Mel B and her Hollywood Hills home (Credit: Getty Images)

Spice Girl Melanie Brown has chopped the price of her Hollywood Hills home to $5.9 million, a $3 million discount from its 2017 asking price.

The singer listed the four-story home two years ago after divorcing from her husband, producer Stephen Belafonte. They purchased the home together in 2014 for $4.3 million and renovated it extensively in 2016, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Built in 1928, the home spans 5,200 square feet with four bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms. The 2016 redesign opened up the interiors and used light woods and modern angles to create a contemporary space.

They also added a recording studio, home theater, and gym. Each floor has its own balcony. The backyard includes a pool, spa, and a large patio with a large outdoor grilling area with a built in beer tap and ice cream maker.

Ben Belack and H. Blair Chang of the Agency and Lusine Nargizyan of Dilbeck Real Estate have the listing.

Brown, who goes by Mel B professionally, rose to fame as Scary Spice, a member of the 1990s girl group Spice Girls. The group is planning a six-show tour of the United Kingdom this summer, according to the Times. The singer has also appeared as a judge on “America’s Got Talent: The Champions” and a number of Hollywood celebrity news shows. [LAT] — Dennis Lynch 

John Hughes and 263 North Mayflower Road (Credit: Wikipedia)

The widow of filmmaker John Hughes is shopping a Lake Forest mansion after buying another big estate in the North Shore town for $12 million.

Nancy Hughes broke the record for most expensive residential sale in Lake Forest when she bought the 12,500-square-foot Cape Cod last year, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Now, she’s asking $4.5 million for the Lake Forest home, a six-bedroom, 7,000-square-foot English country-style mansion that she bought for $5.2 million shortly after her husband’s death in 2009. It features a theater room with a poster on its wall for “The Breakfast Club,” according to the Tribune.

Northbrook native John Hughes’ films include that classic teen film, along with “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “Sixteen Candles,” “Home Alone” and others that were all set and filmed around the north suburbs.

He and his wife owned a seven-bedroom, 11,000-square-foot mansion in Lake Forest that Nancy Hughes in 2014 donated to Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital for a fundraiser. The hospital sold the mansion for $4 million, according to the Tribune.

The Chicago area set a record for luxury home sales in 2018 even as the greater residential market had its struggles. [Chicago Tribune] — John O’Brien

(Credit: Pixabay)

American homeowners increasingly file Insurance claims for water damage from interior leaks.

Aging valves and pipes and other culprits of interior flooding have caused a surge of property insurance claims, while claims due to fire and other hazards have become less frequent.

One in five American homeowners filed a claim for water damage from 2013 to 2017, which translates to a 2.05 percent frequency rate, up from 1.44 percent from 2005 to 2009, according to the ISO insurance analytics unit of Verisk Analytics.

Analysis by ISO shows that the average claim for water damage is about $10,000. Chubb Ltd., one of the largest insurers of luxury homes, reports that the annual number of water-damage claims in excess of $500,000 has more than doubled since 2015 while claims topping $1 million have tripled.

Water damage from interior flooding is the biggest risk that the typical homeowner faces, exceeding the likelihood of damage from such headline-grabbing catastrophes as wildfires, tornadoes and hurricanes, says Jon-Michael Kowal, an executive of USAA, a leading U.S. insurer of homes.

Texas-based USAA is conducting a pilot project to detect an imminent risk of interior water damage due to plumbing failures. USAA has 6,000 policyholders testing water-detection sensors.

One of the USAA policyholders participating in the pilot project, Mark Fredriksen, has avoided two potential claims for water damage to his 20-year-old house in Smithtown, New York. One sensor in his home detected water dripping from an old bathroom valve; another detected leakage from a hose in a dishwasher.

Insurance industry executives blame an aging stock of U.S. housing and a proliferation of water-using appliances – and potential leaks – in newer homes. A typical luxury home has 40 points of connection to plumbing that can include wet bars, extra bathrooms and water-filtration systems, according to American International Group Inc. (AIG) senior executive Stephen Poux.

AIG and some other insurers offer premium credits on homeowner’s insurance policies if homeowner has installed effective water-detection devices in their homes.

