The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Kevin Chisholm’s 60 Guilders and the Carlyle Group have found a buyer for four condos at their Midtown South office-condo conversion. JLA Home, a home furnishing and bedding company whose merchandise is sold in places such as Macy’s, picked up four, full-floor condo units at 20 West 33rd Street for $35 million. The company is taking the third, fourth, fifth and 12th floors — totaling 55,000 square feet — as showrooms, said Jeffrey Rosenblatt of

New York City’s multifamily investment sales improved in the third quarter compared to second quarter results, as the number of deals and total dollar volume both rose. But the July through September totals were still far below what they were at the same time last year. In the third quarter, 56 multifamily sales totaled $738 million in the five boroughs, up from 47 sales for a total of $653 million, according to Ariel Property Advisors’

New York’s commercial real estate market has been pummeled by the pandemic, but one of its biggest condo construction lenders reported almost no write-downs in the third quarter. On its earnings call Friday, Arkansas-based Bank OZK reported that its net charge-off rate, or ratio of loans written-down to total loans originated, was 0.09 percent. That is well below the industry average of 0.52 percent, the bank said. It also has a number of loans that

Nearly 3 million U.S. homeowners were in forbearance programs as of this week, a massive amount but still a sharp drop from 4.76 million at the height of the pandemic. That’s according to a new report from mortgage-data firm Black Knight, which also found significant drops in weekly totals. There were 11,000 fewer homeowners in Covid-19 mortgage forbearance programs with their lenders than the week prior. Loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as

Phil Collins may be singing the lyrics to his best-known hit these days, as he tries to evict his ex-wife and her new husband from a Miami Beach mansion. “You can wipe off that grin / I know where you’ve been / It’s all been a pack of lies,” are some of the lyrics to “In The Air Tonight.” Collins is trying to sell the North Bay Road property to the tune of $40 million.

A legal services provider representing homeless New Yorkers has sued the city for its handling of the Covid-19 outbreak, alleging it needlessly endangers those in city shelters. The Legal Aid Society claims in a suit that prolonged use of shared space in city shelters, such as communal rooms used for sleeping and dining, contradicts public health guidance and doesn’t go far enough to stem the spread of the virus. The complaint was filed Thursday against

At Thursday’s presidential debate, there was less interrupting and more real-estate related discussion. The event marked the final faceoff between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden before Election Day. Housing was only briefly acknowledged in the first debate, which devolved into more of a shouting match than polite discourse. The topic wasn’t explicitly mentioned on Thursday night, but other issues that are rarely discussed on the national stage got significant play, including

Another big retailer is leaving struggling malls behind. Gap Inc. announced Thursday that it will close 350 of its stores —220 of its namesake Gap shops, and 130 Banana Republic outposts — by early 2024, ABC News reported. Eighty percent of its remaining stores will be in off-mall locations, according to ABC News. “We’ve been overly reliant on low-productivity, high-rent stores,” Gap CEO Mark Breitbard said during an investor call. “We’ve used the past six

As it prepares to go public, Opendoor is bringing on a new hire from Citadel, Ken Griffin’s $32 billion hedge fund. Daniel Morillo will join the company as chief investment officer, leading Opendoor’s pricing and data science teams, the company said in a blog post Friday. “As we look at our future plans to expand nationwide … it is critical that we continue to deliver homeowners accurate and competitive offers,” co-founder and CEO Eric Wu

Adam Neumann is back. In his first venture since leaving WeWork last year, the eccentric and brash Israeli entrepreneur is investing $30 million in Alfred, a “future of living” startup that provides apartment services such as dog walking, maintenance and rent processing, according to Bloomberg. Neumann’s family investment office raised a reported $42 million for Alfred in a recent funding round. The startup, which services more than 100,000 apartments, has raised $100 million to date,

Little stands in the way of Steve Cohen, the billionaire hedge fund manager, acquiring the New York Mets — but it’s not a done deal yet. The billionaire is the co-founder of Point72 Asset Management, formerly known as SAC Capital, which pleaded guilty to securities and wire fraud in 2013, paving the way for New York City to deny his bid for the Mets, the New York Times reported. A clause in the baseball team’s

 Real estate for data centers is booming as the popularity of streaming services like TikTok drives demand. Digital Realty Trust, a $41 billion real estate company and one the country’s largest data-center developers, will develop a 600,000-square-foot compound after receiving a major commitment from Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News, Business Insider reported. While hotels and retail have been pummeled during the pandemic, demand for streaming services has surged. Nielsen, which tracks audience behavior,

A New York appeals court has ruled that Paul Manafort could not be charged with mortgage fraud and other felonies because of the state’s double jeopardy law. The ruling was a setback for Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr., who sought to ensure Manafort’s prosecution if he were to be granted a presidential pardon, the New York Times reported. Manafort, President Donald Trump’s former adviser and campaign chairman, was convicted in federal court in 2018

WeWork’s credit rating, already rated as junk, has been downgraded on concerns that the pandemic could seriously weaken demand for office space. Ratings agency Fitch dropped WeWork’s long-term issuer default rating Thursday one notch from CCC+ to CCC. Both scales are non-investment grades, otherwise known as junk or high-yield status, representing a real possibility that the company will default on its credit obligations. “The downgrade reflects Fitch’s concern over the viability of WeWork’s business model

The pandemic and subsequent shutdowns have dealt a serious blow to New York City landlords, sending vacancy rates soaring and rents to the ground. Manhattan rental vacancies reached 5 percent in August, the highest level in 14 years, according to Miller Samuel. That coincided with a surge in listing inventory, which shot up to 15,000 listings, a 166 percent jump from August 2019. In August and September, citywide rents fell compared to last year. Manhattan’s

Wendy Silverstein’s career has been all about getting her hands dirty. The 17-year veteran of Vornado Realty Trust helped grow the company from a $3 billion owner of New Jersey strip malls to a more than $30 billion investment giant, as of 2015, and went on to liquidate New York REIT’s 4.4 million feet of commercial assets. Silverstein then spent a tumultuous year co-leading WeWork’s real estate investment fund before the co-working giant ditched its

UPDATED, Oct. 23, 2020, 5:15 p.m.: Many commercial mortgage-backed securities borrowers that are strapped for cash are trying to turn the keys over to their mezzanine lenders. That’s according to a recent report from data provider Trepp, which found that the borrowers behind about $3.9 billion in outstanding CMBS debt across nearly 100 loans have “indicated a willingness” to give the collateral to their mezzanine lenders. The loans include both small-dollar and large portfolio loans

New York Times food critic Pete Wells’ epic takedown of Guy Fieri’s restaurant is no longer the worst review ever at the Kushner Companies’ Times Square property. Eight years after that devastating writeup, an appraisal of Kushner’s 248,457-square-foot retail condo at 229 West 43rd Street slashed its value by 80 percent, to $92.5 million, from $470 million in 2017, according to Trepp. The property is now valued well below the $225 million commercial mortgage-backed securities

The unthinkable has happened: For the first time in nearly a decade, Manhattan rents have dipped below $3,000 per month. It’s not by much; the median rent is still $2,990. But that price shift — a decrease of 7.8 percent compared to a year earlier — is part of a larger trend. For the first time in a decade, asking rents fell in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens last quarter, according to StreetEasy’s Q3 market report.