The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

It wasn’t exactly a September to remember for investors in property stocks. Shares of real estate companies descended from record highs this month to end the third quarter about where they began, erasing the gains of July and August. The decline in valuations was caused by multiple factors, from overleveraged Chinese property developers to a lingering Delta variant and the Federal Reserve suggesting it would taper its support of the economy – including the mortgage

The federal government’s commercial real estate arm signed a 1.2 million-square-foot lease in Washington, triple the size of the largest last year in the nation’s capital, for the new headquarters of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The General Services Administration inked a 15-year lease with an option to renew for 10 years with Douglas Development and Midtown Equities at 60 New York Avenue NE. The agency began its search for a new home for the

Oaktree Capital Management is planting a new seed in Soho. The global investment manager has bought a retail condo at 90 Greene Street for $33.6 million, public records show. The seller, real estate investment firm Meadow Partners, has a tangled history with the property. In 2017, 60 Guilders bought the condo for $28 million through 121 Spring Retail Owner, an ownership LLC. The same LLC appears in the recent sale documents, registered this time to

A venture capitalist paid nearly $26 million for the former Palm Beach property of convicted sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein, who died in a New York jail two years ago. An entity led by spec home developer Todd Michael Glaser sold the waterfront lot at 360 El Brillo Way for $25.8 million to a trust named after the address, property records show. The Wall Street Journal reported that David Skok, a partner at Waltham,

The City Council’s land use committee on Thursday approved a proposal to rezone half a block of near-waterfront land in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Council member Stephen Levin, whose district includes the project area, voted in favor of the plan, all but ensuring its approval with the full council. The petitioners, 307 Kent Associates, own one of the lots in question, which is currently home to a one-story, 15,000-square-foot warehouse used as an event space. The developers

A proposed senior living building in Mount Vernon could offer visitors a pharmacy and restaurant in addition to time with their loved ones. Marwan Abdullah, owner of Sammy Properties, has proposed an eight-story senior living development at 505 Gramatan Avenue, which currently houses Fleetwood Pharmacy. The development would have 56 units, according to the Westchester & Fairfield County Business Journals. The architect told the Business Journals the available units would include five studios, 35 one-bedroom

The roller coaster ride that is lumber is still going strong. In the past month, the price of lumber futures has soared nearly 40 percent to $672.50 per thousand board feet, near a pre-pandemic high. The present cost is also seeing gains, as Random Lengths reports a 27 percent increase in an index that tracks immediate sales, according to the Wall Street Journal. Lumber futures are a tick above where they were a year ago,

Perhaps taking a page from its own playbook, the New York Public Library has decided it’s better to borrow than own. The library sold six commercial condo units at 445 Fifth Avenue for $34 million to Stream Line LLC, according to city records. The library purchased the space, a block south of its flagship Bryant Park branch, in 2014 for use by its back-office staff. “The Library received favorable terms,” said Iris Weinshall, NYPL’s chief

The pandemic-driven downturn in Manhattan’s office market hit an inflection point in the third quarter, with demand finally exceeding supply. Leasing volume from July to September jumped to a total of 7.23 million square feet, up by 58.8 percent compared to the second quarter. With that, the quarterly net absorption turned positive — for the first time in two years — at 0.87 million square feet, according to Colliers International’s quarterly market report. Franklin Wallach,

Tension is brewing between the Real Estate Board of New York and vendors over changes to its data licensing agreement — a dispute that could threaten brokerages’ access to its Residential Listing Service. Some vendors are pushing back against a new licensing agreement that may determine whether brokerages will continue to have access to the syndicated service through their listing management providers, or LMPs. LMPs are vendors that act as middlemen on the back end,

In a potential blow to the recuperating office market, PriceWaterhouseCoopers is freeing the entirety of its U.S. workforce to work remotely full-time. The accounting and consulting firm’s non-client-facing employees already had the option to work remotely full-time. But the latest decision will allow 40,000 client services to work remotely permanently, according to Reuters. Employees who take the opportunity would be required to come into the office up to three times a month for in-person meetings.