Standard homeowner’s insurance policies have excluded coverage of water damages due to storm surge and river flooding since the 1960s.

Homeowner’s insurance policies generally cover “sudden and accidental” damage. Policyholders who fail to fix a slow leak that ultimately causes major water damage can face a dispute with their insurer over coverage. [Wall Street Journal] – Mike Seemuth

(Credit: iStock)

Forbes reported that New York City remains the most popular address in the world among billionaires.

New York is home to 84 billionaires with a collective net worth of $469.7 billion, which is more than the annual economic output of Austria. The Big Apple’s wealthiest resident is media magnate and former mayor Michael Bloomberg, with a net worth of $55.5 billion, Forbes reported.

Since 2015, New York has topped the annual Forbes list of the 10 cities around the world with the largest billionaire populations.

The cities on Forbes’ 2019 list are the same as those in the 2018 list but in a different order. San Francisco, for example, added eight billionaires – including Levi Strauss heiress Mimi Haas and Coinbase co-founder Brian Armstrong – and moved up to seventh place from tenth.

China has the largest number of cities in the top 10: fourth-ranked Beijing, sixth-ranked Shanghai and eighth-ranked Shenzhen.

Here are the top 10 cities and their billionaire population counts:

10. Mumbai, 37 billionaires (-8 since 2018)

9. Seoul, 38 billionaires (=3)

8. Shenzhen, 39 billionaires (-5)

7. San Francisco, 42 billionaires, (+8)

6. Shanghai, 45 billionaires (-5)

5. London, 55 billionaires (+0)

4. Beijing, 61 billionaires (-3)

3. Moscow, 71 billionaires (-6)

2. Hong Kong, 79 billionaires (+2)

1. New York City, 84 billionaires (+1)

[Forbes] – Mike Seemuth

(Credit: Pixabay)

The personal net worth of Americans fell in the fourth quarter of 2018 by the largest amount since the financial crisis.

The Federal Reserve reported that personal net worth had declined to $104.3 trillion by the end of December, down $3.73 trillion from the end of September.

It was the second-largest dollar decline in the personal net worth of Americans since the Fed began reporting the quarterly statistic.

The net worth of American households has increased 73 percent since 2009.

Much of the last year’s fourth-quarter decline stemmed from stocks amid widespread worry that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates too fast.

American households watched the value of their stock investments drop by $4.6 trillion during last year’s fourth quarter, partially offset by a $300 billion increase in the value of their real estate holdings.

The 3.4 percent overall decline in American net worth coincided with 2.6 percent GDP growth during October, November and December.

Economists generally foresee slower economic growth this year. The Atlanta Fed has forecast GDP growth of 0.5 percent in 2019. [CNBC] – Mike Seemuth

Jeff Jones, managing broker of Engel & Völkers in Naples and Bonita Springs

January sales of houses and condos in the Naples area fell to 588, down 6 percent from last year’s level.

The Naples Area Board of Realtors also reported that the area’s inventory of houses and condos listed for sale fell rose to 8,154 in January, a 7 percent increase from the same month last year.

Houses and condos sold in January were on the market for an average of 97 days, unchanged from January 2018.

“The big news in January was inventory,” Jeff Jones, president and managing broker of the Naples and Bonita Springs offices of Engel & Völkers, said in a prepared statement. “We expect the inventory of homes for sale to increase, giving buyers more homes to buy, but not so many that they will negatively affect overall home prices.”

The median house-sale price in January increased year over year by 1 percent to $325,000 while the median condo-sale price increased 3 percent to $260,000.

The number of house sales in the Naples area rose to 314 in January from 295 in the same month last year, a 6 percent increase.

Condo sales, however, fell to 274 in January from 330 in January 2018, a 20 percent plunge. “Fee-heavy condominiums are hurting,” Adam Vellano, west coast sales manager of BEX Realty-Florida said in prepared remarks. – Mike Seemuth

2 MiamiCentral rendering

Law firm Carlton Fields leased 50,000 square feet in an office building under construction on top of MiamiCentral, the Brightline train station in downtown Miami.

