Commercial market ends year with strong sales

As 2011 shifts into gear, commercial real estate firms are reporting that they ended 2010 with their strongest sales in over two years, according to Crain’s. Massey Knakal Realty Services closed 35 deals in the New York metro area in December, with an aggregate value of more than $221 million, the firm’s strongest month since March 2008. Among the bigger transactions was a package of six fully-leased retail condominiums on Bleecker Street, which sold for $34 million and a four-building multifamily portfolio in Astoria, Queens, which sold for $30 million. The firm completed about 275 transactions during the year. “Activity has been increasing steadily over 2010,” said Ken Krasnow, a managing director at Massey Knakal. “Market conditions have become better.” Eastern Consolidated also reported a strong December, where dollar sales volume jumped 50 percent from November levels. In just the first week of 2011, the firm has two residential condo packages that have gone into contract, and the sale of a note secured by three buildings is scheduled to close next week. Citywide, the commercial property market got a big boost from the sale of 111 Eighth Avenue to Google for $1.77 billion in the fourth quarter. Including that transaction, sales volumes climbed 73 percent over the third-quarter levels, according to data released by Eastern Consolidated. [Crain’s]