Gap to close half of their locations & split Old Navy into separate company

Old Navy will have to go it alone from now on. Owners Gap Inc are closing 230 of their branded stores, roughly half of all their locations, and splitting Old Navy into a separate publicly traded company. Most of the closures will be in the U.S. “Following a comprehensive review by the Gap Inc. board of directors, it’s clear that Old Navy’s business model and customers have increasingly diverged from our specialty brands over time, […]

source https://therealdeal.com/2019/03/01/gap-to-close-half-of-their-locations-split-old-navy-into-separate-company/

Condé Nast subleases 50K sf at 1 WTC to cut costs

Following a year of financial setbacks, media company Condé Nast is continuing to scale back its office space at 1 World Trade Center. The company, which owns brands like Vogue, Vanity Fair and the New Yorker, will sublease an almost 50,000 square foot floor to Ambac Financial Group, who specialize in offering financial guarantees, according to Crain’s. Ambac will relocate from their current downtown space at 1 State Street. The move comes after a year […]

source https://therealdeal.com/2019/03/01/conde-nast-subleases-50k-sf-at-1-wtc-to-cut-costs/

Michael Stern targeting Opportunity Zones in New York and Florida

Michael Stern is jumping on the Opportunity Zone bandwagon. His company JDS Development Group has invested at least $139 million in property purchases in Opportunity Zone sites in Brooklyn, Queens and Allapattah and Opa-Locka in Miami-Dade County, Florida. “Opportunity Zone money is starting to flow,” Stern told Bloomberg,“There are still some out there that are cautious. But I think we feel very confident that the rules of the game are firm enough us to engage […]

source https://therealdeal.com/2019/03/01/michael-stern-targeting-opportunity-zones-in-new-york-and-florida/

Contactually clients spooked by Compass takeover

It’s only been a few days since the $4.4 billion SoftBank-backed brokerage Compass bought Contactually, a cloud-based customer relationship management system used by major brokerages Sotheby’s International Realty and Berkshire Hathaway. And already clients of the CRM are expressing doubts about the future. Current Contactually users are worried about data privacy, the rate of Compass’ tech development and the potential conflicts of using a CRM owned by a rival company, according to Inman. “As Compass […]

source https://therealdeal.com/2019/03/01/contactually-clients-spooked-by-compass-takeover/

Sales swap: Solow taps Corcoran Sunshine to take over marketing at 685 First Ave

In a slow luxury condominium market, Solow Building Company is revamping its sales strategy at 685 First Avenue and tapping Corcoran Sunshine to take over marketing. The company has rebranded the project as One United Nations Park, with a new address of 695 First Avenue. Corcoran Sunshine is taking over sales from Citi Habitats, which will continue to handle leasing for 408 rental units in the building. Solow wouldn’t release numbers on how many units […]

source https://therealdeal.com/2019/03/01/sales-swap-solow-taps-corcoran-sunshine-to-take-over-marketing-at-685-first-ave/

Ironstate’s Michael Barry on his firm’s aggressive expansion plans, rental concessions and the state of the condo market

Ironstate Development Company has doubled down on new projects in both New Jersey and New York City at a time when many are thinking twice about breaking new ground. The Hoboken-based firm — behind such properties as the W Hoboken hotel, the Pod Brooklyn Hotel in Williamsburg and the Standard East Village in Manhattan (with partner André Balazs), among others — has more than $1 billion in development underway. The company, founded in 2001, has a […]

source https://therealdeal.com/issues_articles/ironstate-ironclad-on-development/#new_tab

National Cheat Sheet: Michael Cohen testifies about Trump’s real estate, Toll Brothers sees Great Recession-era numbers… & more

Cohen testimony touches on Trump buildings, ‘Executive-2’ President Donald Trump inflated the values of his real estate holdings in New York so he could get a loan from Deutsche Bank, his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen testified on Feb. 27 in a congressional hearing, using the Trump Organization’s 40 Wall Street in downtown Manhattan as an example. “Find an asset that is comparable, find the highest price per square foot that’s achieved in the area […]

source https://therealdeal.com/2019/03/01/national-cheat-sheet-michael-cohen-testifies-about-trumps-real-estate-toll-brothers-sees-great-recession-era-numbers-more/