California girls, they’re unforgettable –– especially when they get protective real estate legislation named after them.

Katy Perry, the pop star and wife to “Lord of the Rings” star Orlando Bloom, is now also the namesake of proposed legislation to protect senior citizens from predatory real estate transactions, TODAY reported. The Protecting Elderly Realty for Retirement Years Act, or PERRY Act, would require a 72-hour “cool down” period for real estate transactions where one of the participating parties is over the age of 75, according to the outlet. 

It has received support from lawmakers across the country, according to its website.

The measure is being supported by the family of Carl Westcott, the 84-year-old founder of 1-800-FLOWERS. Westcott, Perry and her manager Bernie Gudvi have been embroiled in a three-year legal battle, slinging civil suits at one another over Perry’s 2020 bid to buy Westcott’s estate in Montecito, California, for $15 million. 

It was reported at the time that Perry and Bloom closed on the 9-acre property for $14.2 million. Montecito, the coastal town famously home to Oprah, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, is a hub for luxury real estate.

Lawyers for Westcott, who suffers from Huntington’s disease, claims he was of “unsound mind” when he agreed to the deal with Perry. Gudvi approached Westcott with an offer just three days after the elderly flower mogul went under a six-hour back surgery. When he tried to back out of the deal after getting off the drugs, Perry and Gudvi refused to let him out of the contract.

His lawyers say the deal is “voidable” because he was high on painkillers when he signed a contract to sell the house he had bought just two months earlier.

The case between Perry and Westcott’s family went to trial in August. Gudvi is now also countersuing Westcott to the tune of $5.9 million, the outlet reported. 

This is not the first time Perry has found herself in a legal battle with the elderly and infirm. The singer took the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary to court after they refused to sell her their eight-acre Los Feliz convent. She ultimately closed on the property for $14.5 million, but not before she spent $2.6 million in legal fees and one of the nuns collapsed and died in court. 

–– Kate Hinsche

The post Katy Perry’s legal battle for an old man’s home inspires new legislation appeared first on The Real Deal.

New condo sales have been a relative bright spot in New York’s residential market. But two luxury developments made headlines this week thanks in part to their struggles with selling units. 

First, there was news that Harry Macklowe received a $300 million inventory loan at his 1 Wall Street office-to-residential conversion. The loan was part of a larger $665 million refinancing, but it’s also meant to buy some time as the building looks to move the unsold units.

In East Midtown, developer Vanke brought on Corcoran Sunshine to handle sales at 100 East 53rd Street. The brokerage will be the third firm to get the job since sales launched in 2019. 

The two stories highlight a paradox in the market: new development sales may be relatively strong, but that doesn’t mean everything is peachy for developers, especially those overseeing large projects.

Homeowners locked in at low mortgage rates have little incentive to sell. With resale transactions low, new condo sales took up a bigger portion of the market by default. 

But many developers, drowning beneath increased debt costs, have been driven to make those deals, sometimes in the form of concessions on monthly fees or taxes.

After sluggish sales and a fight with Aby Rosen’s RFR, Vanke slashed prices across the board at its property last year. The asking price for the building’s penthouse was cut to $35 million, down from $65 million. A “garden mansion” got a $10 million reduction to $20 million. 

Macklowe has remained steadfast, refusing to cut prices. That’s because high costs have scared developers off from comparable projects, meaning there’s been little new inventory to compete with the ultra-luxury project. 

The result is something of a standoff. Cash buyers are looking for big discounts. Developers are staying put, but some may be forced to cut prices if sales start to taper off.

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What we’re thinking about: RXR and SL Green saw a $940 million loan on a Midtown office tower get watchlisted this week. The tower has healthy cash flow, but a major tenant’s lease is set to expire next year, with no chance of renewal. The clock is ticking, but there is still time to find a new tenant. Will the office market rebound in time to save the property? Send a note to david.westenhaver@therealdeal.com.

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Closing Time

Residential: The priciest residential closing Friday was $26.5 million for a townhouse at 129 East 73rd. The home was featured in “The Devil Wears Prada.”

Commercial: The most expensive commercial closing of the day was $3.4 million for an eight-unit building at 464 Prospect Place in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn.

New to the Market 

The priciest residence to hit the market Friday was a townhouse at 135 East 19th Street in Gramercy Park asking $14 million. Compass has the listing.

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A thing we’ve learned: Friday’s jobs report revealed a gain of 336,000 new jobs (seasonally adjusted), almost double what economists expected. The increase shined a light on the altogether weird position of the US economy, where job growth has trudged along despite long-lasting forecasts of an economic downturn. Some onlookers have speculated that the increase, paired with stead but modest wage gains, could spark further interest rate increases.

Elsewhere in New York

— A notorious judge in the Bronx, Supreme Court Justice Ralph Fabrizio, is facing calls for resignation following a string of outbursts and public confrontations. The City writes that the most recent blowup came after an attorney sought a standard scheduling change, which prompted Fabrizio to scream at her and threaten to have her removed from the case. 

— The country’s largest public radio group got a bit smaller this week. Gothamist reports New York Public Radio cut 6 percent of its staff Thursday, and axed two podcasts, “More Perfect” and “La Brega,” as part of an ongoing cost-cutting effort. 

