TreeTop Development’s 16 new Greenpoint luxury condominiums at the Locale are going up for auction, a move that the company hopes will speed sales and reduce the costs involved with a conventional marketing process. Units range from 600 to 1,000 square feet, and bids will start at $150,000, a steep discount from the original asking prices of between $445,000 to $599,000. The building’s first showing is this Sunday. The Nov. 11 auction, which will take place at the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge, will be the first of its kind for Brooklyn, but not for TreeTop, which is also working with real estate auction firm Sheldon Good & Company to auction off the first nine units at the Saffron in Jersey City on Nov. 8. [Crain’s]  [more]

From left: Marc Dreier’s home at 1 Beacon Place was auctioned at N.Y. Bankruptcy Court today

Until last week, Marc Dreier, the high-profile lawyer accused of
swindling hedge funds and individuals out of $400 million, was living
in a glassy Midtown apartment with views of the Queensboro Bridge. Now, Dreier’s headed to prison, after receiving a sentence of 20 years
on July 13, and somebody else is moving into his old digs. This afternoon, at the court-ordered auction of the property, a buyer
identified only as “bidder No. 288” walked away with the four-bedroom
condo for $8.2 million. [more]

Marc Dreier’s One Beacon Court unit to be auctioned

Disgraced lawyer
Marc Dreier’s apartment at One Beacon Court, between Lexington and Third avenues and 58th and 59th streets, is expected to be auctioned
off on July 21. Dreier pleaded guilty to charges that he defrauded hedge
funds of $700 million. Dreier’s 7,000-square-foot home, which he bought
for $10.4 million two years ago, will be auctioned by David R. Maltz
& Co. with no starting bid. The auction company sold Dreier’s two Southampton
properties last month. Potential bidders must come with a $500,000
certified check payable to the trustee of Dreier’s personal assets. The
check will never be collected or cashed, Maltz explained. “It is just
to guarantee that only serious bidders participate.” [more]

Thirty-six bidders virtually raised their hands this weekend at an online auction for two Hamptons properties, with very different results. One property saw a “spirited” bidding war, with a final sale price more than $100,000 over the opening bid, said Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Enzo Morabito, who ran the auction. The other property’s bidders failed to meet the auction’s reserve price. Auctions have become increasingly popular in New York real estate over the last several months. Auction providers claim that auctions get things moving in a stalled market. But others argue that auctions merely hurt local property values. Morabito is of the former school of thought. “This kind of stuff usually starts something,” he said. “Anything that spotlights anything is better than silence. Hope is not a good marketing plan.” [more]

Marc Dreier’s (center) two East Quogue homes

Two of disgraced attorney Marc Dreier’s three Hamptons homes will hit the auction block June 17. David R. Maltz & Co. will auction the homes at 109 and 111 Dune Road in East Hampton, which Dreier purchased in 2004 and 2005 for a total of $11.6 million. The 7,000-square-foot home at 111 Dune Road has eight bedrooms and eight bathrooms on 2.4 acres, according to the auction company’s Web site. The 109 Dune Road home is 3,000 square feet, with four bedrooms, five bathrooms and an easement that provides direct access to the beach, according to the Web site. Dreier was arrested for securities fraud in December. TRD [more]

From the June issue: While the auction gavel has made its way onto the real estate scene in
the New York area in recent weeks, not everyone is sold on the idea of
putting properties up for bid. Those who run auctions have, of course, very publicly touted them
as a way to get property moving in a market where transactions seem to
be stuck in quicksand. But the question remains: Do auctions really work for high-end
properties, or other properties that are not in distress? Or do they
simply set an artificial floor for prices and depress surrounding
property values? [more]