March 09, 2010 06:35PM
New York and Florida could be hit hard by CMBS woes
Losses attributed to commercial mortgage-backed securities may grow through 2010, according to the latest report from Trepp, a real estate tracking firm, due in part to the reduction in the appraised value of properties with associated loans. "Appraisal reduction is a forward-looking measure of potential future losses," Paul Mancuso, a vice president with Trepp, said. Unfortunately for investors, many properties have seen significant losses to value over the last few years, which could be particularly rough on those properties whose loans were inked during the boom years. New York and Florida ranked high on the list of states most vulnerable for further CMBS pain, Trepp said.
[NREI]
Tags:
cmbs
commercial mortgage backed securities
paul mancuso
trepp
March 09, 2010 06:00PM
Kimora Lee Simmons
Baby Phat clothing line executive Kimora Lee Simmons just took a hit out east. Her East Hampton home, which had an original asking price of $800,000, just sold for $650,000. Simmons, who's been looking to shuffle some real estate around over in the New York-New Jersey region, had originally bought the home for $690,000. But while Simmons might be hurting in her transaction, a recent ranking shows that the overall Hamptons market may be making a comeback for second home buyers.
[Curbed]
Tags:
kimora lee simmons
East Hampton
vacation homes
For new condos, brokers say sticker prices no longer matter
March 09, 2010 05:30PM
By Candace Taylor
From the March issue: During the boom, purchasing a new condo was like buying Manolo Blahniks or an Armani suit: Shopping in an elaborate showroom, buyers wouldn't dream of offering less than the sticker price.
These days, the showrooms are still around, but the process is more like haggling at a flea market.
Asking prices for new condos -- the figures quoted in online listings and in advertisements -- now have little to do with the final sale price. While developers are reluctant to lower their official prices, units are selling for anywhere from 5 to 30 percent less than the sticker price, brokers say. That's a huge change from just a few years ago, when the prices of new condos were considered nonnegotiable.
Developers "are not willing to bring down their asking prices, and some have list prices that have been around since the beginning of the recession," said Laurielle Noel, a sales and listing specialist for Platinum Properties. "If you come in and start negotiating, they can come down, depending on the situation, 15 to 30 percent. The asking price is not really reflecting what they're closing at."
[more]
March 09, 2010 05:00PM
1. Battery Park City residents may evade tax hikes [Downtown Express]
2. Russian Orthodox Cathedral in the East Village may get landmark status [Bowery Boogie]
3. Guss' East Village departure imminent [DNAinfo]
4. Architects pitch multi-level plaza concept [Curbed]
5. Urban wineries cropping up New York City [WSJ]
6. High hopes abound for Hester Street Fair, set to launch April 24 [Grub Street]
7. Inside Midtown's new Latin-Asian fusion eatery, Zengo [Eater]
8. Hempstead residents riled over eminent domain [Newsday]
9. Williamsburg approves housing complex rezone [Crain's]
10. Mike of "Mike's apartment" fame now talking to press [Grub Street]
11. What would happen if there were an earthquake in NYC? [NYMag]
12. Bar in Franklin Park ordered to halt construction on restaurant addition [Brooklyn the Borough]
March 09, 2010 04:30PM
By Michael Stoler
Over the past decade, a number of prominent Israeli investors have had their ups and downs investing in New York City real estate. Some of these investors who have experienced hardships include Yair Levy, Shaya Boymelgreen and Africa Israel Investments, controlled by Lev Leviev, the company which purchased the former New York Times Building in Times Square. While foreign investors with billions of dollars of capital sit on the sidelines, a few new Israeli investors are testing the Manhattan commercial real estate waters. With prices at record lows, these investors hope to capitalize on the record low prices of property in New York City. Later this month, Israeli company, IDB Holdings, controlled by Nochi Dankner, and partner Joseph Cayre plan to close on the purchase of the HSBC Bank Tower headquarters at 452 Fifth Avenue.
More
Tags:
bank leumi
ben suky
globes
hsbc bank tower
idb units
koor industries
lev leviev
livorno properties
michael stoler
nochi dankner
shaya boymelgreen
yair levy
March 09, 2010 04:00PM
Zillow.com's "Zestimates" of home values are vastly inflated, according to a new study by the Appraisal Institute, published in its quarterly journal (click here for the complete study). The study compares Zillow.com's home values with the actual sale prices of 2,045 single-family homes in 2006 in Arlington, Texas -- the market where Zillow.com claims to have its highest accuracy rating. Zillow.com was off by an average of 11.7 percent, or $13,576 above the actual sale price, with 40 percent of property values inflated by more than 10 percent, the study shows. Meanwhile, only 0.88 percent of values were underestimated by 10 percent or more. In a statement provided to The Real Deal, Zillow.com called the
study "out of date and limited in scope," noting that the study
compares sales from 2006 and Zestimates from January and February 2007:
"apples and oranges as it's two separate periods of time," the
statement says. TRD
Tags:
appraisal institute
appraisal journal
zestimate
zestimates
zillow
zillow.com
March 09, 2010 03:30PM
Frank Williams
Starchitect Frank Williams, known for his geometric-style Manhattan skyscrapers and international influence, has died at age 73. Williams made a notable impact on the New York City skyline, helping create over 20 buildings in the city, many of which are visible from Central Park, according to the New York Times. His portfolio includes the 57-story Trump Palace at 200 East 69th Street on the corner of Third Avenue, the tallest on the Upper East Side, the Four Seasons at 57 East 57th Street and the 55-story W hotel in Times Square. Even so, Williams told The Real Deal in 2007 that he enjoyed spending time under the radar. "He's a very talented architect who doesn't like bragging about his work even though he should," Donald Trump told The Real Deal at the time.
