Real Estate News

San Jose office tower conversion to housing project formally launches

SAN JOSE — A plan to convert a downtown San Jose office tower from offices to housing is officially underway with a formal permit application for the project, which could produce 100-plus homes.

The Bank of Italy historic tower would switch from offices to residences under a proposal from the high-rise’s owner, an alliance of Canada-based global developer Westbank and San Jose-based local developer Urban Community, which is headed up by real estate entrepreneur Gary Dillabough and Jeff Arrillaga.

Outdoor dining and gathering areas on a terrace of the Bank of Italy historic tower at 12 South First Street in downtown San Jose, concept. (Bjarke Ingels Group)

Westbank filed the formal permit application on March 20 with the San Jose Planning Department, city public documents show.

In January, Dillabough estimated the conversion could produce “125 to 150” residences.

Offices on 11 of the tower’s 13 floors would be converted to residences.

The high-rise, built nearly a century ago in 1925, is located at 12 South First Street next to East Santa Clara Street.

When Westbank and Urban Community bought the tower in 2019, it was one of several sites the real estate allies purchased in downtown San Jose with the

Realtor group will pay $418M to settle commission lawsuits

A powerful real estate trade group has agreed to do away with policies that for decades helped set agent commissions, moving to resolve lawsuits that claim the rules have forced people to pay artificially inflated costs to sell their homes.

Under the terms of the agreement announced Friday, the National Association of Realtors also agreed to pay $418 million to help compensate home sellers across the US

Home sellers behind multiple lawsuits against the NAR and several major brokerages argued that the trade group’s rules governing homes listed for sale on its affiliated Multiple Listing Services unfairly propped up agent commissions. The rules also incentivized agents representing buyers to avoid showing their clients listings where the seller’s broker was offering a lower commission to the buyer’s agent, they argued.

As part of the settlement, the NAR agreed to no longer require a broker advertising a home for sale on MLS to offer any upfront compensation to a buyer’s agent. The rule change leaves it open for individual home sellers to negotiate such offers with a buyer’s agent outside of the MLS platforms, although the home seller’s broker has to disclose any such compensation arrangements.

FILE - A home under construction marked as "SOLD" at a development in Eagleville, Pa., is shown on Friday, April 28, 2023. The United States is slogging through a housing affordability crisis that was decades in the making. The shortage pours cold water on President Joe Biden's assurances that the US economy is strong and underscores the degree to which Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump, has largely overlooked the issue. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

FILE - A sale sign stands outside a home in Wyndmoor, Pa., June 22, 2022. One of the nation's largest real estate brokerages has agreed Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024, to pay $70 million as part of a proposed settlement to resolve more than a dozen lawsuits across the country over agent commissions. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

The trade group also agreed to

Sydney real estate agent accidentally sets client’s house on fire while tidying up for inspections

A Sydney real estate agent accidentally burned her client’s multimillion-dollar Northern Beaches home to ground, a court has ruled.

Domain Residential realtor Julie Bundock was supervising an open house at the four-bedroom home on Riverview Rd at Avalon Beach in May 2019 when the blaze erupted, and she had to make an unenviable call to her client.

“Oh my God, Pete, I think I have burnt down your house,” homeowner Peter Alan Bush told the Supreme Court of NSW that Bundock said to him over the phone.

Newsletters: Breaking news as it happens. Subscribe now

Bundock admitted to tossing some of the tenants’ bedding, which was drying on the verandah, onto a freestanding metal shelf next to a wall-mounted light in one of the bedrooms while she was tidying.

“I just threw them there, Pete, right up against the light on the wall. I think that’s what started the fire,” Bush recalled Bundock saying, in court documents obtained by 7NEWS.com.au.

It is believed to heat from the light set the

Real estate agent Julie Bundock had a relationship with client before she accidentally torched her $3.2M home before an open house inspection

The real estate agent who accidentally burned down a $3.2 million home before an open house inspection had previously been in a relationship with the owner, court documents reveal.

Julie Bundock’s employer, Domain Residential Northern Beaches, was ordered to pay $862,315 to the owner and four tenants for negatively causing a fire which burned the house to the ground.

It can now be revealed that Ms Bundock was previously in a relationship with Peter Bush, who was preparing to sell the house at the time of the incident, news.com.au reported.

When she was being cross-examined by Mr Bush’s lawyer Dominic Priestley SC, Ms Bundock said the pair had been in a relationship when they were younger and were still friends in 2019.

Ms Bundock is not accused of any criminal wrongdoing and there is no suggestion she acted with malicious intent when she accidentally caused the fire.

Northern beaches real estate agent Julie Bundock accidentally burned down the Avalon Beach home

Julie Bundock was preparing for an open house at a four-bedroom home on Sydney’s prestigious northern beaches when she noticed the current renters had left some bedding on the deck to dry

Earlier this week, Daily Mail Australia revealed

Victory Park site owned by the Kroenke Group, Provident Realty Advisors hits the market

The Kroenke Group and Provident Realty Advisors Inc. plan to part with a 3.6-acre parcel in the Victory Park area.

The property is at 703 McKinney Ave., roughly bordered by Houston Street, Continental Avenue and Stemmons Freeway.

Developed for brewers in the 1880s, the site is being marketed for sale by Foundry Commercial as the Brewery.

The land, which currently holds a 141,000-square-foot building, is billed as a redevelopment opportunity with the potential to renovate the property or to expand the existing features, given its visibility and walkability.

“This site is and has been a quintessential part of Dallas’ history,” said Leon Backes, owner and CEO of Dallas-based Provident.