Confidence in multifamily is catching in the outer boroughs. A&E Real Estate picked up two mixed-used buildings in Jackson Heights this week for $58.75 million, about 11 percent below the asking price of $66.5 million, said a spokesperson for Marcus & Millichap’s NY Multifamily group, which brokered the deal. The sale points to investor interest in a discounted multifamily market and confidence in neighborhoods outside of Manhattan, a source familiar with the matter said. The

Friedland Properties and Nightingale Properties have lost their grip on 645 Madison Avenue as lender East West Bank is taking over the leasehold of the 164,000-square-foot building. The takeover comes in the form of an assignment of lease in lieu of foreclosure. East West Bank provided $50 million in loans to aid the developers’ acquisition of the building’s lease in 2015, according to PincusCo, including $5 million in construction loans. The lease is valued at

Jacob Chetrit refinanced his half-empty office building on Third Avenue with a $320 million loan that gives him some extra cash to bring in a new tenant. His Chetrit Organization secured the financing for 850 Third Avenue from the private investment firm HPS Investment Partners, sources familiar with the financing told The Real Deal. What tenants are paying at Chetrit’s 850 Third Ave The financing package for the 617,000-square-foot building includes a $30 million future-funding

 TRD’s Select Spaces team curates a weekly digest of the most opulent, out-there luxury home listings for every type of New Yorker. Before the War, a pack of cigarettes was 72 cents and virtually everything south of Houston was a sweatshop. That overpriced hair salon? Sweatshop. Your startup’s open-plan office? Sweatshop. VEDA? Kooples? Zadig & Voltaire? They used to make clothes there. Now, they just sell them. The war ended, factories closed and Uptown Manhattan

The towers on Billionaires’ Row have become known for pushing the city’s skyline to new heights, but the supertall structures are also among a new class of buildings posing unprecedented safety questions. Only 3 of the city’s 25 tallest residential towers have completed safety tasks as outlined by the Department of Buildings and are among “at least hundreds” of buildings in the city that have not obtained a final certificate of occupancy, according to The

Qira, a new rental financing and management platform, has raised $8 million in Series A funding, aiming to become the one-stop shop for financial services in rental real estate. New York-based Qira, born out of a recent merger between Rentigo, the rent processing platform, and the rental finance company HelloRented, will offer flexible rent and security deposit products as well as AI-based due diligence that allows for quick application approvals. “Rentigo was looking to expand

Showtime isn’t over for the FTC and its review of Zillow’s latest acquisition, which had appeared to pass government muster amid persistent concerns over information consolidation. Zillow’s $500 million acquisition of ShowingTime has been in the works for several months, despite FTC lawyers claiming in June there were no issues. The Information reports FTC Chair Lina Khan isn’t satisfied, however, and is asking both companies for more information. The agency previously told the two companies

Argentinian developer BSD Investments has landed its first U.S. real estate project with the help of its architect and minority investor, Eran Chen. A company controlled by BSD and Chen purchased two adjacent buildings at 62 and 64 Reade Street last month for a total of $11.55 million from two New Jersey-based companies, according to Chen’s architectural firm ODA and property records. The entity, 62-64 Reade Street LLC, closed on $17.5 million in construction financing

Glam rock legend Gene Simmons has sold his sprawling Beverly Hills mansion nearly a year after listing it — and for considerably less than its highest asking price. The Kiss co-founder and wife Shannon Tweed sold the custom-built property for $16 million, according to the Los Angeles Times. The couple bought the two-acre property at 2650 Benedict Canyon Drive in 1986 for $1.3 million, according to the report. They demolished a relatively small home there

In a deal that closed today, 1 Crosby Street has traded hands for $24 million. Land Finance has purchased the 11,000-square-foot corner building, also known as 28 Howard Street. Harry Spitzer Inc., which has held the property since the 1930’s, is the seller. Peter Weisman of Sinvin Real Estate represented the buyer, while Marc Simon of Isaacs and Co. represented the seller. The building was designed in 1872 with two full cast-iron facades. Architects D.

After getting caught illegally renting out their 12,000-square-foot Upper East Side mansion for short-term stays, the owners have decided to give up the keys for good. Claudio Guazzoni dei Zanetti, founder and CEO of IT consulting firm Zanett, and his wife Julia have listed their home at 10 East 76th Street for $30 million, property records show. Though the listing was made public about a week ago, the home has been quietly marketed over the

In another bet on the Garden State, an affiliate of Cammeby’s International picked up a 120-unit multifamily building for $20.5 million in Linden this week. The seller was an LLC associated with accounting firm Citrin Cooperman and New York landowner, the late Charles Dimston. Kislak Company senior vice president Jeff Squires, who arranged the New Jersey deal, said the building at 315-441 Academy Terrace closed at a sub-4-percent cap rate, an indication of the property’s

UPDATED Oct. 1, 2021, 10:52 a.m.: A coalition of advocacy organizations is pushing a state bill to vastly expand street vending across New York City. The legislation would eliminate the city’s cap on the number of licenses for street vendors. It would also let vendors operate just about wherever and whenever they want, with limited exceptions. “My underlying belief is that any New Yorker should be able to open their own small business in their