Martha Stewart is being considered for a presidential pardon. Here’s what she’s been up to with her business

Martha Stewart, 74, stands over the conference table in her light-filled corner office, primping a shallow bowl of pale, nearly stemless blossoms. “I can’t stand flower arrangements like this,” she says. “It is just such a waste of flowers.” I couldn’t identify the flowers and they looked rather stylish to my untrained eye. “I don’t know much about arranging flowers,” I say, trying to fill the silence. “Oh, you don’t?” Stewart asks, looking up with […]

source https://therealdeal.com/2018/05/31/martha-stewart-is-being-considered-for-a-presidential-pardon-heres-what-shes-been-up-to-with-her-business/

Michael Besen sues partner Amit Doshi for $10M

There’s a feud brewing at the very top of one of New York’s most active commercial firms. Besen & Associates founder Michael Besen is suing his partner Amit Doshi for $10 million, claiming he’s mismanaged the brokerage and several investment properties they own together. Besen alleges Doshi, executive director of the investment sales-focused brokerage, breached his fiduciary duty to the firm and half-a-dozen multifamily properties they co-own, according to a summons filed in Manhattan Supreme […]

source https://therealdeal.com/2018/05/31/michael-besen-sues-partner-amit-doshi-for-10m/

Blackstone, Solus settle Hovnanian credit default swap dispute

A showdown between a lender and a gambler over a New Jersey and South Florida home-construction empire has ended. Solus Alternative Asset Management withdrew its lawsuit against Blackstone Group subsidiary GSO Capital Partners on Wednesday, after reaching a settlement on claims that GSO engineered a debt default by struggling builder Hovnanian Enterprises. In 2017, Hovnanian, which had not made a profit since 2014, borrowed money from Solus to pay off other debts nearing payment deadlines. […]

source https://therealdeal.com/2018/05/31/blackstone-solus-settle-hovnanian-credit-default-swap-dispute/

Ofer’s Global Holdings invests $100M in 25 Kent

Global Holdings Group is making a preferred-equity investment of $100 million in the office-and-retail Williamsburg project at 25 Kent Avenue. Rubenstein Partners, which is co-developing the project with Toby Moskovits’ Heritage Equity Partners,  secured the funding, according to the Commercial Observer. The eight-story, 500,000-square-foot project spans one full block by the East River waterfront, and it should come online by the end of the year. Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer owns Global Holdings, and the company […]

source https://therealdeal.com/2018/05/31/ofers-global-holdings-invests-100m-in-25-kent/

Will passenger drones take flight at one of Miami’s largest new developments?

 Developer Dan Kodsi is planning for a future with passenger drones – also known as flying cars. Kodsi is modifying plans for Paramount Miami Worldcenter to fit a 5,000-square-foot skyport on top of the 60-story, 530-unit tower. Residents would be able to land on top of the building in vertical takeoff and landing vehicles, enter Paramount through a sky lobby and ride down to their unit in a glass-enclosed elevator. But flying cars are […]

source https://therealdeal.com/miami/2018/05/31/will-passenger-drones-take-flight-at-one-of-miamis-largest-new-developments/#new_tab

Chetrit, Minskoff and Moinian get $375M refi in Garment District

Moinian Group, Chetrit Group and Minskoff Equities scored a $375 million loan to refinance a Garment District office complex. Insurance giant American International Group provided the money to refinance 500-512 Seventh Avenue. The loan replaces older financing from 2006, including a loan for $186 million and another for $20.1 million, Debtwire reported. The three partners acquired the ground lease for the property, along with 228 West 38th Street, in 1999 for $140 million, according to […]

source https://therealdeal.com/2018/05/31/chetrit-minskoff-and-moinian-get-375m-refi-in-garment-district/

Federal Reserve designates Deutsche a “troubled” bank

Deutsche Bank received a “troubled” designation by the federal regulator last year, prompting the bank to take measures to decrease risky lending operations and trading. As a result of the downgrade by the Federal Reserve, the bank has had to seek approval from the feds on hiring, firing and even employee transfers. The rating, which was reported by the Wall Street Journal, judges a bank’s capital adequacy, asset quality, management, earnings, liquidity, and sensitivity to […]

source https://therealdeal.com/2018/05/31/federal-reserve-designates-deutsche-a-troubled-bank/

Bill, Melinda Gates buy daughter a $5M pad at 1212 Fifth

Bill and Melinda Gates bought a condominium unit in East Harlem for $5 million. But it’s not for them. The deal for the unit at 1212 Fifth Avenue closed in December 2017, the New York Post reported. The condo, purchased for their daughter Jennifer, was last asking $5.25 million. The purchase went through a trust administered by Watermark Estate Management Services LLC, which Bill Gates uses for personal and family matters, according to the newspaper. […]

source https://therealdeal.com/2018/05/31/bill-melinda-gates-buy-daughter-a-5m-pad-at-1212-fifth/

