The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

RFR’s Core Club condo at Midtown tower heads to special servicing

Posted: 15 Jul 2020 01:15 PM PDT

A favorite socializing spot for New York City’s 1 percent, the Core Club at 60 East 55th Street in Midtown has not been spared from the economic havoc wreaked by coronavirus. A $25 million CMBS loan, which Aby Rosen’s RFR Realty secured for four commercial condo units at the base of the 41-story tower in 2016, is now more than two months behind on payments after having requested Covid-19 relief in May. The loan was

Mall magnate David Simon lists Park Ave pad for $33M

Posted: 15 Jul 2020 12:25 PM PDT

As David Simon tries to navigate his retail REIT through the coronavirus storm, he is also looking to sell one of his residential properties: A 7,200-square-foot co-op on Park Avenue. The chairman and CEO of mall opperator Simon Property Group has listed his home at 625 Park Avenue for $32.5 million. Douglas Elliman broker Richard Steinberg has the listing. That price is about $7 million less than Simon put it on the market for a

AOC blasts hospitality REITs for seeking federal aid to pay dividends

Posted: 15 Jul 2020 12:20 PM PDT

UPDATED, July 15, 2020, 4:58 p.m.: U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is taking aim at real estate investment trusts that seek to use federal aid to pay out shareholder dividends. The progressive superstar, who just won a primary challenge in her New York City congressional district, criticized industry trade group Nareit for lobbying congress to allow REITs to use federal aid to pay dividends. “It is unconscionable that during a moment of national, unprecedented economic hardship

Simon Property Group sics the lawyers on deadbeat tenants

Posted: 15 Jul 2020 12:15 PM PDT

Simon Property Group has kept its promise to sue mall tenants who aren’t paying their rent. On Tuesday, the country’s biggest retail real estate investment trust filed a lawsuit against Eddie Bauer, seeking to recover $6.2 million in missed rent payments. The outdoor clothing store chain has not paid rent since April, according to records filed in federal court. Last month, Simon Property Group filed a similar lawsuit against Brooks Brothers seeking $8.7 million of

City to resume rezonings, at last

Posted: 15 Jul 2020 10:55 AM PDT

Projects frozen in the city’s stalled land-use process — which Mayor Bill de Blasio on Wednesday called “crucial to all of our lives” — can finally get moving again. The mayor announced that the City Planning Commission will start holding remote meetings next month and resume the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure in September. The mayor on March 16 had halted Ulurp, a seven-month long review process required for rezonings, which most big projects depend

Armageddon on hold: 88% of tenants paying rent

Posted: 15 Jul 2020 09:55 AM PDT

With enhanced unemployment benefits set to expire this month, 87.6 percent of tenants paid some rent through July 13, according to a national survey of market-rate units. The number of renters paying at least some of the month’s rent was only slightly lower than the 90.1 percent during the same period a year ago. It was also a bit shy of the month-ago figure, 89 percent. The numbers suggest that actions by Congress and the

Miami Beach shuts down short-term rentals due to coronavirus

Posted: 15 Jul 2020 09:30 AM PDT

The city of Miami Beach ordered all short-term rentals to stop operating effective Wednesday at 12:01 a.m. due to the record number of coronavirus cases. Miami Beach updated its emergency order to close and prohibit short-term rentals, a week after Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez issued restrictions on restaurants, gyms, fitness centers and short-term rentals. Miami Beach’s ban orders short-term and vacation rentals to cancel existing reservations and to stop accepting new guests or new

Tech entrepreneur’s dismembered body found in LES condo

Posted: 15 Jul 2020 08:10 AM PDT

The dismembered body of a man was found in his Lower East Side condo Tuesday. Police identified the victim as Fahim Saleh, a tech entrepreneur, the New York Times reported. Saleh’s sister discovered his body and an electric saw still plugged into the wall Tuesday afternoon. His death is being investigated as a homicide. The condo building at 265 East Houston, developed by Long Island-based Central Construction Management, has seven residential units and one commercial

Harry Macklowe is behind on rent for HQ at GM Building: report

Posted: 15 Jul 2020 07:15 AM PDT

It turns out that even some real estate firms aren’t paying rent. Harry Macklowe’s Macklowe Properties hasn’t paid up for its headquarters at the GM Building since March, according to the New York Post. The developer’s monthly bill for the 28,000-square-foot spread on the 21st floor is about $200,000. Macklowe was forced to sell the tower at 767 Fifth Avenue during the 2008 financial crisis in order to pay down his debts. Boston Properties, now

Savanna closes on Garment District office with $388M loan

Posted: 15 Jul 2020 06:35 AM PDT

The private equity fund closed its $435 million purchase of 1375 Broadway from Westbrook Partners last week, Commercial Observer reports. In May, The Real Deal reported that the transaction could slow down Savanna’s fundraising efforts. To complete the deal, Savanna landed $388.5 million in financing from a consortium of lenders including Brookfield Real Estate Finance, investment firm Declaration Partners and two entities tied to Deutsche Pfandbriefbank and Aareal Capital Corporation. Brookfield originated the senior and

Blackstone says goodbye to CMBS fund

Posted: 15 Jul 2020 05:55 AM PDT

Blackstone Group is throwing in the towel on a mortgage-backed securities fund. The company is winding down the Blackstone Real Estate Income Master Fund, which realized a 24 percent decline when the coronavirus struck in March, according to Bloomberg. In a filing, Blackstone said closing the fund would provide its shareholders with cash and the “best path to maximize portfolio recovery.” The fund will continue to be actively managed until it is liquidated. Blackstone said

Housing venture pieces together affordability plan for de Blasio

Posted: 15 Jul 2020 05:00 AM PDT

Two firms are offering New York City a solution to a slew of affordable housing issues. To make it work, Greystone and Lappin Associates need a property-tax break for rent-regulated housing. Their plan would address two controversial elements of the rent-stabilization law passed last year: its severe limits on regulated rent increases to pay for improvements, and its elimination of means-testing, which lets even the wealthiest New Yorkers lease rent-stabilized units. Greystone and Lappin hope

Queens populates big-project list for second straight month

Posted: 15 Jul 2020 04:30 AM PDT

Queens was the most popular borough for big projects in June for the second straight month, with four new building plans edging out Brooklyn’s three on The Real Deal’s top-10 list. Manhattan had two projects — including the largest, a 10-story commercial property from Extell — and the Bronx had one. The second-largest project was in Bedford-Stuyvesant, as Shorewood filed plans to build an 11-story, mixed-use building with 233 residential units. The approximately 1.8 million

Applications for mortgages to buy homes drop

Posted: 15 Jul 2020 04:00 AM PDT

Homebuyers took some time off last week as homeowners got busy. An index tracking the volume of mortgage applications to buy homes fell last week by 6 percent, seasonally adjusted, from the first week of July. The metric, known as the purchase index, is based on a weekly survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association. Despite last week’s drop, Joel Kan, the group’s executive in charge of industry forecasting, said the volume of purchases applications was