The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Mass confusion in the legal community arose after New York’s top administrative judge issued a bewildering memo which halts all eviction proceedings until further notice — or not, depending on your interpretation. The late-afternoon directive from Judge Lawrence Marks laid out the steps for filing new evictions by mail or via an electronic system which is not yet operational. It provided a boilerplate notice to be given to tenants, pointing them to a website that,

Simon Property Group called off its $3.6 billion merger with Taubman Centers due to a classic case of buyer’s remorse, the spurned seller claims. Taubman submitted a new legal filing in the mall landlords’ court battle that claims the larger rival Simon tried to renegotiate the terms of their deal once the coronavirus pandemic hit, Bloomberg reported. Simon had agreed to buy 80 percent of Taubman in December at $60 per share, a figure that

Buyers looking for a “Covid discount” on a New York condo may be disappointed. Concessions may be on the table, and some sponsors are guaranteeing satisfaction for buyers who only viewed their unit virtually. But fire-sale prices? Not so much. “There is a lot of talk about, ‘What is this Covid discount?’” said Kelly Kennedy Mack, CEO of Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group. That has “certainly created a pause for some people who aren’t quite sure

As retailers reopen for business, their landlords can take a breath of fresh air. Their tenants are starting to pay rent. At this time last month, 18 major retail chains had not paid May rent in any of their locations. This month, only nine out of the 127 retailers in a mid-month Datex report were total deadbeats. H&M made one of the largest increases in rent payments, going from not having paid any rent last

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.

Another 1.5 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, about one-third fewer than the week prior. The number suggests that the rate of job loss in America has stabilized, even though businesses continue to hemorrhage employees at unprecedented levels. The Department of Labor’s unemployment report for the week ending June 13 showed 20.5 million Americans receiving unemployment benefits, down from 25 million in early May. Before Covid, the peak for weekly unemployment filings was

Rents are falling and vacancy is rising in San Francisco as the coronavirus pandemic continues to take a toll on the Bay Area’s tech economy. Rents are down 9.2 percent year-over-year, according to RealPage. That doesn’t mean apartments are now cheap, but the drop brings rents to their lowest since at least 2015 — the median rent on a one-bedroom apartment was $3,360 in May, a roughly $300 decline year-over-year. Vacancy hit 6.2 percent in

It’s been an especially busy few months for Canadian investment giant Brookfield, which is upping its bets on everything from struggling chain stores to distressed real estate. Brian Kingston, CEO of Brookfield Property Partners, spoke to The Real Deal in June about the company’s rent negotiations with mall tenants, its plans to launch a $5 billion retail relief fund and the countrywide protests over the death of George Floyd. While Covid-19 and the economic fallout

When rookie legislators drastically changed the rent law last year, it proved the importance of elections to the real estate industry — which faces another reckoning next week. In deep-blue New York, the June 23 Democratic primary will essentially decide many of the winners in November, when all 213 seats in the state legislature will be on the ballot. A slew of challengers are hostile to the industry’s interests, and a few are trying to

National hotel occupancy crept back up above the 40 percent mark last week as leisure travelers continued to head to tourism spots in states that are reopening. Occupancy hit 41.7 percent for the week ending June 13, according to STR. With more people staying in hotels in these tourist destinations, operators are beginning to feel confident they can start pushing prices back up. “As we have noted, the drive-to destinations with access to beaches, mountains

More than 50 New York lawmakers called for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to strengthen his eviction ban extension, which allows some tenants to be ousted starting Monday. The 56 lawmakers urged the governor to instead extend the universal ban that has been in place since March 15, when the state’s top administrative judge, Lawrence Marks, halted all evictions until further notice. High-ranking members of both legislative houses signed the letter, including Sen. Michael Gianaris and the

Jay Z’s entertainment company Roc Nation has accused its New York landlord of retaliating for a rent dispute by stalling a deal to sublease office space. In a lawsuit filed Tuesday first reported by Crain’s, the company said it has arranged for three tenants to sublease parts of the space at 1411 Broadway, which it no longer uses, having moved to a bigger space in Chelsea last year. However, the landlord had allegedly delayed in

George Floyd died in Minneapolis on May 25 after being pinned down by three police officers — one of whom kept his knee on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds. Footage of the brutal arrest sparked outrage across the county, setting off a wave of protests against police brutality and racism. Major cities such as New York and Los Angeles saw some of the most heated demonstrations. The protests in some cases were

A condo board in Chelsea is fighting the U.S. Department of Justice over its decision to sell a forfeited penthouse at a 64 percent discount. The 6,000-square-foot penthouse at the Walker Tower sold for $50.9 million in 2014, a downtown record. It went into contract last week for $18.25 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. The tower’s board, angry about the steep discount, is now pushing back. The board has exercised its first right

New York’s three-month shutdown largely ground new residential deals to a halt — and the number of contract signings in May bears that out. In Manhattan and Brooklyn, signed contract activity was down last month by a wide margin compared to a year earlier, according to a new monthly report from Douglas Elliman and appraiser Jonathan Miller that tracks new listing activity by property type at all price points. But as city dwellers fled to

We’re disappointed to announce that our 2020 NYC Annual Showcase is officially canceled. This news may not come as a big surprise. Nevertheless, we are disappointed. Every year we look forward to sharing valuable insights from leaders in our industry, discovering new tools and technology to drive business forward, and, most importantly, hosting you. We love meeting and connecting with our readers, but when it comes down to it, your safety is more important to us. We will

Home-flippers are busier than ever. They had better be, because their profit margins have been plunging for three years. The first quarter of the year saw home-flipping activity keep rising but return on investment continue a three-year slide to fall to its lowest level since 2011, according to a report from real estate data provider Attom Data Solutions. Attom found that 53,705 single-family homes and condominiums in the United States were flipped in the first

This might not seem like the time to build a condominium tower in Manhattan. The city is full of unsold units. Lenders are reluctant to finance condos. And many of the city’s wealthy residents have fled. But Josh Schuster of Silverback Development is moving forward with plans for a 35-story building at 131 East 47th Street. “We’re contrarian and we want to focus on these counter-cyclical construction development projects,” he said. Schuster’s hope is that