Chicago will have a new mayor: Paul Vallas vs. Brandon Johnson in runoff - Robert Khodadadian

From left: Lori Lightfoot, Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson (Getty)

Incumbent Lori Lightfoot conceded Chicago’s mayoral race Tuesday, setting up the nation’s third-largest city for a transition of power. Former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas and Chicago Teachers Union-backed candidate Brandon Johnson will oppose one another in a runoff election April 4.

With Lightfoot out of the runoff, the race sets up a battle between a business-backed candidate in Vallas that the real estate industry is likely to rally around and a self-styled progressive in Johnson.

Vallas has already drawn a six-figure donation from commercial real estate mogul Sam Zell, and Johnson has faced criticism from the industry for proposing new taxes on businesses that bring employees in from the suburbs.

The volume behind the industry’s concerns with Johnson will probably grow louder.

While the Illinois Realtors Association held off on making any official endorsements in the first round of voting, it spent $500,000 on aldermanic races, backing city council candidates aligned with its positions on keeping a state ban on certain rent control regulations in place, opposing an increase of real estate transfer taxes and other issues. The organization may make its preference more clear in the runoff.

Vallas aligned the most of all mayoral frontrunners with the positions of the Chicago Realtors Association, which is part of the state organization.

In addition to Johnson’s support for a $4 per month per commuting employee “head tax” on businesses and surcharge on Metra riders, he hasn’t opposed increasing transfer taxes nor just cause eviction. Johnson also only partially agrees with the Chicago Realtors organization’s position on opposing lifting the ban on rent control, and didn’t answer whether he would oppose forcibly eliminating natural gas-fueled heating systems from buildings.

Vallas, meanwhile, agreed with the realtors association on all issues except for only partially agreeing to support an amendment of aldermanic prerogative that defers development decisions to the alderman in whose ward a proposed project is located, and also only partially agreeing on opposing an end to natural gas forced air systems.

At least one major player in Chicago’s commercial real estate sector, however, is bullish on the city regardless of the outcome in the contest between Vallas and Johnson. While Fulton Street Cos. CEO Alex Najem said the industry will likely rally around Vallas, he admitted he knows little about Johnson yet believes in the market’s resilience with either in office.

“Chicago runs on its own regardless of politics because the people are great,” Najem said. “The politics give it a bad perception because of crime.”

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 Incumbent Lori Lightfoot conceded Chicago’s mayoral race Tuesday, setting up the nation’s third-largest city for a transition of power. Former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas and Chicago Teachers Union-backed candidate Brandon Johnson will oppose one another in a runoff election April 4. With Lightfoot out of the runoff, the race sets up a battle
The post Chicago will have a new mayor: Paul Vallas vs. Brandon Johnson in runoff appeared first on The Real Deal.  Uncategorized, Elections The Real Deal 

Lead by real estate veteran Robert Khodadadian, Skyline Properties has been instrumental in many multi-million dollar commercial developments, including a $12 million contract for the White House Hotel, a 99-year ground lease of a four-story commercial site in Harlem, and a retail co-op on Prince St. for $50 million.

Robert Khodadadian has long had a simple philosophy about selling real estate. There are approximately a million buildings in the city, and the broker that gets to sell any one among the multitude that will hit the auctioning block at a given moment is, sometimes, simply the person who happens to pitch their services to the right seller.

Concrete mogul sells Bay Point mansion for record $39M - Robert Khodadadian

Adonel Concrete’s Luis Garcia with 4505 Sabal Palm Road (Adonel Concrete, Become Legendary, Getty)

Adonel Concrete CEO Luis García sold his waterfront mansion in Miami’s Bay Point for $38.5 million, marking a record for the gated community. 

García sold the 8,200-square-foot, seven-bedroom, eight-and-a-half-bathroom home at 4505 Sabal Palm Road to an undisclosed local buyer of Russian descent, according to the listing agent, Coldwell Banker’s Ana Teresa Rodriguez. Rodriguez declined to name the buyer, and the deed has not yet been recorded. 

The sale is more than double the previous Bay Point record: an $18 million trade of a waterfront mansion at 580 Sabal Palm Road in late 2021. Still, the latest sale marked a 30 percent discount off its $55 million asking price. It hit the market in July. 

Homes are beginning to sell for discounts off the asking price across South Florida. Median price growth has slowed across the region, and home sales have been on the decline for months. In January, single-family home sales fell 41 percent, year-over-year, in Miami-Dade County to just fewer than 600 closings. 

The buyer of the Bay Point property also purchased the furniture and art, Rodriguez said. She declined to provide the price. 

Coldwell Banker’s Ana Teresa Rodriguez (Coldwell Banker, Getty)

Valeriya Strohschein of Lifestyle International Realty represented the buyer, according to a source.

Rodriguez is engaged to García, the seller. She said the deal illustrates that Bay Point is on par with other pricey neighborhoods in Miami-Dade County, like Miami Beach. The $38.5 million sale is the fourth highest residential sale in the county over the last 12 months, she said. 

The property is next door to retired tennis pro Anna Kournikova and her husband, singer-songwriter Enrique Iglesias’ home, records show. 

García acquired the lot out of foreclosure. It was one of about a dozen properties that Carlos Justo, once a top broker in Miami who was a cast member of TLC’s “Million Dollar Agents” show, lost in foreclosure in the Great Recession. 

García is chairman and CEO of Adonel, a Miami-based concrete company with 15 plants in Florida and in Haiti, according to its website. He and Rodriguez completed the bayfront home on a half-acre lot in 2016. It includes an infinity pool, dock, and a motor court with space for 12 cars. 

Rodriguez said the property is one of García’s three homes in Bay Point that she is selling. They include the $17.5 million listing of the non-waterfront home across the street at 4500 Sabal Palm Road. It was also marketed as a five-bedroom guest house that could have been combined with the waterfront mansion for $72.5 million. 