Sears to close another 72 US stores

Sears Holdings Corporation is set to close another 72 stores as the company attempts to stave off plummeting sales. While the retail giant has struggled to retain customers who are increasingly heading online to Amazon or seeking out Walmart stores, it has already closed hundreds of stores. With about a half-dozen stores in New York City, it is unclear which stores will shutter but the company is expected to announce closures Thursday, according to the Wall […]

source https://therealdeal.com/2018/05/31/sears-to-close-another-72-us-stores/

Feds to order NYC to shell out at least $1B to fix public housing

Federal prosecutors are set to order New York City to fork out at least $1 billion to fix thousands of deteriorating public housing units over the next four years. After a 2015 investigation conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, and in following years, it was revealed that the New York City Housing Authority failed to conduct annual inspections of lead paint on more than 55,000 apartments, after it […]

source https://therealdeal.com/2018/05/31/feds-to-order-nyc-to-shell-out-at-least-1b-to-fix-public-housing/

Quantifying brokerages’ biggest disruptors

  Even before Town Residential’s bombshell announcement that it would close its core resale and leasing divisions last month, some skeptics were characterizing traditional residential firms as a dying breed and predicting that they’d soon be obsolete. They point to the paper-thin margins as well as the rapid changes in technology and consumer behavior. And in the age of discount firms, star agents, open data and huge sums of venture capital, traditional brokerages are getting […]

source https://therealdeal.com/2018/05/31/quantifying-brokerages-biggest-disruptors/

Hello Alfred raises $40M in Series B

Hello Alfred, an in-home assistant and property management startup, raised $40 million in a Series B funding round, the company announced Thursday. Real estate companies DivcoWest and Invesco led the round, which also included New Enterprise Associates and Spark Capital. The firm plans to use the new funds to expand into new cities (it is currently in eight) and to invest in data science. Launched in 2014, Hello Alfred offers an alternative to the traditional […]

source https://therealdeal.com/2018/05/31/hello-alfred-raises-40m-in-series-b/

E&M looks to sell Washington Hts. portfolio for $200M-plus

Irving Langer’s E&M Associates is looking to sell a nine-building portfolio in Washington Heights it bought just two years ago, sources told The Real Deal. The landlord, which is one of the city’s largest owners of multifamily housing , is asking between $200 million and $215 million for the buildings, the sources said. Most of the properties lie along St. Nicholas Avenue between West 164th and 192nd streets. The Iskander family’s Intervest Development Corp. sold […]

source https://therealdeal.com/2018/05/30/em-looks-to-sell-washington-hts-portfolio-for-200m-plus/

The indestructible tenant? Discount retailers are surviving the “e-pocalypse”

It’s been called the “e-pocalypse”: the closing of so many brick-and-mortar stores because customers would rather get what they need with a click. But not every retailer seems to be swept up in the destruction. Discount retailers, which sell everything from spaghetti sauce and shampoo to sweatshirts — sometimes for as little as $1 — are not turning off the lights for good, like department stores and others. They’re actually exploding in growth countrywide, experts […]

source http://therealdeal.com/issues_articles/the-indestructible-tenant/

Joel Schreiber, RedSky land $104M refi for Williamsburg portfolio

RedSky Capital, JZ Capital Partners and Joel Schreiber’s Waterbridge Capital refinanced their Williamsburg residential-and-retail portfolio dubbed Redbridge with a $104 million loan, according to JLL, which brokered the deal. JPMorgan Chase provided the financing for the 85,000-square-foot portfolio. The properties are located at 237–241 Bedford Avenue, 247 Bedford Avenue, 160-164 North 4th Street and 159-173 North 3rd Street. Retail tenants include Apple, the Corcoran Group, Sephora and the Dig Inn. JLL’s Jonathan Schwartz, Aaron Appel, […]

source https://therealdeal.com/2018/05/30/joel-schreiber-redsky-land-104m-refi-for-williamsburg-portfolio/

City struggles to find site for Bronx jail development

Rikers Island is closing, but finding a site in the Bronx for a new jail is proving to be a difficult task. The location needs to be finalized over the next few months for the city to meet its deadline of starting the public-review process for all borough jail locations by the end of 2018, according to Crain’s. They are currently looking at two sites in the Bronx, but both come with problems. One site […]

source https://therealdeal.com/2018/05/30/city-struggles-to-find-site-for-bronx-jail-development/

Prepare your inboxes for The Real Deal’s national real estate news roundup

The Real Deal’s National Weekly Roundup features the top real estate news from the biggest cities in the U.S. The newsletter includes a must-have mix of market analysis, breaking deal news, inside info on what’s happening on the brokerages scenes across the U.S. and much more. Sign up here to join 200,000 subscribers, including residential and commercial brokers, developers, lenders, general contractors, architects and other industry professionals. Please note: If you are using a company […]

source http://therealdeal.com/2018/04/06/prepare-your-inboxes-for-the-real-deals-national-real-estate-news-roundup/