Carlton Fields will be the largest tenant and sole law firm at 2 MiamiCentral, which is 86 percent leased and scheduled for completion within the next six months.

The law firm, which has about 150 lawyers and staff members based in downtown Miami, plans to move to 2 MiamiCentral early next year.

The law firm now occupies space at Miami Tower, a high-rise office building at 100 Southeast Second Street in downtown Miami.

The office building’s location at 700 Northwest 1^st Avenue in downtown Miami is a “vibrant urban environment” that will benefit Carlton Fields by supporting “their efforts to attract and retain top talent,” Tere Blanca, founder and chief executive officer of Blanca Commercial Real Estate, said in a prepared statement.

Blanca Commercial Real Estate, the exclusive leasing agent for 2 MiamiCentral, represented the owner of the office building in the lease deal with Carlton Fields.

The law firm was represented in the transaction by a three-man team at brokerage firm JLL: Matthew Goodman, Matthew Cheezem and Jeff Gordon.

Blanca Commercial Real Estate also is the exclusive leasing agent for 3 MiamiCentral, which was completed on a site one block west of 2 MiamiCentral in the first quarter of 2018 and is now 94 percent leased.

Florida East Coast Industries, which owns the Brightline passenger-train service, is the developer 2 MiamiCentral and 3 MiamiCentral. – Mike Seemuth

SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son (Credit: Getty, Pixabay)

SoftBank is launching a $5 billion fund to invest in technology startups across Latin America.

Marcelo Claure, the former CEO of Sprint and a partner in the David Beckham-led venture to build a Major League Soccer complex in Miami, will run the fund. The new fund will focus on investments in e-commerce, health care, digital financial services and others industries throughout Latin America, according to CNBC.

Investors in SoftBank’s $100 billion Vision Fund have grown disgruntled as of late. The sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi have complained about SoftBank’s practice of buying stakes in companies and then passing them onto the Vision Fund at a premium.

SoftBank has invested billions into startups like Uber and Compass over the past few years. Investors are concerned that its CEO Masayoshi Son is buying shares of companies at valuations that are at market-peak pricing, citing SoftBank’s most recent $2 billion investment into The We Company, previously known as WeWork. [CNBC] – Katherine Kallergis

London (Credit: iStock, Pixabay)

Wealthy investors from Russia and China may face a tougher time gaining “golden visas” in Britain amid a new crackdown on money laundering.

New rules in April will require visa applicants to show they have had control of more than 2 million pounds for at least two years rather than 90 days in order to gain the visa, according to the Financial Times.

In the past, the tier-one “investor visa” was referred to as the “golden visa” for allowing wealthy investors, notably from China and Russia, to easily settle in Britain in exchange for an investment.

Changes began last year after former Russian agent Sergei Skripal was poisoned in Salisbury, U.K. Following the attack, Britain did not renew the visa of Roman Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea Football Club. The number of Russians granted tier-one visas fell from 46 in 2017 to 29 last year, according to the Times.

Some want the new rules to go even further. Duncan Hames, director of policy with the anti-corruption charity Transparency International UK, proposed setting up a group to look into 3,000 individuals granted tier-one visas before 2015 by conducting wealth audits to thwart money laundering. His proposal is not included in the incoming rules. [FT] — Keith Larsen

Stephen Ross, Chairman of The Related Companies, which is developing Hudson Yards, speaks with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio during an event to unveil the plans for the new park at the Hudson Yards development, September 14, 2016 in New York City (Credit: Getty Images)

Over a period of more than 10 years, government tax breaks and incentives to support Related Companies and Oxford Properties Group’s development of Hudson Yards total about $6 billion.

That’s double the package of tax breaks and incentives Amazon’s Long Island City campus was trying to secure before the company scrapped its plans, the New York Times reports.

Related Hudson Yards’ president L. Jay Cross told the publication the 28-acre complex that contains 13 buildings and will eventually house 55,000 office workers couldn’t have happened without government backing. Namely, tax breaks that allowed office prices to be lowered enough to compete with the Midtown market and, most especially, the $2.4 billion subway extension, which the city footed the bill for. Any new developments in Hudson Yards may also be eligible for tax breaks of up to 40 percent for about two decades, and companies leasing space in the project may also be eligible for certain benefits.