The post The Daily Dirt: New condo sales strong, yet developers struggle appeared first on The Real Deal.

Suburban retail in cities along Georgia State Route 400, north of Atlanta, has become a bright spot in the commercial real estate market. 

Cities like Alpharetta and Cumming, with their location 30 miles from downtown Atlanta, substantial growth in population and average household incomes nearing $170,000, have attracted developers for years, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reported. 

After the Covid-19 pandemic and rise of remote work many residents stopped commuting to the city, opting to dine and shop closer to home, which further boosted suburban retail.

Retailers are making the most of this. They are increasingly expanding into suburban retail centers rather than traditional regional malls, many of which continue to struggle. Developers are focusing on new or revitalized lifestyle centers. The overall suburban availability rate was lower than that of downtown areas in the U.S. for the fourth consecutive quarter in June, according to CBRE statistics.

CTO Realty Growth, for one, acquired 10.6 acres near The Collection at Forsyth, its mixed-use lifestyle center, where rents for new and comparable leases have increased by over 35%. The company plans to develop additional restaurants, entertainment venues and retail spaces on the acquired land.

Southside Atlanta neighborhoods have also seen the benefits of suburban retail growth, with rejuvenated downtown areas featuring thriving restaurant scenes. Food and grocery concepts have shown consistent demand for suburban retail space, while apparel is growing less rapidly.

The next opportunity for retail landlords in suburban areas is competitive entertainment. 

Concepts like putt-putt courses, baseball facilities and interactive spaces are gaining popularity. Surf ATL aims to transform miles of Lake Lanier shoreline into an outdoor adventure park. Forsyth County officials have also considered proposals for a $2 billion entertainment complex featuring a 20,000-seat arena.

Despite the retail surge on the outskirts, Downtown Atlanta is experiencing uncertainty.

In August, German real estate behemoth Newport RE announced a deal to sell its South Downtown portfolio, which includes 50 buildings and several acres of parking lots across 10 blocks of downtown Atlanta. 

The buyer is Braden Fellman Group, a well-known Atlanta developer with a reputation for revitalizing industrial properties, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported.

The sale marks a significant development for one of the city’s largest adaptive reuse projects, which Newport had undertaken before the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic in the commercial real estate market.

Several years ago, Newport, initially little-known in Atlanta, set out with a bold plan to purchase historic yet neglected buildings south of the Five Points metro station. 

Office space availability in Atlanta is at a recent high, with some office and hotel buildings facing foreclosure or returning to lenders. Furthermore, banks have become cautious about commercial real estate lending, making ground-up development and major renovation projects financially difficult.

— Ted Glanzer

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TA Realty, a Boston-based investment firm, has acquired the Solis Hills Apartments in the Oberlin neighborhood of Raleigh, North Carolina, for $114.5 million.

The apartment complex, built in 2022 by Charlotte developer Terwilliger Pappas, has 315 units with a mix of studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments that go from 550 to 1,570 square feet, the Triangle Business Journal reported. 

Rent for the units falls between $1,650 and $3,550 per month at the moment.

The apartments have stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, washers and dryers in the units, built-in wood closet shelving and keyless fob entry. There are also amenities: swimming pool, fitness center, yoga studio, gaming and entertainment rooms, coworking spaces and courtyards that have TVs, grills and fire pits. The residents also get access to perks like discounts and rewards at restaurants and stores in Raleigh. 

The acquisition reflects the continued interest in Raleigh’s growing real estate market. The new ownership has not mentioned any changes to the complex or to rent levels.

The Oberlin neighborhood is undergoing significant transformation, with various developers working on projects such as apartments, luxury senior living communities, condos, townhomes, cottages, single-family homes and retail spaces

North Carolina is seeing new developments statewide.

In June, Washington, D.C.-based developer Hoffman and Associates announced it was making its first foray into Charlotte, the Charlotte Observer reported. Not satisfied with one project, Hoffman is debuting with two projects, both in the same neighborhood and even on the same street.

At 2401 Distribution Street in the Brookhill area of the South End neighborhood, Hoffman is planning a 410-unit building with 5,000 square feet of retail space. Construction will begin in spring 2025 and be delivered by summer 2027.

On the slightly smaller side, Hoffman is planning a 330-unit building with 10,000 square feet of communal space at 2500 Distribution Street. That six-story building will actually break ground first, and work is expected to start in the spring and end in two years.

Combined, the two buildings will span more than 800,000 square feet and deliver 740 units to the area.

— Ted Glanzer

The post Boston-based TA Realty buys Raleigh apartment complex for $115M  appeared first on The Real Deal.

The average U.S.-stock fund declined 3.9% in the third quarter.

Intercontinental Exchange has spent more than $23 billion to overhaul the clunky plumbing of the mortgage market.

A recent change in antitrust law made it easier for the singers to bypass big movie studios when seeking distribution for their concert films.

Billions went to personal loans, luxury real estate and donations.

On the one hand, we’re systematically labeling which things to get rid of, and when. But we’re also downsizing our ambitions.

The prices of used battery-powered models have fallen sharply, as the supply of cars and trucks has improved.