Maverick Can Proceed with Gorham Building Foreclosure
A New York judge denied an injunction, allowing Maverick Real Estate Partners to resume foreclosure on the Gorham Building at 390 Fifth Avenue. The Schwalbe family, who owe a $41 million loan, claim Maverick demanded escalating fees—$400,000, then $750,000—beyond the original agreement. Maverick allegedly imposed a $1.5 million interest shortfall and executed a cash sweep despite no formal default. The 140,000‑square‑foot office tower is 20% vacant, and the lender’s aggressive tactics have drawn criticism for being predatory.
Ilan Bracha Scoops up Scribner Sidekick After Thor Flop
Ilan Bracha’s IB Global closed on the 15,000‑square‑foot Scribner sidekick at 3 East 48th Street for $9.5 million after the property fell into a lender‑driven foreclosure. The sale follows Thor Equities’ 2020 default on a $105 million CMBS loan that once financed...
Mamdani Makes Campaign Promise About-Face, Appeals Housing Voucher Expansion
Zohran Mamdani’s administration filed an appeal to the state’s highest court challenging the City Council’s authority to expand the CityFHEPS housing voucher program. The appeal contradicts Mamdani’s 2023 campaign promise to broaden vouchers, which currently serve 68,000 households and cost...
State Proposal Aims to Fast-Track Mall, Office-to-Resi Projects
A new state bill seeks to accelerate the conversion of struggling malls and vacant office towers into residential units. The legislation shortens permitting timelines, offers tax credits, and creates a streamlined review process for adaptive‑reuse projects. Lawmakers anticipate the measure...
Jay Group Scores $300M Refi for DoBro Project
The Jay Group secured a $300 million refinancing loan from Affinius Capital for its 102 Fleet Place development in Downtown Brooklyn. The debt will fund the completion of the 30‑story, 495‑unit luxury multifamily tower and support lease‑up activities. The project, located near...
NYC’s Top Construction Permits: Week of March 20, 2026
The week of March 13‑20, 2026 saw a surge in New York City construction permits, highlighted by a 1.1 million‑square‑foot, 11‑story residential tower at 80‑45 126th St. in Queens. Major projects also include the Phipps Houses development adding 591 units in the Bronx and Vornado Realty...
HPD Pledges Overhaul of Housing Lottery System
The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development announced a comprehensive overhaul of its Housing Connect lottery platform, signaling a possible full replacement rather than incremental tweaks. Commissioner Dina Levy highlighted that the agency placed over 10,000 households...
FiDi Condo Building Changes Hands in Secret $93M Sale
Eenhorn, a Grand Rapids‑based real‑estate investor, purchased the 62‑unit 1 Park Row condominium tower in Manhattan’s Financial District for $93 million. The building, originally developed by Circle F Capital, had been plagued by construction delays and a $50 million loan dispute before the sale. Units,...
NJ Town Stripped of Builder’s Remedy Shield, Opening Door for Developers
A New Jersey district court stripped Roxbury Township of its builder’s‑remedy immunity after the town withdrew from the state’s affordable‑housing planning process. The loss means developers can now sue to build projects, even if they conflict with local zoning, to...
Montperia Files Plans for Borough Park Mixed-Use Project
Woodside‑based developer Montperia Group has filed a rezoning application to build a 13‑story, 150‑unit mixed‑use development at 900 60th Street in Brooklyn’s Borough Park. The project, spanning 108,000 sq ft, will feature 35‑42 permanently affordable units for households earning 60‑80% of area median income, 5,500 sq ft...
The Sad Story of Holmes Towers
In May 2017, New York City Housing Authority approved a $25 million, 99‑year lease with Fetner Properties to replace the deteriorating John Haynes Holmes complex with a 47‑story, 50 percent affordable tower and new playground. A vocal minority of tenants, backed by local politicians,...
MaryAnne Gilmartin Refinances West Chelsea Rentals
MaryAnne Gilmartin’s MAG Partners secured a $210.8 million floating‑rate loan to refinance The Ruby, a 480‑unit West Chelsea rental complex that includes 30 percent affordable housing and 8,500 sq ft of ground‑floor retail. The senior portion of the debt was provided by Sumitomo Mitsui...
MTA Seeks Buyer for Newly-Rezoned Atlantic Avenue Parking Lot
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is putting its 30,000‑square‑foot Pacific Street parking lot up for sale, along with up to 34,000 square feet of air rights from an adjacent shuttle right‑of‑way. The rezoned site could support a roughly 250,000‑square‑foot mixed‑use tower...
Core Club’s Fraud Claims Against Michael Shvo Dismissed
Core Club, a members‑only New York social club, sued developer Michael Shvo alleging fraud over a promised $100 million expansion to New York, San Francisco and Milan. A New York judge dismissed the fraud claim along with breach of contract, fiduciary duty and usury...
