The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Lawmakers vow to end 421a as tenants sue landlords getting tax break

Posted: 27 Jan 2021 01:34 PM PST

Three of the most prolific landlords in Brooklyn and Queens are being cast as villains by state and city legislators seeking to abolish New York developers’ favorite tax abatement. Three tenants filed lawsuits seeking class-action status against the building owners for allegedly defrauding the 421a program by overcharging tenants by an estimated $10 million. Pointing to the cases, several lawmakers held a virtual press conference Wednesday vowing to support Assembly member Linda Rosenthal’s new bill

Cuomo reverses course, says indoor dining will return to NYC soon

Posted: 27 Jan 2021 01:20 PM PST

Bon appetit! Indoor dining could be back in New York City as soon as next week. In an apparent change of heart, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced today that he would unveil a plan to reinstate indoor dining by the end of this week, according to Eater. Earlier this week, the governor said that loosening Covid restrictions for restaurants was off the table. “I fully understand how difficult it is for restaurants and for all the

Westbrook takes over HFZ’s Belnord conversion

Posted: 27 Jan 2021 01:12 PM PST

On its website, HFZ Capital Group touted plans to usher the historic Belnord rental building on the Upper West Side “into a grand new era.” But the developer’s descent into its own new era — one defined by huge debt, scores of lawsuits and the loss of several properties — means the Belnord condo conversion will go ahead with HFZ effectively benched. A spokesperson for Westbrook Partners, HFZ’s partner on the project, confirmed to The

Beam Suntory will move HQ to 11 Madison Ave from Chicago

Posted: 27 Jan 2021 12:30 PM PST

Beam Suntory is making a big move from Chicago to New York. The liquor giant, which produces whisky brands such as Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark, has signed a 15-year lease at the former Metropolitan Life North Building at 11 Madison Avenue, the landlord, SL Green Realty Corp., announced. The company plans to relocate sometime next year. Beam Suntory will take the building’s entire 12th floor, totaling nearly 100,000 square feet. The new office will

Lawmakers call for stiff penalties, reform after housing discrimination probe

Posted: 27 Jan 2021 11:46 AM PST

The New York State Senate issued sweeping recommendations on Wednesday to address housing discrimination, including increased fines for real estate agents and brokers who violate fair housing laws, and tougher enforcement of those regulations. In a 97-page report, lawmakers outlined measures they said were necessary to create a “comprehensive, proactive” strategy to combat the “vicious cycle” of racial bias in housing. A key theme was enforcement of fair housing laws. “New York State laws and

Ex-Freddie Mac CEO launching lending platform with Meridian, Barings

Posted: 27 Jan 2021 10:57 AM PST

Freddie Mac’s recently departed CEO is now heading up a new agency-lending platform backed by Meridian Capital Group and the investment firm Barings. David Brickman, who stepped down from the quasi-government agency this month, will take the lead at the yet-unnamed platform, Bloomberg News reported. “We have a significant opportunity to create one of the leading lenders in the multifamily commercial real estate space,” Brickman told the publication. “The combination of low interest rates and

REBNY, Legal Aid team up to push for more rental assistance

Posted: 27 Jan 2021 10:45 AM PST

Talk about strange bedfellows. United by a desire to help New Yorkers pay rent — and thus, make landlords’ lives easier — the Real Estate Board of New York and Legal Aid Society have teamed up on a new lobbying push. The two groups have joined forces with an existing effort, dubbed “Project Parachute,” that has pressured lawmakers to provide more rental assistance to tenants who are struggling because of the pandemic, the Wall Street

Biden exec order lays foundation for restoring fair-housing rule

Posted: 27 Jan 2021 10:41 AM PST

President Joe Biden has taken the first step toward reinstating a fair housing rule that was scrapped by the Trump administration last year. In an executive order signed Tuesday, Biden called on the secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to study the effects of repealing the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule. (Biden has tapped Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge to be HUD secretary; her confirmation hearing will be held on Friday.) The

Boston Properties gives dim outlook on co-working

Posted: 27 Jan 2021 10:21 AM PST

Boston Properties just made one of the most damning statements a major landlord has given on the co-working industry: It took a big write-off in recognition that flex tenants will struggle to pay rents. “This industry is just simply facing revenue challenges,” Boston Properties president Doug Linde said on the company’s first-quarter earnings call Wednesday. “We just looked at the world and said, These guys are going to have a really rough time.” The company

Blackstone revenue jumps in Q4

Posted: 27 Jan 2021 10:18 AM PST

Blackstone saw revenue jump in the fourth quarter, which the company attributed to some pandemic-resilient investments. The company reported $3.6 billion in revenue in the final quarter of 2020, up from $2.1 billion during the same period the previous year. Overall revenue for the year fell to $6.1 billion, from $7.3 billion in 2019. Blackstone saw an 8 percent increase to $618.6 billion in assets under management, bringing it closer to its goal of $1

Apple TV+ signs big lease at Kaufman Astoria Studios

Posted: 27 Jan 2021 09:45 AM PST

Apple TV+ is coming to a soundstage near you — if you live in Astoria. The tech giant’s streaming service has leased about 90,000 square feet of space at ONstage, the newest soundstage and production facility at Kaufman Astoria Studios, according to sources. The deal quietly closed last year, making it one of the largest leases in Queens in 2020. Developer Kaufman Organization completed the six-story, 150,000-square-foot building at 34-11 36th Street — between 34th

Yes to conversions, no to rent regulation: LI biz group unveils real estate agenda

