The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

EB-5 funds sue to stop foreclosure sale on failed HFZ tower project

Posted: 22 Apr 2021 05:15 PM PDT

Entities acting on behalf of EB-5 funds are trying to stop a foreclosure sale that would wipe away $60 million those investors plowed into a failed Manhattan tower project that HFZ Capital was to develop with a church. The three affiliates of EB-5 regional center U.S. Immigration Fund are suing the tower project’s mezzanine lender, Vanbarton Group. The lender provided HFZ with a $91 million loan to help finance the project. The lawsuit contends Vanbarton cannot

City bill would force general contractors to get licensed

Posted: 22 Apr 2021 02:47 PM PDT

Construction companies may soon face additional hurdles to work in the city. A new City Council bill would create a new licensing program for all general contractors, shifting away from a system that only requires them to register with the Department of Buildings. To obtain a license, contractors would need to submit the same information needed for registration — including the names of major owners of the company, and proof that the firm is financially

SL Green sees “explosive recovery” for NYC as tenants plan office return

Posted: 22 Apr 2021 02:43 PM PDT

With some signs pointing to a large-scale return to offices as soon as the third quarter of this year, New York City’s biggest office landlord is optimistic about the road to recovery. On SL Green’s first quarter earnings call on Thursday afternoon, CEO Marc Holliday pointed to a confluence of factors that all bode well for the city’s economic outlook, such as low interest rates, a massive federal stimulus, a surging financial sector, upward-swinging hiring

Vornado sues Hongkun USA, seeking $1.1M in rent

Posted: 22 Apr 2021 02:35 PM PDT

The latest tenant to be sued by Vornado Realty Trust for missing payments should know something about the importance of rent. The tenant, Hongkun USA, is a real estate firm itself. Vornado is suing the U.S. subsidiary of big Beijing-based homebuilder Hongkun for $1.1 million in back rent at 888 Seventh Avenue, according to Crain’s. Vornado says Hongkun skipped payments even after the two renegotiated terms during the pandemic. Hongkun USA signed a lease for

The Agency sues Compass for blocking exec from recruiting former colleagues

Posted: 22 Apr 2021 01:00 PM PDT

In October, Rainy Hake Austin jumped from head of operations for Compass’ West Coast division to president of luxury brokerage The Agency. But when Austin tried to recruit former colleagues, Compass shut the door, citing a clause in her contract she had signed, according to Inman. Now, The Agency is fighting back. In a federal lawsuit filed Friday, the Beverly Hills-based firm claims Compass’ non-solicitation provision is illegal, and adds that Austin did not actually

What SmartRent’s $2.2B SPAC means for multifamily

Posted: 22 Apr 2021 12:40 PM PDT

As pandemic-challenged apartment landlords scrambled to cut costs, SmartRent CEO Lucas Haldeman’s phone lit up. The owners were eager to adopt the four-year-old firm’s operating platform, which lets them automate building operations such as climate control and door locks. To meet the demand and beef up its product offerings, SmartRent announced a deal Thursday to go public with a blank-check firm backed by proptech VC firm Fifth Wall. The deal values SmartRent at $2.2 billion

From slam dunk to junk: US developers face Israeli bond market reckoning

Posted: 22 Apr 2021 12:00 PM PDT

About a decade ago, the Israeli bond market emerged as an attractive source of capital for U.S. real estate companies at a time when traditional sources of financing proved somewhat scarce. For U.S. firms, a corporate bond issuance in Israel provided the ability to raise debt without saddling a building with a mortgage, and at favorable interest rates compared to those available closer to home. For Israeli institutions with limited domestic investment opportunities, the bonds

Signs of success, trouble for property lender Signature Bank

Posted: 22 Apr 2021 11:00 AM PDT

Signature Bank saw record earnings and deposit growth last quarter, but also some red flags. Loan modifications related to Covid-19 rose to 7.1 percent of its loan book, up from 6.6 percent in the fourth quarter, Crain’s New York reported. It’s a sign that the property lender’s borrowers are struggling as the pandemic continues. Signature held $3 billion of troublesome loans rated “special mention” or “substandard,” compared to $1 billion as of Sept. 30, the

There’s “lots of runway in real estate”: Blackstone’s Jon Gray

Posted: 22 Apr 2021 10:34 AM PDT

Blackstone Group’s president and COO Jon Gray thinks higher inflation is on the way, and he thinks risky real estate investments could be the anecdote for investors. “What we’re trying to do is position ourselves for things that look and feel [the] least bond-like as much as possible,” Gray said Thursday during the investment giant’s first-quarter earnings call. Gray said safe but low-yielding investments, such as fully leased office properties, are less attractive in an

First Hamptons passive house on market asks $4.5M

Posted: 22 Apr 2021 09:56 AM PDT

A Hamptons house designed for maximum energy efficiency and sustainability has hit the market. The home at 7 Candace Drive in East Quogue is the first property using passive house design elements to be offered for sale in the Hamptons. Its energy-efficient features include 360-degree poly-iso insulation, energy recovery ventilation and a solar power supplementation system. It’s listed for $4.5 million. Passive house (or “passivhaus”) standards were first developed in Germany. The specifications require buildings

