Oil-dependent Saudi Arabia is taking literally the concept of economic diversification. The kingdom has announced plans to convert an oil rig in the Arabian Gulf into a 1.6-million-square-foot “extreme park” and resort, according to CNN. The Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund is behind the project, dubbed “The Rig.” It would include three hotels, 11 restaurants, helipads, rollercoasters and activities such as bungee jumping, skydiving...
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Billionaire John Catsimatidis broke ground on the tallest tower on Florida’s Gulf Coast this week. The 46-story condominium tower in St. Petersburg is also the first residential project outside New York and the first condo project for the developer and businessman’s Red Apple Real Estate. The project totals 1.3 million square feet. The Residences at 400 Central is slated to rise on a full city block in the city’s downtown. Plans call for...
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A small town in the Australian Outback offered free land to draw in new residents. It worked almost too well. Officials in the rural town of Quilpie, Queensland have been overwhelmed by more than 250 inquiries from as far afield as Britain, India, and Hong Kong, although only Australias or permanent residents are eligible, according to the Associated Press. Quil[pie, home to just 800 people, launched the program two weeks ago, The Quilpie Shir...
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An 80,000-acre ranch in the Texas Panhandle is hitting the market for the first time in 120 years with an asking price of $200 million. Turkey Track Ranch is a working ranch with fertile grasslands and oil and gas wells, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The buyer would obtain a 40 percent stake in mineral rights and revenues from existing wells as well as any future wells. They would also receive wind and solar
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Prices for new homes in China’s largest cities fell month-over-month in September for the first time since 2015. Prices declined in half of 70 cities surveyed by the National Bureau of Statistics, according to the Financial Times. Beijing saw no change in pricing, while Shanghai saw a 0.2 percent increase. Many of the cities where prices fell are in the country’s south and central regions. Goldman Sachs calculated a 0.5 percent decline in ...
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Major League Baseball teams next season will begin putting up some of their minor leaguers. MLB said in a statement this week that team owners “agreed to begin providing housing to certain minor league players,” according to the Associated Press. The statement said that the details of the policy had yet to be finalized and did not specify what players would be eligible for housing. Other sources told ESPN that MLB would require teams to read more »
A jury has convicted the former CEO of Navillus, one of the city’s largest construction contractors for his role in a scheme that cheated unions out of more than $1 million. Donal O’Sullivan was found guilty on multiple counts of wire fraud, mail fraud, embezzlement from employee benefits funds, submission of false remittance reports to union benefits funds and conspiracy to commit those crimes, federal prosecutors announced Friday. His si...
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Few animals represent Manhattan better than a dog traversing the sidewalks in a stroller or a classic bodega cat. Whether dog people or cat people, New Yorkers in particular have leaned into their collective affinity for furry friends during the pandemic. One much needed feel-good story last year was the shortage of dogs and cats available for fostering. The city’s shelters were temporarily emptied as remote workers sought the comfort of a w...
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To break up the glass-and-steel monotony of his next planned condo tower, developer Gil Dezer will be spending extra money to create a dramatic design element. His Dezer Development is teaming up with Bentley to build the Bentley Residences in Sunny Isles Beach, which will be the luxury automaker’s first residential building in the world. During an architecture panel Thursday evening, Dezer revealed one of the project’s features, triangula...
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Bank OZK, one of New York and Miami’s most active construction lenders, saw loan originations reach their highest levels in nearly four years. Arkansas-based Bank OZK’s Real Estate Specialties Group closed $2.21 billion of new loans during the third quarter, marking the highest quarterly level of originations since the fourth quarter of 2017. The bank also recorded almost zero write-downs on problematic loans. The mid-size bank, led by Geo...
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