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Tishman Realty buys Flatiron garage for $35M

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From left: Dan Tishman and 112 East 16th Street

From left: Dan Tishman and 112 East 16th Street

Tishman Realty bought a parking garage in the Flatiron District for $35 million, according to property records filed with the city today.

MetLife Insurance Company is selling the property, which it bought in 2007 for $20.8 million, records show.

The nine-story garage at 112 East 16th Street, between Union Square East and Irving Place, spans 50,150 square feet.

A Tishman spokesperson said that the company is “starting to evaluate options for the site and will have more to say in a few months.”

Tishman is a Real estate investor and developer Tishman Realty manages more than 100 million square feet of commercial real estate in the city. Among other properties in New York, Tishman owns the Westin New York, Times Square and the Intercontinental Times Square.


Hillary Clinton is officially coming to Brooklyn Heights

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1 Pierrepont Plaza in Brooklyn Heights (inset: Hillary Clinton)

1 Pierrepont Plaza in Brooklyn Heights (inset: Hillary Clinton)

Brooklyn may have been #ReadyforHillary for a while. Now, Hillary Clinton is finally ready for Brooklyn. The likely Democratic nominee is making good on rumors that her imminent presidential campaign will be headquartered in Brooklyn, signing a lease for 80,000 square feet at Forest City Ratner’s 1 Pierrepont Plaza.

The Brooklyn Heights office building has been marketed as “Modern Offices. Brooklyn Cool.” Clinton’s team will occupy two floors, according to Politico.

Morgan Stanley and the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York are also located in the building.

Huma Abedin, Clinton’s chief of staff, toured the building weeks ago. Since February, there has been talk about Clinton setting up shop in the borough.

Clinton is yet to announce her official presidential campaign, but the signing of this lease starts the clock ticking for her to go public. According to election rules, she now has until April 16 to launch an exploratory committee or a candidate committee, having signed the lease on April 1. [Politico] and [Bloomberg News] — Tess Hofmann

Betting on the future value of your home

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CBA

From left: CBA’s Richard Hunt and FirstREX’s James Riccitelli

So you’ve watched your home equity holdings grow steadily since the end of the recession and now you want to tap into that wealth to fund a remodeling, college tuition or some other worthy but cash-consuming project?

Join the crowd. Home equity lines of credit, by far the most popular way to turn equity into cash, are booming again — up by 36 percent in the past 12 months alone, according to the Consumer Bankers Association.

And no wonder: The Federal Reserve estimates that Americans’ home equity holdings have nearly doubled in the past five years and now exceed $11 trillion.

But here’s a question that growing numbers of owners might encounter in the coming months, especially in markets where growth rates in home values historically have been strong: Would you prefer loading more debt onto your house with a credit line or might you be open to trying something different — sharing part of your future appreciation with private investors? Would you consider taking a lump sum of cash now and make no payments for years, only settling up with investors when you sell or otherwise terminate the agreement?

There are now companies operating in a small but expanding number of markets doing precisely this. If you cut them into some percentage of your home’s growth in value during the coming years — anywhere from 30 percent to 50 percent or higher — they will write you a check for tens of thousands of dollars. It won’t be a mortgage. It won’t carry an interest rate. And if there is minimal growth in value of your house — or the property declines in value — investors will end up earning relatively little. On the other hand, if home values soar in your area, they could end up with significant profits.

Sharing unpredictable future appreciation streams may sound odd — even risky — but it’s a trend that’s gaining momentum. One company based in San Diego, EquityKey, says it has completed or has in process appreciation-sharing agreements on homes with an aggregate value of $200 million already this year, and expects to hit $1 billion by the end of the year. Another, FirstREX in San Francisco, says it has completed “hundreds” of “equity financing” deals tied to future appreciation.

Though the contractual details and payout amounts differ from company to company, here’s the basic concept: Say you have a house that’s valued at $500,000.

If you agree to share 45 percent of future appreciation on the property and you otherwise qualify in terms of your financial ability to handle property taxes and upkeep, EquityKey might give you $51,750 today to help pay for kids’ tuitions. If you wanted to share 40 percent, it would give you $47,500. When you end the agreement, you’d have to give EquityKey its portion of the appreciation on the house plus its initial investment. EquityKey ties its appreciation calculations to the Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller Home Price Index, which measures home prices in markets across the country. FirstREX uses appraisals up front and at the end.

