The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

The wait is over: C-PACE finally goes live in NYC

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 03:00 PM PDT

New York City landlords and developers can finally tap into a new green financing tool that could become a major source of capital for real estate projects in the Big Apple. More than two years after the program was signed into law, the city has approved its first Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy, or C-PACE, deal, according to the New York-based law firm Duval & Stachenfeld. The deal was for a downtown Manhattan office project

Homebuilder sentiment slides to 10-month low in June

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 02:19 PM PDT

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index — which tracks homebuilder confidence in current and future single-family home sales and traffic of potential buyers — dropped to a seasonally adjusted 81 in June. That’s down from 83 in April and May and a 12-month high of 90 in November. A reading above 50 is viewed as positive, but June’s readings are the lowest in 10 months. Confidence is lowest in the Northeast

Durst-backed nonprofit puts startups into empty storefronts

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 01:40 PM PDT

In the Garment District, a tailor who designs bespoke suits is operating out of an 80-square-foot storefront and on Sixth Avenue in Midtown, a painter, a soap maker, two jewelers and a wellness company are all running their businesses from the same 2,275-square-foot location. The mom-and-pop owners are among the entrepreneurs now utilizing vacant retail spaces throughout the city, through a program called “Storefront Startup.” While commercial rents in New York have fallen, prices are

Discrimination suit prompts suburb to change Section 8 housing policy

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 12:00 PM PDT

For years, Eastchester’s zoning code provided Section 8 housing preferences to existing town residents, giving them first crack when the federally subsidized units became available. The measure helped older residents age in place by giving them priority for its housing assistance program, officials of the Westchester town said. But in a community that’s about 85 percent white, opponents said it also perpetuated existing racial disparities at the expense of Black and Latino applicants. One of

WATCH: What would a Shaun Donovan mayoralty mean for real estate?

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 11:15 AM PDT

It’s hard to argue that any mayoral candidate has better housing credentials than Shaun Donovan. The former HUD secretary and HPD commissioner knows the ins and outs of affordable housing in the city and the country. So, was he frustrated that people fixated on his incorrect answer about the average home price in Brooklyn? “I misheard the question. And I made a mistake,” Donovan said. “But I understand why that mistake got attention.” Donovan entered

Why passive house could become NYC’s next design standard

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 10:30 AM PDT

Nicholas Liberis knew his office project in Long Island City had to be different. A new 11-story building surrounded by former warehouses and budget hotels was not exactly a top-of-mind destination for tech giants or hedge funds. Then came a global pandemic, which forced companies to rethink their office footprints entirely. “You needed every competitive advantage that you could get,” said Liberis, a partner at Archimaera, the Brooklyn-based architecture firm responsible for designing the building,

Major FiDi landlord resigns as bank chairman after stock windfall

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 09:45 AM PDT

A low-profile downtown landlord who owns multiple prominent commercial buildings in the Financial District has resigned from his role as chairman of Berkshire Bancorp. Moses Marx, the bank’s longtime majority shareholder whose properties include 225 Broadway, 11 Broadway and 160 Broadway, is stepping down as executive chairman after cashing in on a pandemic-driven windfall, Crain’s reports. Previously one of the largest individual stakeholders in Eastman Kodak, Marx made a fortune last year, Crain’s reported, when

Elon Musk relists San Francisco mansion for $38M

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 08:45 AM PDT

Before Elon Musk heads to Mars or takes Dogecoin to the moon he is selling off his real estate. Musk has re-listed his San Francisco mansion, which he calls his “special place.” Musk first put the 9-bedroom, 9.5-bathroom home up for sale last year along with the rest of his real estate portfolio, according to the New York Post. In November, he took it off the market. He announced the listing of $37.5 million in

