Maison Kayser may bid New York adieu

Maison Kayser’s last tweet, dated June 15, says the French bakery chain is “woven into the fabric of diverse communities around the world.” But the threads have come loose in New York City, where its 16 locations have been closed since March. And now the business may be unwinding its presence here, Commercial Observer reported. One of its landlords, in talks with the chain about getting out of its space, told the publication that Maison

source https://therealdeal.com/2020/07/31/maison-kayser-may-bid-new-york-adieu/

Vishaan Chakrabarti on a Manhattan real estate market without private cars

Vishaan Chakrabarti has a message for real estate developers: Think outside your own black car. The founder of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism and the dean of the UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design joined TRD‘s Hiten Samtani to discuss his proposal for a Manhattan in which private cars would be banned. Instead, all the land devoted to the private car — four Central Parks worth, by his estimate — could be used for better

source https://therealdeal.com/2020/07/31/vishaan-chakrabarti-on-a-manhattan-real-estate-market-without-private-cars/

Billionaire hedge funder sells South Beach PH at a loss

Billionaire hedge fund manager Clifford Asness sold his South Beach penthouse for $22 million, 15 percent less than he paid for it two years ago. Asness, co-founder of AQR Capital Management, sold the 6,800-square-foot unit at 321 Ocean to a private equity executive from the Northeast, according to the Wall Street Journal. It traded for $3,235 per square foot. Though the luxury single-family home market in Miami Beach has seen a number of high-priced deals,

source https://therealdeal.com/2020/07/31/billionaire-hedge-funder-sells-south-beach-ph-at-a-loss/

Tourist-trap eatery serves landlord a $72K bill

In late July, Sterling Landlord Corp posted a notice on the front door of Ellen’s Stardust Diner, a Times Square tourist destination known for its singing waiters. The message was bleak: Ellen’s owed $618,000 in rent and if it did not pay by Aug. 7, the location at 1650 Broadway would be shut down. But Ellen’s had no plans to pay. Instead, it sued its landlord in New York’s Supreme Court Thursday, disputing the debt

source https://therealdeal.com/2020/07/31/tourist-trap-eatery-serves-landlord-a-72k-bill/

Minskoff sells first condo in West Village project for $22M

Edward J. Minskoff Equities’ boutique condominium in the West Village has its first buyer. An unknown limited liability company, DOC BABE, bought a duplex unit at the property this week for $21.9 million, according to property records. The buyer went into contract on the home in September 2019. The condo is the smaller of two townhouse units that occupy the first and second floors of the six-story condominium at 17 Jane Street that Minskoff converted

source https://therealdeal.com/2020/07/31/minskoff-sells-first-condo-in-west-village-project-for-22m/

Columbia Property Trust sees leasing, revenue rise while buildings just 5% full

Looking at the latest quarterly financials from Columbia Property Trust, you might forget that we’re in the middle of a pandemic. The office REIT leased more square footage than it did in the same period a year ago, and recorded its highest normalized funds from operation since 2018. But the situation on the ground tells a different story. The company’s properties still stand mostly empty — which has helped reduce operational costs somewhat — and

source https://therealdeal.com/2020/07/31/columbia-property-trust-sees-leasing-revenue-rise-while-buildings-just-5-full/

New York extends rent-relief window one week

Tenants are getting an extra week to apply for pandemic rent relief. Homes and Community Renewal, the state agency that administers the rent-relief program, announced it would accept applications until Aug. 6. Initially, the agency planned on a two-week window beginning July 16. The response on that first day was so great that it briefly crashed the website to apply. Instructions for the program are available in Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Haitian-Creole, Korean and Bengali, according

source https://therealdeal.com/2020/07/31/new-york-extends-rent-relief-window-one-week/

TRD Insights: Google isn’t coming back to the office until at least next summer. Here’s all the space at stake

In December 2018, Google CFO Ruth Porat announced plans for the search giant’s new 1.7 million-square-foot campus in Manhattan’s Hudson Square, a move that would allow the company to “more than double the number of Googlers in New York over the next 10 years.” It was the latest in a series of billion-dollar moves that had made Google one of the most consequential office tenants in core U.S. office markets, with a large presence in

source https://therealdeal.com/2020/07/31/trd-insights-google-isnt-coming-back-to-the-office-until-at-least-next-summer-heres-all-the-space-at-stake/

IBM narrows search for big Manhattan office

Much has changed since last fall, when IBM was looking for a sizable new office in Manhattan. One thing that hasn’t is that IBM is still pursuing it, even as the pandemic and work-from-home has raised doubt about the future of offices in urban centers. In fact, the blue-chip giant has narrowed its search down to about six buildings — including SL Green’s One Madison Avenue — and has hired Cushman & Wakefield to find

source https://therealdeal.com/2020/07/31/ibm-narrows-search-for-big-manhattan-office/

