The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Howard Hughes’ Seaport project gets surprise backing from Gale Brewer

Posted: 05 Jan 2021 03:17 PM PST

Et tu, Gale? For opponents of two towers proposed in the South Street Seaport Historic District, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer’s endorsement of the $1.4 billion project Tuesday must have seemed like a betrayal. For fans of residential development, it was a promising sign that the controversial project will get the go-ahead — and that 2021 might be a big year for builders. Brewer has for ages sided against developers pitching outsize buildings, but she

Vince Viola’s $25.5M mansion sale breaks Brooklyn record

Posted: 05 Jan 2021 02:54 PM PST

Brooklyn has cracked the $25 million club. Billionaire Vincent Viola and his wife Theresa have sold their sprawling Brooklyn Heights mansion for $25.5 million, according to property records, smashing the borough’s record for the most expensive home ever sold. The deal works out to roughly $2,202 per square foot. The couple bought the property at 8 Montague Terrace in 2007 for $8 million. They have since converted the 1875-era building from a multifamily rental into

HFZ is behind on $160M in payments at the XI: lender

Posted: 05 Jan 2021 02:22 PM PST

In the ever-escalating drama engulfing one of New York’s most prominent condo developers, HFZ Capital Group is now facing a lawsuit from the lender on its biggest project. The Children’s Investment Fund, a hedge fund that provided a $1.25 billion loan for the XI hotel and condo development at 518 West 18th Street in 2017, filed a motion in New York’s state Supreme Court Tuesday seeking a summary judgment and payment of $160 million. According

Jeffrey Epstein’s UES mansion gets $23M haircut

Posted: 05 Jan 2021 01:50 PM PST

The Upper East Side townhouse owned by the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein just got a $23 million price chop. Six months after hitting the market, the mansion is now listed for $65 million, down from $88 million, the Wall Street Journal reported. The new price works out to about $2,300 per square foot. Located at 9 East 71st Street, the 50-foot-wide house was built in the 1930s. It spans 28,000 square feet,

Dov Hertz picks up Staten Island site for $65M

Posted: 05 Jan 2021 01:36 PM PST

One of the city’s most active industrial investors just picked up a big property on Staten Island for $65 million. Dov Hertz’s DH Property Holdings bought the 45-acre parcel at 1900 South Avenue in the Bloomfield section on Staten Island’s western coast, sources told The Real Deal. The sprawling property is currently home to an asphalt manufacturer and construction-waste recycling center. But a source familiar with the deal said that Hertz, who recently signed Amazon

Warehouse planned for Gindi, Chetrit and Nakash site in Red Hook

Posted: 05 Jan 2021 12:30 PM PST

The Gindi, Chetrit and Nakash families have formed a joint venture with Bridge Investment Group to develop a warehouse on a $45 million Red Hook industrial site. The four-parcel site at 595, 611, 627 and 659 Smith Street is in an Opportunity Zone designated through a federal tax incentive program created by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Eli Gindi, a co-founder and one of the principals of Gindi Capital, told The Real

How a socialist on City Planning Commission would affect real estate

Posted: 05 Jan 2021 12:00 PM PST

The appointment of a socialist tenant advocate to the City Planning Commission won’t by itself block development in New York City, but it could be a thorn in the side of an already wounded real estate industry. Public Advocate Jumaane Williams has nominated tenant advocate Cea Weaver to the City Planning Commission, the New York Post first reported. She would replace Michelle de la Uz, who was often a dissenting vote within the body (she

Florida representative wants Mar-a-Lago shut down following maskless NYE party

Posted: 05 Jan 2021 11:30 AM PST

Florida state representative Omari Hardy filed a complaint with Palm Beach County to shut down Mar-a-Lago following a New Year’s Eve party filled with maskless attendees. Hardy, a Democrat from Lake Worth Beach, told the Washington Post that guests violated the county’s mask order, marking at least the second holiday party in which attendees broke local rules. President Trump did not attend the event in Palm Beach, but his attorney Rudy Giuliani and Trump’s son,

Reese Witherspoon pays $16M for Brentwood mansion

Posted: 05 Jan 2021 10:45 AM PST

Actress Reese Witherspoon and her media executive husband Jim Toth paid $15.9 million for a Brentwood estate, in a deal that closed early in the pandemic but was not previously known. Their purchase of the 9,500-square-foot home on three acres and down a private road was first reported in Variety. The English Country-style mansion has seven bedrooms, nine bathrooms, a three-car attached garage and a large outdoor fireplace. The March acquisition may explain why the

Compass poached brokers with bait-and-switch, ex-agent alleges

Posted: 05 Jan 2021 10:00 AM PST

A former Compass agent has accused the New York brokerage of using “bait-and-switch” tactics to lure him and other agents from competitors. In a lawsuit filed in California last week, J. Gregory Maffei alleged Compass utilizes “unfair, unlawful and fraudulent business practices” designed to gain market share by recruiting agents with an “empty promise.” The complaint, which seeks class-action status, demands $10 million in damages and reimbursement for unpaid commission and expenses. By including Maffei’s

Cindy Crawford, Rande Gerber paid $10M for waterfront Miami Beach teardown

Posted: 05 Jan 2021 09:45 AM PST

Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber are joining the party in Miami. The celebrity couple paid nearly $10 million for a waterfront Miami Beach teardown. The model and businesswoman and her husband, a former model and nightlife mogul, closed on the five-bedroom, 3,800-square-foot house at 4404 North Bay Road, sources told The Real Deal. The $9.6 million sale closed on Dec. 29. Page Six first reported that Crawford and Gerber bought a property on North Bay