Brooklyn Councilman Brad Lander, who criticized the incentive package New York offered to Amazon, told the publication he supports that public funds backed the creation of a new subway line and parks as part of the megaproject, but called for more oversight on the deals given to individual companies.

“We’re giving away tax breaks without paying close attention to what’s a good deal or not a good deal,” he told the Times.

New York mayor Bill de Blasio echoed the sentiment in a statement to the Times: “I believe state and local economic development programs need to be re-evaluated and updated.” Hudson Yards officially opens on March 15. [NYT] — Erin Hudson

(Credit: iStock, Pixabay)

Big reductions in asking prices for expensive mansions and penthouses have become more common in the past year.

For example, former professional basketball star Shaquille O’Neal decided the original $28 million asking price for his Central Florida mansion was a long shot, so he cut it to $22 million.

Another Florida mansion in Hillsboro Beach, a barrier island town near Boca Raton, was listed for sale about three years ago with an initial asking price of $159 million. After a $100 million price cut, the mansion sold in January.

Here are 11 properties with some of the biggest price cuts in the past year:

1. The late Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch was listed for sale in 2015 with a $100 million asking price, which was lowered in 2017 to $65 million. The infamous property is now listed for $31 million.
2. A four-level mansion in Los Angeles had been listed for $250 million before a big cut in January reduced the asking price to $150 million. The residence has five bars, a luxury car gallery, a movie theater and a bowling alley.
3. The most expensive listing in Los Angeles is a vacant hilltop parcel in Beverly Hills known as “The Mountain.” Initially listed at $1 billion, the asking price was chopped to $650 million in February.
4. Billionaire Warren Buffet finally sold a vacation home in Laguna Beach, California, for about $7.5 million. Buffet initially listed the property for sale two years ago and cut the asking price by 30 percent from $11 million.
5. The owner of a penthouse in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City reduced the asking price from $65 million to $59.5 million. But if it sells for the reduced price, it still will be the most expensive apartment sale ever in downtown New York City.
6. Another penthouse near New York City’s Central Park was listed two years ago for $82 million, then reduced to $61 million. The owner then split the penthouse into two apartments and sold them in February for $30.7 million and $30.2 million.
7. A townhouse in New York City nicknamed “Versailles in Manhattan” has been on and off the market for 12 years. The owner, whose highest asking price was $35 million in 2007, now wants $19.75 million.
8. The Florida mansion in Hillsboro Beach, which has a design inspired by the Palace of Versailles in France, sold at a January auction for $42.5 million – 73 percent below the original $159 million asking price.
9. In 2018, Shaquille O’Neal listed his highly customized mansion in Windermere, Florida, for $28 million, then cut the asking price to $22 million, a 21 percent reduction.
10. The largest log cabin in the world, known as Granot Loma, has a private marina and is located on 5,000 acres of wooded property in Michigan. The owner reduced the asking price in July to $20 million from $40 million.
11. Billionaire Ken Griffin paid £95 million, or $123 million, for a London mansion that had been listed for £125 million, or $165 million. [Business Insider] – Mike Seemuth

Deutsche Bank’s Paul Achleitner (Credit: Getty)

Top executives of Deutsche Bank agreed to informally discuss a possible merger with competitor Commerzbank.

The two biggest banks in Germany are exploring strategic alternatives following an extended decline in their financial performance and stock prices.

The Wall Street Journal also reported that German government officials have increased pressure on Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank to improve their performance and to consider merging.

The Welt am Sonntag newspaper earlier reported that the management board of Deutsche Bank agreed to enter merger discussions with Commerzbank.

Top executives of Deutsche Bank comprise the management board and determine the bank’s strategy. Paul Achleitner, the chairman of Deutsche Bank, is a driving force behind a potential merger with Commerzbank.

The banks’ so-called supervisory boards hire and fire top executives and participate in major decisions, including whether to merge with another bank. A formal directive by the supervisory boards of Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank to pursue a merger would require public disclosure. But that hasn’t happened.

