The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Architect who designed the collapsed Surfside condo was previously suspended after toppling of other structures

Posted: 23 Jul 2021 03:36 PM PDT

More than a decade before William Friedman designed the collapsed Surfside condominium, Florida’s board of architecture suspended him for six months for designing structures that toppled during Hurricane Betsy. Sign pylons that were “an integral part of the structure” of a Miami commercial building failed during the 1965 storm, according to documents from the Florida State Board of Architecture, obtained by The Real Deal. The pylons were “insufficient and grossly inadequate” to withstand the wind

John Catsimatidis clocks win for landlords in 421a suit; tenants vow to appeal

Posted: 23 Jul 2021 03:02 PM PDT

Billionaire John Catsimatidis has scored a courthouse win against tenants in one of his Prospect Heights rental buildings. A class action lawsuit that accused Catsimatidis’ Red Apple Group of illegally overcharging tenants at 670 Pacific Street was dismissed by a state Supreme Court justice this week. Crain’s first reported the decision Friday. The lawsuit, filed in October, was one of several cases alleging that landlords improperly recorded an inflated first rent payment at new development

Pandemic could cut assessed property values by 10%

Posted: 23 Jul 2021 02:26 PM PDT

The pandemic slammed New York City’s retail, office and hotel sectors, a hit that may mean a sharp drop in property taxes collected next year. The tentative tax assessment for 2022 shows assessed values of those commercial properties fell 9.6 percent year over year, according to a report in Barclays. And it showed the total market value of those properties fell even more dramatically, nearly 16 percent, according to the report, “The Empire State of

Taconic lands $125M refi for renovated Union Square office building

Posted: 23 Jul 2021 01:45 PM PDT

Located catty-corner to the iconic Strand bookstore just south of Union Square, the 126-year-old office building at 817 Broadway has undergone a thorough renovation since Taconic Partners, Nuveen and Squire acquired it in 2016. The landlords kicked off a new phase in their plans for the property this month, when Ares Commercial Real Estate and Criterion Real Estate Capital provided a $125 million refinancing for the 14-story, 140,000-square-foot building. The funds will provide capital for

Overbooked Hamptons hotels spark bidding wars

Posted: 23 Jul 2021 01:15 PM PDT

Looking for lodging in the Hamptons this summer? Prepare to pay above the going room rate — and possibly enter a bidding war with a hip-hop artist. If the price is right, hotels are plying customers who have already booked rooms with perks and comps to swap them out for deeper-pocketed bidders, Page Six reported. Michael Pitsinos, owner of the upscale restaurant Naia at the Capri Hotel in Southampton, said some desperate vacationers are bidding

Fredrik Eklund lists Bel Air mansion for rent as family moves to “forever home”

Posted: 23 Jul 2021 12:45 PM PDT

Fredrik Eklund and family are moving into their “forever home” and putting up their Bel Air mansion for rent. The Douglas Elliman agent and “Million Dollar Listings Los Angeles” star is asking $65,000 a month for the seven-bedroom property at 1211 Stradella Road, according to People. Eklund wrote about the home and the listing on Instagram. “It’s like living inside a Hollywood dream and now it’s time to let the next family enjoy it —

Tall tale: Nest Seekers’ “$50M” Amagansett sale was actually $16.5M

Posted: 23 Jul 2021 12:15 PM PDT

For three weeks, Dylan Eckardt has been reveling in the success of a $50 million deal that never happened. The Nest Seekers International agent, who crowned himself the “Prince of Montauk” in a 2016 Vanity Fair interview, proudly posted July 1 on Instagram the lofty sale of a vacant development site along Montauk Highway. “I represented the seller and the buyer on one of the Hamptons biggest transactions this year,” Eckardt wrote. “9.4 acres ocean

Silencing the skies: FAA paying LAX neighbors to soundproof homes

Posted: 23 Jul 2021 11:15 AM PDT

Relief could be coming to homeowners with the noisiest neighbor in town: Los Angeles International Airport. The Federal Aviation Administration allocated $20.5 million in grants to soundproof homes in communities near the busy airport, according to the Los Angeles Times. Eligibility is based on an FAA-approved noise map. Non-soundproofed homes that are up to code and experience an average annual noise level of 65 decibels or higher can receive funding, according to the report. Property

