Large deal volume dwarfs 2009: SL Green exec

From left: Peter Hauspurg, Jonathan Mechanic, Steven Durels, David Greenbaum and moderator Jahn Brodwin

Steven Durels, an executive vice president with SL Green Realty, said that the number of larger deals (those between 100,000 square feet and 200,000 square feet) that his firm has seen in 2010 “dwarfs last year.” Still, Durels noted that one key component of the market hasn’t shown as much momentum.

“The pricing [on commercial leases] really hasn’t pushed dramatically,” Durels said, comparing 2009 and 2010 rents. “I’m finally at a point where I actually have competition for space.”

Durels commented on the market in a panel discussion at today’s Bisnow NYC Real Estate Summit, which also included Peter Hauspurg, Chairman and CEO of Eastern Consolidated, Jonathan Mechanic, a partner with Fried Frank, David Greenbaum, president of Vornado Realty Trust and moderator Jahn Brodwin, a senior managing director with FTI Schonbraun McCann Group. Optimism was high, and the panel agreed that this year is shaping up to be much better than 2009.

“Typically, we do 100 to 150 sales transactions a year; in [2009], we did 20. It was reasonably painful,” Hauspurg said. “The first half of 2010 for us has already eclipsed all of 2009.”