Kushner Companies sells two Maryland apartment complexes for $240M

Posted: 22 Apr 2021 09:20 AM PDT

Kushner Companies has found a buyer for more of its Maryland multifamily portfolio. The real estate firm sold two apartment complexes in the Baltimore area for $240 million, Bloomberg News reported, citing sources familiar with the deal. The move comes after it sold another pair of apartment buildings in the area earlier this year for about $69.3 million. The company listed 10 multifamily properties in the Baltimore area for $800 million in December. Company president

Real estate data firm Cherre raises $50M

Posted: 22 Apr 2021 08:33 AM PDT

Third time’s a charm for Cherre, a real estate data platform. The startup announced that it’s raised $50 million in a new funding round, according to Business Insider. The round was led by Trustbridge Partners, a Chinese growth equity firm that has also invested in WeWork China, among other firms. The new round — Cherre’s third since 2018 — brings its total investments to $75 million, though it declined to disclose how much it’s currently

Biden administration considers Opportunity Zone overhaul

Posted: 22 Apr 2021 07:49 AM PDT

A Trump-era tax incentive was meant to drive investment into parts of the country that were struggling economically. Spoiler alert: It didn’t, and President Joe Biden’s administration is weighing what it wants to do about the program. For a recently released study on the program, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, looked at 2019 investment figures for the 8,000 census tracts designated by state officials as Opportunity Zones. They found that only 16 percent

SmartRent to go public via Fifth Wall SPAC

Posted: 22 Apr 2021 06:26 AM PDT

Another proptech company is joining the SPAC game. Home technology startup SmartRent plans to go public in a merger with one of Fifth Wall Ventures’ special-purpose acquisition companies in a deal that would value the company at $2.2 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported. Fifth Wall Acquisition Corp., the VC firm’s first SPAC, raised about $345 million in an initial public offering earlier this year. The merger would be one of the largest deals thus

Warburg Realty taps veteran BHS exec to run Tribeca office

Posted: 22 Apr 2021 06:00 AM PDT

A long-time Brown Harris Stevens executive is headed back to his former brokerage. Stephen Klym will rejoin Warburg Realty on June 1 as the firm’s senior vice president for strategic initiatives and sales director for its Tribeca office. In the latter capacity, he replaces Brennan Zahler, who left Warburg last month after five years to run the Corcoran Group ’s Soho office. Klym returns to Warburg, where he served as marketing director and senior managing

Breaking down New York real estate’s path to sustainability

Posted: 22 Apr 2021 05:30 AM PDT

When John Mandyck met with Brazil’s largest pension fund a few years ago, he wanted to understand the thinking behind its radical declaration that it would only invest in certified green buildings. “I was completely blown away because I was thinking they were going to say, ‘We have social pressures, we have ESG goals,’” recalled Mandyck, now the CEO of Urban Green Council, a New York-based nonprofit that advocates for improving buildings’ energy efficiency. “It

Here are the new developments offering the most buyer incentives

Posted: 22 Apr 2021 05:00 AM PDT

The following is a preview of one of the hundreds of data sets that will be available on TRD Pro, the one-stop real estate terminal providing you with all the data and market information you need. Free parking, paid closing costs, no taxes, oh my! As developers across New York City look to move new units amid an inventory glut, several new development buildings — particularly those in Brooklyn — are offering buyers a range

The Closing: Glenn Sanford

Posted: 22 Apr 2021 04:30 AM PDT

Glenn Sanford built a multibillion-dollar residential brokerage in his own, untethered image. Sanford, a former top producer at Keller Williams, founded eXp Realty in 2009 with the ambition to build the first fully virtual brokerage of scale. A few years later, he crisscrossed the U.S. in a 43-foot Winnebago to build his agent army, selling them on the promise of technology and incentivizing them to bring others to his ranks. eXp exists only in the

Buyers hunt Hamptons, North Fork homes — often in vain

Posted: 22 Apr 2021 04:00 AM PDT

Home shoppers in the Hamptons and North Fork are more eager than ever, but sales are falling because so little is left to buy. The number of first-quarter sales in the Hamptons plunged 37 percent from the previous quarter, from 803 to 509, according to a report by appraiser Miller Samuel for Douglas Elliman. On the North Fork, sales declined 38 percent, from 291 to 181. Sales remain well ahead of their pace of a

Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo leading $2.25B refi of One Vanderbilt

Posted: 21 Apr 2021 07:13 PM PDT

Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo are leading a massive refinancing of One Vanderbilt that will allow developer SL Green Realty and its partners to cash out hundreds of millions of dollars from the newly completed Midtown skyscraper. The banks are heading a consortium of lenders putting together a debt package for the 58-story, Grand Central-area tower to the tune of roughly $2.25 billion, sources familiar with the financing told The Real Deal. It’s set to