A senior regulator in the German government told the Wall Street Journal he reviewed a plan to merge the banks and unofficially endorsed it. The regulator and other sources said Germany’s finance minister, Olaf Scholz, and his Social Democratic Party have pushed for the merger.

The Journal also reported last week that shareholders and analysts are worried about the risky challenges of a Deutsche-Commerzbank merger, including complex technological integration, staffing reduction and management alignment.

The two banks would need to eliminate as many as 40,000 jobs in Germany alone to make a merger economically feasible.

Officials of Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank have said privately that they need government support for a massive reduction in staffing. [Wall Street Journal] – Mike Seemuth

(Credit: Pixabay)

Private investors are acquiring a growing volume of mortgage loans, a practice long dominated by government-backed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Banks and other financial institutions are buying more mortgages that meet the standards of Fannie and Freddie, then selling them in the form of bonds without government guarantees.

Recent issues of these so-called private-label securities comprised largely, or solely, of mortgage-loan pools have come from JPMorgan Chase & Co., Flagstar Bancorp Inc., and real estate investment trusts Chimera Investment Corp. and Redwood Trust Inc.

In a similar middleman role, Fannie and Freddie buy mortgage loans from lenders and sell them to investors, and the government assumes some of the risk of bad loans.

But in the last year or so, investors have bought growing volumes of private mortgage bonds without government guarantees and accepting additional risk for a bigger potential return on investment.

The volume of loans that conformed with Fannie and Freddie standards and were packaged into private-label securities totaled $3.9 billion last year and $4 billion in 2017. Both amounts were approximately three times greater than the volume in 2016, according to broker-dealer Amherst Pierpoint Securities LLC.

Some legislators and policy makers want to downsize Fannie and Freddie because they want government to play a reduced role in the $11 trillion mortgage industry. But the market, not Congress, may reduce the role of Fannie and Freddie in real estate finance if the volume of private mortgage bonds continues to grow.

The Urban Institute reported that 45 percent of mortgages originated during the first nine months of 2018 ended up in Fannie and Freddie securities. The most recent peak in this proportion was 65 percent in 2008. [Wall Street Journal] – Mike Seemuth

Vinny Testaverde and his home near Tampa (Credit: Alexander Tamargo | Mansion Global, Getty Images)

Retired professional football player and former University of Miami star Vinny Testaverde will try to sell his lake-front house near Tampa at an auction.

The six-bedroom house has been on the market for two years and currently has an asking price of $6 million.

Testaverde will try to sell the house at an April 9, auction conducted by American Heritage Realty.

In 2007, his last year as a professional football player (with the Carolina Panthers), Testaverde paid $4.5 million for his house on Lake Keystone in Odessa, a northern suburb of Tampa.

In 2013, Testaverde and his wife, Mitzi, filed a lawsuit against the builder of the house, alleging structural defects and water-intrusion problems. The couple settled the litigation in 2015.

Testaverde initially listed the house for sale in April 2017 with an asking price of $5 million.

After that listing expired, Testaverde temporarily took the house off the market, renovated the ground floor at an estimated cost of $1 million, then re-listed the property with Eva Pedone, an agent of the Engel & Völkers office in Madeira Beach.

He and his wife live at the house with one daughter. Another daughter is engaged to be married, and their son is a student at the University of Albany, so the couple decided the house is too big for them.

Testaverde rose to national prominence as quarterback of the University of Miami football team and won college football’s highest honor, the Heisman Trophy, in 1986. [Tampa Bay Times] – Mike Seemuth

Lynn Telling and 5307 and 5309 Hood Road in Palm Beach Gardens

Construction of 24 houses in a gated community is expected to start next month on a seven-acre site in Palm Beach Gardens.

The site at 5307 and 5309 Hood Road is the former location of the Bonnette Hunt Club, which was started in 1961 and served as a popular hangout for such celebrities as Jack Nicklaus, Burt Reynolds and Bing Crosby, and former Florida governors Claude Kirk and Lawton Chiles.

Parkwood Distinctive Homes, the developer, will build three- and four-bedroom houses priced from the low $500,000s to the high $600,000s. The gated community will maintain the Bonnette Hunt Club, and street names there will reference various aspects of the old club’s history.

The one- and two-story houses, including six on lakeside lots, will range in size from 1,361 square feet to 2,632 square feet. Each house will have a two-car garage.

Buyers already have reserved several of the houses, according to Lynne B. Telling of brokerage firm Illustrated Properties, the exclusive listing agent for the residential development.

In addition to prospective buyers who live in South Florida, “we also are getting inquiries from potential buyers looking to relocate to South Florida from tax-heavy states,” Telling said in a prepared statement.

“The site’s proximity to Scripps Research Institute, the United Technologies campus and other major employment hubs certainly helps drive interest in the project,” she said.

Telling represented Parkwood Distinctive Homes in its 2017 acquisition of the development site for $2.55 million, or about $364,000 per acre. – Mike Seemuth

Claire Sheres and Boca Raton (Credit: iStock)

Two brokerages in Palm Beach County boosted their agent roster in Boca Raton.

Claire Sheres, a top agent at Coldwell Banker in Boca, left to join Douglas Elliman.

Sheres, who sold more than $50 million in sales volume over the past two years, will be an executive director of luxury real estate based out of Elliman’s Boca office at 444 East Palmetto Park Road. She focuses on country club and luxury home sales in Boca and Delray Beach, according to a release. Over the past 15 years, Sheres has closed $430 million in sales.

Last year, Elliman acquired Boca-based Pink Palm Properties, which had about $100 million in sales over the previous four years.

The Koolik Group joined Compass, marking the brokerage’s continued expansion in Palm Beach County. Elliot and Wendy Koolik of Koolik Group Realty are bringing their team of more than 15 agents to Compass. The Kooliks focus on custom estate homes, country club homes, luxury condos and waterfront properties.

Pebb Enterprises brought on Chris Stewart as senior vice president of leasing. Stewart’s responsibilities include overseeing 2 million square feet of office and retail space, according to a release. He was previously director of leasing at RMC Property Group and has worked for DDR and Regency Centers.

Boca Raton-based Pebb Enterprises owns and manages more than 2 million square feet of commercial space across the U.S. Late last year, Pebb Enterprises and Pebb Capital sold a retail center in Wellington to MetLife Investment Management for $74 million with plans to invest the proceeds of the sale into Opportunity Zones throughout the country.

Screenshot from Sim City 4 (Credit: Microsoft)

When the city-building game “Sim City” was released in 1989, video games were largely considered a leisure activity at best.

But the groundbreaking city-planning simulator has influenced scores of players to become city planners, transit advocates and to run for office over the years. These professionals told the Los Angeles Times they found their calling through the game franchise, which puts the player in the role of mayor and largely gives them free reign to build a city however they want.

For example: Nicole Payne, who is now a program official with the National Association of City Transportation Officials, said a librarian told her about the game at age 10 after seeing her drawing cities.

“I used to draw maps of cities for fun, I had no idea it was an actual career,” Payne told the Times. “I wouldn’t be where I am today without ‘Sim City.’”

Will Wright, the franchise’s creator originally thought the game would only be popular with urban planners and architects until it received widespread success. Sims popularized the simulation genre and spawned a franchise with four main installments and dozens of spinoff games. (The most recent was released in 2013.)

Sim City’s influence on gaming and culture has also been acknowledged outside the gaming world. The Museum of Modern Art in New York City included the second game in the franchise, Sim City 2000, among its permanent collection of video games for its groundbreaking design. [LAT] – Dennis Lynch

Condo sales dropped off at the end of February, with the top sale reaching only $2 million in Miami-Dade.

Only 100 units traded for about $32 million, down from the previous week’s 183 closings for $79 million. Condos last week sold for an average price of about $323,000 or $290 per square foot.

The most expensive sale was at Marquis Residences in downtown Miami. The combined unit, with four bedrooms and 2,975 square feet of interior space, was on the market for 175 days before it closed for $2 million, or $672 per foot. Darin Feldman represented the seller and Jason Samuels brought the buyer.

