last updated today at 08:00AM
Brooklyn Brewery not moving to Red Hook, retail brokers predict 20% fall in rent ... and more
Jan 08, 2009 08:00 AM
  • 1. Brooklyn Brewery won't be moving to Red Hook waterfront [NY Mag]
  • 2. Sellers who don't want to lower the sale price turn to renting [Post]
  • 3. Retail brokers say rents will fall by 20 percent in 2009 [NYO]
  • 4. Developer of Domino Sugar refinery condo conversion says project is on track [Brooklyn Paper]
  • 5. Red Hook developer has to uproot Cheyenne Diner before an early February demolition [Brooklyn Paper]
  • 6. Sex sells at the Standard Hotel [Curbed]
  • 7. Courtney Love and daughter Frances look to buy home in West Village [Gothamist]

Top Web stories
Jan 08, 2009 07:30 AM

Homeowners face more foreclosures
Jan 07, 2009 06:30 PM
Propertyshark_ceo_frontbox Property Shark CEO Bill Staniford A quarterly report released by Property Shark today shows an optimistic, if misleading, decrease in foreclosures in New York City in the fourth quarter. Foreclosures in the fourth quarter of 2008 showed a steep 32 percent drop from the previous quarter, though they were up 25 percent compared to last year. There were 764 homes in some stage of foreclosure last quarter, compared to 611 in the final quarter of 2007. "Even though we experienced a sharp decrease in the fourth quarter, I don't think we're out of the woods," said PropertyShark CEO Bill Staniford. He predicts an uptick in foreclosure filings in the first quarter of 2009, saying that the fourth quarter typically shows a decline in actions. more
By James Kelly

Fate of Toll Brothers' Gowanus project looks positive
Jan 07, 2009 06:10 PM
Gowanus_canal_frontbox Gowanus Canal project rendering Toll Brothers could be one step closer to building its massive Gowanus project in Caroll Gardens. The City Planning Commission today reviewed the company's proposal for a three-acre rezoning along the Gowanus Canal, and the agency will vote on its approval by February 17. If it is green-lighted, the  next and final step in the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure is approval by the City Council, which will have 50 days to make a decision. Toll Brothers Senior Vice President David Von Spreckelsen told The Real Deal that the developer is confident it will pass this stage of the ULURP, and Community Board 6 Chairman Craig Hammerman offered a similar opinion. "I don't think [the City Planning Commission] would have certified [it for ULURP] it if they didn't plan to approve it," Hammerman said. more
By James Kelly

Retailers argue for lower rent
Jan 07, 2009 06:00 PM
Many stores nationwide are trying to negotiate lower rents with their landlords. Office Depot is closing 112 of its 1,275 stores, and is haggling with landlords to lower rent in the ones that remain. Women's retailer Chico's has hired a consultant to help it renegotiate, renew or end 340 of its leases coming due through 2011. And furniture store Pier 1 Imports is seeking to lower lease rates on the 200 leases it has coming up for renewal in the next year.

Citi Habitats shutters Financial District office
Jan 07, 2009 05:00 PM
Citi_habitats_frontbox 100 John Street Citi Habitats has shuttered at least one of its numerous Manhattan offices. The rental brokerage has closed its storefront Financial District branch at 100 John Street between Pearl and William streets, said Pamela Liebman, CEO of the Corcoran Group, which shares a parent company, NRT, with Citi Habitats. "The lease was up and we didn't need the space," Liebman said, adding that the company may open another office in the area in the future. "If it picks up again in the Financial District, we'll be happy to open another office down there." She added that the branch was a "tiny" office, with only about six agents. The office, in a 221-unit luxury rental building, closed several weeks ago, according to the leasing manager for the building, who asked to remain anonymous. more
By Candace Taylor

