The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

A judge ordered the Gap and its Old Navy subsidiary to pay millions of dollars in back rent at the Times Square flagship, rejecting claims that Covid closures meant the retailers were no longer bound by the lease deal. Last month, State Supreme Court Judge Debra James directed the apparel giant to release a $5.8 million bond secured with the court to the landlord, a family business now managed by Charles Moss III. The landlord

Hawaii remains hot — both its climate and its real estate — with the Aloha State recording one of its biggest home sales of all-time last week. An investment banker sold his Maui mansion to Hollywood actress Barret Swatek and her husband, retired hedge fund CEO Adam Weiss, for $45 million. Compass agent Anne Hogan Perry, who represented the buyers, told the Associated Press that it was the second-priciest home sale in state history, after

Early-stage VC firm Moderne Ventures has raised $200 million for a fund that counts proptech among its target industries. The firm easily surpassed its $125 million fundraising goal. Investors in Moderne Ventures Fund II included Realogy, Greystar Real Estate Partners, Oaktree Capital-managed funds and major multifamily REITs AvalonBay Communities and Camden Property Trust. The REIT JBG Smith also contributed. The firm said the fund will invest in tech companies that are “reshaping real estate, home

Weeks after the Champlain Towers South came down, officials are now concerned part of the pool deck could collapse, creating further instability at the Collins Avenue site. This weekend, workers will be installing beams to support the area that is “in danger of collapsing,” attorney Michael Goldberg, the court-appointed receiver for the Champlain Towers South condo association, said during a hearing on Friday. The pool patio deck is on the southeast corner of the site

Marcus & Millichap made a V-shaped recovery a reality in the second quarter. The commercial brokerage giant achieved the highest quarterly revenue and earnings in the company’s 50 year history, president and CEO Hessam Nadji told analysts during a second-quarter earnings call Friday. The firm closed nearly 3,300 transactions in the recent quarter, more than doubling the transactions closed in the same period last year, and up nearly 30 percent from the second quarter of

Insurer Continental Casualty is refusing to cover any potential fines tied to a recent legal decision against the Trump Organization. A judge ruled that the former president’s company had pumped almost 20 million gallons of water daily into and out of Trump International Hotel & Tower to and from the Chicago River without a permit. As the condo and hotel skyscraper’s property insurance company, Continental could potentially be on the hook for up to $12

The Dixie fire, which continues to burn in Northern California, is threatening nearly 14,000 structures and is now the state’s third largest wildfire ever. It ripped through the historic mining town of Greenville, burning three-quarters of its structures, according to the Los Angeles Times. The fire burned nearly 433,000 acres as of Friday morning and was 35 percent contained. The Dixie fire now trails only 2018’s Mendocino Complex fire and last year’s August Complex fire

The hits keep on coming for HFZ Capital. The troubled developer was at the losing end of a recent court decision involving a lender on the XI, HFZ’s luxury condo project by the High Line. A state Supreme Court judge ruled that HFZ owed $136 million to the U.K.-based Children’s Investment Fund, which provided a nearly $1.3 billion loan in 2017 for the West Side development, according to Crain’s. The lender claimed HFZ stopped making

It’s a hot, hot summer for the nation’s labor market. Restaurants, bars and hotels powered private-sector job gains for a second straight month, calling back 327,000 workers in July — more than any other non-governmental sector, according to figures released Friday by the Department of Labor. The leisure and hospitality industry accounted for 54 percent of all private-sector job growth last month, adding 380,000 jobs to the economy. Nearly 1 million people returned to work

Top commercial real estate brokers Doug Harmon and Adam Spies are working on a new contract with Cushman & Wakefield — negotiations that could impact how billions of dollars’ worth of real estate is traded. Harmon and Spies’ current contract with Cushman expires in October, five years after the brokers decamped from their longtime home, Eastdil Secured, in the fall of 2016. When the duo joined Cushman, they received a large signing bonus that’s been

