RFR Realty, led by Aby Rosen and Michael Fuchs, is facing litigation from an investor in the conversion of the Century Tower condominium in Manhattan, who claims the developers misappropriated more than $6 million and failed to repay a separate loan in connection with the project. The suit filed Aug. 25 in New York State Supreme Court alleges breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, aiding and abetting against Rosen and Fuchs, fraudulent conveyance, conversion and unjust enrichment. In 1998, Rosen, Fuchs and another investor formed a company to develop Century Tower, at 400 East 90th Street at First Avenue. Developer Trevor Davis developed the condominium with Rosen and Fuchs, but he is not named individually in the complaint. [more] Tags:Aby Rosencentury towermark sugarmanmichael fuchsrfr realtytrevor davis
The announcement that discount store Century 21 will replace Barnes & Noble at 1972 Broadway opposite Lincoln Center is bucking the trend of upscale retailers moving in on the Upper West Side, Stuart Elliott, editor-in-chief of The Real Deal, told WNYC. With rents down around 30 percent, the deal follows new retailers such as Apple, Brooks Brothers and West Elm moving into the area, he said. Elliott believes that Century 21 will be a good fit for the Upper West Side, going along with the trend of discount retailers expanding throughout the city. "People are looking for a bargain these days," he added. The closing of the Barnes & Noble is a "casualty of the recession," Elliott said, adding that there will likely be more Barnes & Noble closings ahead, as there have been with Starbucks and Virgin Megastore in recent years. [WNYC]Tags:1972 broadwayThe Real Dealapplebarnes & noblebrooks brotherscentury 21
Click for more images (source: Andrea Stanger via WNYC)
The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC recently did an informal survey of where nearly 1,700 (mostly New York-based) listeners have moved to and from over the past 10 years and why. The result was over 4,000 data points that paint a picture of the New York real estate patterns of the aughts. And to help paint that picture, WNYC crowdsourced from a pool of graphic designers, mappers and statisticians to present the results. Among their findings: far more Manhattanites moved out than moved into the borough, whereas Brooklyn's movers tipped in the opposite direction. Twenty-eight people, including 11 from Brooklyn and nine from Manhattan, moved to escape bedbugs or other critters. Click here to see more of what they came up with and the creative ways they've presented the data.
Tags:andrea stangerbrian lehrermichael porter
1. Mortgage rates continue dipping to record lows [Inman] 2. How the newdisclosure law will affect real estate brokers [WSJ] 3. Government cracks down on people seeking homestead tax exemptions[NYT] 4. Harlem brownstone residents oppose affordable housing construction on 123rd Street [DNAinfo] 5. Former Fortunoff building at 681 Fifth Avenue is half empty[Crain's] 6. Accessories shop Oakley leases space for $1,400 a square foot at 44th Street and Broadway [Post] 7. Former Whitney Museum President Robert Hurst sells duplex at 950 Fifth Avenue for $25M [NYO] 8. Williamsburg's 99 Havemeyer half sold out [Brownstoner] 9.Southampton developer Robert Morrow defends proposed "Tuckahoe Main Street" project [27 East] 10. 12 out of 35 units have closed so far at the Lore condo in Harlem[Harlem + Bespoke] 11. When is a good time to refinance a mortgage?[Truth about Mortgage]
Sports Illustrated building at 135 West 50th Street
An entity affiliated with real estate investor the Wolfson Group paid $56 million for a minority interest in the Midtown office building at 135 West 50th Street, known as the Sports Illustrated building.
The Wolfson Group affiliate bought a 43 percent interest in the 23-story building from the Peter Jay Sharp Foundation, a charity named for the former Manhattan hotel developer, city records published Tuesday show.
