From left: 34 Leonard, Cipriani Club at 55 Wall Street, 75 Wall Street and William Beaver House

As some new condominiums struggle with sales, developers are converting units to rentals to create revenue, allowing residents to get the condo lifestyle without the commitment, the Post reported. At 34 Leonard, the first thing that the new owner, Epic, did after taking over the Tribeca development in September was to scrap sales and make it a rental. In five weeks, 12 of the 16 units rented, and “it seems we’ve made the right decision,” said Cara Stone, a spokesperson for Epic. Cipriani Club Residences at 55 Wall Street is also renting unsold units. “Our role is to sell the units, but in the meantime, we’ve had so much demand for short-term rentals,” said Elie Pariente, president of Urban Marketing, which is handling sales. According to Platinum Properties, 75 Wall Street is also renting out some of its available condos, and William Beaver House, also in the Financial District, has had a number of condos for rent as well. [Post]

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After closing on a 16-unit, foreclosed condominium building at 34 Leonard Street a week ago, new owner Queenwood 34 LLC says it’s already leased out five of its units, including a $45,000-per-month, four-bedroom penthouse unit.

The building closed for $40.8 million, public records show, and a representative for the owners said it was bought directly from lender iStar. Cara Stone, the owner’s representative heading up leasing at the Tribeca building, which also includes 4,500 square feet of ground floor retail space, said that Epic began marketing the rentable units immediately after closing the deal. The aforementioned penthouse unit is the priciest in the building, while the least expensive apartment, a one-bedroom unit, goes for $9,500 per month [more]

A New York State Supreme Court judge late last month ordered the
appointment of veteran corporate attorney Stuart Shorenstein to take
over as receiver of 34 Leonard, the troubled luxury co-op development
in Tribeca. Shorenstein, who recently joined the corporate law division at Cozen
O’Connor, was ordered Aug. 27 to collect rents and complete
construction of the property and named Cooper Square Realty as managing
agent at the building. The order also named E.W. Howell, as general
contractor of the project. “The goal is to complete the [construction of] the building,” Shorenstein told The Real Deal,
when asked about the fate of the project. “The second step is to
complete the foreclosure action. Once that is done, we’ll be in a
position to decide how to proceed.” [more]

Tribeca has transformed over the past five years, going from a commercial warehousing district to a hip neighborhood populated by celebrities. But the neighborhood’s boom has made its decline during the recession that much steeper. Several projects are stalled, including Five Franklin Place, now just a construction site surrounded by a fence. The developers at 34 Leonard, a building that appears to have finished construction, have been unable to sell out the building. The sales office at 56 Leonard has closed. Some developers say they have seen recent signs of improvements in sales, but others say developers who built projects during the boom misunderstood what types of buildings people wanted in the neighborhood. The Real Deal looked at the downturn’s impact on Tribeca in the August issue. [more]