Say the house appreciated over the next 10 years by $120,000 and you needed to sell. You’d owe EquityKey the original payout amount — $47,500 or $51,750 — plus its appreciation share at 40 percent $48,000 ($120,000 x 0.4 = $48,000) or 45 percent ($54,000). EquityKey’s cut after 10 years: $95,500 or $105,750 depending on the share you agreed on.

EquityKey currently is writing agreements in California and Florida, but expects to expand in the near future into metropolitan Washington, D.C., Boston, Oregon, Washington, Colorado and Illinois, according to Co-Founder and Managing Director Jeff Nash. FirstREX is active in California, Oregon, the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia, according to James Riccitelli, co-CEO of the firm.

Could appreciation-sharing deals like these make sense for you? Possibly. But beware: You need to take a hard look at the details of the contracts, including what you might owe if you terminate the agreement in the first six or seven years, before investors have had a chance to earn much of a return.

In the end, you might conclude that the cost of a traditional equity credit line would be cheaper for you — and much more predictable. Or you just might conclude that interest-free money in your pocket, with no payments for many years is worth the appreciation-share gamble. Either way, run the choice past your financial counselor, accountant or investment adviser.

Amid Manhattan’s low condo inventory, Midtown sees boost

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Midtown Condo Inventory

(Credit: StreetEasy)

While Manhattan is seeing a record drought of condo inventory, one area of the island’s inventory is actually booming.

The number of available condo units in the Midtown submarket grew by 10.5 percent from February 2014, and it was the only submarket to see an inventory growth, according to the latest StreetEasy Manhattan Condo Market Report. Compare that to citywide figures – the total number of units for sale dropped to a record low of 3,175 in February.

Midtown West in particular saw a surge in inventory, with 29.4 percent more units available for sale than last year. Midtown includes the city’s tallest and most luxurious condo developments, such as Extell Development’s One57 and 432 Park Avenue.

Midtown’s prices grew at almost three times the Manhattan rate in February, according to StreetEasy. Condo prices in Midtown grew by 1.9 percent, compared to the rest of Manhattan’s 0.7 percent. [StreetEasy] — Claire Moses

Behind the scenes of Luxury Listings NYC‘s upcoming issue

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From left: Tony Danza, Stewart Lane and Bonnie Comley and 56 Leonard Street

From left: Tony Danza, Stewart Lane and Bonnie Comley and 56 Leonard Street

It’s a Broadway bonanza in the upcoming issue of Luxury Listings NYC, The Real Deal’s sister publication.

In the upcoming May/June issue, we go backstage with actor, TV personality and current “Honeymoon in Vegas” star Tony Danza.

We also go inside the penthouse of powerhouse Broadway producer Stewart Lane. Lane and his wife, fellow producer Bonnie Comley, show off their collection of Tony Awards, the most recent of which (Best Musical, “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder”) was awarded last year.

For those looking for the ultimate staycation, the magazine will feature a special report on the priciest hotel rooms in Manhattan — what do you get for your money? And if you haven’t rented a place for the summer, we take a peek at the priciest hotels at hotels in the Tri-State area — perfect spots for a glamorous, long-weekend getaway.

Also, we make sure you’re connected — LLNYC delves into the latest in smart-home technology.

Finally, we look at Manhattan’s hottest new developments. In advance of The Real Deal‘s and Luxury ListingsNew Development Showcase — May 12 at the Metropolitan Pavilion at 125 W 18th Street in Chelsea — we round up the coolest condos coming to the market.

As always, readers interested in New York’s most exclusive properties will find them in LLNYC, along with our regular coverage of high-end property and luxury lifestyles in each Manhattan neighborhood.

The glossy consumer magazine for buyers, sellers and renters is a cheat sheet for everything Manhattanites need to know about their neighborhood, from what their home is worth to where the market is headed. Luxury Listings reaches more than 100,000 doorsteps — that’s more than the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.

