The Real Deal

Park Avenue Bank shut down, marks second NYC bank collapse in two days

March 12, 2010 07:38PM By David Jones

Federal and state regulators have shut down the Park Avenue Bank and sold its deposits to Valley National Bank, marking the second seizure and asset sale of a New York City bank in two days. The State Banking Department closed the bank citing ineffective management and inadequate capital as well as a high volume of non-performing loans. "We determined that the management team's inability to address the problems in the consent order led to the bank being critically undercapitalized," said Richard Neiman, supervisor of the state Banking Department. "This issue coupled with the high volume of non-performing loans held by Park Avenue meant that the bank could no longer operate in a safe and sound manner." The FDIC entered into a loss-share transaction on $379.8 million of Park Avenue Bank's assets. Park Avenue Bank reported assets of $520.1 million and deposits of $494.5 million, according to the FDIC. The bank's four branches will reopen as branches of Valley National Bank. Last night, state regulators shut down and sold the assets of LibertyPointe Bank, the struggling lender owned by Brooklyn-based developer Shaya Boymelgreen. Asked whether the collapse of two small New York banks was a start of a new trend, FDIC officials acknowledged that commercial real estate lending is playing a larger role in bank failures. More Tags: bank of smithtown central savings bank david barr fdic federal deposit insurance corporation libertypointe bank pascal realty richard neiman shaya boymelgreen the park avenue bank valley national bank

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Priciest, cheapest units to hit the market

March 12, 2010 07:15PM

The priciest Manhattan home to hit the market this week is a six-bedroom, four-bathroom townhouse on the Upper East Side at 34 East 74th Street according to Streeteasy.com. The 6,216-square-foot house is on the market for $15.95 million and is listed by Carrie Chiang and Loy Carlos of the Corcoran Group. The home has a private garden, terrace, wine cellar and elevator. The cheapest Manhattan unit to come online this week is a two-bedroom, one-bathroom co-op at 308 Mott Street on the Lower East Side. The sixth-floor walkup unit, listed for $199,000, is being marketed by Marion Hedges and Mary Latimer-Chung of Prudential Douglas Elliman. Click here for more. Tags: cheapest priciest

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Riverton owners face $4M transfer tax

March 12, 2010 06:43PM By Adam Pincus

The new owners of the rent-stabilized Riverton Houses in Harlem that sold at auction yesterday will have to pay a hefty transfer tax of just under $4 million after they take title to the property in the next couple of days, real estate experts said. Financial firm CWCapital Asset Management, the special servicer for the loan on the 1,228-unit complex between 135th and 138th streets and Fifth Avenue and Harlem River Drive, won the property at an auction yesterday with a bid of $125 million. Since it was representing the commercial mortgage trust that held the Riverton loan, it effectively put the foreclosed property back into the hands of the lender. Tom Fink, senior vice president of Trepp, which tracks mortgage-based securities, estimated the tax liability to be $3.8 million. More Tags: 60 centre street cwcapital asset management david bistricer dina levy eastern consolidated morgan capital riverton riverton houses shimon shkury tom fink trepp

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DOB says it will adhere to judge's ruling in Big Apple Testing case

March 12, 2010 06:15PM By David Jones

The Department of Buildings said it will grant Big Apple Testing an opportunity to discuss the rejection of its license renewal, following a ruling earlier this month by a New York State Supreme Court judge. New York Supreme Court Judge Alice Schlesinger ruled that the agency must grant the Whitestone, Queens-based firm a "face-to-face meeting" with a neutral representative who can determine whether the firm should get its license renewed. DOB officials said they previously denied the license because Big Apple Testing continued working after the license expired in September 2008. They also said the firm failed to provide a two-year review as required by its Cement and Concrete Reference Laboratory and for other reasons. More Tags: alice schlesinger big apple testing concrete testing department of buildings dob robert limandri stuart klein tony sclafani

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Bad timing hurts Harlem condos

Arriving late, developments in neighborhood find ways to cut prices or costs March 12, 2010 05:30PM By Katherine Dykstra

From the March issue: After steamrolling across the city, the condo boom headed to Harlem, promising high-end buildings in a neighborhood more known for historic brownstones. Many of those condos are now hitting the market during the bust, and developers are doing more than just dropping prices. They are looking for ways to trim costs, scale back amenities or squeeze margins. The list of Harlem projects that have either just come on the market or are getting ready to launch is long. In December, the 11-unit Sedona at 346 East 119th Street had a soft market launch, as did the 13-story Metropolis, which has 13 units, at 51 East 128th Street. The Douglass, at 2110 Frederick Douglass Boulevard, added 38 units to the market. At 2131 Frederick Douglass Boulevard, LivMor's 73 condos were listed in January. The Madera, at 18 West 129th Street, has 12 units on the way. The Embelesar, at 152 East 118th Street, has 14. And the list goes on.  [more] Tags: residential developments condos harlem residential market

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Milford Plaza renovation stumbles with lack of credit, crane removal begins at Beekman Tower ... and more