Pent-up demand? Midsize i-sales total $125M after week of zero

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 08:00 AM PDT

Outliers happen. One week after not a single midsize investment sale was recorded in New York City, eight such transactions were posted last week with a total dollar volume of $125 million. Manhattan had four of the eight deals. They included a bulk purchase of commercial condos in Hudson Yards, an apartment building sale in Inwood, and mixed-use buildings changing hands in the East Village and Noho. Brooklyn and Queens each saw two i-sales in

Chef Daniel Humm scoops Greenwich Village co-op from Chipotle founder

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 07:30 AM PDT

Dinner parties at one swanky Greenwich Village co-op could soon transition from burrito bowls to Tonburi and smoked daikon. M. Steven Ells, founder of the fast casual chain Chipotle, sold his four-bedroom, four-and-a-half-bath co-op at 40 Fifth Avenue to Swiss chef Daniel Humm of Eleven Madison Park for $14.5 million in an off-market deal, Curbed reported, citing city records. Ells purchased the duplex at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 11th Street from Ed Fancher,

Employers face uphill battle luring staff back to the office

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 07:01 AM PDT

With more than half of all adults fully vaccinated, Americans are once again eating at their favorite restaurants, attending concerts and jumping on flights. But the vast majority of workers have yet to return to the office. As of this week, fewer than three in 10 white-collar employees, on average, are back in their offices in 10 major U.S. cities — including New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco — according to the Wall Street

Stephen Ross’ mayoral fundraising fizzles

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 06:30 AM PDT

Three months ago, billionaire developer Stephen Ross launched a political action committee aimed at the Democratic mayoral primary. He set out to raise tens of millions of dollars, the New York Times reported at the time. Now, with just one week until the primary, the so-called super PAC has only raised $875,000. Vote for New York’s Future has spent $2.2 million, a paltry sum in a citywide election where a single candidate might spend five

Opendoor expands to Miami, 5 additional markets

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 06:00 AM PDT

As Opendoor hits a new milestone, the iBuyer is rolling out its operations in six new cities. Effective Tuesday, the company announced that it is now doing business in South Florida — including Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach — as well as Oklahoma City, Reno, Columbia, South Carolina and Knoxville and Chattanooga, Tennessee. The news comes as the iBuyer says it’s reached a milestone of 100,000 transactions in its seven years of existence. With

Buy this, sell that: South Florida luxury homeowners reshuffle during resi boom

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 05:30 AM PDT

South Florida’s luxury real estate market has seen a huge jump in sales over the past year, as the uber-wealthy continue to move from high-tax states. In turn inventory has declined and homeowners are cashing out. Seasoned veterans like Steve Wynn and Todd Michael Glaser have dominated recent headlines by flipping properties, but “a new breed of buyer” in South Florida also has emerged. Some buyers, including athletes, executives and celebrities like Tommy Hilfiger, are

SKW Funding, Bain Capital in $1.3B JV for troubled debt

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 05:00 AM PDT

SKW Funding and Bain Capital Credit have formed their second joint venture, targeting $1.3 billion in troubled real estate debt. The new entity was part of the lender consortium behind a $410 million debt package for Nightingale Properties and Wafra Capital Partners to redevelop the former Citibank building at 111 Wall Street. The size of the loan package was initially reported as about $500 million, but the joint venture confirmed the lesser figure with The

The Closing: Janice Mac Avoy

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 04:30 AM PDT

When real estate’s wealthiest and most powerful have it all on the line, they call Janice Mac Avoy. Take the $5.45 billion sale of Stuyvesant Town. When bondholders sued to block the transaction, Mac Avoy successfully defended seller CWCapital Asset Management, enabling one of the largest real estate deals in U.S. history. She represented Eli Tabak, Joseph Tabak, Joseph Chetrit and Arbor Realty Trust as they wrangled for a piece of the storied Ring portfolio

Here’s what tenants are paying at Hines & CalPERS’ 609 Main

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 04:00 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 that provides you with all the data and market information you need. In the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, as Houston’s economy faced the double whammy of a public health crisis and collapsing oil prices, a deal for one of the city’s newest trophy properties fell apart. A group