Home prices have grown in the neighborhood, which is north of downtown Miami and the Miami Design District. In September 2021, singer Joe Jonas and “Game of Thrones” actress Sophie Turner paid $11 million for a Bay Point waterfront home that previously belonged to Cuban-American musician Willy Chirino. 

Later that year, ex-Miami Heat player Meyers Leonard sold his waterfront Bay Point home for $11 million, more than 40 percent more than Leonard’s purchase price a year earlier. About the same time, retired Yankees player-turned-real-estate-investor Alex Rodriguez also flipped a home in Bay Point, for $6.3 million, $800,000 more than he paid less than a year earlier.

The post Concrete mogul sells Bay Point mansion for record $39M appeared first on The Real Deal.

 Adonel Concrete CEO Luis García sold his waterfront mansion in Miami’s Bay Point for $38.5 million, marking a record for the gated community.  García sold the 8,200-square-foot, seven-bedroom, eight-and-a-half-bathroom home at 4505 Sabal Palm Road to an undisclosed local buyer of Russian descent, according to the listing agent, Coldwell Banker’s Ana Teresa Rodriguez. Rodriguez declined
The post Concrete mogul sells Bay Point mansion for record $39M appeared first on The Real Deal.  Uncategorized, Bay Point, Home Prices, Home Sales, Miami, Miami-Dade County, Price Cuts, Waterfront Properties The Real Deal 

Lead by real estate veteran Robert Khodadadian, Skyline Properties has been instrumental in many multi-million dollar commercial developments, including a $12 million contract for the White House Hotel, a 99-year ground lease of a four-story commercial site in Harlem, and a retail co-op on Prince St. for $50 million.

Robert Khodadadian has long had a simple philosophy about selling real estate. There are approximately a million buildings in the city, and the broker that gets to sell any one among the multitude that will hit the auctioning block at a given moment is, sometimes, simply the person who happens to pitch their services to the right seller.

Lynd Living starts Far West Side apartments - Robert Khodadadian

Lynd Living’s David Lynd (Linkedin, Getty)

Lynd Living started construction on a 360-unit apartment complex just south of the intersection of Potranco Road and Loop 1604 in San Antonio’s Far West Side, the San Antonio Business Journal reported.

The project is estimated to cost around $70 million, or about $194,000 per unit, and is being developed by Lynd Living, a local multifamily developer. The company has completed 56 apartment complexes, totaling over $280 million, across the country with a focus in its home state of Texas. Units at its newest development, the Potranco Commons, are expected to come to market in May.

Located at 202 West Loop 1604, Potranco Commons is a sister property to the company’s Culebra Commons apartments situated farther north. The Potranco Commons will include one to three-bedroom options starting at a minimum of 540 square feet to 1,350 square feet, according to the development’s website.

The company seeks to engage tenants and cater to their preferences via surveys to better organize events for would-be residents, Lynd Living President and CEO, David Lynd, told the SBJ. Amenities at the new development include poolside televisions and an on-site internet cafe and coffee bar as well as activities like volleyball and cornhole.

Development in San Antonio has been booming as builders aim to capitalize on the growth of the Far West Side and the city more broadly. San Antonio was the fastest-growing city in the nation in 2022, according to data compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau, where the area saw an increase of nearly 14,000 residents year-over-year.

The western edges of San Antonio have been a hotbed of activity to meet this demand. The Far West Side had 1,815 apartment units under construction going into 2023, the San Antonio Business Journal previously reported, using data from real estate research firm Zonda. San Antonio has grown considerably over the last ten years and as Austinites continue to get priced out of its sister metro, buyers are beginning to eye the Alamo City for its more cost-effective housing market. 

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The post Lynd Living starts Far West Side apartments appeared first on The Real Deal.

 Lynd Living started construction on a 360-unit apartment complex just south of the intersection of Potranco Road and Loop 1604 in San Antonio’s Far West Side, the San Antonio Business Journal reported. The project is estimated to cost around $70 million, or about $194,000 per unit, and is being developed by Lynd Living, a local
The post Lynd Living starts Far West Side apartments appeared first on The Real Deal.  Uncategorized The Real Deal 

Lead by real estate veteran Robert Khodadadian, Skyline Properties has been instrumental in many multi-million dollar commercial developments, including a $12 million contract for the White House Hotel, a 99-year ground lease of a four-story commercial site in Harlem, and a retail co-op on Prince St. for $50 million.

Robert Khodadadian has long had a simple philosophy about selling real estate. There are approximately a million buildings in the city, and the broker that gets to sell any one among the multitude that will hit the auctioning block at a given moment is, sometimes, simply the person who happens to pitch their services to the right seller.

Ross Perot Jr. pays $544M for Fontana development site - Robert Khodadadian

Hillwood’s Ross Perot Jr. with 9300 Cherry Avenue (Hillwood Development Company, Google Maps, Getty)

Billionaire developer Ross Perot Jr. has bought land for a massive industrial redevelopment project in the Inland Empire. 

Perot’s firm Hillwood Development Company paid $543.7 million to buy the majority of a 633-acre racetrack in Fontana, with plans to redevelop it into a 6.6 million-square-foot logistics campus, according to Commercial Observer, which cited data from Vizzda. 

Hillwood bought the site from NASCAR, which kept 90 acres at the site to potentially build a half-mile track. 

The redevelopment, located at 9300 Cherry Avenue, will be called the Speedway Commerce Center, according to CBRE. 

The deal came out to about $1 million per acre, slightly more than other developers have paid in recent months to buy up land for redevelopment. 

Last year, Real Estate Development Associates paid $122 million for 130 acres — about $938,000 per acre — in Ontario, where it will build a 2.9 million-square-foot warehouse. 

Demand for logistics and warehouse space soared at the start of the pandemic, as shoppers went online to buy goods.

The Inland Empire, which encompasses Riverside and San Bernardino counties, has become a Southern California and national hub for both industrial development and sales, given proximity to Los Angeles ports and land availability. Large warehouses, such as Amazon.com’s 4-million-square-foot facility in Ontario, rose from the desert. In 2021, vacancy started to approach zero, as firms gobbled up any available space. 