Tishman Speyer’s Jacx Loan Sent to Special Servicing
Tishman Speyer’s $425 million CMBS loan for The Jacx in Long Island City has been moved to special servicing as the September maturity looms. The loan, originated in 2021 to refinance the 1.2‑million‑square‑foot office‑retail complex, faces refinancing challenges due to high...
EJS’ 200 E 75th St Tops Manhattan’s Lux Market
Manhattan’s luxury condo market cooled after a year‑high, with 20 contracts signed for homes priced $4 million or more between March 16‑22. Ted Segal’s 200 East 75th Street led the week, logging the two most expensive deals: penthouse PH4 at $19.7 million and PH2 at $17.5 million....
Think Twice Before Lying About Real Estate
Governor Kathy Hochul proposes exempting modest‑size housing projects from the State Environmental Quality Review Act to speed construction and lower costs. Assemblymember Deborah Glick publicly opposed the change, arguing developers could already build affordable units and blaming the housing crisis...
5 WTC Plans on “Pause” Due to Rising Costs: Port Authority
The Port Authority announced that the 5 World Trade Center residential tower, slated for 1,200 apartments with a third affordable, is on pause as developers grapple with soaring construction costs and geopolitical headwinds. Costs have risen roughly 50% since the...
Koreins Call Out More Brokers in Vornado Feud
The Korein family, owners of the land beneath 1 Penn Plaza, filed a lawsuit accusing several top Manhattan brokers of refusing to represent them against Vornado Realty Trust due to fear of losing Vornado's lucrative business. They allege brokers such as Doug...
What Developers Call a Penalty, Politicians Call a Reward
The New York City 485x zoning amendment imposes a $40‑an‑hour wage floor on construction contracts for projects of 100 units or more, which developers argue acts as a penalty that reduces profitability and caps projects at 99 units. This wage...
NYC’s Top Deals: Hunters Point Office Trades at Fraction of Prior Sale Price
In a striking office deal, the 129,000‑sq‑ft Hunters Point building sold for $28 million, roughly a 73 percent discount to the $104 million price paid in 2016. BrightSpire Capital, which seized the asset after a loan default, transferred it to 2100 49 Ave LLC. The transaction...
Meta Leases From Vornado Again, This Time for Retail Space
Meta has signed a 10‑year lease for the entire five‑story, 15,000‑square‑foot townhouse at 697 Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. The space will serve as a permanent retail showcase for Meta’s virtual reality headsets and Ray‑Ban smart glasses, following a successful...
A Herald Square Hotel Renovation Was a Disaster. For Jeffrey Epstein, It Was an Opportunity for Loyalty
Stephen Hanson and developer David Mitchell launched the Life Hotel in Manhattan as a high‑profile comeback, converting the former Life Magazine headquarters into a boutique property with a celebrity chef. The venture quickly ran out of cash, prompting frequent $2,000‑$2,600...
Bank of America Expands at Namesake Midtown Tower
Bank of America is expanding its lease at One Bryant Park, adding roughly 600,000 sq ft to bring its total footprint to 2.4 million sq ft. The 20‑year triple‑net lease gives the bank control of the entire office tower and part of the retail space, while...
More Rent, More Problems at New Buildings
New luxury apartment towers in New York City are generating housing code violations at a rate far above the city average. Roughly 10% of the 1,600 buildings completed since 2016 have at least one violation per unit, averaging 2.1 infractions...
Long Island Investor Buys Soho Multifamily From Centurion for $58M
Long Island landlord Soheil Khayyam acquired the 68‑74 Thompson Street multifamily building in Soho for $58 million, reflecting a 4.7% capitalization rate. The property comprises 75 residential units—11 of which are rent‑stabilized—and four street‑level commercial spaces. The off‑market transaction closed in under...
Data Confirms: “Mamdani Effect” Never Reached NYC Luxury Market
New York’s luxury real‑estate market stayed strong after Zohran Mamdani’s November mayoral win, with contracts for homes priced $4 million or more jumping 24 percent in the 60 days following the election. Median listing discounts slipped to 6 percent, and inventory actually declined by...
Section 8 Court Ruling Muddies NYC Voucher Rules
A New York appellate court declared the state’s source‑of‑income discrimination law unconstitutional when applied to federal Section 8 vouchers, effectively nullifying the requirement that landlords accept those vouchers. The decision has sparked uncertainty in New York City, where officials argue the...
NYC Rental Listings Shrink as Housing Debate Intensifies
Rental listings across New York City's five boroughs fell about 6% in February compared with a year earlier, marking a second straight year of inventory contraction, according to StreetEasy. Meanwhile, the median asking rent jumped more than 8% to $3,950,...
