Aside from some sushi and a few much-deserved drinks, it was almost exclusively business last night at the Young Jewish Professionals’ real estate summit, where eager young brokers and other real estate pros gathered to hear New York’s top property dogs talk about the reliably inconsistent market (see photos above).

Vantage Properties CEO Neil Rubler, Extell Development President Gary Barnett, Jamestown Properties President Matt Bronfman and Angelo Gordon & Co.’s Adam Schwartz sat on the panel, fielding questions from the evening’s moderator Bruce Cybul, a partner at the law firm of Schulte Roth & Zabel.

It all turned strangely philosophical at points, as the team of property moguls doled out advice to young pups in the audience trying to make it in the business. “When the going gets good,” Barnett exclaimed, “get going. When the going gets very good, get out!” Others, such as Rubler, pointed to the importance of surrounding oneself with the right kinds of people. – Katherine Clarke [more]

The city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission unanimously signed off today on a gut renovation of the Carlton House Hotel, according to an announcement from Extell Development, which is overseeing the project with partner Angelo Gordon & Company.

The partners picked up the property from the Helmsley estate last March for $170 million, closing it this past February in order to prepare for a conversion.

Originally built in 1951 as the Helmsley Carlton House, the building at 680 Madison Avenue currently contains 157 hotel and residential units, which were being vacated by the developers as their leases expired. Among the changes now planned: a two-story addition and two new infill buildings on the building’s north and south sides, an upgrade to its 32,000-square-foot retail space and a restoration of the exterior façade, Extell said today. – Sarabeth Sanders [more]

Susan Hewitt of the Cheshire Group, previous owner Mark Terk and 1327-1329 Lexington Avenue

A low-key residential property company based in Greenwich Village paid $105 million for a 99-unit apartment building in Carnegie Hill whose fate had been uncertain following the death of the heir to the property three years ago.

The Cheshire Group, which owns and operates market-rate and rent-regulated properties in the New York metro area, closed on Tuesday on the purchase of 1327-1329 Lexington Avenue, between 88th and 89th streets, in an all cash transaction, the firm’s president, Susan Hewitt, told The Real Deal.

The ownership of Rhinelander Properties was thrown into confusion with the death of the property’s heir Mark Terk at the age of 54 in May 2008.
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Jamestown Properties is buying out its partners in the Chelsea Market for more than $225 million and planning to add a 300,000-square-foot tower atop the retail and office hotspot, which takes up the block between 10th and 11th avenues and 15th and 16th streets. According to the Wall Street Journal, the deal, with Angelo, Gordon & Co., Belvedere Capital and original Chelsea Market developer Irwin Cohen, values the property at around $800 million. Cohen paid less than $10 million for the former run-down industrial building in the early 1990s. [more]

Deutsche Bank, UBS and JPMorgan Chase are preparing the year’s first bond sales tied to commercial property loans, sources told Bloomberg News. Deutsche Bank and UBS are partnering to issue as much as $2.5 billion in commercial mortgage-backed securities linked to loans on office buildings, shopping malls and hotels in what would be the largest offering of its kind since the market froze in June 2008. JPMorgan plans to sell $1.5 billion in similar debt. Comments

Mourners are attending a mass this morning for Keith Barket, the top global real estate executive at investment firm Angelo, Gordon, who died last week at age 49. Barket, a senior managing director at Angelo, Gordon and the head of the firm’s worldwide real estate activities, died of stomach cancer Dec. 22, according to the Wall Street Journal. Barket, along with colleague Adam Schwartz, was ranked 30 among New York real estate’s Power 100 by the Observer. TRD [more]

Kate Shin and 170 East 80th Street (building photo credit: PropertyShark)Financier-turned-developer Kate Shin is preparing to put her first project — a newly renovated one-family townhouse at 170 East 80th Street — on the market for upwards of $30 million. Formerly a director at the private equity firm Angelo, Gordon, Shin founded a New York-based real estate company known as WEmi:t LLC, which specializes in restoring and modernizing Manhattan townhouses and mansions, two years ago. Since its inception, the firm has been renovating 170 East 80th Street, Shin said, and the 13,000-square-foot townhouse is slated to hit the market in the new year with Brown Harris Stevens’ Paula Del Nunzio. Shin and partners purchased the house for $8.5 million in 2008, according to city documents. [more]

Gary Barnett and the Helmsley Carlton House at 680 Madison Avenue

Gary Barnett’s Extell Development partnered with investment firm
Angelo, Gordon to buy the Helmsley Carlton House at 680 Madison Avenue
for about $170 million from the Helmsley estate, the Wall Street
Journal first reported. Barnett and Midtown-based Angelo, Gordon are together in contract to buy the 160-unit hotel and apartment building at Madison Avenue between 61st and 62nd streets, which was being marketed by CB Richard Ellis vice chairman Darcy Stacom, three sources confirmed to The Real Deal.

According to one of the sources, the bids were due last Friday, and needed to include a signed contract and a $10 million deposit. A fourth source, speaking yesterday, said there were six bids made for the property. The retail portion of the building is considered a particularly valuable asset, insiders said. Angelo, Gordon, one of many investors partnering with local players to purchase distressed properties in New York, declined to comment on the sale. CBRE and Extell did not immediately respond to calls for comment. TRD [more]

With interest rates and prices at striking lows, eager investors have been coming at distressed U.S. commercial real estate properties from all sides. Government-controlled China Investment Corporation, for one, has hired Cohen & Steers, Angelo Gordon and Morgan Stanley to help identify opportunities, the Financial Times reported. Last week, the FDIC auctioned off a portfolio of commercial property loans from failed banks, which went to Colony Capital for $1 billion, or 44 cents on the dollar. The fact that foreign banks, private equity firms and investment funds are taking notice of U.S. commercial real estate opportunities is a positive sign for the troubled sector, often cited as “the next shoe to drop.” Still, some marketwatchers warn, there haven’t been nearly enough deals to rival the amount of commercial real estate debt that needs refinancing, and such “bottom-feeding” activity could be staunched if and when interest rates rise. [Financial Times]

From the October issue: New York City is at a peculiar crossroads. For months, investors have
marshaled unprecedented amounts of capital, salivating at the prospect
of snapping up distressed properties. “We’re fortunate this cycle to
have the most dry powder in our
history,” Blackstone Group president Tony James said last month at the
Barclays Capital Global Financial Services Conference, which was held
in Manhattan. The firm has about $28 billion in unspent capital, he
said. About $12 billion of that is earmarked for real estate. “We’re
just beginning what will be the best period in decades for private
investing,” he said. Dan Fasulo, a managing director at Real Capital
Analytics, estimated
that $50 billion has been raised and is ready to be deployed into
distressed real estate. Paradoxically, investors have found very little
worth buying so far, in large part because banks continue to hold
troubled loans on their books, hoping conditions will improve. [more]