The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Austin’s mansion market is booming

Posted: 04 Dec 2021 08:06 AM PST

Sellers of luxury homes in Austin, Texas, are feeling like they struck oil. That’s because prices for mansions in one of the hottest markets in the country have skyrocketed over the last year, rising nearly 33 percent over 2020, according to the Wall Street Journal. Demand in and around the city, where East and West coasters are flocking thanks to a lower cost of living, an emerging tech sector and the Covid-era ability to work

Mohegan Gaming completes financing for first phase of South Korea project

Posted: 04 Dec 2021 07:30 AM PST

Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment, the owner of the Mohegan Tribe’s gaming assets, is off to the races in South Korea. MGE lined up the last of $1.55 billion in financing for the first phase of an ambitious entertainment project at the nation’s primary international airport, according to The Day newspaper. The company is contributing $300 million, while Bain Capital and MBK Partners raised $275 million and three Korean banks and a handful of other financiers

A six-acre compound on Florida’s Jupiter Island wants $90M

Posted: 04 Dec 2021 06:30 AM PST

A six-acre oceanfront compound on Florida’s Jupiter Island is on the market for $90 million. A 7,400-square-foot main residence anchors the estate, according to the Wall Street Journal. It is by far the priciest property on the market on the island. The sellers are SEI Investments CEO Alfred West and his wife, Loralee West. They bought the property in 1994 for $3.3 million and started building the compound in 2003. The couple replaced two buildings

Former Boston Celtic Kemba Walker sells Boston mansion in off-market deal

Posted: 04 Dec 2021 06:00 AM PST

New York Knicks point guard and former Boston Celtic Kemba Walker has sold his Boston home. The 31-year-old sold the 9,600-square-foot mansion at 37 Sears Road in Brookline in an off-market deal, according to the Boston Globe. While the price wasn’t disclosed, it was more than the $11.3 million he paid for the unbuilt home in 2019. Walker’s former home in Brookline, among Boston’s most posh suburbs and a favorite among pro athletes, has six

Taconic, Nuveen pay $70M for UES office building

Posted: 03 Dec 2021 01:47 PM PST

Taconic Partners and Nuveen Real Estate are joining forces once again, this time on the purchase of an Upper East Side office loft building. The developers, along with Flatiron Equities, acquired the building for $70 million in an all-cash deal from the Karten family, which owned it for almost four decades, Crain’s reported. The 87,000-square-foot building spans the lots of 309 East 94th Street and 324 East 95th Street and includes a two-story garage and

Mitch Kossoff charged with grand larceny

Posted: 03 Dec 2021 12:03 PM PST

Mitchell Kossoff turned himself into authorities on Friday, an expected development after the prominent real estate attorney went AWOL earlier this year with millions of dollars in clients’ funds. Kossoff has been charged with stealing $14 million from his clients, Law360 reported. His attorney informed the court that Kossoff intends to plead guilty to the top count of first-degree grand larceny, which carries a mandatory prison term, according to prosecutors. Kossoff was freed on his

Editor’s note: My “Succession” obsession

Posted: 03 Dec 2021 12:00 PM PST

Audience members could be forgiven for thinking they were watching an episode of “Succession.” Last month at The Real Deal’s big annual event in Miami, which drew more than 4,000 people, the newly appointed president of Kushner Companies, Nikki Kushner Meyer, took the stage for a talk on the outlook for development. Her billionaire father (and boss), Charlie Kushner, sat vigilantly in the front row, along with her mother, Seryl, and the firm’s CEO,

Despite hot market and revenue growth, RE/MAX loses $25M

Posted: 03 Dec 2021 11:45 AM PST

Just because the third quarter was rich in revenue for some brokerages doesn’t mean profits were something to brag about. RE/MAX revenue and the somewhat dubious metric of “adjusted EBITDA” reached all-time highs last quarter but its net profits and agent growth fell short of expectations, its holding company announced. RE/MAX’s net income in the third quarter swung to a loss of $21.5 million from a profit of $3.6 million a year ago. Revenue rose

Warehousing, construction notch November job gains

Posted: 03 Dec 2021 11:30 AM PST

Job growth was tepid last month, with the U.S. economy adding back just 210,000 positions in November, but of note to real estate interests, construction and warehousing saw significant gains, according to the federal government’s Labor Department. Seasonally adjusted employment in retail declined, and the leisure and hospitality sector added only 23,000 new workers. The overall pace of hiring was slower than a consensus of economists expected, though a rise in national employment has been

Original Devon Colony mansion lists for the first time, asking $18M

Posted: 03 Dec 2021 11:07 AM PST

An Amagansett mansion that’s been in one family for four generations is hitting the market for the first time, asking $18 million — just over $1 million per bedroom. Cincinnati banker William Stanhope Rowe had the 13,000-square-foot home built in 1909 as a summer retreat for his family, according to the Wall Street Journal. It was one of the original homes of the Devon Colony — a group of mansions built by wealthy businessmen in