Apartments are where the heart is for investors, who set a second quarter record with a three-month spending spree. Investors purchased $53 billion of multifamily real estate from April through June, according to Real Capital Analytics data. The buying binge marks a big turnaround from last year, when investors spent less than $20 billion during the same quarter in the early days of the pandemic, according to Bloomberg News. Apartment buildings are seen as a

In a tumultuous year for New York’s retail market, a few glimmers of hope pierced the malaise. Thursday evening, the Real Estate Board of New York highlighted those silver linings at its annual Retail Deal of the Year awards. CBRE’s Eric Gelber, Jordan Kaplan, Gary Trock and Zach Parisi took home the award for Most Ingenious Retail Deal of the Year. Last August, the team secured a 16,500 square foot lease for the restaurant Avra

New York’s rent relief program was supposed to melt away the state’s multi-billion-dollar rent debt. Instead, landlords say their arrears have only mounted since the applications portal opened. The owners say some tenants have stopped paying rent in order to qualify for the aid, seizing on the opportunity to get ahead on other expenses. But with rent relief stalled, landlords such as Jerry Waxenberg are paying the price. Still, he doesn’t fault his tenants for

A quick-selling condop development on the Upper East Side designed by Robert A.M. Stern has landed a $100 million refinance. The developers of 1228 Madison Avenue — CBSK Ironstate and Arel Capital — secured the financing from Madison Realty Capital. The new debt refinances a $65 million construction loan provided by Deutsche Bank in 2019 and will cover the project’s closing costs. CBSK’s Scott Shnay and Madison Realty Capital’s Josh Zegen noted the quick timeframe

Add RXR Realty to the list of real estate companies requiring staff members to be vaccinated against Covid or risk termination. The company announced Wednesday that all of its employees will need to get vaccinated. Venders, contractors and other guests entering company property must also show proof of vaccination, according to Newsday. CEO Scott Rechler cited the growing threat of the Delta variant as the rationale. Manhattan-based RXR employs around 500 people, including about 150

A rising tide lifts all … insurance premiums? Developers and residents could soon find themselves up to their necks in new costs and code requirements, courtesy of updated flood maps. New flood maps from New York City and FEMA due in 2022 and 2024, respectively, could place thousands of more residents in the flood zone, requiring them to pay for flood insurance, according to NY1. FEMA’s last preliminary map — which shows current flood risk

Rattling across cobblestone streets won’t be an issue for drivers in the Meatpacking District any more. But not because the cobblestones are going anywhere. The Meatpacking District has committed to becoming one of the most pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods in the city, permanently banning cars from the area, according to the New York Post. The Meatpacking Business Improvement District will use hexagon-shaped planter barricades to keep out traffic. Among the areas being blocked off are Gansevoort Street,

Cushman & Wakefield announced a leadership change and reported a net income of $52.7 million in the second quarter, finally reversing the string of losses that has persisted since the first quarter of 2020. The positive result was attributed to re-energized brokerage activities, said CEO Brett White during an earnings call late Thursday. “Our second quarter brokerage revenue, including our leasing and capital markets businesses, was up 89 percent compared to a year ago, and

Developers in Manhattan can breathe a sigh of relief: New condo inventory is finally falling in the borough. The 6,302 new-development units in Manhattan at the end of the second quarter represented an 11.5 percent drop from 2019, according to a report by Brown Harris Stevens Development Marketing. A drop like this hasn’t been seen since about 2013 when the market began to bounce back following the Great Recession, said Stephen Kliegerman, BHS Development Marketing

Americans are divided about the prospect of returning to the office. With a mutant virus resurrecting Covid concerns, remote-work productivity surprisingly high, and pajamas as comfortable as ever, companies and employees are not exactly on the same page. Just ask Aby Rosen’s wife. Dr. Samantha Boardman, the Upper East Side psychiatrist married to the prominent commercial landlord, says a return to the office has her clients on edge. “There is a huge amount of dread