Provident and the Kroenke Group, based in Missouri, have a history of working together with projects such as the mixed-use development Preston Hollow Village and selling land tied to Midtown Park.

Marty Neilon, Alex Perry and Zach Hartzer of Florida’s Foundry are leading the marketing efforts.

Provident previously considered converting the brewery into an office center, with plans to add two additional floors, adjacent to a high-rise apartment.

Homes for Sale in New York and Connecticut

Nassau | 5 Tredwell Drive, Old Westbury, NY

Ranch-Style House

$2.35 million

A five-bedroom, four-and-a-half-bath house from 1953, with an entry foyer, a formal dining room, an eat-in kitchen, a sunken living room with a fireplace, a family room, an en suite primary bedroom, a finished lower level with a fireplace and access to the backyard, and a two-car garage, on one acre. Lois Kirschenbaum, Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty, 516-526-7425; danielgale.com.

Costs

Taxes: $39,608 a year

Pros

The primary bedroom has its own patio and hot tub. The backyard has a heated pool, a pergola, a built-in firepit and an outdoor shower.

Cons

Built-in mirrored elements and some wallpaper may not suit all tastes.

Fairfield | 38 Cary Road, Riverside, Conn.

Waterfront Three-Bedroom

$1.9 million

A three-bedroom, three-bath, 2,276-square-foot cottage-style home from 1946 on a cul-de-sac, with Shaker-style doors, crown molding, a Sonos sound system, a fireplace with granite surround, a kitchen island, a family room with river views, a first-floor bedroom, an en suite third-level primary bedroom with a marble bath, a walk-out lower level with a bright en suite bedroom with French doors to a terrace, an office, a laundry room, a bluestone terrace, teak deck and

Landmark Settlement Breaks Up the Real Estate Cartel

There are far too many goods and services for which you can say Americans pay the highest prices in the world. One of those outliers was likely put to an end last week, thanks to a remarkable settlement in a private antitrust case. The outcome shows that too many of America’s high costs are often a function of power, and that the tools to check that power and lower those costs cannot be unilaterally found at the Federal Reserve.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has agreed to end the age-old practice of 6 percent agent commissions for residential home sales, which is six times the level of the UK According to The New York Times, which first got the news, the settlement could drop US commission costs by as much as 30 percent, which comes out to more than $8,000 on a home sale with the average purchase price of $417,000. It’s not going to suddenly make housing affordable, although the collusive arrangement did tend to drive home prices higher. And given that real estate commissions are a $100 billion-per-year business, we’re talking about $30 billion in savings, a not-incidental amount at a time when housing costs are

Preston Center project grows borders, may hit ceiling

A high-traffic block south of Northwest Highway in Dallas’ Preston Center is angling for major changes that could be even more expansive.

Ramrock Real Estate LLC unveiled plans a few years ago to build office and residential towers on the southern swath of a block bordered by Berkshire Lane, Westchester Drive, Luther Lane and Douglas Avenue. The land includes the retail building Preston Center Pavilion and its parking garage.

The owner’s plans, which were heard as part of a zoning case during a City Plan Commission meeting Thursday, now account for the entire block, not solely the southern portion.

A presentation slide from a staff member with the city’s department of planning and urban design said that, “Since the area of request includes both the northern and southern halves of the parcel, the proposed conditions and analysis include consideration of potential redevelopment of the northern retail building.”

The retail building currently houses tenants such as Target, CVS, Marshall’s and John Reed.

A look at the parking garage for Preston Center Pavilion in Dallas(Lola Gomez / Staff Photographer)

The slide says the near-term plans are

It’s time to be honest about the commercial real estate hangover

Gillian Tett: The ‘pretend and extend’ tactics playing out in the sector need to end

Financial Times

Gillian Tett

Published March 22, 2024 • Last updated 15 hours ago • 4 minute read

Manulife has written down the value of its US office investments by 40 per cent from a pre-COVID-19 peak. Photo by Aaron Vincent Elkaim/The Canadian Press

That doughty — somewhat dull — Canadian insurance company known as Manulife Financial Corp. does not often attract attention. This week, however, it caused a frisson in the real estate world.

Shortly before Jay Powell, United States Federal Reserve chair, announced the central bank was keeping benchmark rates at 5.25 per cent to 5.5 per cent, Colin Simpson, Manulife’s chief financial officer, revealed that the company had written down the value of its US office investments by 40 per cent from a pre-COVID-19 peak.

Advertisement 2

Rare look into Nathan Cleary’s ‘chilled’ home life

NRL superstar Nathan Cleary has given footy fans a rare glimpse into his ‘chilled’ home life away from Rugby League.

NRL superstar Nathan Cleary has given footy fans a rare glimpse into his ‘chilled’ life away from Rugby League.

As the Penrith Panthers chase an unprecedented fourth successive NRL title, Cleary has opened a window into how he balances the big game pressure of football with down time in his personal life.

The chillout room, one of Cleary’s favorites.

MORE: Nathan Cleary buys home from coach and Father Ivan

In a video posted to the Penrith Panthers official YouTube account, 26 year old Cleary gives viewers a tour of his recently updated home that sits close to the Nepean River.

Cleary bought the home from his father and coach Ivan in June last year for $1.7m

The star halfback sincerely embarks on a ‘moody’ home renovation in November with Alicia Xiberras Interiors.

MORE: Nathan Cleary’s ‘moody’ $2m home renovation

‘I come home after the game and watch it here.’

The living room flows nicely outside to the BBA area.

While Cleary has been tight-lipped about his relationship with Matildas star Mary Fowler, the 25-year-old has opened up his home to

Ranch-Style House

$2.35 million

Waterfront Three-Bedroom

$1.9 million

Article content