JLL is considering offloading one of its global businesses. The Chicago-based firm is exploring a sale of its China property management business, which is estimated to be worth at least $500 million, Bloomberg News reported. JLL is working with an advisor on the potential sale, which would not include its brokerage or valuation business in the country. The potential sale has drawn some interest from other property management firms and investors, according to the report.
Return of the retailer: Century 21 relaunches
Attention shoppers: Century 21 is coming back. The New York-based discount retail chain that built a loyal following but folded after declaring bankruptcy in September, announced its planned return last week. In a statement on Tuesday, Century 21 Stores said the decision to relaunch came “in response to the outpouring of love from the Big Apple and the admiration” of their “loyal shoppers from around the world.” The announcement was light on details, but the
US warehouse boom attracts foreign investors
It’s not just massive firms like Blackstone Group and Prologis that are throwing billions of dollars at warehouses — foreign investors are also pouring money into the booming industrial sector. Investment firms from France, Germany and South Korea are among those that have recently inked big deals for industrial properties, according to the Wall Street Journal. That comes even as overall foreign investment into U.S. real estate has plummeted due to the pandemic. Real Capital
German designers roll out weatherproof shelter pods
A group in Germany has come up with a novel way to provide emergency shelter to people experiencing homelessness in their city. A six-person team in Ulm has designed wood and steel “pods” that are relatively cheap to build, waterproof and windproof, the BBC reported. The shelters, called Ulmer Nests, are in their second year of trials. The team conceived of the idea in 2018 and tested out its first pods last winter. They’re designed
Musician Nicky Jam relists Palm Island home at a loss
Nicky Jam is trying again to sell his Miami Beach home — and this time, he’s looking at taking a loss. Jam paid $3.4 million for the 3,600-square-foot home in Palm Island two years ago, but is now asking just $3.3 million for the property, according to Variety. He first tried selling the home last year with an asking price of $3.65 million. The ask was eventually dropped to $3.5 million. Eventually, it was taken
Real estate agents turn to influencers to help sell a lifestyle — and apartments
It takes a bit more work to move residential units in New York City these days and agents are upping their marketing game on social media. Some prospective buyers could be hesitant to see units in person unless it jumps out at them amid the pandemic, according to Bloomberg News. Agents are looking to get eyeballs on units where potential buyers spend a lot of their time. Enter the social media influencer. “We’re seeing that
Newly promoted exec quietly exits Richard Meier’s firm
Less than a year after taking over the day-to-day operations of Richard Meier’s eponymous architecture firm, managing principal Bernhard Karpf has quietly left. Karpf, who stepped up his role at the firm following an explosive New York Times story that revealed multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against Meier, stopped working for the company in July, a representative for the company confirmed on Friday. Karpf’s picture on the firm’s website, once the first featured on the …
The trade war keeps escalating. Here’s how it’ll impact NYC real estate
For months, trade war tensions with China have been on the rise. The Chinese government said Friday morning it would implement a $75 billion retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods — a response to President Trump’s $300 billion tariff on Chinese goods. After the announcement, Trump said he would raise tariffs on Chinese goods by as much as 30 percent, according to the Wall Street Journal. As the back and forth unfolds, watch the video above …
National slowdown claims its first major-city victim: Seattle home values
A decline in Seattle-area home values is the first in years in a major U.S. metropolitan area, a leading source of real estate data reported. Single-family home prices in May fell 1.2 percent, compared with the same month last year, according to fresh data from S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller. Kelly Meister, a Seattle-based broker for Compass, said home prices appear more uneven than a year ago from one neighborhood in the city to another. “The Seattle market …
The states with the biggest share of vacation rentals aren’t where you’d think
