From the June issue: Shortly after the financial crisis of 2008, experts worried that the market was in even worse shape than it appeared. The culprit? Thousands of stalled and vacant condo units that were being held off the market — so-called shadow inventory — threatening to add years to New York City’s real estate recovery.

In today’s improved economy, many in the industry are wondering what happened to all that inventory. With sales picking up and some new condos morphing into rentals, everyone agrees that the number of shadow units has dropped. But no one knows by exactly how much. [more]

From the June issue: Actress Jennifer Aniston has long sought to trade the (unrealistically spacious) apartment she inhabited on “Friends” for a real, flesh-and-blood Manhattan home. For years, she’s been spotted checking out everything from newly constructed Financial District condo 20 Pine to the Village co-op 552 LaGuardia Place.
Now, Aniston has finally made up her mind. Last month, her purchase of two units at the West Village condominium 299 West 12th Street hit public records, signaling once and for all that Aniston is ready to commit.
Whether her buy at the building, developed by prewar tastemakers Bing & Bing, indicates a market recovery is less clear.

[more]

Real estate developer Africa Israel USA made major investments in residential conversion projects during the boom years. Two of its Downtown condominium projects, 111 Fulton Street and 20 Pine Street, hit successful milestones last month, but serious challenges remain for two others, the Upper West Side’s Apthorp and the Clock Tower, formerly the Metropolitan Life headquarters at 5 Madison Avenue.
This week, Lori Ordover, a sales and marketing consultant to Africa Israel, talks to Insights from The Real Deal about how the company cut prices by as much as 30 percent to attract sales at 20 Pine Street, where prices ranged from a low of $666 per foot in 2009 to more than $1,000 per foot recently. Forty units remain for sale.

Asked if she thought the company left money on the table as she compared the low $700 per foot deals to the $1,000 per foot deals, she said, “We really try hard to sell at the market. If I were starting sales today in this building, instead of three years ago — right when the market took its downturn — we would be pricing at a higher number.” (Note: correction appended).

She also addresses why Shvo Marketing, the former exclusive sales agent at 20 Pine Street, was replaced as announced last week by Warburg Realty Partnership, despite hitting the 90 percent-sold mark. She would not discuss any aspects of the 163 condominium units being marketed at the Apthorp at 390 West End Avenue or the 100-unit Clock Tower, which is looking to secure construction financing. [more]

Real estate lawyer Adam Leitman Bailey has gone up against some of the city’s biggest

builders and in the process emerged as one of the most controversial figures in the industry

Adam Leitman Bailey

From the June issue: No one ever accused Adam Leitman Bailey of having low self-esteem. “I think we may be the best real estate law firm of our time,” he says on a recent Monday morning, in a corner office at 120 Broadway with framed newspaper clippings about his eponymous firm on the wall. At a table across the room, a summer intern uses a pen to edit the last chapter of his book, “The Insider’s Guide to Buying a Home and Making Money in Real Estate,” which is currently being shopped to editors.

Forty-year-old Bailey is constantly in motion. “I have more energy than any human I’ve ever met,” he says, toggling between the three computer screens on his desk.

The phone rings.

In the rapid-fire staccato that developers all over the city have come to dread, Bailey tells a client: “I needed that engineer’s report yesterday… I think you’re going to lose your case now. Good luck with that.”

He hangs up. “Tough love,” he says. “We treat every case like the end of the world. Like if you lose, you’ll be put to death.”

[more]

Real estate lawyer Adam Leitman Bailey has gone up against some of the city’s biggest

builders and in the process emerged as one of the most controversial figures in the industry

Adam Leitman Bailey

From the June issue: No one ever accused Adam Leitman Bailey of having low self-esteem. “I think we may be the best real estate law firm of our time,” he says on a recent Monday morning, in a corner office at 120 Broadway with framed newspaper clippings about his eponymous firm on the wall. At a table across the room, a summer intern uses a pen to edit the last chapter of his book, “The Insider’s Guide to Buying a Home and Making Money in Real Estate,” which is currently being shopped to editors.

Forty-year-old Bailey is constantly in motion. “I have more energy than any human I’ve ever met,” he says, toggling between the three computer screens on his desk.

The phone rings.

In the rapid-fire staccato that developers all over the city have come to dread, Bailey tells a client: “I needed that engineer’s report yesterday… I think you’re going to lose your case now. Good luck with that.”

He hangs up. “Tough love,” he says. “We treat every case like the end of the world. Like if you lose, you’ll be put to death.”

[more]

Designer Zac Posen (credit: Jason Kibbler)

Fashion designer Zac Posen, 29, answered a few questions from The Real Deal as he prepares to unveil his interior design handiwork at new boutique condo development 16 West 21st Street. Sales at the F&T Group-developed project, headed up by Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Hagay Azoulay, will begin early next month, Posen’s camp said, but a red carpet event March 18 will mark the official opening. Posen remained mum about the furniture line he was reported to be launching this year, and a spokesperson said he’s put the project on hold. [more]

From the June issue: A visit to Boymelgreen Developers’ Web site gives the impression that
the firm, founded by Shaya Boymelgreen, is one of the most powerful
real estate companies in New York — and a major player on the global
stage. The site notes that “in just over a decade, Mr. Boymelgreen has
transformed his family business into one of the largest and most active
development companies in New York City and a powerful global
development and investment firm.” The firm’s boilerplate also trumpets its joint venture with Africa
Israel Investments and the “spectacular portfolio” that has resulted
from it, as well as the “overwhelming success” of properties such as
the condo conversion 20 Pine in the Financial District. Comments

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