Real estate investment firm Cape Advisors and the Deutsche Bank Commercial Real Estate Group announced the closing of a $60 million investment to fully fund the development and rehabilitation of their long-stalled condo project in Sag Harbor, N.Y., today.

The developers of the planned $100 million, 65-unit luxury apartment building at the old Bulova Watchcase Factory at Church and Division streets, will now be able to move ahead.

“We are extremely pleased that in these difficult economic times we were able to partner with Deutsche Bank in moving forward with this exciting project,” said Craig Wood, co-managing partner of Cape Advisors. “This fall, over 30 years after the Bulova Watchcase Factory closed, we will begin construction to restore this historic building and fully integrate it into the fabric of the Sag Harbor community.” – Katherine Clarke [more]

Cape Advisors could be able to secure funding for its condominium project at the Bulova Watchcase Factory in Sag Harbor within the next two weeks, the Sag Harbor Express reported.

In addition, the Sag Harbor Village Planning Board has allowed changes to the 2008 plan for the project that was already approved.

The changes include an amendment Cape Advisors’ payment schedule of over $2.5 million to the Sag Harbor Community Housing Trust for the provision of on-site affordable housing. Craig Wood, founder of Cape Advisors, had requested that his firm be able to make payments to the trust in equal increments following the closing sale of each of the 65 units within the condo project. [more]

A Sag Harbor luxury condominium project approved after two years of deliberation in 2008, but then subject to lawsuits over the approval and the global recession, is showing signs of life, the Sag Harbor Express reported.

Cape Advisors, the developers of a planned $100 million, 65-unit luxury apartment building at the old Bulova Watchcase Factory at Church and Division streets, along with seven adjacent townhouses that contain 16 units total, a pool, a recreation center and underground parking, met with the Sag Harbor Village Planning Board this week to push the project forward.
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Susan Bloomberg and the penthouse at One Kenmare Square

The Mayor’s ex must really believe in the recovery of luxury real estate prices in New York City.
After a one-and-a-half-year hiatus, Susan Bloomberg’s One Kenmare Square penthouse has returned to the market with a new broker and a $1.5 million price bump.

The former wife of Mayor Mike Bloomberg, whose primary residence is a 26-acre horse farm in North Salem, N.Y., is now asking $13 million for her 4,472-square-foot spread, which comprises the entire top floor of the 210 Lafayette Street condominium and has some 4,031 square feet of outdoor space. The “double penthouse,” as the listing by Halstead Property broker Arlene Weidberg describes it, is actually two units for which Bloomberg paid roughly $10.3 million in 2006. Together, they have five bedrooms, a private rooftop, and two of pretty much everything else: kitchens, terraces, fireplaces and powder rooms.  [more]

One Kenmare Square and Andre Balazs

The 11,400-square-foot duplex retail condominium at One Kenmare Square has hit the market for $17.25 million, according to the Observer. The ground and lower floors of the glassy Soho building, developed by Andre Balazs and Cape Advisors at 211 Lafayette Street, are currently home to furniture retailer Mitchell Gold, and will be through March 2017, when its lease expires. The developers have tapped the Eastern Consolidated team of Ronald Solarz, Eric Anton and Eric Weinberg to market the space, which contains 7,400 square feet on the ground floor and 4,000 in the basement, connected by a stairwell and elevator. [NYO] [more]

From left: Jennifer Post, 100 11th Avenue and Jean NouvelThe designer hired to redo Jean Nouvel’s lobby at 100 11th Avenue is now claiming that developer Cape Advisors stiffed her. Architect Jennifer Post, who has done interiors for the likes of Simon Cowell and Jennifer Lopez, was brought on at the posh Chelsea condominium after residents complained that the original sparse, black design was too dreary and brokers at the building blamed it for sluggish sales. Post jazzed up the place with large onyx sculptures and new carpeting, but told Page Six today that Cape still owes her $10,000 for her work. [more]

Jenene Danenberg, Luxury Attache co-founder, and 100 11th Avenue, where closings began last week

In a residential market where most new developers are trying to cut costs, Jenene Danenberg is convinced she can still make them spring for an upgrade. And she has — most recently at 100 11th Avenue and 141 Fifth Avenue, both of which started move-ins last week. Cape Advisors brought in Luxury Attache during the development of its 72-unit Jean Nouvel project at 100 11th Avenue near 19th Street. David Comfort, a senior executive with Cape Advisors, said that the service was helpful in moving sales. “At the time we [began sales in February 2007], West Chelsea was not a [very] residential area, some of the niceties were not particularly known,” Comfort said. Luxury Attache helped educate buyers on attractions in West Chelsea, Comfort said, and even helped arrange travel plans for prospective residents. Luxury Attache, a four-year-old full-concierge service that developers and condo boards have on board to assist residents with everything from party planning to nabbing theater tickets, currently has a full-time station or at least dedicated services in place at 16 other Manhattan buildings. Those include Soho Mews, the Greenwich Club Residences, the Prudential Center, and Andre Balazs’ William Beaver House. Other clients include the National Hockey League, with whom they recently signed, and financial bigwigs like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. [more]

Panoramic View (top left), Bulova Watchcase Factory (top right) and Prime 103 (bottom) are at the center of legal controversies

This summer, a court is set to decide whether a group of brokers in the
Hamptons is functioning like a monopoly. By charging too-high fees for
their shared online system, known as OREX, the brokers are illegally hoarding key property data, a lawsuit alleges. But while the sweeping legal action is keeping lawyers busy, it’s not
their sole source of work, as the upscale second-home destination on
Long Island’s East End suffers from the housing downturn like the rest
of the country. For one, the region has been hit with a rash of short sales, brokers
say, as homes teeter on the brink of foreclosure. The Springs section
of East Hampton has been particularly hard hit, with 12 short sales in
the last few months, said Veronica Montemarano, a sales agent with
Prudential Douglas Elliman in Montauk. [more]