The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

After huge head start for rest of US, NY now ranks 1st in rent relief rollout

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 03:15 PM PDT

Despite being one of the final states to get rent relief up and running, New York now ranks first in the nation in the total dollar amount of payments approved. All it took was a verbal lashing from Sen. Chuck Schumer, multiple proddings from state lawmakers and a scathing report by the Comptroller — oh, and a new governor. The state has now approved or distributed $1.2 billion in federal rental assistance funds, Gov. Kathy

Vanbarton Group, church sued by foreign investors in fallout from HFZ debacle

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 03:12 PM PDT

Real estate investors beware: Don’t bet against God. Or at least not against religious institutions shielded by New York’s Religious Corporations Law. That lesson may have come too late for those who lost more than $60 million last year as insolvency enveloped HFZ Capital’s office development at 29th Street and Fifth Avenue. A group of foreign investors last week sued Vanbarton Group, which took control of the project as mezzanine lender through an April foreclosure

Nassau County Executive floats $70M property tax cut ahead of Nov. election

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 03:00 PM PDT

Seven weeks ahead of election day, Nassau County Executive Laura Curran is offering voters a deal. As part of a $3.5 billion county budget for next year, Curran has proposed a $70 million property tax reduction, according to Newsday. For a property assessed at $500,000, the reduction would save the average homeowner around $140 per year. It’s the first time that Curran, a Democrat, has proposed a property tax cut since assuming office in 2018.

Homebuilding gap between supply and demand widens

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 02:30 PM PDT

The gulf between supply and demand of new homes continues to grow, heightening difficult conditions for first-time buyers to enter the market. Using a metric reflecting when an individual moves out of a shared living situation, U.S. Census numbers show 12.3 million households were formed from January 2012 to June 2021. However, only 7 million single-family homes were built in that time, according to CNBC. Research from Realtor.com reported by the outlet reveals that a

Real estate sustainability platform Measurabl raises $50M in Series C round

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 02:15 PM PDT

Measurabl, the San Diego firm that says it’s the most widely used ESG platform for real estate, raised $50 million in Series C funding from backers including some of the industry’s biggest companies.. Barry Sternlicht’s Starwood Capital Group, the real estate services firms Colliers and Cushman & Wakefield, and Lincoln Property Company, were first-time investors, according to a statement from Measurabl. Energy Impact Partners led the round, which also tapped existing investors S&P Global, Salesforce

For real this time? City schedules tax lien sale

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 02:08 PM PDT

With just a little more than three months left in its existence, the de Blasio administration said Tuesday it would finally hold its oft-delayed property tax lien sale. The city’s Department of Finance announced it will hold the sale Dec. 14, except for properties owing water and sewer debt. The sale has been postponed repeatedly since May 2020, first by the city and then by the state. The proximate reason for the delays was the

SoCal’s “Space Beach” is ready for liftoff

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 01:00 PM PDT

Amazon, UPS and FedEx were all interested. In 2019, a former Boeing C-17 manufacturing facility in Long Beach, abandoned by the firm in 2015, was up for redevelopment. The 1.8 million-square-foot facility included large hangars fit for rockets, plane assembly and other aerospace manufacturing. Given its proximity to Long Beach Airport and the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, e-commerce giants saw it as no-brainer. But the City of Long Beach wasn’t particularly eager

Hochul urged to resolve Mario Cuomo Bridge dispute

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 12:46 PM PDT

Gov. Kathy Hochul is being asked to clean up another of Andrew Cuomo’s messes — on his father’s namesake bridge, lest construction firms reject future state projects. Tappan Zee Constructors sent a letter to Hochul about the state’s management of the Mario Cuomo Bridge project. In the letter, detailed by Politico, TZC executive Sam Choy warned Hochul that contractors in the consortium could turn away from future state projects until a resolution is reached. The

Ron Perelman lists his other East Hampton mansion for $115M

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 11:30 AM PDT

Looking to continue his asset selling spree, billionaire Ron Perelman has listed his East Hampton estate for $115 million. This wasn’t isn’t the famed estate The Creeks; it’s another sprawling property on Lily Pond Lane, according to Dirt. The home, which dates to the early 1970s,spans 11,435 square feet and has 10 bedrooms. It’s on 9.25 acres and sits on the beach, with 385 feet of ocean frontage, according to the report. Perelman paid just

Cuomo’s High Line project survives him, boosting Brookfield

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 11:30 AM PDT

Andrew Cuomo’s resignation last month left the fate of several of his pet projects up in the air. At least one — his proposed extension of Manhattan’s High Line — is going ahead. The Empire State Development Corporation on Tuesday voted to move forward with the disgraced former governor’s plan to extend the elevated park to Moynihan Train Hall and the Jacob Javits Convention Center. Doug Carr, executive director of the Moynihan Station Development Corporation,

Sidewalk space a hot commodity as city mulls permanent outdoor dining

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 11:00 AM PDT

At Beginnings, a literary-themed bar and restaurant in Atlantic Beach, owner Ben Freiser has doubled his seating during the pandemic. Adding to the existing patio and indoor dining room, he’s set up a commercial party tent in the parking lot and a second patio near the street. Eighteen months into the pandemic, diners now demand outdoor seating — and restaurants must provide. “I don’t think you can put a price on it,” Freiser said. “Never