To subscribe to Luxury Listings NYC, email subs@llnyc.com or call 1-855-703-9671. Subscriptions are free for Manhattan residents.

State set to provide $270M in financing for Rockrose LIC tower

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From left: renderings of

From left: renderings of 43-25 Hunter Street and Rockrose CEO Henry Elghanayan with his son Justin

New York state housing officials are getting ready to provide $270 million in financing for Rockrose Development’s 974-unit rental project in Long Island City.

“Historically, you haven’t seen a lot of 80/20 in the outer boroughs,” Rockrose President Justin Elghanayan told The Real Deal. “What’s happening now is that Long Island City and other areas are getting so desirable to live in that the market-rate rents have gotten to the level [where the program makes financial sense].”

The state Housing Finance Agency is set to vote later this month on a proposal to provide Rockrose with a $270 million first mortgage on the planned towers – one 14 stories and another 50 – in the neighborhood’s Court Square section at 43-25 Hunter Street. The loan will be financed through of a mix of tax-exempt and taxable bonds to be purchased by Wells Fargo and a consortium of other banks.

Rockrose, in turn, will set aside 20 percent of the apartments – or 195 units – for renters earning up to 60 percent of the area median income for a period of 30 years. This will be  the developer’s first 80/20 project outside of Manhattan.

Market-rate rents in the building will average $53 per square foot, a marked increase from the low-$40-figure Rockrose proforma-ed the nearby Linc LIC rental tower the company began building in 2010, Elghanayan said.

Long Island City in general is booming with large rental projects and developers are particularly interested in the Court Square area, which has strong transit connections to Manhattan. Rockrose alone has 2,500 units in the pipeline for the area.

The Hunter Street project is expected to cost $531 million to develop, inclusive of land-acquisition and soft-development costs, according to HFA documents. Rockrose will put up just less than half of that figure in equity, a combination of cash and the value of the land.

Before Rockrose split into two separate firms – Rockrose and TF Cornerstone – in 2009, the company had developed several 80/20 projects in Manhattan, but the Hunter Street development marks the first for Rockrose outside the borough.

Bed-Stuy’s Cascade Linen warehouse sells for $70M

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385 Myrtle Avenue in Bedford Stuyvesant

385 Myrtle Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant

Mike Kohn’s Alliance Private Capital Group sold the former Cascade Linen Factory in Bedford-Stuyvesant for $70 million to a partnership of Satmar community members led by Abraham Brach, according to property records filed with the city Friday.

Brach, Nachman Leibowitz and Fishel Deitch was eyeing the site at 835 Myrtle Avenue last year, and considering purchasing it for $60 million. Brach is listed as the managing member of Cascade 553 LLC, the entity buying the property, on the deed.

In December, Alliance filed plans to build a major mixed-use complex at the site, with 230 apartments across seven buildings. The permits called for 450,000 square feet of residential space and another 100,000 square feet of commercial space.

Alliance purchased the site in 2013 for $27 million, but the property has not functioned as a factory since 2010.

Brach and representatives from Alliance Private Capital Group could not immediately be reached.

London luxury home price growth slows to a crawl

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From left: Billionaire's Row in London and Billionaire's Row in New York

From left: Billionaires’ Row in London and Billionaires’ Row in New York

The luxury markets in New York City and London often draw comparisons. But at the moment, they’re showing very different trends.

Whereas the top of New York’s luxury market is doing well at the moment, home prices in London’s 13 most wealthy neighborhoods are growing at the lowest increase in almost five years, according to Bloomberg. The slow increase is partially due to uncertainty about the outcome of next month’s general election there. The Labour Party has vowed to introduce a “mansion tax” on homes that have been valued at more than 2 million pounds if it wins the elections. A similar tax was introduced in New York last year.

Prices in the wealthiest areas rose 3.3 percent during the 12 months through March and values remained flat over the last six months, according to the website.

“One of the most unpredictable elections in decades has caused some buyers and sellers to postpone decisions until there is clarity around the outcome,” Tom Bill, head of London residential research at Knight Frank, said in a statement. [Bloomberg] — Claire Moses 


TF Cornerstone seeks $140M loan for 387 Park Avenue South

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387 park avenue south

Rendering of 387 Park Avenue South (credit: TF Cornerstone)

TF Cornerstone is looking for a $140 million loan to replace existing debt on its 12-story office property at 387 Park Avenue South.