Chinese publisher to add 16 floors in Midtown hotel conversion

Chinese publisher WanXin Media is moving ahead with plans to convert the office building at 7-15 West 44th Street into a hotel, a permit application filed with the Department of Building on Tuesday shows. The company will build on an additional 16 floors, bringing the height up from 12 stories to 28, according to the plans. WanXin’s hotel is set to hold 155 rooms in 90,375 square feet, indicating larger than average rooms for a […]

source https://therealdeal.com/2018/05/30/chinese-publisher-to-add-16-floors-in-midtown-hotel-conversion/

Developers, good luck trying to go all out in Central Harlem

The Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to create a new historic district between Lenox Avenue and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard and between West 130th and 132nd Streets. The district has about 164 buildings, and is notable for its 19th century row houses in Renaissance Revival, Romanesque Revival, Queen Anne and neo-Grec styles. The move is likely to irk developers. “There is a lot of history tied to these buildings, from the Harlem Renaissance […]

source https://therealdeal.com/2018/05/30/developers-good-luck-trying-to-go-all-out-in-central-harlem/

No joke: Mel Brooks renting LA home for $135K per month

In some parts of the country, you could buy a nice house with $270,000. But in Malibu it’ll only get you a couple months of rent. That and a lifetime claim that comedy legend Mel Brooks was once your landlord. The 91-year-old actor, writer, and producer has listed his longtime Malibu home for rent this July and August for $135,000 per month, according to Variety. Brooks and his late wife, actress Anne Bancroft, bought the […]

source http://therealdeal.com/la/2018/05/29/no-joke-mel-brooks-renting-malibu-home-for-135k-per-month/#new_tab

4.5 million homeowners are still underwater on their mortgages post-crisis

Almost 4.5 million U.S. households are underwater on their mortgages a decade after the housing crisis. About 9.1 percent of households owed more than their homes are worth in the fourth quarter of 2017, Bloomberg reported Tuesday. And about 713,000 owe at least twice as much as their property’s value, the report said, citing Zillow data. The percentage is declining, but those in areas with stagnant property values are “trapped in their homes with no […]

source https://therealdeal.com/2018/05/30/4-5-million-homeowners-are-still-underwater-on-their-mortgages-post-crisis/

Winklevoss twins expand their crypto office in Midtown

The Winklevoss twins are expanding their cryptocurrency exchange office in Midtown. Gemini Trust, an exchange for digital currencies created by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, has signed for an expansion of 17,050 square feet at Columbia Property Trust’s 315 Park AvenueSouth, the Commercial Observer reported. The landlord declined to disclose the terms of the deal and the floor that Gemini will be occupying, the report said. CBRE’s Ross Zimbalist and Michael Blum handled the deal for […]

source https://therealdeal.com/2018/05/30/winklevoss-twins-expand-their-crypto-office-in-midtown/

Design firm CallisonRTKL takes floor at Woolworth Building

Design and architecture consultancy CallisonRTKL signed a lease for the entire 16th floor of the Woolworth Building. The company would occupy about 28,100 square feet for 10 years at 233 Broadway, the New York Post reported. CallisonRTKL is relocating from two floors at 148 Lafayette Street. The asking rent is $57.50 per square foot. CallisonRTKL, which designs for companies including Nordstrom, was represented by Mitchell Konsker and David Dusek of JLL. The ownership group of […]

source https://therealdeal.com/2018/05/30/design-firm-callisonrtkl-takes-floor-at-woolworth-building/

Mapping the real estate holdings of NYC’s universities

 When Seth Pinsky spent his first year at Columbia University in 1989, the school had to work a lot harder to persuade students that its Upper Manhattan location was a safe place. “Their whole pitch was: We have a real campus, unlike other schools in New York. You can be safe here. We have control of our immediate neighborhood, so we make sure that nothing too scary happens in Morningside Heights,” the RXR Realty executive and […]

source https://therealdeal.com/2018/05/30/mapping-the-real-estate-holdings-of-nycs-universities/

The retail rent test: Arbitrator to decide what Barneys’ Madison Ave. flagship is worth

As the divide widens over an appropriate rent for prime ground-floor retail digs, a landlord and a retailer are deadlocked in a duel on the streets of Madison Avenue. The dispute between Barneys, the retailer with racks lined with high-end brands, and Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation over the 230,000-square-foot flagship store at in the Upper East Side is nearing a conclusion, with the landlord seeking to triple the rent. An arbitrator was assigned last year after […]

source https://therealdeal.com/2018/05/30/the-retail-rent-test-arbitrator-to-decide-what-barneys-madison-ave-flagship-is-worth/