LISTEN: Who’s Buying Rent-Stabilized Buildings?
New York’s 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act capped rent increases on rent‑stabilized buildings, turning them from value‑add opportunities into income‑only assets. As a result, institutional investors and private‑equity firms have largely exited, leaving local families as the primary...
Alexico Nabs $345M Refinancing Package at Mark Hotel
Alexico Group secured a $345 million refinancing for the Mark Hotel, led by Deutsche Bank with participation from JPMorgan Chase and BDT & MSD Partners. The deal follows a 2024 $335 million CMBS loan and earlier restructurings in 2022 and 2017. The five‑star, 150‑room property near...
Dentist to the Stars Sues Central Park South Co-Op, Board
Celebrity dentist Marc Lowenberg’s elite practice, located on the first and second floors of 230 Central Park South, has sued the building’s co‑op board over a new rule that forces commercial tenants to pay for an extra doorman when 30...
Art Dealer Trades Greenwich Village Townhouse for $18M
Art dealer Gordon VeneKlasen sold his 4,000‑square‑foot Greenwich Village townhouse for $18 million, translating to roughly $4,500 per square foot. He originally bought the property from hedge‑fund billionaire Daniel Loeb in 2009 for $5.5 million and later renovated it with architect Annabelle...
CIM Group Pursues Mixed-Use Development at Watchtower Site
CIM Group has filed a rezoning proposal to transform the former Jehovah’s Witnesses Watchtower campus in Brooklyn Heights into a 661‑unit mixed‑use development, including 165 affordable apartments. The site, comprising five buildings at 25 and 30‑58 Columbia Heights, was purchased...
Affordable Housing Operators Have an Insurance Problem
New York City’s affordable‑housing operators are hit by soaring insurance costs and a disproportionate share of lawsuits. Although they represent only 20 % of the city’s multifamily stock, affordable and rent‑stabilized buildings account for 56 % of personal‑injury claims, making them three...
Chaos at NJ Attorney’s Office Hampers Mortgage Fraud Cases
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey has halted new mortgage‑fraud prosecutions after a federal judge disqualified Alina Habba and three successors for illegal, non‑Senate‑confirmed appointments. No criminal charges have been filed since 2024 despite rising fraud reports, and staffing shortages...
TRD PolicyPro: Mamdani Pitches More Real Estate Taxes, Luxury Building Workers Eye Walkout
Mayor Zohran Mamdani is quietly pitching three new real‑estate taxes that could raise about $1.2 billion to help close New York City’s multi‑billion‑dollar budget gap. At the same time, the 32BJ‑SEIU union has begun contract talks with building owners, warning of a...
Northwell Scoops up Vacant Rego Park Retail Center for $235M
Northwell Health agreed to purchase the 338,000‑square‑foot Rego Park I retail complex for $235.5 million, translating to $697 per square foot. The transaction, slated to close in the third quarter, gives the health system a vacant, six‑acre site at a busy Queens intersection....
Charney, Tarvros Land $125M Gowanus Refi
Charney Companies and Tavros Capital secured a $125 million Freddie Mac loan to refinance the 224‑unit Union Channel building, the first phase of their Gowanus Wharf campus. The seven‑year fixed‑rate loan was arranged by JLL and underscores the developers’ aggressive rollout of...
Syndicator Lender Ready Capital Takes Massive Hit
Ready Capital posted a $232 million loss for the fourth quarter, an improvement from a $314 million loss a quarter earlier, as it restructures a $1.5 billion commercial‑real‑estate loan portfolio. Non‑accrual loans surged to 25% of the book, roughly $1.3 billion, driven by a...
Former Elliman Exec Lands at Howard Hanna NYC
Howard Hanna, the nation’s largest privately held brokerage, has hired former Douglas Elliman leasing head Hal Gavzie as executive director of business development for its newly launched New York City office. The move follows Hanna’s October acquisition of Elegran Real Estate,...
Will the State Budget Blunt Lawsuits that Block Housing?
Governor Kathy Hochul’s 2026 budget proposes exempting many New York City housing projects from the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), aiming to curb costly lawsuits that delay construction. The exemption applies to projects with up to 500 units in...
SL Green’s One Madison Is Fully Occupied
Harvey AI is adding more than 90,000 square feet to its existing lease at SL Green’s One Madison, bringing its total footprint to roughly 185,000 square feet. The expansion pushes the 1.4‑million‑square‑foot Class A tower to 100 percent occupancy, a milestone for the...
Snowflake Snags 83K Sf at BXP’s 7 Times Square
Snowflake has signed an 83,000‑square‑foot lease at BXP’s 7 Times Square, adding a new headquarters in Manhattan’s iconic office tower. The lease terms and rent were not disclosed, though the fourth‑quarter average asking rent in Times Square was $76.42 per...