The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

LBA lands $316M loan for Amazon warehouse in Maspeth

Posted: 03 Dec 2020 05:06 PM PST

LBA Realty has secured $316 million in loans for a mammoth vertical warehouse project in Maspeth. JPMorgan Chase is the sole lender listed on a trio of documents recorded Thursday. The lending includes $184 million for construction, an $88 million project loan and $43 million acquisition loan. Plans for the project at 55-15 Grand Avenue include a 770,000-square-foot, five-story warehouse that would allow trucks to load on the first three floors. In June, Amazon agreed

Uniqlo to close 34th Street store

Posted: 03 Dec 2020 04:27 PM PST

Uniqlo will close its store location at 31 West 34th Street, a new filing indicates. The global clothing retailer will shut its doors at the Midtown site Feb. 28 and lay off 136 employees there, according to a Department of Labor filing. The filing cites economic reasons as the cause of the dislocation. The 64,000-square-foot store, across the street from the Empire State Building, was Uniqlo’s third U.S. location when it opened in 2011. Eight

Cuomo to ease requirements for rent relief

Posted: 03 Dec 2020 03:00 PM PST

The eligibility requirements for New York’s rent-relief program will be relaxed so that more can access the funds. Details of the specific changes to the program were not provided, but sources said Gov. Andrew Cuomo would make the change via an executive order issued late Thursday or Friday morning. The rent-relief program, which was passed in July, came under criticism from tenant groups who said the relief was insufficient. The first day the program was

Macklowe taps Compass to sell 1 Wall Street

Posted: 03 Dec 2020 01:40 PM PST

Developer Harry Macklowe is shaking up the sales team at 1 Wall Street ahead of the condo project’s official sales launch. Macklowe Properties has tapped Compass to replace Core Real Estate to sell units at the Financial District tower, according to sources. As one of the largest office-to-residential conversions in New York history, 1 Wall Street is slated to have 566 units with a projected sellout of $1.7 billion, according to an offering plan approved

Cuomo stops city’s tax lien sale again. Will it ever happen?

Posted: 03 Dec 2020 01:18 PM PST

The city’s tax lien sale is on hold again — and could be canceled forever if the City Council fails to renew a law that expires in four weeks. Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order on Wednesday delaying the tax lien sale through Jan. 1. It was the sixth time officials have postponed the sale, which was originally slated for May. Mayor Bill de Blasio initially suspended the sale for a few months before

Court overturns ruling that would have upended “the whole land development industry”

Posted: 03 Dec 2020 12:20 PM PST

On the verge of losing his Sutton Place condo project, upstart developer Joseph Beninati struck a deal with big-time real estate investor Philip Pilevsky to use the bankruptcy system to thwart a foreclosure by his lender. And in the process, the two nearly blew up the way real estate developments are financed in New York. But now, the state’s highest court has ruled that Beninati’s lender, the Kalikow family’s Gamma Real Estate, can move forward

Barneys to make a comeback

Posted: 03 Dec 2020 11:38 AM PST

Barneys will be back in Manhattan early next year. The luxury department store brand and legendary retailer will open a location in a Saks Fifth Avenue flagship on the fifth floor of 611 Fifth Avenue, Bloomberg reported. Barneys filed for bankruptcy last year and was bought by Authentic Brands Group and B. Riley for about $270 million in November 2019. “We would have liked to have it open by now,” Jamie Salter, CEO of Authentic

Starcity scoops up co-living rival Ollie’s assets

Posted: 03 Dec 2020 10:45 AM PST

Co-living startup Ollie has been scooped up by a well-funded rival, after the pandemic took a toll on the industry. Starcity, based in San Francisco, acquired Ollie’s technology, assets and management contracts, reported Commercial Observer. Key executives, including president Gregg Christiansen, will join Starcity. Terms were not disclosed, but the deal boosts Starcity’s portfolio to 1,500 units with 3,000 more in development. It also gives Starcity access to Ollie’s roommate-matching and amenities programs. “They have

LIC will soon house the nation’s largest passive house office

Posted: 03 Dec 2020 10:20 AM PST

Long Island City is getting what developers say will be the nation’s biggest office building designed to passive house standards. JNY Capital and United Hoisting Company will build their 425,000-square-foot spec office at 38-42 12th Street to the eco-friendly standards, the developers told The Real Deal. First developed in Germany, passive house specifications require buildings to use ultra-low levels of energy, usually through the use of insulation systems that require less heating and cooling. The

