The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Billionaire businessman Ron Perelman is looking to unload two connected townhouses on the Upper East Side for $75 million. The investment banker is seeking $65 million for the larger of two homes he owns on East 63rd Street, the Wall Street Journal reported. That property spans 19,000 square feet and was originally built to be the Hangar Club, a private club for aviators. The smaller of the two houses, which spans just 7,000 square feet,

More than 80,000 Nassau County property owners challenged their property tax assessments this year — eight times the usual number — following the first countywide reassessment in nearly a decade, according to Newsday. Assessment appeals were low in previous years because the Assessment Review Commission had for years granted automatic tax reductions to a large number of filers. Since the flood of filings, most challenges have been resolved; 13,405 cases remain in the court system.

As an increasing number of borrowers skip their mortgage payments, opportunistic investors have been on the lookout for distressed loans sold off at discount prices. A new venture intends to acquire up to $175 million in delinquent loans on properties across the country, particularly in New York City and Miami. The funding will start with a commitment of $25 million. Real estate investment firm Lakeport Capital will acquire non-performing loan portfolios on condos and single-family

If picketers insist on shouting expletives at SL Green CEO Marc Holliday as he heads into his office each morning, the least they can do — without facing legal consequences — is maintain a distance of six feet and wear a face mask. That’s according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday alleging that Local 79, a construction and building laborers’ union, has flouted coronavirus safety protocols outside the Graybar Building at 420 Lexington Avenue. The lawsuit

Gary Keller is stepping down from his post as CEO of Keller Williams while the brokerage undergoes a broader corporate restructuring. Keller, who co-founded the national franchise firm in 1983 with Joe Williams, has been the CEO since 2019, when he took over from John Davis. At that point Keller had been out of the C-suite for more than two decades, and was serving as chairman of Keller Williams’ board of directors. He will now

Newmark Group recently rejected a takeover offer from rival Cushman & Wakefield. Newmark was not interested in the deal, in part because Cushman carries a high debt load, sources with knowledge of the offer told Bloomberg News. Cushman has about $3.8 billion in debt, which is larger than its market capitalization of roughly $2.6 billion. “Cushman & Wakefield has certainly benefited from ongoing consolidation as a leader in our industry, but we won’t comment on

A 25 percent cushion wasn’t enough to save what was once one of Soho’s most expensive retail properties. The roughly 6,000-square-foot retail space at 106 Spring Street, which has sat largely empty for years, is heading to foreclosure. Owner SL Green Realty bought the property in 2019 from 60 Guilders and Carlyle for $79.5 million — a steep discount from the $105.4 million those investors paid three years earlier. Lender Citizens Bank scheduled a UCC

Yet another chain is seeking bankruptcy protection after the pandemic decimated its business. The restaurant chain Ruby Tuesday filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy Wednesday, introducing with it plans to close 185 locations, USA Today reports. The filing will leave the franchise with 236 operating restaurants. The company hopes to stay in business, saying in a statement that it had “reached an understanding with its secured lenders to support its restructuring.” “This announcement does not mean

The country’s latest rental-home owner is teaming up with a Boston property investor on a mission to buy, buy, buy. Invitation Homes disclosed a joint venture with Rockpoint Group on Wednesday, providing the Dallas-based company with more than $1 billion to buy homes, according to the Wall Street Journal. Invitation already owns about 80,000 houses and had been spending roughly $200 million a quarter to add to its portfolio, after a pause when the pandemic

If Mayor Bill de Blasio gets his way, Soho will have mixed-income housing added to its famous art galleries and multimillion-dollar lofts. The neighborhood will be rezoned to make way for as many at 800 affordable housing units, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday in a statement to The New York Times. The move signals a turning point in development strategy by the administration, which to date has spared wealthy areas from rezoning. “Thoughtful, progressive

Three Williamsburg condo boards have filed a $2 million lawsuit against the city, alleging it has failed to maintain the waterfront areas that the buildings developed and for which owners continue to pay fees. The boards, which represent the 807 unit owners in the three buildings, allege the city has allowed North 5th Street Pier and Park to “fall into a state of complete disrepair, overridden with crime and unlawful activities,” according to a complaint

The 10 largest Manhattan loans recorded in September totaled $3.35 billion, the largest monthly total of the year and nearly eight times August’s volume. But two large loans in the Hudson Yards neighborhood accounted for a good chunk of that volume: one for a recently completed skyscraper in Brookfield’s Manhattan West development, and the other a construction loan for SL Green Realty’s office project on Tenth Avenue. A pair of office properties on Fifth Avenue

Homeowners rushed to refinance last week as mortgage rates fell, while applications from prospective homebuyers slowed. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s refinance index increased 8 percent, seasonally adjusted, in the first week October, compared to the prior week. That’s highest level the index has reached since mid-August, and that figure marks a 50 percent year-over-year increase. Joel Kan, MBA’s head of industry forecasting, attributed the surge to falling mortgage rates. The rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage