The $361 million the Moinian Group raised through a bond offering on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in May was the greatest confirmation of a growing trend in New York real estate financing: New York-based developers are increasingly looking to Israel’s debt market for funding.
Tapping the small-but-sophisticated corporate bond market —valued at $80 billion last year— is not an entirely new idea. It started nearly a decade ago as a novel approach for raising cash but has gained serious …
by Riccardo Ravasini The Wynwood neighborhood, a local arts mecca and one of Miami’s hippest neighborhoods, was once known as the “golden gate” for Hispanic immigrants. A melting pot of Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Haitians, African-Americans, Nicaraguans and Dominicans, Wynwood was once crippled by a bad image and a deteriorating economy. But back in the 1950s, Wynwood — originally spelled Wyndwood — was home to non-Hispanic white professionals and several factories including Coca-Cola and Garrett Construction. Jobs were plentiful. In the 1960s came Interstate …
by Riccardo Ravasini For the 12th consecutive month, Brazilians topped the list of foreigners searching the website of the Miami Association of Realtors for local real estate deals. Rounding out the top five for May were prospective buyers from Colombia, Canada, Venezuela and Argentina, according to the realtors’ association. In the U.S., the greatest web searches came from California, Georgia, Texas, New York and Illinois.
Miami is the third most popular city in the country for foreigners to search (after New York and …
by Riccardo Ravasini 
Waterfront property is practically a must-have in Miami – so much that developers are nearly running out of waterfront land to build on. This demand for waterfront properties have led developers to eye Miami River – the city’s 5 ½-mile river that was once deemed a polluted, industrial backwater.
Times have indeed changed. With the economy strengthening and as prices for beach and Bayfront land soaring, developers have been snapping up the last riverfront plots.
For example, Integra Investments invested …
by Riccardo Ravasini 
The latest sign of rehabilitation and renaissance of Upper Manhattan and the Bronx is the re-opening of the historic High Bridge this month. New York’s oldest standing bridge was originally used to transport water from the Croton River to the City. Just like an ancient Roman aqueduct the water was moved only by gravity. Now the bridge will offer a quick, convenient pedestrian and bicycle route from High Bridge (in the Bronx) to Upper Manhattan. The opening of the bridge …
by Riccardo Ravasini 
Between 2002 and 2014, New York City rents saw meteoric increases in many neighborhoods, topping 45 percent (adjusted for inflation) in northern Brooklyn and northern Manhattan. But amidst the overall trend toward gentrification, three neighborhoods actually saw rents drop over those 12 years.
According to data from the Community Service Society of New York, rents in two Brooklyn neighborhoods declined when adjusted for inflation, 1 percent in Canarsie and 3 percent in Bay Ridge. The South Shore of Staten Island …
by Riccardo Ravasini