Astoria waterfront project nabs $280M financing package

A joint venture has nabbed $280 million in debt and equity to develop a mixed-income rental property on Astoria’s waterfront. Cape Advisors and The Pioneer Group secured a $225 million construction loan from Square Mile Capital Management, Commercial Observer reported. The loan will have full-term interest-only payments. Denver-based real estate investment trust UDR provided the equity. Meridian Capital Group advised on the debt, and JLL on the equity. The development at 30-77 Vernon Boulevard will

source https://therealdeal.com/2020/07/31/astoria-waterfront-project-nabs-280m-financing-package/

SL Green shopping Amazon-anchored office in Hudson Yards

SL Green Realty, which has been bulking up its coronavirus cushion, is looking to sell an office property in the Hudson Yards area for $1.1 billion. The office landlord is marketing 410 Tenth Avenue, which is anchored by Amazon, Business Insider reported. SL Green acquired a majority interest in the 640,000-square-foot building in 2018, valuing the property at about $440 million. SL Green then leased over half of the building’s space to Amazon. Analysts say

source https://therealdeal.com/2020/07/31/sl-green-shopping-amazon-anchored-office-in-hudson-yards/

“Headwind to profitability”: Amazon doubles down on fulfillment centers

Amazon has been on a torrid pace of leasing and acquiring millions of square feet of fulfillment centers and warehouses across the country this year. And demand is there. The company, which reported $88.9 billion in second quarter sales Thursday, said it would increase its fulfillment center square footage by 50 percent in 2020. That’s on top of the 15 percent increase it reported in 2019. The Jeff Bezos-led behemoth benefited from an April through

source https://therealdeal.com/2020/07/31/headwind-to-profitability-amazon-doubles-down-on-fulfillment-centers/

Starwood eyes $11B raise for real estate, distressed bets

Barry Sternlicht is putting his money where his mouth is. The Starwood Capital Group CEO last month quipped, “when it’s really ugly, it’s a good time to invest.” Now, the company is looking to raise $11 billion for real estate and distressed bets. The firm’s Starwood Global Opportunity Fund XII is looking to raise $8 billion for real estate acquisitions, and a sidecar fund will raise $3 billion for distressed opportunities, Bloomberg reported. Starwood, partly

source https://therealdeal.com/2020/07/31/starwood-eyes-11b-raise-for-real-estate-distressed-bets/

Porch.com to go public in $523M deal

Porch.com, a VC-backed home services startup, is going public with a blank-check company, one of the first such deals for the proptech world. The Seattle-based firm said Friday it entered a definitive agreement to merge with PropTech Acquisition Corp., a company formed last year by Abu Dhabi Investment Authority veterans Thomas Hennessey and Joseph Beck. The deal gives Porch.com an enterprise value of $523 million with an equity value of $728 million and $205 million

source https://therealdeal.com/2020/07/31/porch-com-to-go-public-in-523m-deal/

Calamity and Kabbage: Accountants riff on PPP madness

Wrapping their arms around the Paycheck Protection Program has been a mind-boggling experience for Mark Bosswick and Elliot Levine, two veterans of New York City’s accounting industry. With hundreds of billions of dollars up for grabs from Congress, rapid-fire rule changes from Washington and bewildering responses from the banking system, the accountants and their colleagues have been trying to make sense of it all for clients. Appearing Wednesday on The Real Deal’s webinar series TRD

source https://therealdeal.com/2020/07/31/calamity-and-kabbage-accountants-riff-on-ppp-madness/

Here’s where Covid hit Manhattan condo market hardest

At first glance, Manhattan’s condo market seems to have emerged unscathed from the pandemic. The borough’s median condo sales price in April, May and June actually increased by 3.4 percent to $1.6 million from the first quarter of the year, according to an analysis by The Real Deal of sales data from listings platform Online Residential. Though that’s down 18 percent from the same quarter a year ago, it’s not as steep a drop as

source https://therealdeal.com/2020/07/31/heres-where-covid-hit-manhattan-condo-market-hardest/

REBNY to begin issuing fines for problematic listings

A years-long effort to clean up New York residential listings data is taking the next step forward – and it’s a punitive one. The Real Estate Board of New York will begin to issue fines beginning Sept. 15 up to $20,000 per sales listing and $3,200 per rental listing that violates its policies, according to an email the group sent out Thursday. The forthcoming levies are part of an ongoing effort from the trade association

source https://therealdeal.com/2020/07/30/rebny-to-begin-issuing-fines-for-problematic-listings/