Little houses draw big interest in mansion-heavy Hamptons market

Posted: 23 Jul 2021 10:20 AM PDT

Picture this: a reality show, in which East End brokers compete to get the highest prices possible for a Rubbermaid shed (the fancy kind with window boxes — this is the Hamptons, after all) set on 0.05 acres of prime real estate. Just think of the easy, hose-down upkeep! And the low, low taxes! So far, that remains a dream. In the Hamptons, as perhaps no other place on Earth, more is more. In many

Robert Herjavec buys One57 condo at $13M discount

Posted: 23 Jul 2021 08:47 AM PDT

One57 was once the crown jewel of Billionaires’ Row. Gary Barnett’s megatower commanded record sums after its launch in 2011, culminating in the $100 million sale of its penthouse to billionaire Michael Dell in 2014. But rival towers have sprouted up along the corridor since then, and One57 simply isn’t as popular with the uber-wealthy as it was. The latest evidence: the sale of one of its units for a $13 million loss. Investor Robert

NYC hotels getting busier, but still struggling

Posted: 23 Jul 2021 08:07 AM PDT

The hotel industry is finally seeing some signs of life in New York City, with a 3.7 percent rise in rooms booked last week. Hotels in the city sold 481,000 rooms last week, the most since the pandemic began. It was an increase of 17,000, or 3.7 percent, from the previous week, according to Bloomberg News. Still, the publication noted around 100 hotels remain closed, CoStar has reported, and the market is in a depression.

Monmouth Real Estate: We’ll sell to Zell, not Sternlicht

Posted: 23 Jul 2021 07:08 AM PDT

Monmouth Real Estate made its choice Thursday, choosing to stick with an acquisition offer from Sam Zell rather than a last-minute bid from Barry Sternlicht. The Holmdel, New Jersey–based firm announced Thursday it is going with the takeover bid from Zell’s Equity Commonwealth, according to Bloomberg News. The two sides agreed in May to an all-stock deal valued around $2.7 billion. Earlier this month, Sterlicht’s Starwood made an unsolicited takeover bid for Monmouth. Starwood later

Instacart to build fulfillment centers near supermarkets

Posted: 23 Jul 2021 06:15 AM PDT

Instacart is the latest company seeking to cash in on the industrial real estate boom, making plans to build its own fulfillment centers for supermarkets. The grocery delivery company will begin developing an undetermined number of fulfillment centers over the next year, according to the Wall Street Journal. The centers would be able to hold between 10,000 and 50,000 items. Instacart plans to use robots to retrieve items in the fulfillment centers and employees to

Tao Group founder Marc Packer sues over “destroyed” Hamptons tennis court

Posted: 23 Jul 2021 05:45 AM PDT

It’s been a tough year in the hospitality business, but one executive in the field has run into problems at his Hamptons home, too. Real estate investor Marc Packer has served a tennis court installation firm with legal papers after it “literally destroyed” the court at his Water Mill home, according to the New York Post. The Tao Group founder, whose Manhattan-based firm owns and operates restaurants and entertainment venues, claims in a lawsuit that

Locals: Put housing, not warehouses, on landfill site

Posted: 23 Jul 2021 05:00 AM PDT

Neighbors of a 130-acre landfill in Brookhaven Town are happy it is slated to close in late 2024. But they are upset that town officials aim to rezone it for industrial use, according to Newsday. Some locals want the town-owned property to remain zoned for residential use, which Brookhaven officials see as not viable because it has been used for composting and other waste management functions. Some said at a recent public hearing on the

Realtors no longer ♡ “love letters” to sellers

Posted: 23 Jul 2021 04:00 AM PDT

“Love letters” belong in the hands of a significant other, not a home seller, a growing number of realtors say. Ohio Realtors president Seth Task is the latest to come out against the letters, a tactic traditionally used by potential home buyers as a means of forming a personal connection with sellers and gaining an edge on rival bidders. Task told News 5 Cleveland that he no longer welcomes love letters and encourages fellow realtors