Downtown Brooklyn’s Oro condominium, the 40-story tower at 306 Gold Street, has closed more than 200 of its 303 studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom units, bringing the building to roughly 65 percent sold and occupied, according to an announcement today from Rose Associates, which is handling sales. That’s a significant spike from last November, when PropertyShark.com reported that 63 units had closed; even then, it was ranked as the city’s seventh-best-selling building of 2010. It wasn’t always smooth-sailing for Oro, though, which was originally developed by controversial United Homes owner Yaron Herscho. – Sarabeth Sanders [more]

While the rent-to-own sales plan showed little momentum in many New York City developments recently, Downtown Brooklyn condominium Oro may be finding some success in the strategy. The 303-unit building at 306 Gold Street has sold 20 apartments through the rent-to-own program, according to Robert Scaglion, a senior managing director at Rose Associates, the building’s exclusive sales agent. Oro, which launched sales in February 2007, first began offering the rent-to-own option a year ago. TRD [more]

Inside a unit at the Oro condominium

The Oro condominium in Downtown Brooklyn announced today that it will offer a rent-to-own program for interested buyers. Under the program, 50 percent or more of the monthly rent cost goes toward a down payment. The development, which slashed prices on its units by as much as 25 percent in October, has notoriously struggled with sales in the two years since it began marketing units. As The Real Deal reported in the December issue, approximately 12 buyers at Greenfield Partners’ Oro — at 306 Gold Street — are currently disputing their contracts. The building currently has approximately 40 percent of its 303 units
sold and is financially stable, according to Rose Associates, which is
marketing Oro. Robert Scaglion, senior managing director at Rose, said
that the program has been implemented in order to help buyers secure
financing for their purchase. “In today’s market, obtaining financing
is often the greatest hurdle,” Scaglion said. “Oro’s rent-to-own program gives buyers the flexibility of having a 12-month period to obtain financing, improve credit scores or make a larger deposit.” TRD [more]

189 Bridge is now partly rental

From the November issue: Like many other development firms, the Clarett Group rode the wave of
the real estate boom expertly, building successful condos in Manhattan
and other markets across the country. Like a host of other developers,
however, the company hit a damaging riptide in Downtown Brooklyn. A few
months ago, Clarett’s condo, the Forté, went back to its lender,
Eurohypo AG. The move was the most boldface example thus far of the
difficulties developers have encountered selling condos in Downtown
Brooklyn, generally defined as the section of the borough bounded by
Nassau Street to the north, Ashland Place to the east, Schermerhorn
Street to the south and Court Street to the west. That catch zone
encompasses several micro-neighborhoods, including the western edge of
Fort Greene. Several big developers are feeling pain in the saturated
area, which has been generating a lot of attention lately because three
new luxury rental towers are preparing to launch. [more]