What Strong 2017 Economy and CRE Mean for NYC's Future

"New York continues to be the place for companies to maintain a significant presence,” said Lou D’Avanzo, Cushman & Wakefield’s vice chairman, managing principal, Midtown Manhattan, in a press briefing call on Wednesday. "Companies don’t leave New York City because they want to. They leave when they have to."

—Globe Street

I Need My Space: Is the Office Densification Trend Over?

Louis D’Avanzo, the managing principal for Cushman’s Midtown office, said that some companies have squeezed as many workers as they can into their offices, and are now finding a new normal. "In some ways, the pendulum may have swung too far to one side of the open space, really dense [office]," he said. "I think there’s more data coming back that not all jobs and functions work well in a completely open, dense environment."

—The Real Deal

Crain's Q&A: Forecasts from Six of the City's Commercial Real Estate Experts

The economy is growing. Why aren't rents on the rise? "Rents remain stable because of more supply and densification. This is specifically tied to Midtown, since Midtown South and downtown have exceeded historical highs in the cycle, while Midtown remains about 9% to 10% off 2008 highs. This owes mostly to new construction being added to existing inventory."

—Crain's New York Business

Bob Dylan's Village Recording Studio Now a Luxury Rental Building

The landmarked cast-iron building, between Sullivan and Thompson streets, is now launching as a luxury rental building, with rents running from $12,500 per month to $18,000 for the penthouse, which includes a rooftop garden, developer Roland Dib, of Dib Management, tells Gimme Shelter. The building’s three renovated units are all market-rate, but Dib adds there’s an octogenarian rent-stabilized tenant on the fifth floor, who pays just under $1,000 a month.

—New York Post

Bob Dylan’s Onetime Greenwich Village Studio is Now a High-Priced Rental

TThe project, located at 124 West Houston Street, has been in the works since 2016, when Dib Development’s Ronald Dib bought the building for $15.4 million.

—Curbed

HFF Secures $91M Funding Package for Westchester Development

Holliday Fenoglio Fowler announced $91.6 million in joint venture equity and first mortgage financing for the development of 42 Broad Street West, a 249-unit, luxury, transit-oriented multi-housing property in Southern Westchester County. Additionally, the HFF team, which included managing director David Giancola and senior director Geoff Goldstein, also placed a $59 million construction loan with Santander Bank and People’s United Bank.

—Real Estate Weekly

Everwood Hospitality Partners buys Sheraton Suites in Plantation for $25M

An affiliate of San Francisco-based Fillmore Capital Partners just sold the Sheraton Suites hotel in Plantation for $24.7 million, property records show. Amit Govin founded Everwood Hospitality Partners in 2014. The company has since invested more than $300 million in hotels throughout the country, according to its website.

—The Real Deal: Miami

US Real Estate Stocks Hit by Bond Market Sell-Off

"There are a lot of people who will say it’s about rates but there is nothing new going on in rates that hasn’t been happening over the past few years. But while demand for properties can result in higher returns, real estate has also seen a glut of supply, damping the ability for landlords to exert pricing power," said Craig Leupold, chief executive at Green Street Advisors.

—Financial Times

Taconic is Taking a Chunk of Related’s Massive Bronx Holdings

The Related Companies and the New York City pension funds are selling a piece of their extensive Bronx multifamily holdings to Taconic Investment Partners, in what would amount to a short-term multifamily play. Taconic is in contract to acquire 12 rental buildings throughout the borough for just north of $70 million, sources told The Real Deal. Taconic, led by Paul Pariser and Charles Bendit, is expected to close on the purchase in February at around $190,000 per door.

—The Real Deal

From Super Bowl Champ to Rising Business Star

Pope recently finished a white paper on the impact that interest rates have on insurance premiums, real estate valuations and capital expenditures with one of his Columbia Business School professors. "My hope is that this paper, as well as other projects, will help me differentiate myself as an insurance professional in a rapidly changing industry," he says.

—Columbia Business: Ideas and Insights

2018: PropTech 2.0

"PropTech is becoming more mainstream, with real estate tech firms now creeping into every national real estate conference’s programming and drawing positive attention to solutions they provide to either enhance or revolutionize the way the bricks-and-mortar business operates."

—Huffington Post

Co-Working: Good or Bad for Office?

"Folks that previously were working in a coffee shop or their living rooms have been brought into office buildings," said Jed Reagan, lead analyst for Green Street’s office sector coverage. That additional appetite for space has been a boon to many office landlords.

—Green Street Advisors blog

Compass Merging with Dallas Firm to Make a Big Splash in DFW's Luxury Residential Market

"As the founders of The Collective Residential and now, Compass Dallas, they embody the innovative, agent-centric approach that we believe will help Compass clients sell their homes faster and for more money," Robert Reffkin [co-founder and CEO of Compass] said in a prepared statement.

—BizJournals

Real Estate Tech Execs Gain More Traction in This Year's Swanepoel Power 200

The SP200 (Swanepoel Power 200) is the definitive ranking of the leaders and executives in the residential real estate brokerage industry and is published annually by T3 Sixty. And this year's list features some big moves from some big players. Compass’s leaders, Robert Reffkin and Rob Lehman, who raised $550 million in 2017 on a $2.2 billion valuation, skyrocketed to No. 27.

—Housingwire

Why Some Shopping Malls May Be in Deeper Trouble Than You Think

"When leases expire, they just don’t renew them, as opposed to breaking leases and doing something a bit more aggressive," Jim Sullivan, [president of Green Street Advisors], said in an interview.

—Bloomberg

Under-the-Radar Store Closures Are Leaving Big Gaps and Putting More Malls at Risk

"More companies are choosing to silently shutter their doors by letting their leases terminate, thereby escaping any public mess," Jim Sullivan, president of Green Street's Advisory Group, told CNBC. "Many important national retailers are closing ... where there hasn't been fanfare, and it hasn't been as obvious," Sullivan said. "A lot of the focus has been on anchor-store closings, which is an important part, but some of these other signals are happening under the radar with the in-line tenants, which can be just as important but not as obvious."

—CNBC

NJ Office Building Receives $26M Financing

Hudson Equities Management has closed a $26.2 million loan for a 240,291-square-foot office building in Woodcliff Lake, N.J. A Cushman & Wakefield Equity, Debt and Structured Finance [with] Director Sridhar Vankayala arranged the four-year, floating-rate financing, provided by Streamline Realty Funding.

—Commercial Property Executive

P3 Properties Acquires Morris Corporate Center III in Parsippany

Cushman & Wakefield brokered the sale, while [a team with] Sridhar Vankayala of the firm’s equity debt and structured finance team arranged $58.8 million in purchase financing, including some $15 million of future funding earmarked for property upgrades.

—Real Estate New Jersey