“It’s been a wild year”: Redfin losses significantly lower than expected

Redfin’s second quarter wasn’t quite as terrible as the national brokerage and listings site had projected. The Seattle-based residential firm logged a net loss of $6.6 million in the second quarter of 2020 instead of the $21 to $26 million in losses it anticipated. Redfin also reported $214 million in revenue, an 8 percent year-over-year increase. Back in May, the company projected that it would pull in between $179 million and $189 million. Redfin’s losses

source https://therealdeal.com/2020/07/30/its-been-a-wild-year-redfin-losses-significantly-lower-than-expected/

Empire State Realty Trust lost $20M in Q2

After four months without tourists paying a small fortune to peek over the edge of the Empire State Building, it should be no surprise that its owner is out $20 million. Empire State Realty Trust reported a net loss of $19.6 million during the second quarter of 2020, down from $18.9 million in net income a year earlier. The real estate investment trust also announced a series of cost-cutting measures, including executive salary cuts and

source https://therealdeal.com/2020/07/30/empire-state-realty-trust-lost-20m-in-q2/

Realogy’s Q2 profits plunge after “unprecedented” drop in sales

Realogy’s profits plunged during the second quarter, after coronavirus slowed home sales across the country, the brokerage giant said Thursday. Realogy reported a $14 million loss during the quarter — a huge drop from $69 million in profits during the same period last year. Citing a “massive drop-off” in transactions, Realogy said revenue also fell 25 percent to $1.2 billion, from $1.6 billion a year ago. During an earnings call with analysts, CEO Ryan Schneider

source https://therealdeal.com/2020/07/30/realogys-q2-profits-plunge-after-unprecedented-drop-in-sales/

TRD Insights: Homebuyers in Black communities charged higher mortgage rates, report finds

New home mortgage borrowers in majority-Black communities are charged higher interest rates than borrowers in majority-white communities. That was the finding from an analysis of 2018 and 2019 home purchase mortgage data, according to a Realtor.com report. It showed that homebuyers in areas where Black people comprised over 70 percent of the population received loans with interest rates 13 basis points above those homebuyers received in the majority-white neighborhoods. Realtor.com analyzed the data that was

source https://therealdeal.com/2020/07/30/trd-insights-homebuyers-in-black-communities-charged-higher-mortgage-rates-report-finds/

Congress pitches relief to struggling hotel, mall CMBS borrowers

A bipartisan bill introduced in Congress on Wednesday is intended as a lifeline for hotel and shopping-center CMBS borrowers. The measure would provide preferred equity to borrowers hurt by the coronavirus pandemic, taking from a $454 billion pool set aside for struggling businesses in the earlier stimulus bill, the Wall Street Journal reported. Roughly 10 percent of CMBS loans were delinquent by 30 days or more in June, according to Trepp. “The numbers are getting

source https://therealdeal.com/2020/07/30/congress-pitches-relief-to-struggling-hotel-mall-cmbs-borrowers/

Navillus CEO, sister arrested in $1M scheme to cheat unions

After emerging from bankruptcy and paying a massive settlement to construction unions, Navillus Construction faces criminal charges that its president and his sister bilked more than $1 million from various construction unions. Donal O’Sullivan and his sister Helen O’Sullivan were arrested Thursday for allegedly scheming to avoid making payments to union benefit funds between 2011 and 2017, according to an indictment filed in Brooklyn federal court. Despite having a collective bargaining agreement that required the

source https://therealdeal.com/2020/07/30/navillus-ceo-sister-charged-with-scheming-to-cheat-unions-out-of-1m/

Paramount staff did not enjoy working from home: Q2 earnings

The coronavirus crisis led to a mandatory work-from-home experiment for office workers across the country, and while some seem to have enjoyed the experience, others have been less enthusiastic. Count employees of office landlord Paramount Group in the latter category, according to its chief executive. “The positive was that work got done, and we did not miss any of our deadlines or delay any of our filings,” CEO Albert Behler said Thursday on an earnings

source https://therealdeal.com/2020/07/30/paramounts-employees-did-not-enjoy-working-from-home-q2-earnings/

Bezos buys Beverly Hills bungalow next to his massive mansion

Jeff Bezos has scooped up a Beverly Hills home next door to the 10-acre estate he bought from David Geffen for a record $165 million in February. Amazon’s founder and CEO paid $10 million for the two-story home through a trust, according to Variety. Built in 1930, it encompasses 4,615 square feet, and has three bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms. The property sold for $5.45 million in 2018 and was then renovated. It never hit the

source https://therealdeal.com/2020/07/30/bezos-buys-beverly-hills-bungalow-next-to-his-massive-mansion/