With a cooling trade war, stocks perform well, including real estate.

A renewed optimism for trade talks between the U.S. and China helped push real estate stocks up so far this week, along with the broader stock market.

Since Monday, the S&P 500 is up 2 percent.

And 19 of the 28 real estate stocks The Real Deal follows — a mix of real estate investment trusts, real estate services firms and technology companies — also made gains for the week.

Among TRD’s stock list, CBRE was Thursday’s winner for the day. The real estate services firm’s stock jumped 3.03 percent since market open to close at $51.63.

For the week so far, two brokerages have seen the biggest percentage gains. Marcus & Millichap rose 4.12 percent, from $34.12 to $35.66; and Newmark Knight Frank ticked up 4.11 percent, from $8.27 to $8.61.

On the other end of the spectrum, national brokerage Realogy’s stock plummeted almost 23 percent to $4.73 on Thursday and was down 26% from Monday’s opening bell. Realogy disclosed on Wednesday that it is shutting down its military rewards program, a move that will impact its 2020 earnings.

Other industry indices saw a similar scenario play out, though with weaker gains than the S&P.

The Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund — an index that is heavily weighted in the real estate sector — inched up 0.43 percent for the week, ending the day trading at $39.20. And the week-to-date returns on industry group Nareit’s All-REIT index were up 0.66 percent as of Wednesday.

Though real estate stocks also have been hurt by broader market fluctuations, there are signs they are outperforming.

For example, over the past month, the SPDR Fund has grown 5.5 percent, compared to the S&P, which has fallen 3.3 percent.

The stock market overall has taken hits over the past several weeks on fears of a looming recession and the U.S.’s trade war with China. For example, concerns over an inverted yield curve —
a potential red flag for a U.S. economic downturn — sent the Dow spiraling 800 points earlier this month. And last week, a new round of tariffs imposed by China set off another market selloff.

Central Park Tower Surpasses Chicago’s Willis Tower On Way To Tallest Roof Height In Western Hemisphere – New York YIMBY

By: Michael Young 8:00 am on July 29, 2019

Central Park Tower Surpasses Chicago’s Willis Tower On Way To Tallest Roof Height In Western Hemisphere – New York YIMBY

Central Park Tower, aka 217 West 57th Street, has surpassed the 1,450-foot-tall Willis Tower (née Sears Tower) to claim the title of highest roof in the Western Hemisphere. The Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill-designed supertall is being developed by Extell and will soon top-out at 1,550 feet tall over Billionaires’ Row.

New photographs document the ongoing work at the dizzying summit of the reinforced concrete superstructure.

Looking at the southern elevation with the cantilever at the bottom of the photograph. Photo by Michael Young

The difference in the color of the glass is striking. All panes will eventually be stripped of the blue protective film. Photo by Michael Young

Looking from Columbus Circle. Photo by Michael Young

The glass curtain wall on the upper portion of the building is being installed without the blue protective film that coats the remainder of the structure.

Looking east. Photo by Michael Young

The top of Central Park Tower. Photo by Michael Young

Looking east from the New Jersey Turnpike. Photo by Michael Young

Extell is expecting a project sellout of $4 billion. Meanwhile, the Nordstrom flagship store, which will occupy the tower’s podium, will open on October 24, 2019.

The protective film on the wavy glass panels of the retail base is starting to show the transparency of the curtain wall. Photo by Michael Young

Completion of Central Park Tower is expected sometime next year.

August 02, 2019 09:30AM

Supreme Court Judge rules against LES development

Citing a book that laments the “proliferation of skyscrapers” during the turn of the 20th century, Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron spoiled the plans of Two Bridges tower developers CIM Group, L+M Development Partners, Starrett Development and JDS Development Group — for now.

Judge Engoron enjoined the Department of Buildings from issuing permits until the project is properly approved, according to a press release, after temporarily halting the development in June. In a statement, a spokesperson for the joint venture said the developers plan to fight the ruling, The City reported.

The developers planned to erect four 60 to 100-story towers with 2,775 apartments, with 25 percent of the units set aside as affordable. The plans had been previously approved, but the Department of City Planning voted to change the development sites’ permit without going through a public review. Now, the towers may be headed to Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP), a community review process that could stretch on for months.

Two more lawsuits have challenged the Two Bridges development, by community groups including Good Old Lower East Side and CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities. A representative from CAAV said that the ruling gives them time to work on their larger goal of limiting building heights across the board on the Lower East Side.

— Georgia Kromrei