From the May issue: In the depths of the recession, when it was easier to get a reservation at Per Se than to sell a multimillion-dollar apartment in New York City, stories abounded of real estate developers scrambling to cover their costs by leasing out unsold condo inventory. It wasn’t a perfect solution — it’s notoriously difficult to get buyer financing in a part-condo, part-rental building — and in most cases, the strategy was never intended to be permanent. Two years later, as many of those original leases expire and the market begins to reheat, some developers are once again ready to sell, reuniting these once-fractured condos. [more]

Sarah Burke and 490 Driggs Avenue

Prudential Douglas Elliman’s new website isn’t the only big cha [more]

Sarah Burke and 490 Driggs Avenue

Prudential Douglas Elliman’s new website isn’t the only big cha [more]

In what could be perceived as a sign of recovery, new condo developments in Brooklyn have been luring more retail tenants, filling many buildings’ vacant ground floor spaces, according to Crain’s. At the Edge, a 565-unit Williamsburg condo, CVS pharmacy and a wine shop have signed leases, the building’s first, where asking rent was around $55 per square foot. CVS will use 13,000 square feet in its 20-year lease, while the wine shop, whose lease term is not immediately clear, will take up about 1,800 square feet. [more]

The U.S. General Services Administration has signed a 10-year lease for 12,000 square feet in Downtown Brooklyn’s BellTel Lofts building at 365 Bridge Street, according to an announcement made today. The space will be used as a federally-sponsored child care facility, available to federal employees living or working in the area. The administration expects the facility, which will serve a maximum of 76 children, to open spring 2011. The facility may be available to BellTel residents and other neighborhood children, although the details of that arrangement haven’t yet been ironed out. BellTel Lofts, a 219-unit condo development, is currently being marketed by Prudential Douglas Elliman. There are 16 active listings available in the building, according to Streeteasy.com.TRD

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]

Condominiums in Brooklyn, including BellTel Lofts, One Hanson Place and Oro, still have empty retail spaces. Two of the buildings have lost out on national retailers — BellTel was in discussions with Starbucks, and One Hanson Place lost Borders as a tenant — and now retail brokers are focusing on attracting local tenants. According to Lawrence Lee, vice president with Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Bracha Group, which represents BellTel, said they are looking for a locally owned lounge, restaurant or small grocer. Paul Rich of TerraCRG, who is marketing Oro’s space, said people have approached the company to open a diner or restaurant in the space. And at One Hanson Place, the 15,000-square-foot ground-floor space is being rented for weddings and special events. According to Caroline Pardo, director of leasing at Two Trees Management, “There are definitely more mom-and-pops looking right now than big national tenants.” [Post] and [Post]

Ilan Bracha (left) and Marty Markowitz (right) were at BellTel’s landmark ceremony

While BellTel Lofts’ landmark status may be a draw for buyers,
sales have slowed in the building and its retail space remains empty,
the project’s exclusive broker Ilan Bracha, chairman of the Bracha
Group at Prudential Douglas Elliman, told The Real Deal today before
the building’s landmark designation event. Bracha said that because of the downturn his team isn’t close to signing a
tenant for the 39,000 square feet of retail space at the Downtown
Brooklyn building yet. Bracha added that he was in talks with Starbucks
to take part of the space, but the deal fell through. Owners of clubs and
lounges have also shown interest in the space, he said. The Art Deco building, built in 1929 and 1930 as the Long Island
headquarters of the New York Telephone Company, received its landmark
plaque today from the New York Landmarks Preservation Foundation. [more]