Vacancy has since risen to 1.1 percent, as of the end of 2022, according to CBRE, as more space has come to market. About 37 million square feet is under construction across the region. 

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The post Ross Perot Jr. pays $544M for Fontana development site appeared first on The Real Deal.

 Billionaire developer Ross Perot Jr. has bought land for a massive industrial redevelopment project in the Inland Empire.  Perot’s firm Hillwood Development Company paid $543.7 million to buy the majority of a 633-acre racetrack in Fontana, with plans to redevelop it into a 6.6 million-square-foot logistics campus, according to Commercial Observer, which cited data from
The post Ross Perot Jr. pays $544M for Fontana development site appeared first on The Real Deal.  Uncategorized, Inland Empire The Real Deal 

Lead by real estate veteran Robert Khodadadian, Skyline Properties has been instrumental in many multi-million dollar commercial developments, including a $12 million contract for the White House Hotel, a 99-year ground lease of a four-story commercial site in Harlem, and a retail co-op on Prince St. for $50 million.

Robert Khodadadian has long had a simple philosophy about selling real estate. There are approximately a million buildings in the city, and the broker that gets to sell any one among the multitude that will hit the auctioning block at a given moment is, sometimes, simply the person who happens to pitch their services to the right seller.

California bill would ban city “crime-free” housing policies - Robert Khodadadian

A photo illustration of Assemblymember Tina McKinnor (Getty)

A new California bill seeks to ban cities from enacting so-called “crime-free” housing policies — local laws that can force landlords to evict tenants who are arrested or deny tenancy to people with prior convictions. 

“It’s systemic racism,” Assemblymember Tina McKinnor, the bill’s author, told the L.A. Times, which reported on the bill earlier this month. “It’s a way to exclude brown and Black people from living in their apartment buildings, living in their communities.” 

McKinnor, a Democrat who represents Inglewood, told the newspaper she was inspired by an earlier L.A. Times investigation which determined that at least 147 California jurisdictions had enacted or promoted such policies. The Times investigation also found that the cities frequently cited rising crime as a basis for passing the laws — even in cases where crime was actually stable or falling — and that the laws were more common in communities with growing Black and Latino populations. 

One council member in the Mojave Desert city of Hesperia, which had seen an influx of Black and Latino renters, even said during a meeting that the purpose of the city’s “crime-free housing” rules was “to correct a demographical [sic] problem with people that are committing crimes in this community.” 

A HUD investigation found that under the city’s program, Black renters were almost four times more likely to be evicted compared to white renters, the Times reported, while the city and San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department also recently agreed to pay nearly $1 million in a settlement deal with Department of Justice related to civil rights violations stemming from the policies. 

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McKinnor’s bill, AB 1418, would ban cities from requiring landlords to use criminal background checks or evict tenants for alleged criminal behavior if the tenants had not been convicted of a felony, among other stipulations. It would not prevent landlords from screening for criminal histories on their own. In the Bay Area, Alameda County, which includes Oakland, has its own law prohibiting criminal background checks.

“Crime-free” housing policies have often been supported by police and some politicians who argue they act as a first defense against crime, drug and gang problems. Supporters of McKinnor’s bill say it’s intended to ban the most discriminatory policies. 

— Trevor Bach 

The post California bill would ban city “crime-free” housing policies appeared first on The Real Deal.

 A new California bill seeks to ban cities from enacting so-called “crime-free” housing policies — local laws that can force landlords to evict tenants who are arrested or deny tenancy to people with prior convictions.  “It’s systemic racism,” Assemblymember Tina McKinnor, the bill’s author, told the L.A. Times, which reported on the bill earlier this
The post California bill would ban city “crime-free” housing policies appeared first on The Real Deal.  Uncategorized The Real Deal 

Lead by real estate veteran Robert Khodadadian, Skyline Properties has been instrumental in many multi-million dollar commercial developments, including a $12 million contract for the White House Hotel, a 99-year ground lease of a four-story commercial site in Harlem, and a retail co-op on Prince St. for $50 million.

Robert Khodadadian has long had a simple philosophy about selling real estate. There are approximately a million buildings in the city, and the broker that gets to sell any one among the multitude that will hit the auctioning block at a given moment is, sometimes, simply the person who happens to pitch their services to the right seller.

Newsom: CEQA is “clearly broken”  - Robert Khodadadian

California Governor Gavin Newsom (Getty)

A day after an appeals court judge stalled a plan by UC Berkeley to build student housing, California Gov. Gavin Newsom blasted CEQA, the far-reaching — and widely hated — environmental law that underpinned the arguments against the high-profile project. 

“California cannot afford to be held hostage by NIMBYs who weaponize CEQA to block student and affordable housing,” the governor said in a statement issued over the weekend. “This law needs to change.” 

Newsom, who first won election partly on a promise to build 3.5 million homes, has consistently positioned himself as a pro-housing advocate and in recent years has signed dozens of laws intended to promote construction and chip away at California’s housing affordability crisis, which stems largely from a lack of supply.  

CEQA represents an even bigger target. The environmental statute, which was signed into law by a then-governor Ronald Reagan in 1970, was designed to reposition environmental concerns as a top state priority by requiring all state agencies, including city planning commissions, to analyze potential environmental impacts before approving projects. 

Yet while the law has been extremely successful in some respects — environmental and citizen groups point to its impact on protecting public health, reducing carbon emissions and preserving habitats — for years critics have complained that the law was widely abused as a catch-all to stop or delay projects opponents happened to dislike. CEQA has come under increasing scrutiny as a factor in the state’s housing crisis because of its associated delays and additional red tape; in September, one report authored by a Holland & Knight attorney found that the law was being used to challenge more than half of the state’s new housing projects. 

CEQA lawsuits are “making housing too scarce — and too expensive,” that report argued. “The result: CEQA has indeed become a population control [statute]. … California is losing people, and the people being expelled are our families, our kids and grandkids.” 

