The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Silicon Valley’s Founders Fund inks Miami lease

Posted: 05 Feb 2021 01:45 PM PST

Founders Fund, the major Silicon Valley venture capital firm with billions of dollars in capital under management, is planting a flag in Miami. Founders Fund inked a one-year lease at Brickell City Tower at 80 Southwest Eighth Street, taking 2,073 square feet at the Brickell office building, according to a press release from Blanca Commercial Real Estate. PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, a founding partner of the venture capital firm, and Keith Rabois, a general partner

Elegran launches new development sales division with ex-Elliman exec at helm

Posted: 05 Feb 2021 12:45 PM PST

Elegran sees an opportunity in New York City’s vast quantity of unsold condos. The brokerage is launching a new development marketing division, to be led by former Douglas Elliman executive Carolyn Sebba. Sebba was a senior vice president and managing director at Douglas Elliman Development Marketing for seven years, before being laid off last spring as the firm slashed costs due to the pandemic. During her tenure, she handled sales strategy at high-profile projects such

Beverly Hills mansion with ties to 1MDB masterminds sells for $27M

Posted: 05 Feb 2021 12:00 PM PST

A Trousdale Estates mansion in Beverly Hills that was built in part with money stolen in the 1MDB scandal just sold for $27.4 million. In the latest sale, Steven Gilfenbain bought the 13,000-square-foot mansion at 912 North Hillcrest Road, according to the Los Angeles Times. He is founder of the grape distribution company Stevco Inc. The home had hit the market last summer for $30 million. The story of the property starts in 2007, when

Hospitality lost 61K jobs in January — a big improvement

Posted: 05 Feb 2021 11:00 AM PST

Employment in real estate declined in January, but the drop in hospitality positions was not nearly as bad as in December. Job losses in leisure and hospitality, retail and warehousing last month dragged the industry’s overall numbers down, according to seasonally adjusted statistics released by the government Friday. The losses weighed against gains in other sectors of the economy last month that resulted in an overall addition of 49,000 jobs. That was an improvement from

All Year files last-minute lawsuit to block Bushwick mezz foreclosure

Posted: 05 Feb 2021 10:33 AM PST

A day before the scheduled UCC foreclosure sale of its trophy Bushwick rental project, Yoel Goldman’s All Year Management filed a lawsuit in an attempt to block it from going forward. In the suit filed Thursday in Kings County Supreme Court, the Brooklyn developer accuses mezzanine lender Mack Real Estate of violating a forbearance agreement the parties reached in July by refusing a $7.5 million payment that would reinstate the loan. Mack “has refused to

Two SPACs seek $425M for proptech deals

Posted: 05 Feb 2021 10:30 AM PST

Another day, another SPAC. The latest is from Scott Seligman, a real estate investor and minority owner of the San Francisco Giants, who is teaming up with cousins Brian and Ben Friedman to raise $175 million for a proptech deal. Brian is a managing partner at investment firm Foxhall Partners while Ben is a former senior trader at Citigroup. BOA Acquisition Corp. is targeting a business with an enterprise value north of $500 million, the

Development boom in Super Bowl city: Tampa reaches for its real estate moment

Posted: 05 Feb 2021 09:45 AM PST

UPDATED, Feb. 5, 2:11 p.m.: The headliners in Tampa this weekend are no doubt Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs and Tom Brady of the Buccaneers, but the two star quarterbacks aren’t the only game in town. While Jeff Vinik, Bill Gates and Ian Schrager will definitely not be suiting up on Sunday for Super Bowl LV, the trio are key players in a $3.5 billion mixed-use project set to transform the host city’s downtown waterfront.

NYC, Chicago top office development completions in 2020

Posted: 05 Feb 2021 09:05 AM PST

UPDATED, Feb. 5 2021, 4:00 p.m.: The office market took a beating in 2020, with completed developments down 14 percent from 2019 levels. But with construction delays easing, the outlook for 2021 is less bleak. Just 81.5 million square feet of delivered office developments were completed in 2020, Commercial Property Executive reported. The top 10 completed projects accounted for 13.4 percent of new office construction, and includes projects in Manhattan, Chicago and Seattle as well

Park Slope condo building poised to set new price record

Posted: 05 Feb 2021 07:50 AM PST

An ambitious Park Slope condo project may break the $2,000 per square foot barrier, a number previously only attained in Brooklyn by luxury homes with harbor views and close to Manhattan. One Prospect Park West’s developer, Sugar Hill Capital Partners, says that 14 of the building’s 63 units are in contract for at or above that price point, according to Bloomberg News. A penthouse is reportedly in contract for $6.5 million, and another deal was

Blackstone, LBA Logistics get $944M financing for logistics portfolios

Posted: 05 Feb 2021 06:46 AM PST

An affiliate of asset-manager Blackstone Group and LBA Logistics nabbed $944 million in financing for two industrial portfolios, Commercial Observer reported. The non-recourse loan, originated on Jan. 21, is secured by Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, known as BREIT, and LBA’s leasehold interests in 52 warehouse properties divided into two portfolios totaling 9.5 million square feet. Blackstone paid $918 million for a 41 percent stake in the larger of the two portfolios, while eLBA Logistics

Senate clears path for $1.9T package including rent relief

Posted: 05 Feb 2021 06:21 AM PST

The Senate approved a budget bill that sets the stage for passage of President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion relief package. The late-night vote was 51 to 50 along party lines, with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking the tie, although a number of Republican amendments were added, the Washington Post reported. The bill includes $25 billion in rent relief, added to the $25 billion already passed by Congress in December, as well as $5 billion to

Construction union sizes up mayoral hopefuls

Posted: 05 Feb 2021 05:45 AM PST

The city’s laborers union is gearing up to endorse one of the city’s many mayoral hopefuls. The Mason Tenders’ District Council, which is poised to announce its pick for mayor this month, has asked candidates to commit to something Mayor Bill de Blasio has not: hiring more union laborers on affordable housing projects. Built into this question is another: How does each of the candidates plan to address the proliferation of what the union calls

As flex-office space contracts, Industrious grows NYC footprint

Posted: 05 Feb 2021 05:00 AM PST

Flex-office provider Industrious is doubling down on New York at a time when the future of the office market — and flex offices in particular — is facing unprecedented uncertainty. The company recently opened a 17,000-square-foot site in Midtown’s Carnegie Hall Tower, the third location it’s launched in the city since the pandemic took hold. In March, it plans to open a 53,000-square-foot location at the Sioni Group’s 44 West 37th Street, and a 60,000-square-foot

NYC sues Garment District landlord over tenant’s alleged prostitution activity

Posted: 05 Feb 2021 04:00 AM PST

This was not the happy ending a Garment District landlord expected when it leased space to a spa. City officials allege the New Lavender Mini Spa at 45 West 34th Street was used to facilitate prostitution. The city is now suing the property owner, an entity tied to Solil Management, in Civil Court in New York. The city claims that the Solil entity permitted the use of the ground-floor space for prostitution. On three seperate