All Year fined by Israeli securities authorities, faces new scrutiny

Posted: 03 Dec 2020 09:17 AM PST

UPDATED December 3, 17:55: Two years ago, Brooklyn developer All Year Management contributed to a major panic in Tel Aviv’s bond market after disclosing that $3.7 million had been “accidentally” transferred to chairman and CEO Yoel Goldman’s personal accounts. The Israel Securities Authority has now imposed penalties on the company for violations committed at that time, according to a TASE filing and two Israeli media reports. All Year and the ISA have reached an administrative

Stockbridge and South Korean firm strike $2B warehouse deal

Posted: 03 Dec 2020 09:05 AM PST

Shopping online more than usual? Real estate investors are taking notice. With a surge in e-commerce creating more demand for distribution space, Stockbridge Capital Group and the National Pension Service of Korea have acquired a portfolio of 23 facilities in a deal valued at $2 billion, the largest of its kind since the pandemic hit. The transaction was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. The seller is Hillwood, a real estate development and investment

Howard Lutnick’s SPAC is taking smart-glass company public

Posted: 03 Dec 2020 08:20 AM PST

Smart-glass company View is set to go public through a special purpose acquisition company merger. The company announced Monday it had reached an agreement with a SPAC sponsored by Cantor Fitzgerald. The deal values View at $1.6 billion, according to Bisnow. The company, which is expected to be listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange, will reap about $800 million. It has been a boom year for SPACs, which have raised more than $30 billion as

KKR in talks for massive warehouse buy

Posted: 03 Dec 2020 07:34 AM PST

Investment firm KKR & Co. is in talks to buy a portfolio of warehouses valued at more than $800 million, as a surge in e-commerce is driving investor interest in industrial space. The deal includes about 100 properties in markets like Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas and Chicago, according to Bloomberg. Barclays is organizing financing in the form of $700 million in commercial mortgage-backed securities, Bloomberg reported, citing a source with knowledge of the matter. Barclays and

Landlords lose challenge against pandemic renter protections

Posted: 03 Dec 2020 07:00 AM PST

A group of New York landlords are considering an appeal after a federal judge rejected their bid to challenge tenant protections put in place by the City Council. The landlords argued that the measures, passed by the Council in May as part of a Covid-relief effort, violated their constitutional rights, according to Crain’s. But Judge Ronnie Abrams said they hadn’t made their case. “Plaintiffs have expressed some legitimate concerns, and the court recognizes the toll

David Bistricer’s latest brush-up with New York’s rent law

Posted: 03 Dec 2020 06:15 AM PST

At one building owned by David Bistricer’s Clipper Equity, tenants have challenged rent increases granted in October for improvements made nearly a decade ago. In a lawsuit filed in New York State Supreme Court on Wednesday, counsel for the tenant association at 10 West 65th Street allege that the approved rent increases — which the group has disputed since 2013 — were based on faulty statements to the Department of Buildings for work that was

Gowanus infrastructure plan aims to mute rezoning foes

Posted: 03 Dec 2020 05:45 AM PST

City planners have heard it all before — how new housing would overwhelm local schools, sewer pipes and subways. Now they are trying to remove that arrow from Gowanus rezoning opponents’ quiver. The de Blasio administration on Wednesday released a plan that aims to accommodate the population growth triggered by the new apartment buildings it wants to allow in the transitioning Brooklyn community surrounding the Gowanus Canal. In a press release, the Department of City

Repositioning resi: Common’s Brad Hargreaves on the future of co-living and prepping for a WFH world

Posted: 03 Dec 2020 05:00 AM PST

“Schlep blindness.” That’s what Common CEO Brad Hargreaves said is needed to bring about change in the U.S. multifamily industry, which is valued at more than $250 billion but operationally hasn’t innovated in decades. The pandemic’s tolls on the rental market’s margins and occupancy, however, have made landlords much more willing to adapt. And it’s also led them to consider more creative uses of their assets. In September, Common closed on a $50 million Series

Multifamily sector beating the odds

Posted: 03 Dec 2020 04:30 AM PST

While hotels, retail and offices sink, the multifamily sector is sailing along. Rent collection has been largely steady despite high unemployment and early threats of rent strikes. Occupancy, too, has suffered less than expected except in dense areas and at the high end of the market, where tenants were more likely to relocate to a second home and new leases dwindled. Commercial properties have lost revenue to lockdowns, reduced travel and online shopping, but people

Ex-Cushman employee accuses firm of pay discrimination

Posted: 03 Dec 2020 04:00 AM PST

A former Cushman & Wakefield senior accountant is claiming he and other employees of color on his team were paid less than white colleagues with comparable experience. In a federal suit filed last week, Ivan To Man Pang, who is Chinese, said when he complained to his supervisor in Manhattan about the discrepancy, Cushman retaliated. The company gave him a poor performance review, falsely claimed he made several mistakes and missed deadlines, and then fired