Washington Square President Paul Travis and a City Point rendering

Century 21 has agreed to open a store at the Fulton Mall in Downtown Brooklyn, the Wall Street Journal reported, expediting the groundbreaking of the long-awaited City Point development. The discount retailer is the first new traditional department store to open in Downtown Brooklyn since the 1970s and will serve as the anchor tenant for City Point, a planned development of 675,000 square feet of retail and commercial space and 690 housing units at Dekalb and Flatbush avenues. [more]

Top three retail leases in 2011

Two of the three largest retail leases in New York City last year were in the Bronx — Macy’s new space for 160,000 square feet at the Mall at Bay Plaza, in the Pelham Gardens area, and a 74,000-square-foot transaction for Burlington Coat Factory at River Avenue and Exterior Street, according to figures from The Real Deal‘s 2012 Data Book. Meanwhile, the largest Manhattan leases were for upscale retailer Century 21, at 22 Cortland Street in Lower Manhattan, and FAO Schwarz’s 767 Fifth Avenue store, at 59th Street. See the complete chart after the jump. Click here, or on the link at the bottom of the site, to purchase a copy of the 2012 Data Book. [more]

A publicly-traded real estate investment trust, one-third owned by Vornado Realty Trust, has completed a $275 million refinancing of Rego Park II, a 600,000-square-foot retail complex in Central Queens, GlobeSt.com reported.

The seven-year loan will repay the existing loan on the property, which, as of Dec. 31, 2010, had a balance of $277 million for the $410 million retail development, GlobeSt.com said.

Tenants at the complex include Costco, Century 21 and Kohl’s. [GlobeSt]

David Stevens, chief executive of the Mortgage Bankers Association, and Richard Smith, CEO of Realogy

Housing market experts remain divided over the Obama administration’s proposal yesterday to sell government-owned foreclosed properties and convert them to rentals. The administration’s suggestion would involve teaming up with private-sector partners, who may be willing to purchase pools of similar properties for conversion, in order to clear the foreclosure backlog and meet increasing demand for rental units. Yesterday’s request for information by the government, was primarily aimed at potential investors, the Journal said.
Solutions that rely on investors to clear the overhang of foreclosures have “extraordinary value,” said David Stevens, chief executive of the Mortgage Bankers Association, who previously served as the commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration.  [more]

Rendering of the September 11th Memorial plaza

The city has been preparing for years for the opening of the National September 11th Memorial and Museum on this year’s 10th anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks. But according to the Post, planners of the $508 million project overlooked one minor detail: there won’t be a single toilet on the eight-acre plaza to accommodate the millions of visitors expected. The memorial, which will display the names of the 2,982 victims of the terrorist attacks around two large reflecting pools, will eventually sit above a seven-story, below-grade museum, slated to open in the fall of 2012. The museum will of course have bathrooms, but the city said it has no plans to bring porta-potties to the site prior to its debut. Discount department store Century 21, which houses the closest bathrooms to the site, is already on alert for a deluge of visitors. [more]

Plaza Hotel landlord Elad Properties has filed a $33.3 million lawsuit against the owners of its famed Oak Room and Bar, decrying its recent lack of class. According to the Post, owners Jeffrey and Eli Gindi have allowed the reputation of the legendary eatery to falter, hosting regular Burlesque shows and encouraging “raucous and/or vulgar” behavior, loud music, and illegal drug use, in addition to failing a city health inspection and garnering less-than-stellar restaurant reviews, the suit alleges. [more]

The owners of the trendy, 128-room Bryant Park Hotel are struggling to keep up with payments on their $89 million mortgage, according to the Wall Street Journal. Data from Realpoint LLC shows that the owners — investor Philip Pilevsky, Century 21 discount retail stores owner Raymond Gindi and Rainbow Shops owner Joseph Chehebar — were late on their March payment as a result of insufficient cash flow. They have since made the payment, and the loan is now current, but industry experts say the 40 West 40th Street hotel, converted from an office building in 2001, hasn’t been as successful as its creators originally anticipated. [more]

The Lincoln Square Barnes & Noble, at 1972 Broadway at 66th Street, will officially close Sunday, My Upper West reported. The 60,000-square-foot store is clearing out its inventory this week, with some items on sale for 50 percent off and more. Once the bookstore closes, discount clothing store Century 21 is rumored to be taking its place. [My Upper West]

From left: Andrew Cuomo, Cory Zelnick, Jeff Winick and the Dexter House

The Real Deal has already revealed its picks for the Best of New York City Real Estate
2010 and a list of our top 10 hottest real estate topics of the year is on the way, but first, here’s what you thought. After the jump, there is a list of the 10 most popular Web stories
from TheRealDeal.com in 2010, ranked by number of page views between Jan. 1 and Dec. 26. Also be sure to check out our December issue for the year’s most popular stories
from the print magazine. [more]

From left: Marc Lewis, Marc Windheuser and Jorden Tepper

Former Prudential Douglas Elliman associate broker Marc Windheuser has been tapped to manage sales at Century 21 NY Metro, the firm anno [more]