The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

“There will be blood:” VTS’ Nick Romito on why landlords must embrace data

Posted: 29 Mar 2021 03:00 PM PDT

In this installment of the REInterview, TRD’s Hiten Samtani sat down with founder and CEO of VTS Nick Romito. He noted the office sector’s reputation as a steady, stable, unsexy source of income, and explained how all that could change. VTS began as a video-tour company (literally “View the Space”) and is now a cloud-based leasing and portfolio management system. It recently acquired Rise Buildings, an app that tracks the movement of tenants in a

Kushner Real Estate, Stro to develop 200K-sf industrial building

Posted: 29 Mar 2021 02:15 PM PDT

Kushner Real Estate Group and the Stro Companies have closed on a 16-acre property in Woodland Park, New Jersey, and have approval to build a large industrial building. Developing the 205,000 square-foot, Class A building will require demolishing a slightly larger structure on the site, 1150 McBride Avenue. Construction is to begin this summer and finish in the first quarter of next year. “We are extremely excited to be partnering on another great project with

CIM Group claims HFZ, Feldman owe money even after foreclosures

Posted: 29 Mar 2021 01:30 PM PDT

Even though HFZ Capital Group has handed over the keys to four Manhattan condo projects, its lender is once again trying to take the embattled developer to court. Last week, the lending arm Los Angeles-based CIM Group filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York, alleging that HFZ and its founder Ziel Feldman owe the firm over $48 million. In January, CIM Group foreclosed on four Manhattan condo conversion

Warburg’s Brennan Zahler jumps back to Corcoran

Posted: 29 Mar 2021 12:03 PM PDT

There’s a familiar face back at the Corcoran Group: Brennan Zahler, who started at the firm 18 years ago, is the newest senior managing director at the company’s Soho office. The move comes after Zahler spent five years as the director of sales at Warburg Realty’s Tribeca office. Zahler will lead a team of agents with Paula Manikowski, who has been the senior managing director of the Soho office for the last seven years. He

Whitney Museum founder’s Long Island studio asks $4.8M

Posted: 29 Mar 2021 11:00 AM PDT

The last remaining piece of the Whitney family’s sprawling North Shore compound in Old Westbury — which once spanned 1,000 acres and included horse stables and a McKim, Mead & White-designed mansion — is hitting the market, the Wall Street Journal reported. The six-acre property is home to Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney’s elaborate former art studio, a 7,000-square-foot building that was converted into a five-bedroom home in the 1980s. The property was built in 1912, according

Manhattan’s luxury market streak continues for 8th week

Posted: 29 Mar 2021 10:30 AM PDT

An Upper East Side co-op and a sponsor unit at Extell Development’s One57 were among the priciest contracts signed last week, as Manhattan’s luxury market closed two straight months of elevated activity. Last week there were 47 contracts signed, up from 41 the week prior, according to Olshan Realty’s weekly report on contracts for Manhattan properties asking $4 million or more. It was the eighth consecutive week in which more than 30 contracts were signed.

Knock looks to go public at $2B valuation

Posted: 29 Mar 2021 09:44 AM PDT

Knock, a startup that helps people buy new homes before selling their old ones, is the latest proptech company to explore going public. The company has hired Goldman Sachs to help advise it on a possible IPO, Bloomberg News reported. Knock is considering both a traditional initial public offering or a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company, and hopes to raise between $400 and $500 million with an IPO. It’s aiming for a valuation of

Home prices across globe hit records, prompting worries of bubble

Posted: 29 Mar 2021 09:30 AM PDT

Policy makers are worried that the world may be heading for another housing crash. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, home prices in its 37 wealthy member countries hit a record in the third quarter of 2020, the Wall Street Journal reported. Prices rose nearly 5 percent over 12 months, the biggest annual spike in nearly two decades. “It is clear that rising prices of between 5 percent and 10 percent annually,

CDC extends national eviction ban through June

Posted: 29 Mar 2021 08:15 AM PDT

A few days before its expiration, the national eviction ban was extended for another three months. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced Monday it will continue the moratorium through June. “Keeping people in their homes and out of crowded or congregate settings — like homeless shelters — by preventing evictions is a key step in helping to stop the spread of Covid-19,” CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a statement, CNBC reported.

Seeing green: New York set to legalize recreational marijuana

Posted: 29 Mar 2021 08:00 AM PDT

After years of failed attempts, New York lawmakers have hashed out a deal to legalize recreational marijuana. Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state lawmakers reached an agreement on the Marijuana Regulation & Taxation Act, which would allow people who are 21 and older to purchase marijuana and grow the plant in their homes, Gothamist reported. It will create an Office of Cannabis Management to implement state regulations, and the bill also has provisions to divert funds

Red Hook residents sound alarm over influx of last-mile facilities

Posted: 29 Mar 2021 07:30 AM PDT

Red Hook has seen an influx of big brands arriving on its shores in the past decade or so, including a massive Ikea store and one of the city’s few Tesla showrooms. A cruise terminal also opened there in 2006. But plans to build several last-mile distribution centers have residents of the small waterfront neighborhood concerned about traffic and overbuilding, the Wall Street Journal reports. “Industry is not something we are afraid of in Red

Manhattan’s sales, rental markets hit new highs

Posted: 29 Mar 2021 07:00 AM PDT

One year ago this month, New York’s real estate industry — and the city as a whole — effectively shut down with few deals being made as Covid-19 cases skyrocketed. But a lot can change in a year. The week ending March 25 saw 341 contracts signed in Manhattan, according to UrbanDigs’ weekly look at the borough’s real estate market. That’s a 400 percent increase from the same time last year — not a surprise,

Holiday Inn next to LaGuardia Airport faces foreclosure

Posted: 29 Mar 2021 06:01 AM PDT

A Holiday Inn near LaGuardia Airport is facing foreclosure, a signal of looming distress for New York’s battered hospitality market. A mezzanine lender tied to Moinian Group is planning a UCC foreclosure sale of the equity interests in the 217-key hotel at 37-10 114th Street in Corona, Queens. The loan has a balance of $7.2 million. The sale is planned for June 7, according to a notice that lists Brock Cannon and Daniel Fromm at

Questioning the WeSPAC, VC-backed Side and Compass face off

Posted: 29 Mar 2021 05:00 AM PDT

Some questions about the WeSPAC If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again: Two years after its failed IPO, WeWork is going public with a SPAC. The merger with BowX Acquisition Corp. — led by Vivek Ranadivé with Shaquille O’Neal as an advisor — values the embattled flex-office company at $9 billion including debt. That’s a fraction of WeWork’s $47 billion valuation in 2019, when it first attempted to go public. According to an

Compass, eXp rise in Real Trends’ annual brokerage rankings

Posted: 29 Mar 2021 04:00 AM PDT

Compass was an unstoppable force in 2020, raking in high sales numbers in New York City and beyond, but that wasn’t enough to make it the top brokerage in the country. Realogy once again came out on top when it came to sales volume, bringing in nearly $185 billion in sales in 2020, according to a new ranking from Real Trends. That’s an increase from 2019, when it had $170 billion in sales, and was