As brutal cold grips Chicago, mayor invokes emergency powers against bad landlords

With the city locked down amid wind chills pushing 50 degrees below zero, Mayor Rahm Emanuel issued a rare order Wednesday instructing building inspectors not to wait for permission from landlords before fixing heating systems in rental buildings that violate city code. The mayor directed buildings department Commissioner Judy Frydland to “use her police powers” to “to restore heat in buildings where landlords are failing to do their jobs,” Emanuel said in a press release. […]

source https://therealdeal.com/chicago/2019/01/30/as-brutal-cold-grips-city-mayor-invokes-emergency-powers-against-bad-landlords/#new_tab

Federal Reserve holds interest rate, stresses “patience” on future hikes

The Federal Reserve has decided hold interest rates steady for the first time in more than a year. The benchmark rate will stay between 2.25 and 2.5 percent, and the Fed said on Wednesday that it will be “patient” in making future rate decisions. It’s a departure from its recent policymaking — the Fed has increased rates in five consecutive quarters and nine times since December 2015. Some analysts take the Fed’s latest comments to […]

source https://therealdeal.com/miami/2019/01/30/federal-reserve-holds-interest-rate-stresses-patience-on-future-hikes/#new_tab

City Council seeks to ramp up oversight of vacant property

Six proposed bills seek to ramp up oversight of vacant property in the city, including one that would charge landlords weekly fines. One of the proposed City Council measures would require landlords to annually register their land — once it’s sat vacant for a year — with the city. Those who fail to do so face fines of up to $500 per week, Curbed reported. “Vacant properties are troublesome for our communities they bring down […]

source https://therealdeal.com/2019/01/30/city-council-seeks-to-ramp-up-oversight-of-vacant-property/

NYC’s first medical marijuana dispensary gets a Brooklyn outpost

Columbia Care, the company that opened New York City’s first marijuana dispensary in early 2016, now has an outpost in Downtown Brooklyn. The dispensary inked a 7,000-square-foot lease at the ground floor and lower level of 44 Court Street, according to a press release. Columbia was represented by Michael Dubin and Hector Rodriguez of Savitt Partners, who also represented the company for their first lease, at 212 East 14th Street in the East Village. In […]

source https://therealdeal.com/2019/01/30/nycs-first-medical-marijuana-dispensary-gets-a-brooklyn-outpost/

The Agency’s Umansky derides Purplebricks agents as “plumbers”

Mauricio Umansky says Purplebricks’ agents are “plumbers” who can’t offer what traditional agents can. The Agency co-founder leveled the criticism in an exchange with Eric Eckardt, Purplebricks’ U.S. CEO, at a panel discussion in New York on Tuesday. Umansky was responding to Eckardt’s prediction that agents across the residential industry would see a “compression,” in commissions as they compete with brokerages like his, which has until recently worked under a flat fee model and says […]

source https://therealdeal.com/la/2019/01/30/the-agencys-umansky-derides-purplebricks-agents-as-plumbers/#new_tab

The world’s largest voluntary demolition will be done in pieces. Here’s how 270 Park will disappear

From the outside, the demolition of 270 Park Avenue will look like a painfully tame round of Jenga. Inside, crews will meticulously tear apart 60 years worth of history. JPMorgan Chase plans to knock down its Midtown East headquarters to make way for a new, 70-story office tower that will span an impressive 2.5 million square feet. The new building will be the first to take advantage of the district’s rezoning, which was approved in […]

source https://therealdeal.com/2018/03/08/the-worlds-largest-voluntary-demolition-will-be-done-in-pieces-heres-how-270-park-will-disappear/#new_tab

Chinese developer with checkered history helped feds gather evidence against Chicago pol

A Chinatown developer with a history of alleged fraud became the FBI’s way into gathering evidence against Alderman Danny Solis (25th) in 2014. In 2014, investigators threatened to charge See Wong for his involvement in a “fraudulent scheme” but offered him leniency in exchange for cooperation that would eventually have him secretly recording Solis and Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan,  according to the Sun-Times. Wong tried for years to line up financing for Chinatown projects […]

source https://therealdeal.com/chicago/2019/01/30/developer-with-checkered-history-helped-feds-gather-evidence-against-solis-report/#new_tab