737 Park Avenue, which is being converted into luxury condos by Macklowe Properties
New York City developers made a madcap dash to secure property sites in 2012, and with prices continually inching upwards, had little option but to build luxury condos, thus leaving renters and those needing affordable housing out in the cold, the New York Times reported. [more]
Massey Knakal’s Jeffrey Shalom, Brian Hanson and Bob Knakal
A nine-building beachfront portfolio in South Brooklyn has hit the block for $124 million, the New York Observer reported. The properties span a three-mile strip passing through Brighton Beach, Sheepshead Bay and Gravesend. All in all, the portfolio accounts for some 580,000 square feet and contains 652 rent-stabilized units, which the owner wants to sell in one fell swoop. [more]
320 West 36th Street
Raber Enterprises has paid $33.5 million for three adjacent commercial lots in Midtown West, and is likely to develop a hotel on the site, The Real Deal has learned. The deal for 320 West 36th Street, an 8,145 square-foot lot, 321 West 35th Street, a 3,521 square-foot-lot, and 325 West 35th Street, a 1,760 square-foot lot, closed on Dec. 18. An executive from Raber who declined to be named said the site would be developed for commercial use…. [more]
The West 37th Street sites and Joseph Chetrit
The Chetrit Group has closed on its purchase of a Hudson Yards development site, despite an ongoing legal battle at the property between the site’s former owner and its lender, Fortress Credit.
Chetrit, the company behind the ongoing renovation of the Hotel Chelsea, paid $26.5 million for the four adjacent lots at 541–545 West 37th Street and 540-544 West 38th Street, according to public records filed today with the city. The site, which is zoned for dense commercial and limited residential uses, was marketed by Massey Knakal Realty Services. It has 172,813 square feet of “as-of-right” development potential, and up to 373,275 square feet of development potential through additional incentives. [more]
Debra LaChance of Corcoran and Robert Knakal of Massey Knakal
In the years since the market crash in 2008, a growing number of residential brokers have switched sides, and are now handling commercial deals, the New York Times reported. Although the market has improved since the crash, residential brokers are still seeking ways to enhance revenue flow. At the same time, many foreign purchasers, who do not see a difference between residential and commercial brokers, are giving them business.
“If [foreign buyers] want to do a commercial deal,” Robert Knakal, chairman and founding partner of Massey Knakal, told the Times, “they will often choose to go with the same broker who sold them their apartment.” [more]
From left: 24 East 39th Street (credit: PropertyShark) and Shlomo Bakhash
Just weeks after Kash Group President Shlomo Bakhash purchased the 30,000-square-foot former Williams Club, he has put it back on the market. Unnamed sources told the New York Observer that would-be buyers have demonstrated interest in prices well above the $9 million that Bakhash paid last month.
City records show that Bakhash bought the 24 East 39th Street building, which housed events and lodging spaces for alumni of Williams College in June for $9.02 million. According to the Observer, he had planned to use the property as a hotel for business types. [more]
Massey Knakal Chairman Bob KnakalWhile foreign investment in New York City residential real estate has captured the headlines, Massey Knakal Realty Services Chairman Robert Knakal appeared on CNBC’s “Street Signs” this afternoon to say foreign investment has also sought commercial properties (see video after the jump). He reported seeing twice as much foreign investment in real estate thus far in 2012 as he did during the same period last year…. [more]
300 East 64th Street and RFR Realty's Aby Rosen (credit: PropertyShark)
RFR Realty is selling a 16-year-old, 27-story apartment building in Lenox Hill, Crain’s reported. An unnamed source told Crain’s that the building, a rental property at 300 East 64th Street and Second Avenue, could yield $100 million from the sale, equaling $715 per square foot.
According to Robert Knakal, chairman of Massey Knakal Realty Services who is marketing the property, the company is selling the building to meet investors’ interest in residential properties. He told Crain’s that whoever buys the building could convert it into a condominium or continue to operate it as a rental building. Knakal declined to tell Crain’s how much the property would sell for. It is also currently not listed on Massey Knakal’s website. [more]
Two-year-old Benchmark Real Estate Services has listed a multi-family property at 156 Sullivan Street for $15.75 million, aiming to repeat the success of a profitable flip this fall.
Benchmark, which was formed in 2009 by Aaron Feldman and Jordan Vogel and owns 10 buildings with about 400 rental apartments in total, purchased 156 Sullivan Street, a 40-foot-wide walk-up with 22 fair-market and rent-regulated apartments, last year for $6.05 million. The fair market apartments have been fully gut renovated, according to the listing. Benchmark sold its first building, at 142 Sullivan Street, in October for $9.4 million. … [more]
Ellaina Dreifach, who was nabbed by Massey Knakal Realty Services from Eretz Realty earlier this year to run day-to-day operations for its new retail division, has left the firm after only nine months, she told The Real Deal today, citing an unfair commission split and uncomfortable working conditions at the New York City investment sales firm.
Benjamin Fox, executive vice president of retail leasing at Massey Knakal, brought Dreifach over to the firm in January in his effort to staff up what was then the firm’s new retail leasing division, which he heads.
Dreifach was promoted to first vice president of retail leasing from director of retail leasing at Massey Knakal in October, focusing on the Tribeca and the Financial District neighborhoods. … [more]
For NYC real estate updates provide email below