48% of NYC buildings fail on energy efficiency

Posted: 03 Dec 2021 10:30 AM PST

Energy efficiency among New York City buildings has improved a bit, but almost half of those forced to post a grade are still failing. According to The City’s analysis of preliminary data from the Department of Buildings, 48.3 percent of buildings received either a D or F grade. Receiving a D is essentially the worst a building can do, as Fs are reserved for properties that don’t submit data. The share of Ds dropped to

1 WTC set for $700M refinancing

Posted: 03 Dec 2021 09:00 AM PST

The New York Liberty Development Corporation is reportedly set to issue bonds this month to refinance the debt on One World Trade Center. The state agency approved $700 million in bonds on behalf of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which co-owns the building with the Durst Organization, Bloomberg reported. Proceeds from the offering will redeem securities from a decade ago that were used to finance the building, according to Bloomberg. The

Zillow selling half of iBought homes, will buy back $750M shares

Posted: 03 Dec 2021 08:53 AM PST

Zillow’s disastrous foray into iBuying may finally provide a silver lining to investors. The company’s shares jumped on Friday, a day after the company said it has signed contracts to sell more than half the homes it picked up through Zillow Offers, the iBuying unit that it was forced to shutter last month. Zillow also said it will buy back $750 million of its stock and raised its fourth-quarter revenue estimate for the unit that

Dollar General to open 1k stores aimed at wealthier, more suburban shoppers

Posted: 03 Dec 2021 08:30 AM PST

Suburban shoppers beware: a Popshelf location could soon be coming to a location near you. Dollar General is aiming to operate about 1,000 Popshelf stores by the end of the 2025 fiscal year, CNBC reported. As of late October, there are 30 locations operating in six states. The retailer launched the Popshelf brand in 2020, aiming to draw in higher-income customers. The stores encompass around 9,000 square feet and carry more nonconsumable items, such as

Do-or-die: Group files final appeal for property tax reform

Posted: 03 Dec 2021 08:00 AM PST

Nearly two years after a mid-level appeals court tossed a suit that calls New York City’s property tax system discriminatory, the advocacy group behind the case is asking the state’s top court to rescue it. Tax Equity Now New York filed a petition Wednesday asking the New York Court of Appeals to hear the case. The lower court had found that fixing the tax system was up to the state legislature, not the legal system.

Levered and loaded: KKR looks to flex its real estate muscle

Posted: 03 Dec 2021 07:30 AM PST

There’s a particular kind of “New York is back, baby!” vibe to the Edge, the observation deck at Hudson Yards where thrill-seekers can dangle from the tip of a skyscraper 1,131 feet above the city’s new power center. The notion that plenty of people are willing to pay nearly $200 a pop to shake off their pandemic funk via self-inflicted vertigo is what KKR & Co. was betting on when it paid $500 million for

Luxury rentals prove loan-worthy in outer boroughs

Posted: 03 Dec 2021 06:16 AM PST

Lenders judged luxury rentals worth the risk and several office properties also made the list of the 10 largest loans issued in New York City’s outer boroughs last month. The loans totaled $1.3 billion, down from $1.7 billion for September’s top 10. A year-ago comparison shows lenders extended nearly $2 billion over the largest financing packages in October 2020. Brooklyn led the way last month with eight of the biggest property loans while projects in

Biden’s broadband bucks could wire all of NY’s affordable housing

Posted: 03 Dec 2021 05:00 AM PST

The Biden administration’s infrastructure bill will deliver $65 billion to improve internet access nationally, including enough to New York to possibly wire every low-income rental for broadband. The upgrades would boost property values for owners of that housing, too, without costing them a dime. When the money arrives — NYSAFAH expects it next year — it will be in two buckets: roughly $42 billion to build out the infrastructure for broadband and $14 billion to

TRD’s December issue is live for subscribers!

Posted: 03 Dec 2021 04:30 AM PST

Most everyone agreed that 2020 was, broadly speaking, one of the worst years ever. Now that we’re at the end, how should we consider 2021? The rollout of vaccines revitalized our private lives just as it did business sectors across the nation, including real estate. The omnipresent climate crisis caused floods and fires of Biblical proportions. The reign of Cuomo came to an abrupt end. Elon Musk dumped Grimes and moved to a 400-square-foot, tiny

Arden plans to build 20-story project in Inwood Opportunity Zone

Posted: 03 Dec 2021 04:00 AM PST

Arden Group is planning to turn an Inwood parking garage into a large residential building as developers rush to capitalize on a major rezoning there. The Philadelphia-based developer filed plans with the city for a 20-story, mixed-use building spanning 351,000 square feet with 222 residential units at 4650 Broadway Avenue. The residential component will likely be rentals. In June, Arden filed plans for demolition of the parking garage structure. Arden, which was founded in 1989