[NYT]
Tags:
200 east 59th street
Donald Trump
Frank Williams
architect
architecture
skyscrapers
trump palace
w hotel
March 09, 2010 03:00PM
From left: 120-18 132nd Street, 56-10 Waldron Street, 116-36 139th Street, and the Kalua Club
The Queens District Attorney handed down a 327-count indictment against five individuals who allegedly orchestrated a $2 million mortgage fraud scheme by using fake identities to buy and sell Queens properties. District Attorney Richard Brown described the fraud as "brazen," and said he believed that the "mortgage frauds perpetrated by these defendants were among the root causes of the severe economic downturn of the last few years." Four of the five defendants, three of whom own the Club Kalua nightclub, have been captured, while the fifth remains at large. Club Kalua was the site of the infamous 2006 Sean Bell shooting incident, in which police shot three men including killing Bell, on the morning after his bachelor party. If convicted in the mortgage scam, the defendants could face prison terms of up to 15 years each. The three properties involved in the scheme, 120-18 132nd Street in Ozone Park, 56-10 Waldron Street in Corona, and 116-36 139th Street in Jamaica, were allegedly purchased with fake identities. "In this particular case, one of the frauds was so brazen that it allegedly involved the sale of a house by two people posing as sellers -- one of whom was dead -- to a third person posing as a buyer -- with the defendants pocketing an astounding $250,000," Brown said. "These types of financial crimes have real-life consequences and will not be tolerated."
TRD
Tags:
116-36 139th street
120-18 132nd street
56-10 waldron street
corona
jamaica
kalua
mortgage fraud
ozone park
richard brown
March 09, 2010 02:30PM
The Public Theater at 425 Lafayette Street
The Public Theater is off and running with its $35 million renovation of the non-profit organization's landmark 19th-century building at 425 Lafayette Street. Construction broke ground today, and plans -- by Polshek Partnership Architects -- call for an expanded lobby, a façade restoration and a new lounge, among other upgrades. The theater company, which will continue to offer programs in two of its theaters while construction is ongoing, announced at the groundbreaking that it has raised $28 million of the $35 million necessary to complete the project.
[Crain's]
Tags:
425 lafayette street
the public theater
March 09, 2010 02:00PM
From left: The Hamptons, Palm Beach
With luxury home prices at an apparent bottom, Wall Streeters -- and others whose bonuses packages have already rebounded -- are re-emerging as buyers with the chance to score bargains and return the second-home market to its former glory. For those lucky investors, Barron's has ranked the top 10 spots for vacation homes, taking into account how far prices have dropped from their peaks in each submarket. Perennial New York favorite the Hamptons came in third, with prices coming in at a median $1.5 million, 30 percent off their peak. The posh island chain ranked as less desirable than Maui, which took the top spot with prices down 27 percent, and Kiawah Island, S.C. (No. 2), where prices are down 21 percent. Florida favorite Palm Beach ranked seventh and Captiva/Sanibel Island ranked eighth. Palm Beach and Capitiva/Sanibel Island homes prices are down 11 and 40 percent, respectively, each to a median $3.5 million. Gasparilla Island, a favorite of actor Harrison Ford's off Florida's southwest coast, was 10th on the list. The median price is $1.8 million, down 18 percent form its peak.
[Barron's via WSJ]
Tags:
Hamptons
palm beach
kiawah island
maui
gasparilla island
captival island
sanibel island
March 09, 2010 01:30PM
By Adam Pincus
Click on chart for larger version
Landlords Downtown have increased their spending on tenant improvements and free rent in recent months, a new Manhattan leasing report covering February from commercial services firm CB Richard Ellis shows.
Landlords are spending on average $66 per square foot on making improvements to tenant space Downtown, and giving an average of 10 months of free rent, the report says.
The free rent levels are the highest of any of the three Manhattan markets since the leasing market began to weaken in mid-2008 and the tenant improvement figure matches the previous high from last year, CBRE data shows.
At the same time, the report shows average asking rents rising Downtown, as well as in Midtown South, but falling in Midtown.
For February, CBRE reported average asking rents Downtown rose by 57 cents per square foot to $38.92 per foot; they rose by 5 cents per foot in Midtown South to $41.71 per foot. But in Midtown, the average asking rent fell by 32 cents to $55.75 per square foot.
More
Tags:
CB Richard Ellis
CBRE
commercial real estate
jones lang lasalle
office real estate
March 09, 2010 01:00PM
Gary Barnett and the Helmsley Carlton House at 680 Madison Avenue
Gary Barnett's Extell Development partnered with investment firm
Angelo, Gordon to buy the
Helmsley Carlton House at 680 Madison Avenue
for about $170 million from the Helmsley estate, the Wall Street
Journal first reported. Barnett and Midtown-based Angelo, Gordon are together in contract to buy the 160-unit hotel and apartment building at Madison Avenue between 61st and 62nd streets, which was being marketed by CB Richard Ellis vice chairman Darcy Stacom, three sources confirmed to
The Real Deal.
According to one of the sources, the bids were due last Friday, and needed to include a signed contract and a $10 million deposit. A fourth source, speaking yesterday, said there were six bids made for the property. The retail portion of the building is considered a particularly valuable asset, insiders said. Angelo, Gordon, one of many investors partnering with local players to purchase distressed properties in New York, declined to comment on the sale. CBRE and Extell did not immediately respond to calls for comment
. TRD
Tags:
680 madison avenue
CB Richard Ellis
CBRE
angelo gordon
darcy stacom.
extell development
gary barnett
helmsley carlton house