Newsom’s withering comments came after a hard blow for the state’s flagship university and thousands of its students. On Friday — after a battle over UC Berkeley’s plan to transform the city’s historic People’s Park into a development with about 1,100 student beds and 125 lower income beds had been raging for months — a state appellate court ruled that the university could not proceed with the plan. 

The legal opposition came from two nonprofits who argued, citing CEQA, that the student housing would bring additional noise, among other disruptions. UC Berkeley has said it will now take the fight to the state’s Supreme Court. 

The case amounts to a major flashpoint in California’s ongoing — and escalating — battles over housing policy and NIMBYism. A further ruling could bring major implications for the state’s signature environmental law; at the same time, Newsom and some state legislators are likely to continue pushing for serious reform to help address the state’s housing imbalance. 

“Our CEQA process is clearly broken,” the governor added in his recent comments, “when a few wealthy Berkeley homeowners can block desperately needed student housing for years and even decades.”  

Read more

The post Newsom: CEQA is “clearly broken”  appeared first on The Real Deal.

 A day after an appeals court judge stalled a plan by UC Berkeley to build student housing, California Gov. Gavin Newsom blasted CEQA, the far-reaching — and widely hated — environmental law that underpinned the arguments against the high-profile project.  “California cannot afford to be held hostage by NIMBYs who weaponize CEQA to block student
The post Newsom: CEQA is “clearly broken”  appeared first on The Real Deal.  Uncategorized, Berkeley, CEQA, Gavin Newsom, NIMBY The Real Deal 

Lead by real estate veteran Robert Khodadadian, Skyline Properties has been instrumental in many multi-million dollar commercial developments, including a $12 million contract for the White House Hotel, a 99-year ground lease of a four-story commercial site in Harlem, and a retail co-op on Prince St. for $50 million.

Robert Khodadadian has long had a simple philosophy about selling real estate. There are approximately a million buildings in the city, and the broker that gets to sell any one among the multitude that will hit the auctioning block at a given moment is, sometimes, simply the person who happens to pitch their services to the right seller.

Sachem selling acreage near South Congress - Robert Khodadadian

Sachem ceo Rosemary Hoffman, 801 and 821 Woodward Streetand CBRE’s Charles Cirar

Sachem is better with beakers than bulldozers, so it’s leaving the development of its land in Southeast Austin to the real estate pros. 

The firm is selling 15 acres of land at 801 and 821 Woodward Street, not far from South Congress Avenue. Sachem is looking for a sale-leaseback on a 3.5-acre piece of the property, while the nearly 12 acres of undeveloped land that remains would be primed for building.

Adding to the development considerations, land-use law firm Drenner Group is seeking to rezone the properties for denser multifamily development and taller buildings. They are currently zoned for industrial use with room for some multifamily development possibilities. 

A study by STG Design found that the property could yield 837,000 square feet of residential development. Plans show potential for a five-story multifamily project over a two-story podium with more than 1,027 apartments. 

The properties are being marketed by a CBRE team of Charles Cirar, Colin Cannata, Bradley Bailey and Logan Reichle. 

The site, which backs up on a Walmart, is in one of Austin’s hotter zip codes, 78704. The median home sale price was $830,000 in January according to Redfin, down from its peak in August of around $1 million but still well above pre-pandemic levels. The development site lies about four miles from the Central Business District and 3 miles from South Congress’ main shopping drag. 

There are 127 development sites for sale in Austin, according to LoopNet, but only a few exist in the South Congress area. Most are clustered to the northeast and in the suburban areas further from downtown. 

Homes for sale sat on the market 59 percent longer in 2022 than the year prior, according to data from Realtor.com. Still, if a buyer chooses to develop the land as STG Design modeled, the project wouldn’t lack demand. Even as rising rates have turned some would-be buyers into renters, the fundamentals of the hot market — fast population growth, low inventory — remain in place.

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The post Sachem selling acreage near South Congress appeared first on The Real Deal.

 Sachem is better with beakers than bulldozers, so it’s leaving the development of its land in Southeast Austin to the real estate pros.  The firm is selling 15 acres of land at 801 and 821 Woodward Street, not far from South Congress Avenue. Sachem is looking for a sale-leaseback on a 3.5-acre piece of the
The post Sachem selling acreage near South Congress appeared first on The Real Deal.  Uncategorized The Real Deal 

Lead by real estate veteran Robert Khodadadian, Skyline Properties has been instrumental in many multi-million dollar commercial developments, including a $12 million contract for the White House Hotel, a 99-year ground lease of a four-story commercial site in Harlem, and a retail co-op on Prince St. for $50 million.

Robert Khodadadian has long had a simple philosophy about selling real estate. There are approximately a million buildings in the city, and the broker that gets to sell any one among the multitude that will hit the auctioning block at a given moment is, sometimes, simply the person who happens to pitch their services to the right seller.

“Living under a terror situation”: Alleged Hammocks fraud tops $3M - Robert Khodadadian

A photo illustration of Judge Beatrice Butchko and Judge David Gersten along with an aerial view of the The Hammocks in Miami-Dade County (Getty, LinkedIn/David Gersten, Twitter/Beatrice Butchko, Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida)

Months after five people were charged with perpetuating a massive fraud at the Hammocks, investigators found the alleged graft likely ran deeper than originally thought. 

The fraud topped $3 million “and counting,” David Gersten, receiver for the Hammocks homeowners association, said in court on Tuesday. Former board members used 55 bank accounts and credit cards, which is “exceedingly abnormal” for an association, he said. 

“It’s a way to move things around and play a shell game,” Gersten said. “We keep going. It’s an unending process.”

Although Gersten didn’t provide details in court about the fraud he has uncovered, the amount is more than the roughly $2 million previously reported.

In November, the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s office charged former board members Marglli Gallego, Myriam Rodgers, Yoleidis Lopez Garcia and Monica Isabel Ghilardi, as well as Gallego’s husband, Jose Antonio Gonzalez, for their alleged role in siphoning HOA funds. The scheme was allegedly largely perpetuated by the HOA paying bogus vendors, including some led by Gonzalez, for supposed maintenance and other work at the community. The funds largely ended up in the pockets of Gallego and Gonzalez, according to the charging affidavit and the state attorney’s office. All five people charged have pleaded not guilty. 