SL Green nabs $360M refinancing for Midtown office tower

Posted: 05 Jan 2021 09:00 AM PST

UPDATED, Jan. 5, 5:54 p.m.: SL Green Realty Corp has scored a $360 million refinance loan for its office tower at 100 Park Avenue. The company secured the financing from Aareal Capital Corporation for the building, which is next to Grand Central Terminal, according to the Commercial Observer. The property collected 95 percent of its office rents during the pandemic, the publication reported. Cushman & Wakefield’s Steve Kohn, Alexander Hernandez, Adam Spies, Kevin Donner, Alex Lapidus and Meredith Donovan negotiated the debt

Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen get $37M for Tribeca home

Posted: 05 Jan 2021 08:20 AM PST

Touchdown! Quarterback Tom Brady and his supermodel spouse Gisele Bündchen have sold their Tribeca home at 70 Vestry Street for $37 million, according to the Post. A Connecticut-based financier reportedly bought the home through a New Haven–based trust. The couple apparently turned a profit, having paid $25.46 million for the home in 2018. The unit features five bedrooms, five and a half bathrooms and 1,900 square feet of terrace space. Bündchen and Brady are building

CoStar fights $60M break-up fee after scuttled RentPath deal

Posted: 05 Jan 2021 07:53 AM PST

With its deal to buy RentPath off the table, CoStar doesn’t want to get stuck with the bill. In a regulatory filing Monday, the data giant slammed RentPath’s attempt to collect a nearly $60 million break-up fee, arguing the listing portal was in breach of a purchase agreement. The two sides struck a $585 million deal in February, when CoStar agreed to buy its rival out of bankruptcy. In November, federal regulators sued to block

Dynamic Star continues adding to $3.5B Bronx megaproject

Posted: 05 Jan 2021 07:30 AM PST

Dynamic Star continues to snap up properties as it moves forward with a massive mixed-use project in the Bronx. Dynamic Star purchased a concrete plant site along the Major Deegan Expressway for $21 million, Crain’s reported. Galway Realty sold the property. The development firm intends to incorporate the new parcel into Fordham Landing, the $3.5 billion megaproject it’s planning in University Heights near the Harlem River. Fordham Landing could become one New York’s largest real

Knotel CEO says flex-office provider has new funding: report

Posted: 05 Jan 2021 07:00 AM PST

As Knotel battles lawsuits from landlords, evictions and accusations of unpaid rent, its CEO says the flex-office provider has secured new funding. Knotel CEO Amol Sarva reportedly told staff on Monday that the company has gotten a fresh influx of cash, according to Business Insider, citing a source with knowledge of the all-hands meeting. Sarva did not disclose the amount of money raised or details about who was involved, although a source told the publication

Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick sell West Village townhouse

Posted: 05 Jan 2021 06:30 AM PST

After almost a year, Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick have found a buyer for one of their West Village townhouses. The couple sold a home on Charles Street for $15 million, the Wall Street Journal reported. The pair bought the home on Charles Street for $3 million in 2000, according to property records. They began looking for a buyer last January, although the property was never listed publicly; instead, it was being quietly shopped

Jonathan Miller: Manhattan’s sales market is an “outlier” — and not in a good way

Posted: 05 Jan 2021 06:00 AM PST

With a new year ahead, The Real Deal turned to appraisal expert Jonathan Miller for an overview of the Tri-state region’s residential sales market. The president and CEO of Miller Samuel Real Estate Appraisers sat with TRD editor-in-chief Stuart Elliott to give an update on the recovery of the sales markets in the five boroughs, the suburbs outside the city and the Hamptons after the initial Covid-19 lockdown. Manhattan’s market is continuing to struggle —

Here are the big winners from Opendoor’s IPO

Posted: 05 Jan 2021 05:30 AM PST

Opendoor’s IPO last month crowned CEO Eric Wu a billionaire. It quintupled the value of SoftBank’s stake to $2.3 billion. And it reaped early investor Khosla Ventures a 36x return — on paper. After merging with a blank-check company last month, the iBuyer’s stock closed at $31.25 per share on its next day of trading, Dec. 21, giving it a market capitalization of close to $19 billion. Although it has sunk 23 percent since to

Manhattan’s condos get year-end sales boost as inventory balloons

Posted: 05 Jan 2021 05:00 AM PST

Manhattan homebuyers are back. Condo sales in the final quarter of 2020 jumped nearly 39 percent to 1,909, according to Douglas Elliman’s quarterly report on closed condo and co-op sales. The total compared to the third quarter, when there were 1,375 condo sales in Manhattan. High-end home sales also jumped. While transaction volume is still down nearly 21 percent year-over-year, it has improved since the beginning of the pandemic. In the third quarter, deals were

What will make or break New York’s residential market in 2021

Posted: 05 Jan 2021 04:00 AM PST

Housing markets in other parts of the country have been seeing record high prices and an increase in demand in 2020 — but not so in New York City, where the residential market has taken a beating from the pandemic. Rents are in freefall and the vacancy rate hit an all-time high of 5 percent. The sales market came to a near standstill in the spring, and seven months later, contract activity is just starting