The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Financier Ian Snow is behind the Hamptons’ priciest rental deal ever. Local developer Joe Farrell snagged a $2 million rent check for his “Sandcastle” estate from March through Labor Day. The home only sat on the market for one day before being snapped up, the New York Post reported. In April, Farrell said the renter was a “textile tycoon” who wanted to get out of New York City, gripped by the coronavirus at the time. While

New York City’s annual tax lien sale was pushed back at the 11th hour Friday for at least three weeks — and both state and city officials are taking credit for giving homeowners and landlords a break. Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Attorney General Letitia James announced an executive order Friday delaying the city’s lien sale on overdue property taxes, water and sewer bills until at least Oct. 4. Minutes after the governor’s press release was

When Zillow Group recently reduced its StreetEasy office space in NoMad by 80 percent, it was no outlier. A subleasing trend has been building since June. Between January and March, monthly sublease space hitting the Manhattan office market averaged about 0.8 million square feet. Then the pandemic hit, and monthly sublet additions plummeted to 0.3 million square feet in April and 0.2 million in May, according to CBRE. When the city started reopening in June,

The demand for office space may have hit its lowest point since the dot-com crash, but that’s no deterrent for Jeff Bezos. Amazon is planning a major expansion in Bellevue, Washington, according to the Seattle Times. The company signed leases for 2 million square feet of office space that is currently under construction, and plans to build a new skyscraper in downtown Bellevue. The move marks a major expansion into the Seattle suburb — which

In a blow to reverse-mortgage lenders and perhaps other real estate players, Google is introducing new restrictions for targeted ads next month. Starting Oct. 19, Google will restrict ads targeting customers on the basis of “gender, age, parental status, marital status, or ZIP code,” the tech giant told advertisers, as reported by Reverse Mortgage Daily. The new policy will have an impact on housing, employment and credit companies. Some lenders say the anti-bias policy will

The retail sector added nearly a quarter-million jobs in August, notching the highest growth among private industries. General merchandising stores added 116,000 workers, while automobile and appliance sales each added about 20,000 positions. (Related: Fifth Wall’s Brendan Wallace on the need for a retail bailout) Overall, the American economy continued its recovery, adding back 1.4 million jobs. The unemployment rate fell to 8.4 percent from 10.2 percent in July, leaving 13.6 million Americans unemployed, according

One of the largest investors eying bad real estate loans in New York has met head-on with one of Brooklyn’s biggest boom-and-bust stories. The joint-venture between SKW Funding and private equity giant Bain Capital bought the roughly $70 million loan on RedSky Capital’s Greenpoint development site, sources told The Real Deal. The loan for the site at 18 India Street, where RedSky had planned to build a 40-story residential tower before its development portfolio started

UPDATED, Sept. 4, 3:15 p.m.: Aby Rosen turned to a little-known affiliate of Credit Suisse for the large loan needed for his latest Midtown purchase. Rosen’s RFR Realty scored a $224 million loan from Column Financial for its acquisition of a 23-story office tower at 522 Fifth Avenue, property records show. RFR closed on the acquisition of the 575,000-square-foot building this week for $350 million. It purchased the property from Morgan Stanley, which used the

Though it’s been no ordinary summer, Labor Day weekend is finally here. That means fall — and its myriad pumpkin spice items — is upon us, and cooler weather may put an end to some socially distant activities. Since there are only so many types of bread to bake and closets in your home to reorganize, The Real Deal’s staff has compiled a list of items to help real estate pros with all their non-deal

Singer-songwriter Betty Moon seems to have no trouble renting out her Malibu home. She has two high-profile renters lined up for the $35,000-per-month pad — musician Cardi B and actress Taraji P. Henson. They’re booked for November and January through April, respectively, according to the New York Post. Moon’s home has three bedrooms and three bathrooms. It sits on an acre that overlooks Surfrider Beach. She bought the home for $2 million and invested $2

Bill Ackman is no spurned lover. The billionaire investor confirmed his blank-check company tried to strike a deal with IPO-bound Airbnb, but early-stage talks broke off after Airbnb filed confidentially to go public last month. So, what happened? “I wouldn’t use the word rebuff,” Ackman told Bloomberg TV. Ackman’s Pershing Square Tontine Holdings is the largest-ever SPAC and it’s been courting companies since raising $4 billion in July. Ackman said he’s a fan of Airbnb

Art Basel Miami Beach usually generates $5 million in revenue for Miami-Dade’s largest hotel, the iconic Fontainebleau resort. The 1,500-room property is always sold out during the first week of December, as visitors flood the area, said executive Philip Goldfarb. But this year, Art Basel is canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, Switzerland-based Art Basel announced on Wednesday. The renowned art fair has taken place each year in Miami Beach since 2002, generating tens of

The high-end market may be hurting in New York City, but for those who want to pay less for a home, there is still competition. On CNBC’s Squawk Box, Douglas Elliman chairman Howard Lorber said that it may take several years for New York City to recover — as many of its attractions remain closed — but his firm has still seen bidding wars for homes under $2 million. In August, most new contracts signed

Brokers fumed over guidance earlier this year which temporarily put apartment fees in limbo, but now the share of no-fee rentals are surging. No-fee listings made up 75 to 85 percent of all listings in Manhattan and Brooklyn in August, the New York Times reported, up from 25 percent of listings in January. The analysis was conducted by TextLuke.com, an AI-based service that helps consumers find apartments. The greater share of no-fee listings comes as

It is marketed as “pastoral and bucolic,” a spacious penthouse framed by leafy terraces overlooking a valley of Central Park treetops. But for years, Claude Wasserstein’s opulent Fifth Avenue apartment has failed to win over a buyer. Perhaps that’s because Wasserstein listed it in 2017 for $65 million, more than $30 million above what she paid for it in 2008. Midway through last year, after cycling through several brokers, the property was discounted to $58

In smaller U.S. metros, big tech can mean the difference between boom and bust for commercial real estate. That’s according to a recent report from the commercial mortgage-backed securities data provider Trepp, which tallied the top secondary metro areas using several key industry metrics. Trepp ranked those markets by average occupancy rate, CMBS loan delinquency rate and projected growth in loan balance, as well as general economic indicators such as unemployment rate and population growth.

It’s been five months since anyone in New York City said, “Get in loser, we’re going shopping.” And when consumers return to New York City malls beginning next week, many will find the experience has changed. Malls, which yesterday were allowed to reopen in the city Sept. 9, have faced a reckoning during the pandemic, beaten down by lengthy closures and anchor store bankruptcies. The reopening rules in New York forbid loitering and congregating, which

Hit hard by its subtenants’ inability to pay on time, an affiliate of executive suites and co-working company International Workplace Group has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The bankruptcy filing, by RGN-Group Holdings, does not augur well for properties where IWG, the company behind Regus and Spaces, is the biggest tenant. The sites’ cash flow risk will likely also spread to CMBS loans backed by IWG-leased properties, according to a recent report from Kroll