The Singer & Bassuk Organization has been tapped to arrange the deal, which will mark the firm’s ninth transaction for the developer in two-and-a-half years, the New York Observer reported. The developer is looking for a 10-year — or longer — fixed-rate loan.

The developer is considering life companies, CMBS and several pension funds, according to Andrew Singer, chair of Singer & Bassuk.

The Madison Square area property contains 213,124 square feet of office space and 12,370 square feet of ground-floor retail space. The building is approximately 70 percent leased, according to the landlord.

Tenants include Paris-based advertisement firm Criteo, Citi Habitats, and TF Cornerstone itself, whose headquarters occupies two-and-a-half floors. [NYO] — Tess Hofmann

 

Aby Rosen’s ex-wife lists Hamptons home for $14M

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From left: 66 Cobb Lane and Aby Rosen

From left: 66 Cobb Lane in Water Mill and Aby Rosen

Aby Rosen’s ex-wife Elizabeth is looking to sell the former couple’s Hamptons mansion for $14 million.

Aby and Elizabeth shared the Water Mill home, located at 66 Cobb Lane, before they split up in 2004, according to the New York Daily News. Sotheby’s International Realty’s Harald Grant has the listing.

The couple got married in 1991. They have two children together. Rosen, who married socialite Samantha Boardman in 2005, owns a mansion on Meadow Lane in nearby Southampton, according to the newspaper.

The home includes four bedrooms, its own dock with wild flowers and bamboo stands as well as a separate guest house with a workout studio, according to the newspaper. The property also comes with a saltwater pool, BBQ station and chef’s kitchen. [NYDN] — Claire Moses

Top residential agents of the week

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From left: Matthew Pravda, Dane Hope and 407 East 58th Street in Sutton Place

From left: Matthew Pravda, Dane Hope and 407 East 58th Street in Sutton Place

Price:  $8,150,000
Listing brokers: Matthew Pravda and Dane Hope of Leslie J. Garfield & Co.
Address: 407 East 58th Street

Hoyt Spelman and 860 Fifth Avenue in Lenox Hill

Hoyt Spelman and 860 Fifth Avenue in Lenox Hill

Price:  $7,575,000
Listing brokers: Hoyt Spelman of Halstead Property
Address: 860 Fifth Avenue

Carrie Chiang and 733 Park Avenue in Lenox Hill

Carrie Chiang and 733 Park Avenue in Lenox Hill

Price:  $6,350,000
Listing broker: Carrie Chiang of the Corcoran Group
Address: 733 Park Avenue

Wendy Greenbaum and 255 East 74th Street on the Upper East Side

Wendy Greenbaum and 255 East 74th Street on the Upper East Side

Price:  $5,284,600
Listing broker: Wendy Greenbaum of Warburg Realty
Address: 255 East 74th Street

Richard Orenstein and 12 East 12th Street in Greenwich Village

Richard Orenstein and 12 East 12th Street in Greenwich Village

Price:  $4,995,000
Listing broker: Richard Orenstein of Halstead Property
Address: 12 East 12th Street

Tess Hofmann

Sources: StreetEasy and The Real Deal. Footnotes: Data is for closed deals filed with the city this week through Friday. The chart only includes sellers’ brokers, because buyers’ brokers’ names are not available in city data or listings. The data does not include deals in contract. To obtain broker information, listing information was compared with sales records filed with the city. Only deals where an individual broker and address can be identified are included. As a result, private sales, listings where an address has not been provided and new development sales by a sales center are not included.

The 10 hottest property markets in the world

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New homes in Turkey

New homes in Turkey

Europe’s property markets are surging. The Global Property Guide has compiled and analyzed the property price performance of the world’s big economies.

We have put together a list of the top 10 markets based on year-over-year, inflation-adjusted price performance as of the fourth quarter of 2014.

The chart accompanying each slide shows the year-over-year percentage change in house prices, with markets ranked from the least to most quickly appreciating.

south-africa 10. South Africa

Home prices in South Africa rose 8.10% year-over-year, which was more than 2013’s increase of 3.91%.

