The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Mayor Bill de Blasio primarily blames the long, painful deterioration of the city’s public housing system on a decline in federal funding as developments aged and their maintenance needs grew. Terrible management, however, was a big part of the problem. It wasn’t just inexperienced managers and hapless mayors, though; the system itself ensured the New York City Housing Authority remained dysfunctional to its core. Now the agency — under orders from the federal government —

Office landlords may be ready to get their buildings filled with workers again, but employees aren’t exactly clamoring to go back, according to a new survey by JLL. Of the 2,000 workers surveyed by the commercial brokerage, 72 percent said they would prefer to work from home more regularly, with two or three days spent in the office, the Commercial Observer reported. Meanwhile, 66 percent want to move to a hybrid model that includes working

The former Upper East Side home of the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was the highest residential contract inked in Manhattan last week. The deal was one of 36 luxury contracts — asking $4 million or more — signed in the first week of March, according to Olshan Realty’s weekly report. It marks the fifth consecutive week that 30 or more luxury deals were inked. Donna Olshan, the report’s author, said the

From scrapped deals and foreclosures to loan sharks and now, alleged deed fraud, legal headaches are continuing to pile up for Yoel Goldman’s All Year Management. The developer filed its latest lawsuit last Friday, accusing partner Zoltan Berkowitz of seizing control of 14 Brooklyn properties despite having only a 10 percent interest in the portfolio. “Berkowitz’s deed transfers are more than an ordinary coup. Berkowitz’s theft of millions of dollars of properties may have broad

A deal that will serve as a benchmark for how values have held up at 220 Central Park South is underway. The owner of unit 55B has accepted an offer from an unknown buyer for the 3,211-square-foot three-bedroom, listing agent Jessica Campbell of Nest Seekers International confirmed. If the deal closes, it will be the first resale at Vornado Realty Trust’s blockbuster building, which holds the record for selling the most expensive home in the

From rent relief to aid for restaurants, the $1.9 trillion stimulus package has lots of goodies for real estate. President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan was passed Saturday by the Senate and is headed back to the House, which is expected to follow suit. Here are five provisions noteworthy for the real estate industry: 1. Rent and mortgage assistance The bill includes $21.55 billion for emergency rental assistance, $5 billion for emergency housing vouchers and

Billionaire businessman Vince Viola is making his second big real estate move in as many months. The Florida Panthers owner is in contract to sell his enormous Upper East Side townhouse for around $60 million, the Wall Street Journal reported. The 20,000-square-foot home at 12 East 69th Street has been on and off the market since 2013, when Viola and his wife Teresa first listed it for $114 million. In 2017, it was reportedly in

A controversial high-rise development in Crown Heights has been halted once again. A proposal by Ian Bruce Eichner’s Continuum Company to rezone a former spice factory at 960 Franklin Avenue has been delayed by a lawsuit from a neighborhood activist over the virtual hearing process. Kings County Supreme Court Judge Katherine Levine authorized a temporary restraining order last week, putting a hold on the rezoning process for now. Opponents of the project claim that its

A lackluster box office performance of Walt Disney’s new movie is putting a cloud over the future of movie theaters. Ticket sales for the Walt Disney Company’s highly-anticipated “Raya and the Last Dragon” totaled only $8.6 million over the weekend in the United States and Canada, the New York Times reported, citing data from Comscore. The result is considered “soft,” even taking the pandemic into consideration, said David Gross, who runs movie consultancy firm Franchise

Apartment landlords in Manhattan are keeping more units vacant as the rental market slumps. According to real-estate data analytics company UrbanDigs, landlords last month removed 1,814 apartment listings in the borough. The figure is more than three times the number of apartments that were warehoused in February 2020, the Wall Street Journal reported. As many renters moved out of the city in the pandemic, Manhattan’s apartment vacancy rate went up, and the median rental price

A well-known law firm just inked a 15-year, 67,000-square-foot lease to move to the Durst Organization’s 1155 Sixth Avenue. Jenner & Block will occupy the 29th through 32nd floors of the 41-story tower between West 44th and West 45th streets, according to the landlord. The firm is downsizing from 90,000 square feet at SL Green’s 919 Third Avenue. Jonathan Durst, president of the Durst Organization, said law firms have been the Sixth Avenue building’s key