Gersten, whom Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Beatrice Butchko appointed as the receiver in a separate civil case on the issue, said he has filed a $3.4 million fraud claim to insurers. Still, he cautioned that the carriers have a $1 million limit, and his team of attorneys is searching for other ways to recoup losses for residents. 

Some of those potentially involved in the fraud also may have insurance, Butchko pointed out during the court hearing. Plus, $1 million still is a good amount of money that may help pay fees for Gersten, attorneys and forensic accountants who essentially took over the board, overseeing the community’s business following the arrests. 

Gersten also has hired FirstService Residential as property manager, Elite Guard as the security services firm, and a landscaping maintenance firm has started work. Bids from pool contractors also are being reviewed to ensure the Hammocks gets the best priced firm, he said. 

Some residents have expressed concern with fees for Gersten and his team, questioning whether they will be levied an additional assessment to pay for the receivership. Several of the attorneys working on the case have lowered their fees, according to a presentation given in court. 

In one of the biggest portions of legal work, attorneys are investigating if the HOA, under the former board’s leadership, filed fraudulent foreclosures against homeowners, and if ex-board members then purchased those homes. 

Gersten’s investigation also revealed that the former board had attorneys on its payroll, who collected $3.2 million in fees since 2019 — not all of it for work for the HOA. 

The criminal defense for Gallego, first arrested in 2021 and largely painted as the ringleader in charging documents, has plucked $825,000 from HOA coffers. 

“How is that a legitimate board charge?” Butchko said. 

“It is not,” Gersten responded.  

The Hammocks, considered South Florida’s biggest HOA, has more than 18,000 residents across single-family homes and condominiums. The community sits on 

3,800 acres in south Miami-Dade County, between Southwest 120th and 88th streets and between Southwest 147th and 162nd avenues. 

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Still, the Hammocks won’t be under receivership for long, as an election for a new board is scheduled for March 30. Gersten and his team are shepherding the process, including vetting the 13 candidates and holding town halls. They have vowed to ensure election transparency by posting the ballots on the Hammock’s website: https://www.hammockscommunityassociation.info/. Early voting will be from March 25-29, and winners will be announced on March 31. 

The receiver’s work is “expensive, but it’s very, very necessary,” Butchko said in court in response to residents’ concerns. “This has been a fraud that has been going on for many, many years. … A lot of these people have been living under a terror situation.” 

The post “Living under a terror situation”: Alleged Hammocks fraud tops $3M appeared first on The Real Deal.

 Months after five people were charged with perpetuating a massive fraud at the Hammocks, investigators found the alleged graft likely ran deeper than originally thought.  The fraud topped $3 million “and counting,” David Gersten, receiver for the Hammocks homeowners association, said in court on Tuesday. Former board members used 55 bank accounts and credit cards,
The post “Living under a terror situation”: Alleged Hammocks fraud tops $3M appeared first on The Real Deal.  Uncategorized The Real Deal 

Lead by real estate veteran Robert Khodadadian, Skyline Properties has been instrumental in many multi-million dollar commercial developments, including a $12 million contract for the White House Hotel, a 99-year ground lease of a four-story commercial site in Harlem, and a retail co-op on Prince St. for $50 million.

Robert Khodadadian has long had a simple philosophy about selling real estate. There are approximately a million buildings in the city, and the broker that gets to sell any one among the multitude that will hit the auctioning block at a given moment is, sometimes, simply the person who happens to pitch their services to the right seller.

Havenicks finalize $96M sale of Magic City Casino - Robert Khodadadian

Magic City Casino’s Isadore Havenick and 450 Northwest 37th Avenue (Getty, Google Maps)

The Havenick family’s era at Magic City Casino is officially over. 

PCI Gaming Authority, an affiliate of Alabama-based Poarch Band of Creek Indians, paid $96 million for the nearly 30-acre gambling site at 450 Northwest 37th Avenue, according to records and Vizzda. The deal is part of PCI’s acquisition of Magic City Casino’s operations, inventory, and state gambling license, pegged at $600 million, according to published reports. 

West Flagler Associates, a Havenick entity, sold the casino following the family’s ownership of more than 71 years. This month, the Florida Gaming Control Commission signed off on the sale and transfer of the gambling license to the Native American tribe. 

PCI owns and operates gambling sites in Florida and other states, including the Sands Casino Resort in Las Vegas. The tribe is considering developing a luxury resort, shopping centers and attractions on the Magic City Casino property, published reports state. 

The casino was originally known as Flagler Dog Track, and ran greyhound races under its initial gambling permit issued in 1935. The Havenicks bought the parimutuel facility 16 years later. 

In 2004, Florida granted approval to parimutuel sites, including Flagler, to use their permits for slot machines and card games. The Havenicks added more than 800 slot machines, renamed the property Magic City Casino, and in 2020, stopped hosting dog races. In recent years, Magic City Casino added jai alai matches. 

Family entity West Flagler, led by Isadore Havenick, hasn’t completely abandoned the gambling industry. It still owns Casino Miami, a gambling facility near Miami International Airport that also has jai alai, slot machines and card games. The Havenicks also have a gambling permit to operate a summer jai alai fronton and poker room on a property at 3030 Biscayne Boulevard in Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood owned by Crescent Heights, the development firm led by Russell Galbut.

In 2021, the Havenicks and the city of Miami settled a federal lawsuit challenging a resolution banning gambling facilities in Edgewater. The city commission rescinded the legislation in exchange for the Havenicks agreeing that they would not place slot machines in the proposed parimutuel and poker site. 

Meanwhile, other efforts to expand gambling in South Florida have fizzled. In 2021, Aventura-based developer Jeffrey Soffer and former President Donald Trump failed to convince state legislators to consider allowing casino games at a pair of signature properties in Miami-Dade County. 