Prices rose 1.95% from the previous quarter.

Source: Global Property Guide

 

uk-nationwide 9. UK (Nationwide)

Home prices in the UK rose 8.34% year-over-year, which was more than 2013’s increase of 7.07%.

Prices rose 0.10% from the previous quarter.

Source: Global Property Guide

 

israel8. Israel

Home prices in Israel rose 8.45% year-over-year, which was more than 2013’s increase of 7.38%.

Prices rose 2.01% from the previous quarter.

Source: Global Property Guide
sweden7. Sweden

Home prices in Sweden rose 8.57% year-over-year, which was more than 2013’s increase of 3.90%.

Prices rose 1.16% from the previous quarter.

Source: Global Property Guide

 

japan--tokyo6. Japan — Tokyo

Home prices in Japan rose 10.92% year-over-year, which was more than 2013’s increase of 5.58%.

Prices rose 5.75% from the previous quarter.

Source: Global Property Guide

 

estonia-tallinn5. Estonia (Tallinn)

Home prices in Estonia rose 12.09% year-over-year, which was less than 2013’s increase of 18.24%.

Prices rose 2.47% from the previous quarter.

Source: Global Property Guide

hong-kong4. Hong Kong

Home prices in Hong Kong rose 13.26% year-over-year, which was more than 2013’s increase of 7.69%.

Prices rose 4.24% from the previous quarter.

Source: Global Property Guide

 

ireland3. Ireland

Home prices in Ireland rose 16.29% year-over-year, which was more than 2013’s increase of 6.38%.

Prices rose 3.83% from the previous quarter.

Source: Global Property Guide

 

uae--dubai2. UAE — Dubai

Home prices in Dubai rose 16.48% year-over-year, which was less than 2013’s increase of 23.79%.

Prices fell 0.88% from the previous quarter.

Source: Global Property Guide

 

turkey1. Turkey

Home prices in Turkey rose 16.89% year-over-year, which was more than 2013’s increase of 13.61%.

Prices rose 3.83% from the previous quarter.

Source: Global Property Guide

Test your NoMad knowledge with this week’s quiz!

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NoMad Quiz

Preservationists and developers duked it out this week over the proposed expansion of a historic district in NoMad. While community members extolled the virtues of the area’s elaborate architecture, Steve Meringoff said the area was full of rinky-dink businesses and dilapidated structures. Test your NoMad know-how with our quiz!NoMad collage

 

Trump “hurt” that he’s never met de Blasio

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Mayor Bill de Blasio, Donald Trump and Geraldo Rivera

Mayor Bill de Blasio, Donald Trump and Geraldo Rivera

Donald Trump isn’t getting the attention he’s used to from the mayor. It’s now been 15 months since Mayor Bill de Blasio took office, and Trump says that he has still never met him.

Trump was recently on Geraldo Rivera’s WABC radio show to discuss the recently opened – but long-stalled – municipal golf course at Ferry Point in the Bronx. During the interview, he revealed that he still hasn’t met de Blasio, according to the New York Post.

“Donald seemed perplexed by it, and not a little bit hurt,” Rivera said. “I offered to bring them together.”

However, Rivera added that bringing Trump and de Blasio together on his show isn’t likely as he hasn’t met the mayor either.

“He refuses to talk to me. We ask him every other week,” Rivera told the Post. “But if de Blasio did agree to come on the show, he’d be late anyway.”

When reached for further comment by the Post, Trump simply added that: “I’ve never met him [de Blasio] but I look forward to meeting him someday.” [NYP]Christopher Cameron

Pommes Frites seeks to reopen post-explosion

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Pomme Frite and the same location after the East Village Expolsion

Pomme Frites and the same location after the East Village Expolsion

Pommes Frites, one of the businesses left homeless by last week’s explosion and fire in the East Village, is hunting for a new location to set up shop.