Posted: 27 Jan 2021 09:15 AM PST

Restore full deductions of state and local taxes. Ease commercial-to-residential conversions. Stop proposed expansions of rent control and prevailing wage. Those are among a slew of real estate priorities for 2021 released this week by the Long Island Association, the chief advocacy group for businesses in Nassau and Suffolk counties. The organization also wants architects and engineers to be able to self-certify renovations and expansions of single-family homes and straightforward improvements of commercial buildings, saving

Investcorp buys five apartment buildings across US

Posted: 27 Jan 2021 08:45 AM PST

Private equity firm Investcorp Holdings has purchased five apartment buildings across the U.S. in a deal valued at $330 million. The buildings — located in the suburbs of Atlanta; Baltimore, Maryland; and Jacksonville, Florida — contain a combined 1,800 rental units geared toward middle-income renters, according to Bloomberg News. The deal bolsters Investcorp’s multifamily portfolio at a time when investors are increasingly favoring residential assets over offices and hotels. It also follows a sale last

Dramatic reversal buoys city’s biggest multifamily bank lender

Posted: 27 Jan 2021 08:06 AM PST

New York Community Bank said Wednesday that nearly all of its loans in deferral have become current. The multifamily lender also reported $189.4 million in revenue in the fourth quarter, a 42 percent increase from the same period in 2019. For the year, revenue was up 23 percent compared to 2019, at $650 million, narrowly exceeding analysts’ predictions. The earnings call followed an overhaul of New York Community Bank’s leadership. Longtime CEO Joe Ficalora, who

Yelp, PwC test options on Manhattan’s sublease market

Posted: 27 Jan 2021 08:00 AM PST

Yelp, the website popular for its crowdsourced business reviews, has two offices near Madison Square Park in Manhattan — but that may not be the case for long. The San Francisco-based company has quietly let brokers know that the spaces — one at SL Green Realty’s 11 Madison Avenue and the other at 200 Fifth Avenue — are available for sublease, but that doesn’t mean it’s abandoning New York altogether. Instead, the company is likely to

Madison Square Garden donates to City Council candidates

Posted: 27 Jan 2021 07:31 AM PST

Madison Square Garden is known for courting big names. Now, a political action committee tied to the famed arena is lavishing gifts on New York City Council members. The Madison Square Garden Political Action Committee gave $1,000 — the maximum allowed — to sitting members including Keith Powers of Manhattan and Justin Brannan and Alicka Ampry-Samuel of Brooklyn, according to the Wall Street Journal. The donations come as the Garden has just two years left

Recipe for success? Ghost kitchens cut deals with empty hotels

Posted: 27 Jan 2021 07:05 AM PST

Hotel operators have come up with all sorts of ways to use their empty spaces during the pandemic, such as housing the homeless, creating temporary offices and hosting weddings. Now, they are capitalizing on the surge in demand for delivery food by cutting deals with operators of ghost kitchens, a growing industry predicted to be worth $1 trillion in the next decade. Restauranter Richard Zaro told the New York Times he had wanted to open

Values of Class A malls down 45% from 2016 levels

Posted: 27 Jan 2021 06:00 AM PST

The value of America’s luxury malls is roughly half what it was in 2016, a worrying sign for an industry that has long considered such malls to be safer than lower-tier alternatives. A-rated malls, which generate an average of $750 in sales per square foot, made a strong comeback after the last financial crisis, according to CNBC. But a new report from Green Street estimates that the value of such malls has fallen about 45

TRD Tips: How to build a home from the ground up in upstate NY

Posted: 27 Jan 2021 05:30 AM PST

The upstate New York housing market has been hot for years, and the pandemic only accelerated that demand. That’s according to Drew Lang, architect and founder of Lang Architecture, whose firm has designed homes in the Hudson Valley and the Catskills — along with others in New York City, New Orleans and elsewhere. Lang sat down with The Real Deal editor-in-chief Stuart Elliot to discuss the process of building a home outside the five boroughs,

Scott Stringer accepts some real estate money as mayoral rivals rake in cash

Posted: 27 Jan 2021 05:00 AM PST

More than a year ago, the New York Post, citing unnamed sources, reported that Comptroller Scott Stringer would join a growing list of mayoral candidates rejecting campaign contributions from the real estate industry. That wasn’t quite true, it turns out: Landlords, brokers and other real estate players gave $10,560 to the city comptroller’s mayoral campaign in the past six months, according to an analysis by The Real Deal. Stringer’s campaign, which was quoted in the

What celeb buyers want during the pandemic

Posted: 27 Jan 2021 04:30 AM PST

In South Florida, the rush of celebrities started with the Super Bowl. “There were an incredible amount of celebrities in town,” said Dina Goldentayer, a Miami-based executive director of sales at Douglas Elliman. That weekend — about one month before the coronavirus pandemic began raging across the United States — she secured rentals for big-name clients, including Colombian singer J Balvin. “Many celebrities rented mega-villas during that time, so it gave them a taste of

Average size of home mortgage nears $400K

Posted: 27 Jan 2021 04:00 AM PST

Applications for home loans fell last week as rates ticked up and the average loan size neared the $400,000 threshold. An index that tracks mortgage applications to buy homes dropped 4 percent, seasonally adjusted, from the prior week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s survey. The MBA metric, known as the purchase index, had reported week-over-week gains for the preceding two weeks. Joel Kan, MBA’s head of industry forecasting, noted that the unadjusted volume of