March 12, 2010 05:00PM

1. Lack of credit stymies Milford Plaza renovation effort [Crain's]
2. Bronx girl imperiled by collapsed roof, other hazardous conditions in city-run apartment [NYDN]
3. Revisiting 104-106 Bowery six years later [NYT]
4. Crane removal begins at Beekman Tower construction site [LMCCC]
5. Seacaucus police officer charged in alleged $530K mortgage fraud scheme [Mortgage Fraud Blog]
6. Carnegie Hall's elderly artists [DNAInfo]
7. School denied Gowanus relocation request [Post]
8. In midst of Aqueduct chaos, Hard Rock reiterates interest [WSJ]
9. Zell, Roth and Mack weigh in on REIT questions [A Student of the Real Estate Game]
10. Census fails to recognize Astoria [Why Leave Astoria?!]
11. WTC workers to get special hearing [Post]
12. With Web site launch, Eventi Hotel races to possible May 14 opening date [Hotel Chatter]
13. J. Crew plans 15 new store locations this year [GlobeSt]
14. Report claims Fuld "negligent" in Lehman collapse [Bloomberg]
15. Identifying a "serial renovator" [Manhattan Loft Guy]

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Co-ops and condo boards contend with fraud

March 12, 2010 04:45PM

"Fraud is an ever present risk," said attorney and certified fraud examiner Kenneth Citarella in this Habitat Magazine video. He and accountant Mindy Eisenberg Stark, also a certified fraud examiner, outlined ways that co-op and condominium boards can become victims of fraud and some measures they can take to protect themselves. There is vendor fraud, where workers are fictitious, Stark said, or bona fide workers may overstate expenses and submit vouchers for work they did not do, Citarella noted. There is also bidding fraud as well as accounting fraud. One thing a building should do to use a checks and balances system is have separate accountants for the management company and the board. Boards need to keep in mind that an audit is meant "to state whether financial documents are fairly stated," Stark said, not find fraud, although an audit is done "with an eye toward whether fraud could exist in the environment." When faced with signs of fraud, Citarella said, the board should consult the homeowners about whether to proceed. "It's their money," after all, he added. Tags: accounting fraud bidding fraud kenneth citarella mindy eisenberg stark vendor fraud

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CBRE just launched an iPhone app. How much of an effect will this technology have on the real estate industry?

March 12, 2010 04:15PM

The Real Deal is looking for your feedback on market-related issues. To read a story about the CBRE app, click here. Please comment below. If you have questions you'd like posted, please e-mail news@therealdeal.com. Tags: readers sound off

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Six LI neighborhoods see strong pricing

March 12, 2010 03:45PM

While the residential market has been sagging in and around the greater New York City, there are six Long Island neighborhoods where home prices have stayed rock solid through the financial downturn, according the Newsday. The North Shore's Port Jefferson, Holbrook in central Suffolk County, East Islip in the southern shore of Suffolk County and New Hyde Park, Great Neck and East Rockaway in Nassau County, all rank as neighborhoods where home prices have remained strong, according to local real estate experts. While some of the neighborhoods on the list, like Port Jefferson, stayed hot because of amenities like a nearby country club, experts say that communities like New Hyde Park are often able to stay afloat because of their sheer proximity to New York City. [Newsday] Tags: east islip east rockaway great neck holbrook home prices long island nassau county new hyde park port jefferson suffolk county

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Stuy Town tenants tap fiscal guru

March 12, 2010 03:15PM

Investment banking group Moelis & Company is set to become a financial advisor to the Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village Tenants Association, according to Crain's, throughout the complex's coming restructuring plan. The move is being made in an effort to ensure than the tenants' needs are being weighed with the same consideration as creditors' and potential investors', according to Al Doyle, president of the association. Doyle said he's "confident that Moelis & Company can help protect tenants' interests," so they will "come out on top of this complex restructuring." [Crain's] Tags: al doyle blackrock realty moelis & company peter cooper village stuyvesant town tishman speyer

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Ashford, Digital Realty among experts' top real estate investment picks

March 12, 2010 02:45PM

Things aren't as bad in commercial real estate as recent press reports have made them seem, according to Jay Leupp, senior portfolio manager with Grubb & Ellis' Realty Income Fund. Leupp, along with Paul Curbo, a portfolio manager at Invesco AIM Global Real Estate Fund, talked to CNBC yesterday about where they believe investors stand to make the most handsome profits in real estate today. Leupp's pick: Ashford Hospitality, the Marriott and Embassy Suites parent company, which owns 120 hotels nationwide. Curbo said he'd go with Digital Realty Trust, which owns data center spaces and has seen growth even as the rest of the commercial real estate industry has faltered. Tags: Marriott ashford hospitality digital realty trust embassy suites grubb & ellis invesco aim jay leupp paul curbo

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Federal appeals court: remorseful buyers can’t get their money back

March 12, 2010 02:15PM By Luis F. Perez

A federal appellate court decision last month has strengthened the hand of developers as they fight thousands of lawsuits across the country from condominium unit buyers trying to get out of contracts signed during the boom. A December analysis by The Real Deal showed that hundreds of buyers in New York were trying to use a federal disclosure law called the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act, or ILSA, to renege on their contracts. New York saw its first ILSA ruling in decades when a federal judge ruled in January that the developers of the Harlem condo Fifth on the Park were exempt from the ILSA statute, thereby rejecting two buyers' efforts to break their contracts and get their deposits back. The buyers said they planned to appeal that decision. Just days after the New York ruling, the Atlanta-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit sided with the developer in another ILSA case in Bonita Springs, Florida. That Feb. 3 ruling doesn't bind other federal jurisdictions, but it sets a precedent other federal courts are likely to follow, experts said. It's the second ILSA ruling the same appellate court has made in the last six months siding with the developers . More Tags: 11th circuit allen levine bilzin sumberg baena price & axelrod fifth on the park hud ilsa interstate land sales full disclosure act kosene & kosene martin schwartz pamela van hook simon property group u.s. court of appeals u.s. department of housing and urban development van hook v. the residences at coconut point

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