The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

New York renters will have another lifeline when the statewide eviction moratorium sunsets. Mayor Bill de Blasio on Tuesday signed a bill expanding the city’s Right to Counsel program, which offers free legal representation to low-income tenants facing eviction. The legislation accelerates the program’s rollout before the state and federal eviction bans end. De Blasio and the City Council first deployed Right to Counsel in 2017 in certain ZIP codes with the goal of covering

In April 2020, one month after pandemic-related lockdowns started in much of the U.S., national chains such as Ann Taylor, Bob’s Discount Furniture, Men’s Wearhouse and Tilly’s did not pay any of their rent. One year and the lifting of many restrictions later, those retailers have all returned to paying 90 percent or more. Rent collections for national chains hit 93 percent in April, the highest they’ve been since the pandemic began, according to the

The owner of Moxy Hotel in the Financial District has handed the keys back to its lender. Led by Mark Gordon, Bill Brodsky and Elliott Ingerman, Tribeca Associates, which opened the 30-story hotel at 143 Fulton Street in 2018, transferred the ground lease to AllianceBernstein, according to public records. The lease was valued at $108.8 million in the transaction. Tribeca Associates did not immediately respond to email requests seeking comment. AllianceBernstein declined to comment. Tribeca

The rezoning of Governors Island is nearing a final vote, albeit with a few tweaks and limitations on new development. The City Council’s land use committee on Tuesday voted in favor of the proposal, which will pave the way for nearly 4 million square feet of development, including university space, hotels, offices, biotech and research facilities, and retail across 34 acres on the island’s southern end. The committee also approved a series of amendments that

Within a matter of weeks, three grand openings for 65,000 square feet of leased space have been held at the newly built Kings Highway Plaza in Brooklyn. Target, Five Below and Smashburger have all recently opened at the shopping center, which was completed this year by Bridges Development Group at 5200 Kings Highway in East Flatbush. The first two launched the week of April 19; Smashburger opened earlier. Target accounts for the majority of the

An estate in an exclusive Southampton enclave has sold for $34.5 million in an off-market transaction. The 15,500-square-foot residence at 9 Olde Towne Lane hosts 10 bedrooms, 12 bathrooms and three half-baths. The four-acre estate was designed by John Kean of Kean Developments and is one of 10 parcels that make up the 47-acre private residential community Olde Towne. The house, built in 2015, was once listed by Corcoran, Douglas Elliman and Sotheby’s International Realty

Keller Williams broke records for the third quarter in a row, and it has no plans to hit the brakes. The brokerage had its most successful first quarter to date in terms of closed transactions and sales volume, it announced Tuesday. Its agents closed $98.1 billion in sales across 272,688 transactions in the first three months of 2021. That represented a nearly 40 percent annual increase in sales volume and a 21.3 percent increase in

Tourists have yet to come back to New York City, but new hotels are projected to open en masse this year. Close to 80 hotels with more than 13,000 rooms — the most in many years — plan to welcome their first guests in New York City in 2021, according to the data firm STR, the Wall Street Journal reported. The pandemic has led to construction delays, forcing owners to push back their openings. But

Savanna snagged $264 million in construction financing for its Downtown Brooklyn office project. The developer secured a senior loan for 141 Willoughby Street from PIMCO, according to the Commercial Observer, citing sources not involved in the transaction. It also nabbed mezzanine debt from CarVal Investors. Savanna started construction on the 400,000-square-foot project late last year. The real estate private equity firm purchased the site from the Institute of Design and Construction for $28 million in

Blackstone Group is the latest company looking beyond the Zoom meeting. The firm wants a full return to the office, and is asking vaccinated U.S. employees in its investment divisions to head back on June 7, according to Bloomberg. Blackstone announced the move Monday. Insider first reported the news. Blackstone will join other financial behemoths like JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, which have all been shifting back to the office. JPMorgan is planning

 Mortgage lender Better is looking for a big pay day. The company plans to go public via a merger with Aurora Acquisition Corp., a special-purpose acquisition company backed by the investment firm Novator Capital, the Wall Street Journal reported. The deal would give Better a pre-money valuation of $7 billion. The investment giant Softbank put $500 million into Better, which was previously valued at around $6 billion. Aurora — whose leadership team includes Novatar’s CEO

M. Arthur Gensler Jr., who for decades led one of the world’s most prolific architecture firms, died at his home in Mill Valley, California. He was 85. Gensler, the firm he co-founded in 1965 with his wife, Drue, and architect James Follett, announced the news Monday. No cause was given. In the decades since the firm’s founding, Gensler has completed numerous high-profile projects, including the 128-story Shanghai Tower, currently the world’s second-tallest building; and Banc

The Nassau County District Attorney’s office has charged a disbarred Bellmore attorney with grand larceny, and accused him of stealing $372,500 in escrow funds from a client, according to Newsday. Gregg A. Luckman represented a client in the $7.4 million sale of a Manhattan apartment in June 2018. An Appellate Division committee disbarred him a month later amid an investigation of professional misconduct, including allegations of misappropriation of client funds and failure to safeguard escrow

Brooklyn’s luxury market cooled off slightly last week. Forty-one homes asking $2 million or more went into contract, according to Compass’ weekly report. The total value of those contracts was $120.7 million, down from the previous week’s $124.8 million. That ended the borough’s five-week streak of rising contract volume, but the combined asking price of those 42 deals was the third-highest the market has seen since March. The median asking price was $2.95 million, while

Jeff Sutton’s Wharton Properties has unloaded a Midwood commercial building, one of three mid-market investment sales in the city last week. The deals totaled $39.6 million and included three-building multifamily portfolio, a commercial building and an office building. The total was far less than the previous week’s $127 million for eight transactions. Investment sales between $10 million and $30 million are included in the weekly mid-market roundup. Manhattan and Brooklyn were the only boroughs with