Soffer wanted to transfer the license from his Big Easy Casino in Hallandale Beach to his Fontainebleau Miami Beach resort. And the Trump organization sought a way to obtain a license for the Trump National Doral Miami golf resort. The cities of Doral and Miami Beach also passed prohibitions against gambling establishments. 

The post Havenicks finalize $96M sale of Magic City Casino appeared first on The Real Deal.

 The Havenick family’s era at Magic City Casino is officially over.  PCI Gaming Authority, an affiliate of Alabama-based Poarch Band of Creek Indians, paid $96 million for the nearly 30-acre gambling site at 450 Northwest 37th Avenue, according to records and Vizzda. The deal is part of PCI’s acquisition of Magic City Casino’s operations, inventory,
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Lead by real estate veteran Robert Khodadadian, Skyline Properties has been instrumental in many multi-million dollar commercial developments, including a $12 million contract for the White House Hotel, a 99-year ground lease of a four-story commercial site in Harlem, and a retail co-op on Prince St. for $50 million.

Robert Khodadadian has long had a simple philosophy about selling real estate. There are approximately a million buildings in the city, and the broker that gets to sell any one among the multitude that will hit the auctioning block at a given moment is, sometimes, simply the person who happens to pitch their services to the right seller.

Archer-Daniels-Midland CEO Juan Luciano doubles down in Chicago’s One Bennett Park - Robert Khodadadian

Archer-Daniels-Midland chairman and CEO Juan Luciano, and One Bennett Park at 451 East Grand Avenue, Chicago (Wikipedia/TonyTheTiger, ADM)

It wasn’t enough for Juan Luciano to drop nearly $6 million for a luxe condo in Chicago’s Streeterville. Now he’s sunk $1.85 million more for a second unit 15 floors below.

The chairman and CEO of Archer-Daniels-Midland and his wife, Carolina, bought a 46th-floor condo at One Bennett Park at 451 East Grand Avenue, the Chicago Tribune reported. 

The purchase comes a year after they paid $5.72 million last March for a three-bedroom, 4,800-square-foot unit on the 61st floor.

The first half-floor condominium has sweeping views of Lake Michigan and the Chicago skyline. The second perch below will offer a closer look of nearby Navy Pier.

One Bennett Park, a 70-story tower designed by New York-based Robert A.M. Stern, has 279 apartments topped by 69 condos. But properties at the 1.7-acre Art Deco-inspired highrise developed in 2019 by Related Midwest, the Chicago office of New York-based Related Companies, have been slow to sell.

The developer sold 13 units last year, including a three-bedroom, four-bathroom unit that traded in July for $4 million, down $700,000 from its initial asking price. In March 2020, a 4,800-square-foot condo on the 63rd floor fetched $6.25 million. The Lucianos’ purchase last year, however, was a resale of a unit the developer had already sold, according to the Tribune.

Juan Luciano, native of Argentina, was named CEO at ADM in 2015 and appointed chairman the following year. He previously had worked at Dow Chemical.

Luciano joined a record number of Chicago-area CEOs making $20 million or more in 2021, with compensation of $23.5 million, according to Crain’s.

He and his wife have been on a condominium buying spree across the Near North Side 

The Lucianos paid $1.61 million in 2013 for a 19th-floor condo in a highrise near their latest purchase, then paid $810,000 the following year for another 19th-floor unit in that building. In 2018, they paid $1.51 million for a 27th-floor condo in the same tower. 

They continue to own all three units, which brings their Streeterville holdings to five homes, one for each working day of the week.

— Dana Bartholomew

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The post Archer-Daniels-Midland CEO Juan Luciano doubles down in Chicago’s One Bennett Park appeared first on The Real Deal.

 It wasn’t enough for Juan Luciano to drop nearly $6 million for a luxe condo in Chicago’s Streeterville. Now he’s sunk $1.85 million more for a second unit 15 floors below. The chairman and CEO of Archer-Daniels-Midland and his wife, Carolina, bought a 46th-floor condo at One Bennett Park at 451 East Grand Avenue, the
The post Archer-Daniels-Midland CEO Juan Luciano doubles down in Chicago’s One Bennett Park appeared first on The Real Deal.  Uncategorized The Real Deal 

Lead by real estate veteran Robert Khodadadian, Skyline Properties has been instrumental in many multi-million dollar commercial developments, including a $12 million contract for the White House Hotel, a 99-year ground lease of a four-story commercial site in Harlem, and a retail co-op on Prince St. for $50 million.

Robert Khodadadian has long had a simple philosophy about selling real estate. There are approximately a million buildings in the city, and the broker that gets to sell any one among the multitude that will hit the auctioning block at a given moment is, sometimes, simply the person who happens to pitch their services to the right seller.

Luxury resi planned in Dalworthington Gardens - Robert Khodadadian

One of the smallest cities in the metroplex is getting one of the biggest new luxury developments. Highwater Development plans to build 11 new luxury homes in the town of Dalworthington Gardens just outside of Arlington.

The development will be located at 2611 Pleasant Ridge Road with custom home prices starting at $1.5 million, the Dallas Business Journal reported. Dalworthington Gardens, population just over 2,000, has had little residential development within its borders, despite a post-pandemic housing boom across the metroplex.

Construction on the new homes will begin in March and should be ready for move-in sometime in late summer, according to Highwater. Due to several acres of flood plain, the vacant development property sat on the market for several years before Highwater acquired the land.

“If you look at the map, and you look at the MLS, you’d think I was nuts when I told you what we’re selling lots for,” said Cannon Clark, president of Highwater Development. “But then you look at the neighboring properties and DWG as a whole. The submarket here is very unique, the buyer is unique and so we wanted to develop a very unique product.”

The average home value in Dalworthington Gardens is about $509,000, significantly higher than the $310,000 average in nearby Arlington, according to the Zillow Home Value Index. Still these numbers are far below the average home price in typical DFW luxury markets like Southlake or Highland Park.

The Highwater Development will nearly triple the average asking cost of a Dalworthington Garden home. Clark wanted to fill in the property with many more homes, but city officials convinced the firm to go for a luxury-style project, he told the DBJ.