The owners of the beloved fry shop have said that they hope to reopen quickly, serving up their signature fries and sauces, according to Eater. To speed the process, they are asking for donations on their site and Facebook page:

“Asking for help is not easy for us. We have been inundated with requests as to how we can get our doors open once again. Our steadfast staff, some of who experienced the explosion, want to get back to work. Your contributions will be used to help us to rebuild and find a new home for Pommes Frites. cash.me/$pommesfrites”

Although there’s no set goal, the Facebook update has nearly 500 likes and been shared nearly 100 times. [Eater]Christopher Cameron


From the archives: Painful as it’s seemed, NYC’s bust only fourth-worst in past century

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recession.jpgEconomists have determined that this recession, nationally, was the longest and deepest since the Great Depression. So it was only logical to expect that Manhattan, the epicenter of this financial crisis, would ultimately bear its worst brunt.

So far, that hasn’t happened. Job losses and declines in housing values have been less severe than predicted, and most observers believe the recession to be officially over, with economic indicators across the board showing signs of a recovery. In fact, The Real Deal’s analysis of 100 years of statistics, editorial content, and interviews with real estate professionals who have spent decades in the business suggests that the “Great Recession” likely ranks as only the fourth-worst over the past century in terms of its overall impact on Manhattan. Read the full story from the July 2010 issue after the jump. 

“Up” holdout home hits the market: VIDEO

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The Edith Macefield House

The Edith Macefield House

The Edith Macefield House in Seattle didn’t actually inspire the Pixar movie “Up,” but its story fit the movie’s narrative so well that Disney used it to promote the film by tying balloons to the roof.

Now, the holdout home to top all holdout homes has hit the market.

Edith Macefield was offered $1 million to sell her beloved century-old house to developers. But she shot them down, making her a sort of folk hero. She passed away in 2008, and now the home is up for grabs, according to Curbed.

Following an auction that yielded no offers, the 1,550-square-foot house is now listed by local real estate agent Paul Thomas without an asking price. But it has the potential to be used as a house, office, museum or as an addition to the Ballard Blocks retail complex surrounding it.

[Curbed]Christopher Cameron

5 creative façade facelifts

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Renovated facades

Renovated facades

From Luxury Listings NYC: Transforming an outdated home can be as simple as renovating the façade. These five renovations via Dwell illustrate how to bring modern details to existing facades. [more]

Leonardo DiCaprio to open eco resort on private island

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8595650828_5d91592f79_b

Leonardo DiCaprio has announced that he’s opening an eco resort on his private island in Belize. The actor picked up the 104-acre Belizean island, Blackadore Caye, in 2005 for just $1.75 million.

The planned luxury resort will feature villas on a platform over the water, artificial reefs with “fish shelters” and a nursery growing marine grass to feed manatees, according to Curbed. It is expected to open in 2018.

“The main focus is to do something that will change the world,” DiCaprio told the New York Times. “I couldn’t have gone to Belize and built on an island and done something like this if it weren’t for the idea that it could be groundbreaking in the environmental movement.”

DiCaprio is working with NYC developer Delos to build 68 resort villas and 48 private houses to sell. DiCaprio owns a unit in the Delos Living building at 66 East 11th Street.

The units will cost between $5 million and $15 million. Jason McLennan, author of “The Philosophy of Sustainable Design,” has been tapped to design the project. [Curbed]Christopher Cameron

Shuttered illegal hotel reopens as rentals

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From left: 49 East 34th Street and Richard Ressler

From left: 49 East 34th Street and CIM Group co-founder Richard Ressler

In February, the state’s attorney general’s office closed a 36-story, illegal hotel owned by an affiliate of 432 Park co-developer CIM Group. Now, the former Midtown East condo tower has become legitimate rentals.

Located at 49 East 34th Street between Madison and Park avenues, the 110-unit building, which was supposedly a condo building, was actually functioning as a hotel, where $239 a night got you a studio and $359 a two-bedroom, according to Buzzbuzzhome.

Meanwhile, CIM Group had collected millions in 421a tax breaks.

But under an agreement with the state attorney general’s office, CIM will pay back the value of the tax breaks — roughly $4.4 million — to a city fund.

The building has now been dubbed Madison Park Tower and one-bedrooms are listed for $3,277 per month. The studio to two-bedroom residences feature oak floors, nine- to 11-foot ceilings and stainless steel appliances. [Buzzbuzzhome]Christopher Cameron

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