Industrious reaches deal for 60K square feet in Midtown

New York-based flexible-office space startup Industrious has signed a deal for two spaces totalling 60,000 square feet at 135 West 50th Street. Under the deal with landlord George Comfort & Sons, the firm signed a 15-year lease for 37,000 square feet of space on the second floor of the 23-story tower, where it will run a shared workspace. It also signed a 15-year management contract to operate what’s known as “Club 135 by Industrious” —

source https://therealdeal.com/2020/01/30/industrious-reaches-deal-for-60k-square-feet-in-midtown/

Eliot Spitzer and fiancee Roxana Girand pick up two UES condos

Eliot Spitzer and his fiancee, Roxana Girand, have reportedly dropped $4.37 million on two Upper East Side condos. The real estate developer and former governor purchased the adjacent units inside the Concorde at 220 E. 65th Street in an off-market deal, according to the New York Post. The 24th-floor units measure 2,276 square feet, combined. Amenities at the building include a pool, a gym and valet parking. Girand, his fiance since 2017 and founder of

source https://therealdeal.com/2020/01/30/eliot-spitzer-and-fiancee-roxana-girand-pick-up-two-ues-condos/

Less is more: Small Manhattan condos, co-ops ruled in 2010s

Manhattan condos and co-ops sold in the past decade shrunk — literally — but the price of smaller units grew more than for large ones on a percentage basis. The average Manhattan apartment sold between 2010 and 2019 was just under 1,135 square feet, the smallest in more than three decades, according to Douglas Elliman’s 10-year report on the Manhattan sales market. It was authored by appraiser Jonathan Miller of Miller Samuel and examines data

source https://therealdeal.com/2020/01/30/less-is-more-small-manhattan-condos-co-ops-ruled-in-2010s/

Walker & Dunlop acquires Aaron Appel’s AKS Capital Partners

Commercial real estate finance company Walker & Dunlop has acquired Aaron Appel’s AKS Capital Partners just a few months after the former JLL heavyweight founded it, the company announced Thursday. The price was not disclosed. Appel and his colleagues Keith Kurland, Jonathan Schwartz and Adam Schwartz left JLL to found AKS in August, shortly after the firm officially closed on its $2 billion merger with HFF. Appel was arguably the biggest name to leave JLL

source https://therealdeal.com/2020/01/30/walker-dunlop-acquires-aaron-appels-aks-capital-partners/

TRD’s founders share war stories from over the years

Publisher Amir Korangy started The Real Deal out of his Brooklyn apartment nearly two decades ago, shortly before he was joined by Editor-in-Chief Stuart Elliott and Yoav Barilan, who today helps oversee sales operations. The publication was initially a Variety-style tip sheet with columns of text packed onto the cover. But a lot has changed since then: TRD is now a multifaceted media company known for award-winning investigative stories and the most popular real estate

source https://therealdeal.com/2020/01/30/trds-founders-share-war-stories-from-over-the-years/

Harvey Hernandez fights back against Airbnb

Harvey Hernandez’s development group is striking back against Airbnb after the short-term rental company alleged he committed fraud and siphoned money out of an apartment-sharing concept. NGD Homesharing, led by Miami developer Hernandez, alleges in a countersuit filed Friday in Miami-Dade Circuit Court that Airbnb was actually the one operating in bad faith and caused delays and setbacks in opening its projects by going “radio silent” in communication. “This is a classic case of a

source https://therealdeal.com/2020/01/30/harvey-hernandez-fights-back-against-airbnb/

Welcome to the broker hunger games

A decade from now, the real estate marketplace may not be swarming with as many agents as there are today. Automation and increased consolidation of business with top agents will whittle down the ranks. “The strong will survive,” Ryan Gorman, CEO of Coldwell Banker, said Wednesday at Inman’s conference in New York. “And others will find a new path.” Gorman was joined on stage by Guy Gal, CEO of Side, a venture-backed residential brokerage that

source https://therealdeal.com/2020/01/29/welcome-to-the-broker-hunger-games/