buyer-broker commissions

Posted: 08 Jun 2020 01:30 PM PDT

UPDATED: June 8, 5:10 p.m.: It’s Round 3 for the National Association of Realtors, which is being sued for a third time over policies related to buy-side commissions. But this one is different. The class-action-seeking lawsuit was filed on behalf of two Connecticut homeowners and alleges that NAR policies have inflated buyer broker commissions. The lawsuit also names the so-called Big Four of residential brokerage: Realogy Holdings, Berkshire Hathaway’s HomeServices of America, Re/Max Holdings and

WeWork may abandon WeLive

Posted: 08 Jun 2020 01:00 PM PDT

WeWork is considering ditching its co-living business. The Sandee Mathrani-led firm is working with an adviser on options to hand over operations of its two communal living locations in New York City and outside Washington, D.C., Bloomberg reported. The talks are in the early stages regarding WeLive, which WeWork launched in 2016. The company at one point had planned to open 36 of the furnished apartments, but never expanded beyond its locations at Rudin Management’s

David Geffen pays $68M for Casey Wasserman’s Beverly Hills manse

Posted: 08 Jun 2020 12:21 PM PDT

UPDATED, June 8, 12:12 p.m.: Entertainment industry titan and ultra-luxury real estate trader David Geffen has paid $68 million for a Beverly Hills estate owned by Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee President Casey Wasserman, The Real Deal has learned. The Los Angeles Times first reported on the sale but did not have a price. The 3.3-acre property was most recently listed for $82.5 million, the Times reported. It first hit the market in late 2018

Iranian princess’ Midtown palace finally finds a buyer

Posted: 08 Jun 2020 11:15 AM PDT

A townhouse near the United Nations that had been home to the princess of Iran after she fled the revolution has sold at a fraction of its original offering price. The 12,000-square-foot home at 29 Beekman Place has been tied up in a legal dispute for years involving the late Princess Ashraf Pahlavi’s former employees. A real estate company based in Scarsdale is buying the controversial Manhattan mansion that was Pahlavi’s longtime home, in addition

Brooklyn luxury market has best week since Covid began

Posted: 08 Jun 2020 10:00 AM PDT

New York City officially started reopening Monday, and it appears Brooklyn’s luxury market is on its way back as well. Last week was the market’s strongest since the onset of the pandemic, with seven deals going into contract for about $22.5 million in total, according to the latest report from Compass. The contract and dollar volume were the highest the borough has seen since the week of March 9, when there were 15 contracts signed

Noteworthy deals offer “new hope in the luxury market”

Posted: 08 Jun 2020 09:15 AM PDT

A townhouse owned by the estate of late Iranian princess Ashraf Pahlavi was first listed for $49.9 million in 2014. Last week, it went into contract, asking just $11.45 million. The price chop followed years of legal disputes over the Midtown East property, and two failed sales. Still, it was a welcome development for New York’s weakened luxury residential market, which these days is notching any deal as a win. In total, there were four

Ceruzzi’s $272M loan on Lipstick Building ground lease goes to special servicing

Posted: 08 Jun 2020 08:25 AM PDT

The coronavirus-fueled economic fallout has pushed countless hotel and retail property loans into special servicing. But one of the latest CMBS loans to run into trouble is from a different asset class altogether — the ground underneath a famed Midtown East office building. The $272 million CMBS loan on the ground under the Lipstick Building at 885 Third Avenue has been transferred to special servicing, according to Trepp data. The reason is listed as “Imminent

Domestic travel gives Airbnb a boost

Posted: 08 Jun 2020 08:00 AM PDT

The travel industry is beginning to show signs of life again, with city residents heading to nearby vacation rentals in droves. Airbnb saw more nights booked for its U.S. listings between May 17 and June 3 than it did during the same period a year ago, according to Bloomberg. Similarly, Germany, Portugal, South Korea and New Zealand are also seeing a surge in demand for domestic bookings. Booking Holdings and Vrbo are seeing increases in

Forget sustainability. What’s your building’s Covid rating?

Posted: 08 Jun 2020 07:15 AM PDT

Buildings can soon get a grade for their coronavirus safety. The International WELL Building Institute is launching a “Health Safety Rating” to reflect how well offices, restaurants, hotels, retail shops and other spaces reduce occupants’ risk of infection. To attain the certification, owners must document sanitation practices — from cleaning to touchless navigation systems — as well as waste disposal, water quality and overall emergency preparedness in their buildings, said Rachel Gutter, the institute’s president.

New York City’s reopening has officially launched

Posted: 08 Jun 2020 06:30 AM PDT

New York City officially began its reopening Monday with phase one, which allows curbside and in-store pickup for retailers, along with construction, agriculture, manufacturing and wholesale trade. The city estimates that about 3,700 manufacturing companies, 16,000 non-essential retail businesses and 23,000 construction sites will be allowed to reopen under the first phase, according to the Wall Street Journal. The city needed to hit benchmarks provided by the state on hospital capacity, testing, infection rates and

Construction, real estate finalize terms of reopening

Posted: 08 Jun 2020 06:00 AM PDT

Construction and real estate groups have agreed to new conditions on development sites as they begin to reopen in New York City on Monday. The Building Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, the Building Trades Employers Association and the Real Estate Board of New York announced Sunday that they’ve agreed to a set of safety standards and laid out possible shifts in work schedules to reduce density on sites. The rules are in addition

“This is a tsunami”: These big retailers stiffed their landlords in May

Posted: 08 Jun 2020 05:30 AM PDT

About 40 percent of national retail chains once again skimped on their rent in May, according to the latest monthly report on collection rates. Among those are 24 Hour Fitness, AMC Theaters and Pier One, all of which have either announced potential bankruptcy or plans to liquidate assets. Overall, national retailers paid 60.1 percent of rent, a small increase from April’s 56.7 percent collection rent, according to a report from the data firm Datex Property

Amazon’s future Queens warehouse, Robert DeNiro’s film studio among top NYC projects

Posted: 08 Jun 2020 05:00 AM PDT

Queens was king when it came to the largest projects filed for New York City in May. Projects in the borough made up half of the 10 largest developments last month, including two of the top three spots. The biggest project was RXR Realty’s vertical warehouse in Maspeth, while the third largest project was a mixed-use development from Phipps Houses in Far Rockaway. A residential tower that is part of Greenland USA’s Pacific Park development

Mid-market investment sales return after week of zero deals

Posted: 08 Jun 2020 04:30 AM PDT

A week after seeing zero mid-market investment sales for the second time since the pandemic took hold, the city’s $10 million to $30 million sector rebounded with two deals, including one for a shul in Kew Gardens. Here are the details: 1. An LLC linked to the film and television production company Broadway Stages bought six lots in Glendale, Queens, for $19.6 million from Atco Properties. The purchase includes two one-story industrial buildings at 70-32

Part Two: Brookfield’s Brian Kingston on Manhattan West, Lever House and working from home

Posted: 08 Jun 2020 04:00 AM PDT

Brookfield’s Brian Kingston is not a fan of working from home, and believes most others share the feeling. In part two of his interview with The Real Deal this month, the Brookfield Property Partners CEO said he doesn’t anticipate a big drop in demand for office space, and noted that his company is moving “full steam ahead” on the final tower in its $2 billion Manhattan West megadevelopment. Kingston also delved deeper into Brookfield’s plans