Year-round sunshine didn’t help Florida make it to the top of this vacation rental ranking. The states with the highest percentage of vacation homes are clustered in the Northeast, Bloomberg reported, citing a new study from investment property exchange firm IPX1031. Maine topped the ranking, with 19.3 percent of its homes being used as vacation rentals. Vermont came in second, at 17.4 percent, followed by New Hampshire, at 11.8 percent, and Alaska clocked in at …
Kanye West cares about “Star Wars”-themed affordable housing
Jesus walks, but Luke Skywalker talks, at least for Kanye West when it comes to affordable housing. The rapper-turned-aspiring real estate mogul is reportedly leading the development of an affordable housing project with a “Star Wars” theme at a secret California forest location. Forbes reported that the recording artist, entrepreneur and designer is working with a team to design prefabricated shelters as affordable housing, possibly for homeless people. West wanted an austere design for shelters …
This Silicon Valley home hit the market in Larry Ellison and Sheryl Sandberg’s town
Silicon Valley mainstay David Sacks is selling his 11,000-square-foot home in Atherton, the area’s most exclusive town that’s home to numerous tech titans. Sacks is asking $22.5 million for the six-bedroom home, according to Variety. Last year, homes in Atherton sold for a median of $6.7 million, making it the most expensive area to buy a home in the country. Average annual household income in Atherton is around $450,000, according to Business Insider. Residents include
“Empire” mansion still looking for buyer after 6 years and 40% price cut
A 17,000-square-foot Barrington Hills mansion frequently seen on the Fox TV series “Empire” has yet to find a buyer despite a 40% price chop from its original asking. The home at 45 Lakeview Lane originally listed for $15.9 million in June 2013. Now it’s listed at $9.5 million, according to Crain’s. The 8.5-acre estate regularly has been featured as the mansion of actor Terrance Howard’s Lucious Lyon character since 2014, but owners Sam and Geralyn …
Why rich Brazilians are scooping up property in Portugal
Brazilian multimillionaire Ricardo Bellino lived more than 10 years in Miami before relocating to Portugal, which has emerged as a haven for affluent Brazilians. Bellino, 53, who bought a home near Lisbon, will gain from a flat income-tax rate of 20 percent in Portugal, where he also may be eligible for a tax-free pension after he retires. He told Bloomberg his relocation to Portugal from Miami enabled him to reside in “a tax haven that …
This week in celeb real estate: Tinder co-founder eyes breakup with Montecito home, Beck’s former home lists for sale… and more
Aside from one $16 million sale in the South Bay, celebrities looked outside L.A. for their real estate fix this week. Two multi-million-dollar listings came up in Montecito, a celebrity enclave in Santa Barbara known to attract A-listers like Ellen DeGeneres and Oprah Winfrey. In Montecito, Tinder co-founder Sean Rad is looking to part ways with a ranch home he picked up from Ellen DeGeneres last year. The scenic six-acre compound is on the market …
Freshly renovated manse heads to the auction block with no reserve
A newly remodeled mansion on the eastern edge of Los Angeles County is hitting the auction block with no reserve. The 7,250-square-foot Mediterranean-style mansion sits in a gated community in the city of Diamond Bar and will go to the highest bidder at an auction on June 1, according to Mansion Global. It’s a no reserve auction, which means the seller isn’t setting a bottom-end threshold for bids In other words, it could sell at …
San Francisco’s largest homeless shelter poised to face legal battle
San Francisco city officials approved the city’s largest homeless shelter last week, but fervent opponents of the project say they aren’t giving up their fight to kill it. The Embarcadero Navigation Center is set to occupy a Port of San Francisco-owned parking lot near beneath the Bay Bridge in Rincon Hill, a wealthy area of the city along its eastern waterfront, according to SFist. Attorney Andrew Zacks, who leads the opposition to the shelter, claimed …
FYI: Chicago is sinking
Homeowners living along the shore of southern Lake Michigan who’ve dealt with wildly fluctuating water levels over the past few decades now have another worry: Chicago and other parts of the region are sinking. The Earth’s crust around southern Lake Michigan is dipping as areas of the northern United States and Canada are rising as once heavy sheets of ice melt and recede. The Chicago area is sinking up to 8 inches each century in …
A Sicilian town is selling homes for a single Euro
Got a buck? Or, rather, a Euro? That could get you a home in scenic Sambuca de Sicilia, Italy. The town on the island of Sicily is selling off 17 properties there for as little as €1 to help attract people to a community experiencing depopulation, according to the New York Post. Of course, there’s a catch. New owners are obligated to invest at least $17,000 into improvements of the property within the first three …