“I’ve driven by that property since I was born, and I’m pretty sure it’s been for sale since I was born,” Clark said. “It was way overpriced, and it took us about six months to negotiate with the seller to a price we still thought was outrageous. It’s adequately positioned, and we dug further into the concept of going super high-end, with really expensive lots and really nice homes.”

The Dallas luxury home market held strong last year despite concerns of slow down. The DFW area saw the most big-ticket home sales in Texas with 4,689, representing $7.6 billion in sales. That’s a 23 percent increase over the previous year and represents almost 16 percent of the market.

The single-family market in North Texas did start to slow down this winter. In December, the area housing supply reached its highest level of the year with a three-month supply — a nearly 280 percent increase from year-end 2021, according to the latest Re/Max National Housing Report. Conversely, home sales dropped almost 32 percent compared to 2021.

—Erick Pirayesh

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The post Luxury resi planned in Dalworthington Gardens appeared first on The Real Deal.

 One of the smallest cities in the metroplex is getting one of the biggest new luxury developments. Highwater Development plans to build 11 new luxury homes in the town of Dalworthington Gardens just outside of Arlington. The development will be located at 2611 Pleasant Ridge Road with custom home prices starting at $1.5 million, the
The post Luxury resi planned in Dalworthington Gardens appeared first on The Real Deal.  Uncategorized The Real Deal 

Lead by real estate veteran Robert Khodadadian, Skyline Properties has been instrumental in many multi-million dollar commercial developments, including a $12 million contract for the White House Hotel, a 99-year ground lease of a four-story commercial site in Harlem, and a retail co-op on Prince St. for $50 million.

Robert Khodadadian has long had a simple philosophy about selling real estate. There are approximately a million buildings in the city, and the broker that gets to sell any one among the multitude that will hit the auctioning block at a given moment is, sometimes, simply the person who happens to pitch their services to the right seller.

Quay Tower back on top of Brooklyn luxury contracts - Robert Khodadadian

Quay Tower at 50 Bridge Park Drive, 1 City Point (Getty, Google Maps)

Quay Tower was back on top of Brooklyn’s luxury market in a quieter week for signed contracts.

The penthouse asking $10 million was the priciest of 15 contracts signed in the borough from Feb. 20 to Feb. 26, according to Compass’s weekly report on homes asking $2 million or more. 

The 3,600-square-foot condo at 50 Bridge Park Drive has four bedrooms and three bathrooms. 

The unit has private elevator access and floor-to-ceiling windows. The 30-story building has 125 units and its amenities include a fitness center, 24-hour concierge and rooftop lounge. 

Serhant’s James Hayes had the listing. 

The Brooklyn Heights building has been home to some of the borough’s top deals since it launched sales in 2018. 

A penthouse in the tower marked a borough-high price for the year when it sold for more than $20.3 million in 2020. A 23rd-floor penthouse marked Brooklyn’s priciest deal of 2021 when it entered contract for $10.65 million. Property filings show the unit closed last year for $10 million.

After a year away from Compass’ reports on the borough’s contracts, the property returned to the top October, when it led the list three times in a month. 

The second most expensive home to enter contract last week was Unit 63D at 1 City Point in Downtown Brooklyn with an asking price of $3.7 million. The 1,500-square-foot condop has three bedrooms and three bathrooms. 

It features wide-plank wood floors and floor-to-ceiling windows with sweeping views of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Building amenities include a 24-hour attended lobby, dry cleaning valet and landscaped terrace. 

Serhant and Extell Marketing Group head sales at the building. 

Of the 15 signed contracts, 11 were for condos, three for townhouses and one a condop. The total was down from the 21 contracts signed the previous week, which was the largest number of deals since before the winter holidays.

The average asking price for the contracts was $3.1 million with an average price per square foot of $1,657. The homes spent an average of 127 days on the market and prices had an average discount of 1 percent.

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The post Quay Tower back on top of Brooklyn luxury contracts appeared first on The Real Deal.

 Quay Tower was back on top of Brooklyn’s luxury market in a quieter week for signed contracts. The penthouse asking $10 million was the priciest of 15 contracts signed in the borough from Feb. 20 to Feb. 26, according to Compass’s weekly report on homes asking $2 million or more.  The 3,600-square-foot condo at 50
The post Quay Tower back on top of Brooklyn luxury contracts appeared first on The Real Deal.  Uncategorized The Real Deal 

Lead by real estate veteran Robert Khodadadian, Skyline Properties has been instrumental in many multi-million dollar commercial developments, including a $12 million contract for the White House Hotel, a 99-year ground lease of a four-story commercial site in Harlem, and a retail co-op on Prince St. for $50 million.

Robert Khodadadian has long had a simple philosophy about selling real estate. There are approximately a million buildings in the city, and the broker that gets to sell any one among the multitude that will hit the auctioning block at a given moment is, sometimes, simply the person who happens to pitch their services to the right seller.

Brazilian beverage heiress sells waterfront Hibiscus Island home - Robert Khodadadian

Xcellence Realty’s Carol Goulart with 102 South Hibiscus (Google Maps, Getty, Compass)

 A Brazilian beverage heiress sold her waterfront Hibiscus Island home in Miami Beach for $9.3 million, after buying a Turnberry Ocean Club condo in Sunny Isles Beach.

Records show Manada House LLC, a Florida entity managed by Daniela Schincariol, sold the house at 102 South Hibiscus Drive to a trust named for the address. Local attorney Mark Fried signed on behalf of the buyer. 

Carol Goulart of Xcellence Realty had the listing, and Talita Pinheiro of Compass is the co-listing agent. They declined to comment on the buyer and seller, but confirmed that the buyer did not use a broker. The buyer is local and a friend of the seller, according to Pinheiro.

Schincariol provided the buyer with $3.3 million in financing, records show.

