More than half of Williamsburg’s 58 Metropolitan condominium is now in contract, and the building has been approved for Fannie Mae and FHA financing, developer Steiner NYC announced today. The 50-unit project first kicked off its marketing efforts in 2008, and was cleared for move-ins in March. According to Streeteasy.com, four units have closed thus far, with sale prices between $399,000 and $1.327 million. The condo features studios through three-bedroom apartments, ranging in size from 481 to 1,693 square feet, and amenities including an indoor pool, fitness center and media lounge that it shares with its neighboring sister building, 80 Metropolitan. – Sarabeth Sanders [more]

From left: “Royal Pains” actress Anastasia Griffith, 80 Metropolitan and Fifth on the Park

Three buyers, led by “Royal Pains” actress Anastasia Griffith, won the right to get their deposits back at 80 Metropolitan Avenue in Williamsburg.

U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Peck ruled that developer Doug Steiner’s Steiner Studios failed to register the 123-unit condominium, and was not exempt from the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act despite selling less than 100 apartments at the property.

“When plaintiffs… signed their purchase agreements, the condominium was publicly announced as consisting of 123 units,” Peck wrote. “Therefore the condominium was not exempt from ILSA registration and disclosure provisions under the 100-lot exemption unless 24 units were exempt at that time.” [more]

From left: Christine Blackburn of Prudential Douglas Elliman, the Edge, Highlyann Krasnow of the Developers Group, Northside Piers

For all the flack it gets, Williamsburg is still a hot place to live — at the right price. But even developers and brokers, perennial optimists even during real estate’s darkest hours, seemed a bit surprised by a recent spike in activity at some new buildings.
Northside Piers, the 450-unit waterfront project that has consistently been a top seller citywide since broadcasting aggressive price cuts early last year, just logged its best month since opening during the boom year of 2007, said Scott Avram, senior project manager for Northside Piers developer Toll Brothers City Living.
Forty contracts were signed in the past four weeks. Avram wondered “if everyone was having the same experience.”
So, The Real Deal made some calls around the neighborhood. While nobody quite scored 40 buyers in one month, it does seem like sales and leasing activity has been strong at projects with some combination of the following three winning characteristics: “location, price and the finishes,” as broker Christine Blackburn of Prudential Douglas Elliman put it. [more]

80 Metropolitan

New Williamsburg condominium 80 Metropolitan has been approved for Federal Housing Administration financing, according to a press release sent on behalf of the developer, Steiner NYC, which will allow buyers to make down payments as small as 3.5 percent. Meanwhile, the New York City Board of Standards and Appeals approved zoning exemptions that will allow New York University to build its proposed spiritual center at the intersection of Washington Square South, West 3rd Street and Thompson Street. And Metropolitan Realty Associates and its equity partner Angelo Gordon & Co. have received $23.5 million in financing for its 188,500-square-foot mixed-use Garden City development, according to a press release sent today by Metropolitan. Click here for more. TRD [more]

Rolan Shnayder of Home Owners Mortgage, which has been lending in a number of new condo buildings that are less than half sold

From the October issue: New condos — the black sheep of the real estate industry for much of 2009 — are finally beginning to move again as construction progresses and developers find ways to circumvent stiff presale requirements for mortgages. For example, the Tempo condominium in Gramercy, which sat virtually buyerless for months after it went on sale in September 2008, sold 10 units this summer. In Lower Manhattan, District on Fulton Street sold 10 units in August alone. The Fairchild at 55 Vestry Street in Tribeca, which had sold only one unit in April and none in February or March, put five units in contract in August and even saw a bidding war, the developer said. “Deals are getting done at new developments,” said Stephen McArdle, the principal of brokerage Urban Marketing, which is handling sales at District. “We’re seeing activity. Six months ago you weren’t seeing anything. The fact that the bottleneck is open is very encouraging.”