Less than one year after launch, Pacaso is valued at $1.5B

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 10:34 AM PDT

A mere concept less than a year ago, second-home startup Pacaso just hit a $1.5 billion valuation and is expanding internationally. The San Francisco-based platform for buying and selling fractions of vacation homes said today that it raised $125 million in a Series C round led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 — a first-time investor in the company — and will begin operating in Spain later this year. Launched in October 2020 by former Zillow

Compass acquires Dallas-based title, escrow company

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 10:00 AM PDT

Compass, its coffers swollen by the housing boom, shows few signs of slowing its shopping spree. The brokerage said Tuesday that it will buy Dallas-based LegacyTexas Title, expanding its title insurance and escrow business in the nation’s second-most populous state. Compass didn’t disclose terms of the deal, which is expected to close by the end of the year pending Texas regulatory approval. It entered the title and escrow business in October 2020, when it acquired

One Boerum Place lands $177M recapitalization

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 09:15 AM PDT

One Boerum Place’s pivot to luxury rentals is moving ahead with an approximately $176.5 million debt package to recapitalize the Brooklyn tower. QuadReal Property Group and Global Holdings Management Group led the recapitalization for the developers, a joint venture headlined by Avery Hall Investments. Global Holdings is contributing $40.5 million in mezzanine debt, according to the Commercial Observer. Developers on the project also include Aria Development and Allegra Holdings. The Downtown Brooklyn building was set

Amazon to open 100 more US facilities in September

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 08:25 AM PDT

Christmas is already on the horizon for Amazon. The tech giant, among the biggest players in the industrial real estate market, aims to open 100 U.S. facilities this month and is gearing up to hire 125,000 warehouse workers ahead of the busy holiday season, according to the Wall Street Journal. The company’s starting wage of $15 an hour has drawn criticism in the past. Yet Amazon says minimum wages have risen to an average of

National Association of Realtors moves to block antitrust probe

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 07:10 AM PDT

The National Association of Realtors is biting back at the Justice Department, aiming to block an antitrust probe into the trade group months after a settlement between the parties collapsed. NAR filed a petition in federal court Monday to block a DOJ subpoena issued in July, shortly after the DOJ withdrew from its proposed settlement with NAR and signaled a “broader investigation” into the trade group’s alleged anti-competitive practices. The association said it was asking

Despite hurdles, developer plans 10-story affordable housing complex in Yonkers

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 06:40 AM PDT

An affordable housing complex is being planned in Yonkers, although development of the project could still face several obstacles. MacQuesten Development is proposing a 10-story building with 76 units and ground-floor retail on a five-lot portfolio that includes 32, 36 and 38 Main Street, as well as 1 and 3 Riverdale Avenue. All 76 units in the building would be priced as affordable housing, an attorney for MacQuesten told the Westchester & Fairfield County Business

Connecticut firm aims to replace White Plains retail with residential

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 05:30 AM PDT

Frozen Ropes could turn into hot homes for hundreds of renters if a White Plains proposal comes to fruition. RMS Companies, a developer based in Stamford, is proposing a 134-unit, six-story apartment building at 51 South Broadway, to replace a vacant structure that a baseball and softball training center left several years ago. The Common Council is expected to begin reviewing the plan Monday night, according to the Westchester & Fairfield County Business Journals. Post-Broadway

5 real estate issues to watch in Dems’ $3.5T budget

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 05:00 AM PDT

Federal lawmakers are hashing out a $3.5 trillion spending plan that could include billions of dollars for new affordable housing and incentives for cities to combat exclusionary zoning. The House Ways and Means Committee on Monday outlined a series of tax reforms to help pay for the plan, including increases to the corporate tax rate, capital gains taxes and a 3-percentage-point surtax on individuals making more than $5 million a year. Lawmakers are still drafting

Flight to quality in office real estate leaves trophy buildings the only winners

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 04:30 AM PDT

Seventeen months into the pandemic, Black Rock — the famed Eero Saarinen-designed skyscraper whose hulking presence has loomed over Manhattan’s Sixth Avenue for nearly 60 years — finally found a buyer. When the deal closes later this year, the 38-story office tower at 51 West 52nd Street will fetch $760 million, or about $874 per foot, nearly 25 percent less than the $1 billion that owner ViacomCBS sought for its longtime home before the pandemic

Pandemic pricing arrives to middle of i-sales market

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 04:00 AM PDT

The effects of the pandemic on real estate were apparent last week in New York City’s mid-level investment-sales market as hotels and medical offices made up a majority of deals. Hotel buildings have traded at a discount as the recovery of tourism and especially business travel have been slow. Medical office space has weathered the pandemic better. In New York last week, two middle-market investment sales took place in Manhattan, one closed in Queens and

Biden nominates City Planning director Marisa Lago for Commerce Dept role

Posted: 13 Sep 2021 07:14 PM PDT

President Biden plans to nominate the head of City Planning for a key role in the U.S. Commerce Department. If confirmed, Marisa Lago would serve as under secretary of commerce for international trade, the White House announced in a press release Monday. Lago has served as director of the Department of City Planning and chair of the City Planning Commission since March 2017. Prior to that, she served in the Obama administration as Assistant Secretary