The Real Deal New York

Justin Piasecki, principal at Avison Young

Two more accomplished capital markets brokers have joined Avison Young less than a month after Cushman & Wakefield CEO Arthur Mirante launched a New York City office for the Canadian commercial brokerage. Justin Piasecki, formerly of the Carlton Group, and Amy Levenson, last with Goldman Sachs, will be joining the company as principal and executive vice-president, respectively. The pair will be charged with managing loan and note sales as well as financial structuring, and restructuring, of real estate capital transactions. [more]

From left: Miron founder Jeffrey Schleider and the office on Huron Street

Residential brokerage Miron Properties has opened its first Brooklyn office in Greenpoint, founder Jeffrey Schleider told The Real Deal today, in order to accommodate increasing demand for properties in the area. The office, which will house 10 agents, is located at 162 Huron Street at a former clothing store called Methods. The firm is subleasing the space from Methods owner Dave Gee, who is moving the clothing business online. Gee is also getting his real estate license and plans on working part time for Miron, Schleider said. [more]

The Woolworth Building

The buyer of upper Woolworth tower is Brooklyn real estate investor David Werner. U.S. mortgage delinquency rate declines to lowest level since 2008 thanks to improved job market. Planned hockey seating arrangement spells doom for Barclays’ Islanders bid. Opposition builds for Cornell’s Roosevelt Island plan because of Israeli ties. Finally, Columbia University nabs approval for public waterfront park in Inwood. Read these stories and more after the jump.

From the May issue: How do your clients stack up as potential mortgage candidates in this year’s increasingly tough underwriting environment? Do they have the right stuff — credit score, debt-to-income ratio, equity or down payment — to get through the minefield?

A new statistical analysis, based on a large sample of all mortgage applications approved and denied in recent months, offers valuable benchmarks for anyone thinking about financing a home purchase or refinancing an existing loan. The study taps into data from the loan processing software used for roughly one-fifth of all new mortgage applications nationwide, supplied by the technology firm Ellie Mae. [more]

A rendering of Pier 17

Lower Manhattan’s popular New Amsterdam Market wants to make a permanent home of the abandoned Fulton Fish Market warehouses, but it’s facing opposition from Howard Hughes Corporation, DNAinfo reported. The South Street Seaport developer has first rights to the city-owned properties that the market covets around the seaport.

The buildings that the market’s founder, Robert LaValva, hopes to occupy are the Tin Building and the New Market Building, located near the base of Pier 17. [more]

Corcoran's Marie-Claire Gladstone and 57 Irving Place

The long-stalled boutique condo 57 Irving Place is now sold out, after re-starting sales in November, the project’s developer told The Real Deal. Sales at the nine-unit Gramercy Park building originally started in 2010, but stalled later that year due to the collapse of the original lender for the project, according to developer Robert Gladstone. [more]

Steiner Studios Chairman Douglas Steiner and 204 Huntington Street

Steiner Studios paid $24.5 million in cash to land a 60-unit Carroll Gardens rental building, Crain’s reported. The building, at 204 Huntington Street, was sold by an investment team led by Area Property Partners, which acquired it along with an adjacent building at 505 Court Street, that has since been converted into a 124-unit condominium, for $50.5 million. [more]

Donny Deutsch and his 6 East 78th Street home

Advertising guru and television personality Donny Deutsch is facing a barrage of claims that he stiffed the contractors and architects who helped design his Upper East Side townhouse. Frederic Schwartz, the architect tapped by Deutsch to transform his 6 East 78th Street townhouse into a contemporary palace in 2010, claims he was never paid the $1.79 million he’s owed for the work. Schwartz this week filed to extend a mechanic’s lien against the property first granted by the Supreme Court of New York last year. [more]

12 East 13th Street (credit: PropertyShark)

A 45,032-square-foot, eight-story former Hertz garage in Greenwich Village is now on the market for potential conversion into a hotel, office or residential space. The New York Post reported that the ultimate sales price is expected to exceed $600 per square-foot, or more than $30 million total.

Steve Hornstock, Alan Cohen and Adam Maxson of ABS Partners have the listing for the property, which is located at 12 East 13th Street, between University Place and Fifth Avenue. Many of those interested in the property, according to unnamed sources to the Post, are planning on having four to five apartments on each 5,441-square-foot floor. [more]

Shaun Donovan, HUD secretary

The U.S. government’s settlement against five big banks was supposed to benefit distressed homeowners, but many states cannot resist diverting the funds to make-up for budget shortfalls, the New York Times reported. When the government reached the estimated $25 billion settlement with banks over mortgage and foreclosure abuses, $2.5 billion was earmarked for states to prevent foreclosures, investigate fraud and alleviate general housing market woes. Now, 15 states have announced that they will be budgeting the money for items other than housing — although 27 states have agreed to use their entire distribution as intended. [more]