Next was the $1.3 million trade of Trump Tower II #4004, which sat on the market for 326 days before it sold. Lana Bell was the listing agent, and Dina Goldentayer represented the buyer. The 2,558-square-foot unit sold for just under $560 per square foot.

Here’s a breakdown of the top 10 sales from March 3 to March 9. Click on the map for more information:

Most expensive
Marquis Residences #5604 | 175 days on market | $2M | $672 psf | Listing agent: Darin Feldman | Buyer’s agent: Jason Samuels

Least expensive
Marquis Residences #4905 | 45 days on market | $645K | $385 psf | Listing agent: John Sandberg | Buyer’s agent: Neil Perez

Most days on market
Trump Tower II #4004 | 326 days on market | $1.3M | $559 psf | Listing agent: Lana Bell | Buyer’s agent: Dina Goldentayer

Fewest days on market
MEI #1805 | 14 days on market | $815K | $743 psf | Listing agent: Jim Agard | Buyer’s agent: Alex Miranda

Realogy CEO Ryan Schneider and CFO Charlotte Simonelli (Credit: LinkedIn)

As it looks to whittle expenses and reduce debt, Realogy has tapped Charlotte Simonelli — a 47-year-old former executive at Johnson & Johnson — as its new chief financial officer and treasurer.

Simonelli, who will report to CEO Ryan Schneider, is set to start March 25, Realogy announced Monday. She replaces longtime CFO Tony Hull, who stepped down abruptly in November. Interim CFO Timothy Gustavson will stay at Realogy as chief accounting officer and controller.

Since 2016, Simonelli has served as CFO of various divisions within Johnson & Johnson, including medical devices and enterprise supply chain. She’s also worked at Reckitt Benckiser, Kraft Foods, PepsiCo and Unilever.

Last month, Realogy disclosed plans to cut $70 million in expenses in 2019. It will also spend the first half of the year focusing on reducing its corporate debt load.

In regulatory filings, Realogy said Simonelli will earn a base salary of $650,000 (though she’ll be eligible for a bonus of $650,000 and an equity award of $1.1 million). In addition to her salary, Simonelli will receive an initial grant of restricted stock valued at $1 million; the stock will vest on the first three anniversaries of her start date.

Although Schneider is spearheading a turnaround at Realogy, the company’s stock plunged 21 percent in late February to a new low of $14.14 per share.

That drop followed Realogy’s 2018 earnings report — in which the company said its profits slid 68 percent to $137 million. For the full year, Realogy reported $6.1 billion in revenues, $35 million less than 2017.

Casey Wold

A joint venture between Vanderbilt Office Properties and Barron Collier Companies paid $20.8 million for an office building at Sawgrass International Corporate Park.

The U.S. real estate arm of UBS Asset Management sold the 91,221-square-foot Corporate Center II in Sunrise, according to a release. Cushman & Wakefield’s Mike Davis, Dominic Montazemi, Scott O’Donnell and Rick Brugge represented UBS.

Corporate Center II, at 1571 Sawgrass Corporate Parkway, was built in 1998 and features a two-story lobby, on-site cafe, and a parking ratio of 4.4 per 1,000 square feet. It’s 98 percent leased to tenants that include Cigna Insurance, Heritage Insurance and Synechron.

The building last sold for nearly $14 million in 1998, records show.

Sawgrass International Corporate Park is one of the largest suburban office parks in South Florida, spanning more than 600 acres and over 3 million square feet of office and industrial space in west Broward County. In September, a partnership led by Starwood Capital Group sold Sawgrass Pointe II, within the corporate park, to a Vanderbilt and Barron Collier joint venture for $27.25 million. Months earlier, Starwood, Trinity Capital Advisors and Vanderbilt Office Properties sold Sawgrass Pointe I for $51.1 million.

Vanderbilt is a Chicago-based investment management firm, and Barron Collier Companies is a family run company with commercial real estate, residential, oil exploration, agri-business and golf courses. The firm’s ties in Florida go back to the 1920s, when Barron Collier amassed a large portfolio of land in a county that was later named after him in southwest Florida.