The approximately 800,000-square-foot building is owned by a fund managed by UBS Realty Investors, which purchased it in 2006 for $332 million from Murray Hill Properties. [more] Tags:135 west 50th streetalliancebernsteinpeter jay sharp foundation
Auctioneer Real Estate Disposition has scored a Hamptons beach house foreclosure auction. The 3,000-square-foot Montauk home will hit the block next week, according to the Wall Street Journal, in a region that has remained relatively immune from the foreclosure crisis. The three-bedroom, four-bathroom home was sold for $1.28 million in 2006 and has a starting bid of $379,000. [more]Tags:auctionsforeclosurehome foreclosuremontaukmortgagesreal estate disposition
A New York state Supreme Court judge postponed ruling today on whether a joint venture can foreclose on Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village. Judge Richard Lowe indicated he would likely rule later this month in the case over the 11,000-unit East Side complex, Crain's reported. Over the summer, a joint venture between hedge fund manager Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management and Winthrop Realty Services acquired a $300 million mezzanine loan for just $45 million, with plans to foreclose on the property in an auction Aug. 25. [more] Tags:bank of americabill ackmancw capitalpershing square capital management
From the South Florida website: Almost three months after Gov. Charlie Crist signed the Distressed Condominium Relief Act, the South Florida real estate market could see a huge rush of large-scale deals, among whose provisions removed frequently problematic "successive developer liability" for would-be bulk buyers. The law was signed June 1, and took effect July 1. It notably gave condominium associations the right to demand delinquent renters pay rent directly to the association, a provision that has been very successful so far. More crucially, it also removed successive developer liability, which had meant that anyone who sold or leased more than seven units in a condo in one year was legally considered a developer, and assumed the types of liabilities -- like construction warranties -- typically associated with developers. [more] Tags:bilzin sumbergcondo vulturesdistressed condominium relief acticon brickell
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, Daisy Kahn and 201 West 85th Street
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the leader behind the Islamic Community Center, got a valuable tax exemption for the American Sufi Muslim Association, after claiming that 500 of its members prayed daily in an Upper West Side one-bedroom apartment, also listed as his wife's residence, according to the Post. In 1998, Rauf sought -- and was later granted -- "church status" for ASMA, which is an exemption from ever having to pay taxes, file returns or reveal the sources of a congregation's money or how it's spent, according to the Washington-based Investigative Project on Terrorism, which discovered the group's claims on the IRS form it filed. [more] Tags:201 west 85th streetamerican society for muslim advancement
Dozens of Brooklyn workers who are employed at the Flatbush Gardens housing complex in East Flatbush rallied yesterday to protest potential cuts to their pay and benefits and threatened to strike if they cannot come to a contract agreement with the building owners, the Wall Street Journal reported. The clash involves 70 workers, represented by Service Employees International Union's Local 32BJ, who contend that the building management -- Renaissance Equity Holdings -- has offered an untenable contract by requesting a 30 percent reduction in wages and benefits. [more] Tags:flatbush gardenskyle braggrenaissance equity holdings
The average co-op maintenance fee in New York City rose $1.76 per square foot per month, a 19 percent increase from 2009, according to appraisal firm Miller Samuel, Smart Money reported. The main reason for the increase is a jump in property taxes caused by rising state and local debt; according to the most recent data from the New York City Department of Finance, property tax revenue from co-ops increased 9.68 percent to $12.8 million in 2009. Co-op boards looking to offset these taxes don't have many options other than to raise their maintenance fees. [more] Tags:brian tormeydepartment of financeenergy information administration.
The Donald paid a visit to "The Late Show with David Letterman" last night to talk about development at and around the site of the former Twin Towers. Naturally, much of the conversation focused on the proposed mosque nearby, which Trump has repeatedly denounced as "insensitive." He argued that from a public relations standpoint, the developers behind the project would be met with "good will" from the public if they agreed to move to an alternate location. His views were met with audience applause, but then, so was Letterman's -- that religious freedom is a "fundamental building block" of this country.
Tags:Donald TrumpFreedom Towerdavid lettermanground zeromosque
While the home foreclosure crisis has had a heavy influence on the nation's economic recovery, industry experts have now turned their attention to how it might affect the political arena, according to the New York Times. Because voters must register a home address to vote, analysts are concerned that the growing number of people whose home situations are in limbo may result in a subsequent decline at the polls. Robert Brandon, president of the Fair Elections Legal Network, pointed out that the foreclosure crisis could ultimately disenfranchise many voters, while distracting those who could vote from getting out on election day. [more]Tags:fair elections legal netowrkforeclosurehome foreclosuremortgages
Allen Ginsberg and his (renovated) apartment at 437 East 12th Street
After just a short turn on the market, the East Village apartment that poet Allen Ginsberg once lived in has been snapped up, according to the Observer. The one-bedroom, walk-up apartment at 437 East 12th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue came online last week with an asking rent of $1,700 a month. The apartment was a hot ticket, according to listing agent Daniel Kramp of City Connections Realty. [more]Tags:437 east 12th streetdaniel krampallen ginsberg
Though Us Weekly first reported that golfer Tiger Woods had moved into an apartment downtown -- the Printing House condo at 421 Hudson Street, according to Curbed and the Daily News -- real estate insiders say it's either wishful thinking or a stunt pulled by a landlord to promote his building. "No way Tiger would live there," a broker told The Post. If it really was Tiger who had been seen moving boxes into the building -- a run-down 1980s conversion with leaky ceilings -- maybe he was helping out a girlfriend, brokers told the Post. [more] Tags:421 hudson streetprinting housetiger woods
From the September issue: They say knowledge is power. That's especially true when it comes to New York City real estate. For years, the only access to apartments for sale in the city -- especially those in posh, highly selective co-ops -- was through real estate firms. Each company maintained a stockpile of listings, a valuable asset that in many ways determined its ability to be successful. Sharing this information meant giving up a competitive advantage.