Residential market to drag feet through 2009
Jan 07, 2009 04:45 PM
Residential real estate professionals expect low prices and declining sales to carry on through the year. In a discussion on the state of the 2009 market on a CNBC segment, Gregory Heym, chief economist at Brown Harris Stevens, said there will continue to be fewer sales this year because of increasing layoffs and the decline of Wall Street bonuses. The median price in Manhattan fell 2 percent between the third and fourth quarters of 2008, according to a fourth-quarter BHS report. However, Paula Del Nunzio, a senior vice president and managing director at BHS, said that "unique" apartments, like a penthouse, or a particularly large or small apartment, will always fetch a high price, no matter what the state the market is in. CNBC's Diana Olnick said that while low interest rate loans are available, loans in Manhattan probably won't have low rates because the median co-op price is twice the conventional loan limit.

Palm Court closes, View might set sales record in LIC ... and more
Jan 07, 2009 04:30 PM
  • 1. Plaza's Palm Court closes [Crain's]
  • 2. 924 and 105 Metropolitan Avenue up for sale [Curbed] and [GL]
  • 3. 39 of 56 listed units at 80 Metropolitan Avenue are in contract [Brownstoner]
  • 4. Avalon Bay in the process of buying cluster of buildings in Downtown Brooklyn [Brownstoner]
  • 5. Dumbo's 192 Water Street hit with stop work order [Dumbo NYC]
  • 6. New New York Times real estate listing service is a mess [Brownstoner]
  • 7. Rapid Realty films video in Sunset Park [BVIB]
  • 8. Businesses seek tax break on canceled debt [Bloomberg]
  • 9. Jazz gift shop at Lincoln Center closes [NYT]
  • 10. Construction company that worked on JetBlue's Terminal 5 at JFK Airport is suing for payment [Crain's]
  • 11. Regatta residents and Battery Park City Authority come to agreement about rent increase [WSJ]
  • 12. Is anyone living at Inwood Hill Condos? [Curbed]
  • 13. Long Island City's View might set condo sales price record [Fine Blog via Curbed]
  • 14. Residential building approved for 131 Sixth Avenue [Brownstoner]
  • 15. Plans to reopen Brooklyn House of Detention on hold [Brooklyn Paper]

East 40th Street getting new office condo
Jan 07, 2009 04:25 PM
110_east_40th_st_frontbox 110 East 40th Street Developer Philips International has bought 110 East 40th Street, at Park Avenue, and is beginning to renovate the office building to create a commercial condominium called Grand Park. According to city property records, Philips International bought the nine-story building for $35 million and closed on it in July 2008. When converted, Philips plans to create condo units between 2,364 and 11,093 square feet. Scott Klau, executive vice president and principal at Newmark Knight Frank, which is marketing the condo, said the asking price is $975 per square foot. TRD

Hamptons buyers turn to sellers for financing
Jan 07, 2009 04:00 PM
Gary_depersia_frontbox Corcoran's Gary DePersia As lending dries up, some hopeful Hamptons buyers are turning to a new source of financing -- the homeowner. Hamptons brokers say they are seeing increased interest in seller financing, also called owner financing, in which the seller acts as a bank and holds the paper on the buyer's purchase. "There's really not a particular type of property. It's going to be something that you're going to see across the board," said Gary DePersia, an East Hampton-based associate broker and senior vice president at the Corcoran Group, adding that it will be "part of the more creative stance sellers are taking." more
By Sara Polsky

Soho Alliance continues to fight Trump Soho
Jan 07, 2009 03:13 PM
Trump_soho_frontbox Trump Soho The community activist group Soho Alliance said it plans to challenge the transient hotel status of Trump Soho, at 246 Spring Street, by taking its fight to the New York State Appellate Division. The Manhattan State Supreme Court rejected the Soho Alliance's challenge of Trump Soho's permit to build a transient hotel in December. Sean Sweeney, president of the Soho Alliance, said the group is fighting because it wants to preserve the integrity of the city's zoning laws, and "if Trump gets away with this, every other developer will be busting the zoning resolutions in that area."

