Claim OwnershipBEST & FINAL
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A New York Real Estate News Podcast by Jordan Shea
123 Episodes
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A Thanksgiving-Eve breakdown of New York’s real estate landscape — from the incoming Mamdani administration’s housing agenda to the surge in office-to-residential conversions, major CMBS activity, distressed developments, and new regulatory battles shaping the residential market. A concise, high-signal briefing for anyone tracking where the city is heading next.
New York real estate is running hot this week — not just with deals, but with lawsuits, power struggles, and high-stakes moves from some of the city’s biggest brokerages and developers. From Upper East Side renovation battles to multimillion-dollar commission disputes, strategic acquisitions, debt restructurings, and luxury trades, this episode breaks down the pressure points shaping Manhattan right now.
The November 18, 2025 episode of "Best & Final" opens with Extell’s latest power moves — a $36 million air-rights deal with Saint Thomas Church, a mezzanine-debt position that could hand them One Worldwide Plaza, and a new 25-story tower filing on West 66th Street — before moving into a full slate of market activity, including Mori Trust’s $541 million acquisition at Hudson Yards, new prewar-inspired luxury designs along Fifth Avenue, distress signals at the New York Times Building and NoMo SoHo, Brooklyn’s 1,000-unit surge in Greenpoint, an $85 million rental trade in DUMBO, and the city’s newly unveiled modernization plan for the Manhattan Cruise Terminal.
In this episode the City Council greenlights the OneLIC rezoning in Queens and Jersey City steps into the skyline race with a proposed 1,055-foot residential tower at 100 Bay Street. We also track major office-to-residential maneuvers in Midtown East and Tribeca, fresh refinancing activity from Global Holdings, and new flashpoints in the luxury hotel and co-op world — including the Lexington Hotel listing and the escalating battle over the Pierre. No spin, no takes — just the facts shaping New York’s real estate landscape today.
Citadel’s Ken Griffin is backing a 1,400-foot tower at 350 Park Avenue — a new benchmark for Midtown East and a signal that institutional capital still believes in New York’s vertical future. In today’s Best & Final, we break down the next generation of office towers, the surge in leasing momentum, and the capital shifts quietly reshaping Manhattan’s skyline.
A political earthquake hits New York City as Zohran Mamdani’s victory ushers in a new era for real estate. From proposed rent freezes and higher taxes to the resilience of Manhattan’s commercial core, Best & Final breaks down what this shift means for developers, investors, and brokers navigating the city’s next test.
It’s Election Day in New York — and the city chose this morning for a full-scale news dump. From billion-dollar housing commitments in Queens to Brookfield’s $1.3 billion refinancing on Fifth Avenue, the week brought movement across every sector. Office restructurings, luxury condo progress, new conversion filings, and the first steps toward Penn Station’s redevelopment all landed at once — a reminder that the market never waits for the polls to close.
A new kind of skyline is taking shape. From Prada’s planned Fifth Avenue tower blending couture and condos to billion-dollar office conversions and luxury hospitality deals, today’s episode tracks the pivot points reshaping New York’s real estate hierarchy. The balance of power is shifting — and the next cycle is already underway.
It's here! Manhattan’s first Midtown South conversion under new zoning signals the next era of adaptive reuse. Major capital shifts, high-stakes litigation, and political promises collide in today's Best & Final—where policy meets property and the city’s next phase begins.
MCM offloads nearly its entire equity stake in a $489.8 million hotel portfolio — marking Manhattan’s largest trade since the Safe Hotels Act. Meanwhile, RXR recapitalizes 1211 Avenue of the Americas for $1.45 billion, Vanbarton pushes a 440-unit conversion in Midtown East, and lenders escalate enforcement across the multifamily sector.
The office-to-residential conversion boom has reached levels not seen since 2008 — reshaping Manhattan’s skyline and balance sheets. Jordan Shea unpacks the data behind the 4.1 million square feet already underway, the Midtown shift, and the policy incentives fueling it. Plus: office leasing rebounds, new developments rise, and $18B in federal funding stalls key infrastructure.
New York pushes $1.8B into housing, Citi Field’s $8B casino bid advances, a 1,600-foot Midtown supertall gets the green light, and condo supply hits a decade low — today’s Best & Final breaks down the moves reshaping the city’s real estate market.
Today’s Best & Final covers a political jolt for New York real estate as Mayor Eric Adams exits the mayoral race, leaving the industry to weigh the starkly different platforms of Zohran Mamdani and Andrew Cuomo. We also break down Compass’s $1.6 billion takeover of Anywhere Real Estate, creating a brokerage titan that now controls more than a quarter of New York’s market volume. Plus: the surge in air rights trading, new housing developments from Midtown to Long Island, and a $38 million Fifth Avenue co-op sale.
New York is reshaping its skyline from the ground up. Today’s briefing covers the Adams administration’s push to unlock nearly 10,000 homes across city-owned sites, RXR’s billion-dollar bet on 590 Madison Avenue, distress rippling through the rental market, major outer-borough financings, and the latest casino greenlight in Queens.
Compass is set to acquire Anywhere Real Estate in a $10 billion all-stock deal — creating the world’s largest residential brokerage by sales volume. In New York, Brooklyn redevelopment plans are accelerating, from United American Land’s long-term assemblage to a $3.5 billion reimagining of the Brooklyn Marine Terminal. Meanwhile, SL Green eyes the Chrysler Building ground lease, Manhattan’s last casino bid collapses, distress builds in the multifamily sector, and a $1.4 billion refinancing at 11 Madison shows confidence in prime office assets.
Today’s brief tracks Harry Macklowe’s bold move on Madison Avenue, where the veteran developer is betting big on Landmarks approval to create ultra-luxury condos. We’ll also look at conversions reshaping Midtown and FiDi, major site sales from Tribeca to Crown Heights, and high-profile trades in Hell’s Kitchen and NoHo.
In today’s Best & Final, Jordan Shea unpacks the dramatic committee votes that killed two of the remaining four Manhattan casino proposals, the financial strain gripping affordable housing, the mixed signals coming from the office market, and the latest deals and developments shaping New York real estate.
Chelsea welcomes a new public plaza at One High Line, Midtown gears up for one of the city’s largest office leases, and Louis Vuitton plans an ambitious new Fifth Avenue flagship. We’ll also cover strategic acquisitions in NoHo and Lenox Hill, industrial refinancing across the outer boroughs, and Greenwich’s luxury housing market surging to record highs.
Commercial real estate distress is climbing to record highs, while New York’s housing pipeline slows and political battles heat up ahead of the mayoral race. In this episode of Best & Final, we break down the pressures in the CMBS market, Extell and Vornado’s billion-dollar development strategies, and the latest snapshots from Tribeca, East Harlem, and the Manhattan office market. Distress, debate, and development — all shaping the city’s future.
Today’s briefing covers a cleared East Village site awaiting its next chapter, investor David Shapiro’s recent purchases in Chelsea and the Lower East Side, and Aya New York’s $54.7 million acquisition of the Cassa Hotel. We also dive into the mayoral race, where competing tax proposals could reshape the city’s real estate landscape, and close with Douglas Elliman’s Michael Lorber Team expanding to Westchester and Connecticut.
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