New York restaurants outside of Big Apple can soon have more indoor diners — and their governor now has less power to shut them down. On Sunday, embattled Gov. Andrew Cuomo allowed eateries outside of New York City to operate at 75 percent capacity as of March 19, the New York Daily News reported. The current capacity is 50 percent. New York City’s indoor dining capacity remains at 35 percent. Also on Sunday, Cuomo signed

A rental home developer is planning to build thousands of new properties in the Southeast after a $500 million commitment from an investor. Miami-based Quinn Residences is set to close on the investment by the end of the second quarter, company founder Douglas Caraballo told The Real Deal. The money is from an unnamed sovereign wealth fund. The new equity will give Quinn about $2.5 billion worth of purchasing power to build 8,000 homes in

Compass’ cost of doing business Ahead of its buzzed-about IPO, Compass offered investors a peek at its financials via an S-1 filed March 1. Highlights from the 263-page document include the fact that Compass took in $3.7 billion in revenue last year, four times its revenue of $884.7 million in 2018. The tech-focused resi brokerage also lost $270.2 million in 2020, down from $388 million in 2019. But one key takeaway is how much Compass

Home buyers are looking for more space these days, even on Billionaires’ Row. A resident at Extell Development’s One57 just handed over $5.2 million to trade up to a bigger unit, property records show. The unknown resident first bought into the building in 2014, the year after it opened, purchasing unit 51B, a 2,009-square-foot two-bedroom, for $7.58 million through a British Virgin Islands company, Parksville Investments Corp. Now the anonymous owner has upgraded to a

A grand jury indicted David Kushner, a real estate investor in New Jersey, for three counts of tax evasion. Between 2014 and 2016, Kushner’s business grossly underreported its taxable income and failed to pay more than $670,000 in taxes, the indictment alleges. His attorney says he owes nothing and predicted the IRS would come around to that view. The Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division found that in 2014, Kushner allegedly failed to report $634,444

A growing number of developers in the U.S. are investing in integrated solar power and battery systems for their buildings. Advances in energy storage technology and falling prices for batteries mean these “virtual power plants” are becoming viable for a variety of buildings and uses, according to the New York Times. The technology would also create more energy independence, coming at a time when severe weather — like last month’s deep freeze in Texas that

UPDATED, March 8, 11:55 a.m.: The Brooklyn Heights home that appeared in “Moonstruck” is hitting the market. The 4,455-square-foot townhouse at 19 Cranberry Street is asking $12.9 million, according to House Beautiful. The five-bedroom home is impressive even independent of its connections to “Moonstruck” stars Cher and Nicholas Cage. The four-story corner-lot townhome was built in 1829 and recently got a comprehensive renovation inside and out. The Mansard roof was restored and exterior brownstone replaced.

Hedge fund billionaire Suneil Setiya is said to be in talks to buy a massive London penthouse for around $153 million. The 14,000-square-foot unit that the Quadrature Capital founder is eyeing is located in the luxury residential complex known as One Hyde Park, according to Bloomberg. The unit has no internal walls and is completely unfinished, making its price tag all the more jaw-dropping. The deal would be one of the priciest residential sales to

Las Vegas Sands Corp. is leaving Las Vegas and aiming for Asia. The company that had been run by Sheldon Adelson until death in January has agreed to sell the Venetian casino and resort and two other Vegas properties for $6.25 billion. The buyer is Apollo Global Management, according to the Wall Street Journal. Apollo partner Alex van Hoek said the move “underscores our conviction in a strong recovery for Las Vegas,” and the global

Gulf Islamic Investments has closed its biggest ever real estate transaction, paying $301 million for the Altais Towers in Paris. The firm bought the towers from a consortium of funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management. The United Arab Emirates-based firm is making a push into Europe, according to Bloomberg. GII said it has deals in the works in the United Kingdom and Germany. The firm aims to expand its assets under management from about $2.5