The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Syrian dictator’s uncle sentenced to prison, and $101M in European real estate is seized

Posted: 20 Jun 2020 11:00 AM PDT

It could be the end of the road for Rifaat al-Assad, the exiled uncle of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The 82-year-old was convicted in France for illegally amassing a real estate portfolio worth $101 million using money he embezzled from the Syrian state, according to Bloomberg. A French court sentenced Al-Assad to four years in prison and seized all of his property in the country as well as a home in London worth an estimated

Netflix founder has spent over $20M on secretive 2,100-acre Colorado ranch plans

Posted: 20 Jun 2020 09:00 AM PDT

Netflix founder Reed Hastings is busy building out a 2,100-acre Colorado ranch in the Rocky Mountains. What for? Not for a vacation. Hastings has proposed and is building out an education training center for school teachers dubbed the Retreat Land at Lone Rock, according to public records scoured by Recode. One prospectus authored by an aide to Hastings said the facility “will be run as a nonprofit institute serving the public education community’s development of

Robot butlers, UV pods: Hotels go high-tech

Posted: 20 Jun 2020 06:00 AM PDT

Hotels across the world are turning to high-tech gadgets to meet customer expectations of cleanliness and stringent regulations triggered by the coronavirus. The responses range from relatively mundane cleaning gadgets to sterilizers and robot butlers straight out of science fiction, according to Bloomberg. The new tech could help prospective guests feel more at ease booking a room — and hotels need all the help they can get. Even with lots of establishments closed, U.S hotel