Current Issue
Cover

From The January Issue

A year to forget

Coverimage_magbox
Most regard 2008's records, which The Real Deal details as part of a series, as footnotes, rather than the main stories of the year. That's because, as our year in review recounts, after Wall Street collapsed in September, the key question became: how low will the city's commercial and housing markets go? In our Q & A, residential and commercial players say they are bracing for a brutal year. On the commercial side, the consensus is the already elevated vacancy rate will increase further as the financial industry suffers and office space is dumped. More

Buyers getting bolder

Buyers_getting_bolder_magbox
One of the most profound impacts of the Wall Street crisis on New York's real estate market is the sudden emergence of the new buyer's market, a shift in the balance of power between buyers and sellers we explore in a package of stories this month. More

What's a developer to do?

This month, The Real Deal goes behind the scenes at Downtown Brooklyn's BellTel Lofts, the Dover condominium in West Harlem and Tempo in Gramercy, to find out how developers who started their buildings in the pre-crash financial markets are tackling the downturn.
More

Extell plows ahead

Extell_plows_ahead_magbox
While the credit crisis halted the $6 billion Atlantic Yards project rival Forest City Ratner snatched from it three years ago, Extell Development Company has emerged as the most active developer in the rehab of Manhattan's West Side. If Extell's head Gary Barnett has made the right bet on the area, he may emerge as one of the last men standing in New York City real estate. More

Toning down luxe pitches

After a year of tumultuous financial events, buyers have gone from "more is more" to being wary of ostentation. More

Not too proud for rentals

Not_too_proud_for_rentals_magbox
With residential sales slowing, more brokers who once worked exclusively in sales are now taking deals that they never would have touched in the past: rentals. Daniel Baum, COO of the Real Estate Group New York, said brokers who once looked down on the rental side are changing gears.
More

Prices plummet dramatically

December brought proof that real estate prices are plummeting dramatically as New York City anticipates months of recession and job losses ahead. More

Lowballing turns predatory

Lowballing_turns_predatory_magbox
Potential buyers are now putting very low offers -- often 20 to 40 percent less than the asking price -- on multiple properties at the same time, a strategy that was virtually unheard of only a few months ago. Sellers, increasingly desperate to unload their property, are countering offers they once would have considered insulting. More

More developers joining forces for mortgages

Joining_forces_for_mortgages_magbox
Developers are increasingly relying on their preferred lenders and mortgage brokers to help their buyers navigate the complex world of mortgages and increase their chances of closing deals. More

More quick eats, less upscale fare

As 2009 starts, restaurant industry brokers expect inexpensive eateries to continue adding locations to capitalize on demand for lower-priced fare in the economic crisis. Any restaurant company looking for space will have many choices and greater negotiating power, after a wave of closures last year that is only expected to intensify in 2009. More

Manhattan office market: Thankful holidays are over

Commercial leasing activity was thin in the typically slow month of December, as landlords held off listings until the New Year and potential renters waited for better deals. The industry was further spooked last month by the alleged $50 billion fraud by fund manager Bernard Madoff and the arrest of Marc Dreier, law firm Dreier's founding partner, who was accused of swindling investors out of $380 million or more. More


Special Reports

Who got crunched -- and who didn't
A look at where players landed one year after the credit market debacle
Hailing other holiday spots
While Hamptons hurting, other locales draw interest
The biggest problems in New York City real estate
Experts weigh in on how to fix industry crises
Developers falling into a Catch-22
Residential developers in bind with slow sales
In Hamptons, it's no vacation
Building permits drop, spec homes sit and restaurateurs grow wary amid slowdown
Condos on the chopping block
Prices come down to help move new projects
Adding it all up
A tally of numbers that matter: construction costs, the high-end market, and foreign buyer migration
Manhattan's biggest firms
Our annual survey of the top Manhattan firms



A d v e r t i s e m e n t s