Manhattan luxury contracts cool after banner week

November 17, 2025 / no comments

Manhattan’s luxury market cooled off last week following a burst of dealmaking around New York City’s mayoral election.  Buyers signed contracts for just 25 properties asking $4 million or more between Nov. 10 and Nov. 16, according to Olshan Realty’s weekly report. Though the total was significantly less than 41 contracts in the previous period, the number of pending deals was on par with last year’s weekly average.  Even with the dip, 2025 is shaping up to be the second-best year for the borough’s luxury market since Olshan began tracking deals nearly two decades ago. So far this year, buyers […]

This article originally appeared on The Real Deal. Click here to read the full story.

Why Mamdani should sweat the small stuff

November 17, 2025 / no comments

After I wrote about the agony of dealing with the Landmarks Preservation Commission, I received a request from Vital City. The civic group wanted other examples of ways Zohran Mamdani could make the city more functional and affordable — not fantastical ideas that cost billions of dollars, but simple “blocking and tackling,” to use a football term for the basics. Here is one that speaks to a larger problem of bureaucratic sludge. Every two years, I help my father-in-law, who is 88, renew his senior citizen homeowners’ exemption, or SCHE. Like many government programs for seniors, it involves a process […]

This article originally appeared on The Real Deal. Click here to read the full story.

FIRST DRAFT LIVE: Origin Investments’ Michael Episcope On Life After The Shutdown

November 17, 2025 / no comments

Bisnow’s First Draft Live is a weekly series featuring live conversations about the critical stories impacting CRE right now — from market volatility and economic uncertainty to the growing influence of artificial intelligence. First Draft Live is a companion to The First Draft, Bisnow’s daily, flagship CRE newsletter. Register here to get The First Draft in your inbox. Subscribe to First Draft Live on Apple and Spotify, or scroll down to view in your browser. 

Menashe Properties CEO On Buying 2 Chicago Offices In 2 Years

November 17, 2025 / no comments

One of the earliest Chicago office investors this cycle is doubling down as the city’s office market creeps back to life. 
Menashe Properties earlier this month scooped up 125 S. Wacker Drive, a 31-story, 640K SF Class-A office tower in the West Loop, for $51.5M. It was its second buy in as many years, as the company’s CEO, Jordan Menashe, sees an improving market — and an opportunity to capture market share with an aggressive focus on spec suites. 
“Chicago is back,” Menashe told Bisnow. 

Ostad brothers face foreclosure suits over $70M in loans

November 17, 2025 / no comments

Sometimes foreclosure is a family affair.  The Ostad brothers, a trio of New York real estate investors, have been named as defendants in nine foreclosure suits related to loans totaling more than $70 million. Edward and Michael Ostad are named in all the cases, while Steven Ostad is named in three of them.  The lender is trying to recover some money out of the Ostads personally, pointing to guaranty agreements they signed. The brothers stopped making payments on the loans in April, according to the plaintiff.  That’s the same month that Michael and Edward sued Steven, hoping to dissolve their […]

This article originally appeared on The Real Deal. Click here to read the full story.

After The Shutdown, CRE Copes With ‘Unprecedented Backlog,’ Economic Pressure And Fear Of A Repeat

November 17, 2025 / no comments

Days after the longest federal government shutdown in history came to an end, the commercial real estate industry is only beginning to understand the impacts of the 43-day closure and anxiously awaiting the possibility of another one in less than three months.
The shutdown was a blow to an already stumbling economy, with roughly $11B permanently lost from the country’s gross domestic product, according to Oct. 29 Congressional Budget Office projections. 
In CRE, multifamily and hotel operators are most directly impacted, with housing authorities bogged down by a pileup of unprocessed loan applications, payments delayed and travel tamped down by worker shortages at…