Today, vestiges of this mentality remain, despite the fact that listings are required to be shared electronically, and the vast majority of brokers agree that co-broking is the way to fetch the highest sale price possible for a property. Take, for example, the fact that Manhattan is one of the only real estate markets in the country without a conventional Multiple Listing Service.
Yet with technology improving at warp speed, Manhattan is now seeing vast changes in -- and intense battles surrounding -- who controls real estate information. [more]Tags:REBNYpropertysharkreal estate board of new yorkstreeteasytruliazillow
New York City real estate is known for its epic rivalries. And today's
market, with banks and developers working to salvage boom-time deals
gone bad, is particularly ripe for these disputes. That's partly
because as deals get resolved, once fruitful relationships are being
ruined as each party tries to minimize its losses. This month, The Real Deal
looked at 10 recent or brewing rivalries, including the match up
between Empire State Building owner Anthony Malkin and Vornado's Steven
Roth. There's also Sharif El-Gamal, the developer of the mosque near
Ground Zero, versus swarms of detractors; Donald Trump versus Extell's
Gary Barnett; SL Green versus Harry Macklowe, and a host of others. [more]
They say knowledge is power. That's especially true when it comes to New York City real estate. For years, the only access to apartments for sale in the city -- especially those in posh, highly selective co-ops -- was through real estate firms. Sharing this information meant giving up a competitive advantage. [more]
In the four years since Mets slugger Carlos Beltran struck out with the bases loaded in the now-infamous Game 6 of the National League Championship, fans across the city have waited for the Mets ownership to shake up the roster and return the team to the glory of its famed 1986 season.
The team -- led by real estate magnate Fred Wilpon and his son Jeff -- has faced questions from fans over whether the family will turn around a franchise that many believe has been unraveling for four straight years now.
However, like many of the nation's largest real estate investors, the Wilpons are also fighting an uphill battle against a persistent credit crisis. [more]
While aggressive New York City developers were snapping up properties left and right in Manhattan during the boom, Ziel Feldman turned his focus outside the city, investing, for instance, in Hard Rock Park, a South Carolina amusement park whose main attraction was a 155-foot-tall roller coaster called "Led Zeppelin -- the Ride." [more]
While New York City brokers may be relieved to be doing deals again after the deep freeze of the recession, not everyone is optimistic about the state of the recovery. Experts, from former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan -- who recently said a second recession was possible if residential prices go down -- to New York City appraiser Jonathan Miller have indicated that both the U.S. and New York City are not economically out of the woods yet. For one thing, while residential prices in New York have stabilized since the worst of the downturn, experts say substantial price increases here are unlikely anytime soon. [more]
"Sold" means "sold" -- except when it doesn't. That's the argument behind a new lawsuit involving the Trump Soho.
The condo-hotel development, which has endured fickle buyers,
community backlash and an unforgiving sales market, now faces a lawsuit
that brings one central question to light: What does "sold" really
mean? The plaintiff buyers claim that the Trump Soho team misled them in the press
-- and in person -- by reporting inflated sales figures, which they say
lowered the value of their investments. [more]
Office feeling claustrophobic? It's not just your imagination: The average office leasing transaction has fallen to just 5,700 square feet. That's a roughly 50 percent drop from the peak of 10,500 square feet in 1997, according to data the CoStar Group provided to The Real Deal. The trend translates into more shared offices and open floor plans, and far fewer rooms of one's own. [more]
RFR's Aby Rosen and Century Tower