Schincariol is a scion of the Schincariol beverage family. The family’s namesake company was founded in 1939 and became one of Brazil’s biggest purveyors of all kinds of drinks, alcoholic and not. The company brews Nova Schin, one of the biggest Brazilian beers on the market. Japan-based Kirin Holdings bought Schincariol for $2.6 billion in 2011, Reuters reported. Following that sale, Forbes listed Schincariol and her cousins among the wealthiest Brazilians in a 2012 ranking. Heineken later bought Schincariol from Kirin for €664 million ($557.8 million) in 2017, according to published reports.

Records show Schincariol paid $7.4 million for a 3,300-square-foot, four-bedroom, five-bathroom condo at Turnberry Ocean Club in Sunny Isles Beach in December.

She bought the Hibiscus Island home in 2016 for $7 million, records show. The property spans less than 0.3-acres, with 60 feet of waterfront, according to records and Goulart. Built in 1948, the 4,500-square-foot house has five bedrooms, six bathrooms, and one half-bathroom, records show. Recent renovations include new flooring, windows and doors, and a new kitchen, the brokers said.

The final sale price fell $5.7 million below the initial $15 million listing price from September, Redfin shows.

“It’s not the same as it was in the summer,” Pinheiro said.

Miami Beach’s Hibiscus Island was a hot spot last summer, before the South Florida market began cooling from its pandemic frenzy. 

Pascal Nicolai’s Sabal Development sold a waterfront Hibiscus Island spec home for $16 million in July. That same month, Laurent Groll and his partners flipped a vacant waterfront lot for $14 million, after paying $10.7 million for it a month earlier. A shipping mogul bought a waterfront Hibiscus Island teardown for $17.5 million in May. 

The post Brazilian beverage heiress sells waterfront Hibiscus Island home appeared first on The Real Deal.

  A Brazilian beverage heiress sold her waterfront Hibiscus Island home in Miami Beach for $9.3 million, after buying a Turnberry Ocean Club condo in Sunny Isles Beach. Records show Manada House LLC, a Florida entity managed by Daniela Schincariol, sold the house at 102 South Hibiscus Drive to a trust named for the address. Local
The post Brazilian beverage heiress sells waterfront Hibiscus Island home appeared first on The Real Deal.  Uncategorized The Real Deal 

Lead by real estate veteran Robert Khodadadian, Skyline Properties has been instrumental in many multi-million dollar commercial developments, including a $12 million contract for the White House Hotel, a 99-year ground lease of a four-story commercial site in Harlem, and a retail co-op on Prince St. for $50 million.

Robert Khodadadian has long had a simple philosophy about selling real estate. There are approximately a million buildings in the city, and the broker that gets to sell any one among the multitude that will hit the auctioning block at a given moment is, sometimes, simply the person who happens to pitch their services to the right seller.

Tides principal linked to purchase of $15M Brentwood manse - Robert Khodadadian

Sarah Addington, Tides Equities’ Sean Kia, and 414 South Cliffwood Avenue (Getty, Google Maps, Tides Equities)

After scooping up more than $6.5 billion worth of apartments in the Sun Belt, Sean Kia, the co-founder of Tides Equities, one of the most active buyers of multifamily properties across the Sun Belt, Tides Equities, ’ co-founder and principal, invested in a Los Angeles house.

A trust linked to Kia is behind the $14.5 million purchase of 414 South Cliffwood Avenue, a 9,700-square-foot mansion in Los Angeles’ Brentwood neighborhood. The deal for the more than 6-bedroom, 10-bathroom listing, based on more than a half-acre of land, took place earlier this month and penciled out to $1,496 per square foot.

Over the last two years, Kia’s Tides Equities has amassed more than $6.5 billion worth of apartments across Sun Belt cities like Phoenix, Dallas and Las Vegas. But rising interest rates have put the firm in a tough spot since then, as debt payments on their properties have soared.

The seller was Sarah Addington, ex-wife of Ari Emmanuel, co-chief executive officer of Endeavor talent and sports agency, and inspiration for the Ari Gold character in the HBO series “Entourage,” which ran from 2004 to 2011.

Emmanuel bought the home for $10 million in 2005 and deeded the property to Addington after their 2018 divorce. The house was initially listed for $26 million in August 2021, and has been on and off the market since then. It went through a few price reductions. The listing’s most recent ask was about $18.5 million in December 2022.

Siv Cotton and Landon Clements of Engel & Volkers served as listing agents. Laurent Mamann Slater of The Beverly Hills Estates represented the buyer. Kia did not respond to an email and a text requesting comment.

Constructed in 1987, the listing offers a main house that stretches to about 6,900 square feet, as well as a 2,800-square-foot guest house, according to an agent’s description. The listing was remodeled by Windsor Smith, a Los Angeles designer, however the date of the remodel is unclear.

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The guest house features amenities such as a cinema and a gym. Estate grounds offer a pool, a putting green and  garden.

Comps offered for 414 South Cliffside include another Brentwood home, which is located at 441 North Bristol Avenue. The 9,400-square-foot home sold for $17.5 million in December 2022.

The post Tides principal linked to purchase of $15M Brentwood manse appeared first on The Real Deal.

 After scooping up more than $6.5 billion worth of apartments in the Sun Belt, Sean Kia, the co-founder of Tides Equities, one of the most active buyers of multifamily properties across the Sun Belt, Tides Equities, ’ co-founder and principal, invested in a Los Angeles house. A trust linked to Kia is behind the $14.5
The post Tides principal linked to purchase of $15M Brentwood manse appeared first on The Real Deal.  Uncategorized The Real Deal 

Lead by real estate veteran Robert Khodadadian, Skyline Properties has been instrumental in many multi-million dollar commercial developments, including a $12 million contract for the White House Hotel, a 99-year ground lease of a four-story commercial site in Harlem, and a retail co-op on Prince St. for $50 million.

Robert Khodadadian has long had a simple philosophy about selling real estate. There are approximately a million buildings in the city, and the broker that gets to sell any one among the multitude that will hit the auctioning block at a given moment is, sometimes, simply the person who happens to pitch their services to the right seller.