The last two units at the Brodsky Organization’s Chelsea Enclave cond-op have gone into contract, wrapping up a three-year sales effort that began on the same September 2008 morning that Lehman Brothers Holdings collapsed, the Wall Street Journal reported. According to Corcoran Sunshine Marketing’s James Lansill, who was heading up sales there, the building is the first large Manhattan project to sell out after coming online in the post-Lehman Brothers real estate market, and did so by cutting prices early and across-the-board. [more]

From the December issue: The New York City residential real estate market has come a long way
from the dark days of late 2008 and early 2009. But despite the moderate
improvements in the market, succeeding in the current climate remains
far from easy. Many brokers and developers left the industry when the
economy soured, and those that remain have no choice but to be on their
“A” game.
This month, The Real Deal is recognizing people and projects
in the industry who managed to have stellar years despite the difficult
economic conditions. To compile this list, we conducted an online
survey, receiving more than 300 responses. We also got input from
industry experts, gathered data from real estate listings aggregator
StreetEasy, and relied on our judgment as 24/7 industry observers. [more]

Devonshire House and Daniel Brodsky

Last week, the Observer reported that the ground floor retail space at
Greenwich Village’s Devonshire House had been sold to a “very wealthy
family” from New York for $10.35 million. Today, the deed hit public
records, revealing the buyer as the Brodsky Organization, the prolific
New York developer, builder and property management firm headed by
Daniel Brodsky. Brodsky, whose recent projects include Chelsea Enclave
and an under-construction Hunter College social work facility in East
Harlem, will be getting a fully-leased 8,426-square-foot space below
the pre-war condominium conversion at 28 East 10th Street.
Tenants include a floral shop, cleaners and bagel store.
Representatives from Eastern Consolidated, which represented sellers
the Cheshire Group and Sterling Equities in the deal, told the
Observer last week that the purchase was for “pure investment”
purposes. TRD

[more]

Kelly Mack, 36, is president of Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group.
Specializing in the planning, design, marketing, and sales of luxury
residential developments, the company has generated over $9 billion in
sales since she became president in 2006. Mack earned her MBA at New
York University before joining Corcoran Sunshine, where she became
executive vice president in 2004. Last year, Mack was named the
first-ever Distinguished Young Alumna by New York University.

Which amenities are popular in new buildings today, and how has that
changed over the past year?
Amenities still create value — that
hasn’t changed. The strength of sales at a building like the Rushmore,
one of the most amenitized buildings in Manhattan, demonstrates that new
development buyers still want the complete package. That being said,
are there other developers who are scaling back on amenities during
predevelopment? Some are. 

Compiled by Candace Taylor. [more]

From left: Corcoran Sunshine’s Kelly Kennedy Mack, Lynne Brown, Melissa Ziweslin, Graham Spearman and the Rushmore

Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group today announced the winners of its annual awards, with $1.6 billion in closed residential development sales in 2009. “In one of the toughest years in real estate history, $1.6 billion is a significant number,” Corcoran Sunshine President Kelly Kennedy Mack told The Real Deal. The award for sales team of the year was presented to Rushmore sales agents Lynne Brown, Jill Preschel, Graham Spearman, and Melissa Ziweslin, who closed over 100 unit sales at the project in 2009 and signed some $50 million in contracts during the fourth quarter alone. More inventory was sold and closed at Extell Development’s Rushmore condominium in 2009 than at any other development in the Corcoran Sunshine portfolio, Mack said, adding that the team demonstrated “a Herculean effort.” [more]