From the January issue: Just when it seemed like New York City had gotten past the string of brokerage closures that occurred early in the downturn, an abrupt shift in market conditions has led to a second round of shutdowns.But this time those closures are being offset with openings of new firms amid a general realignment of the city’s brokerage world.The most recent repositioning closely mirrors the new market landscape. In early 2009, the sales market was largely frozen, especially on the luxury end. In response, both large and small firms closed their offices. Several agencies shuttered entirely, including some with reputations for higher-end sales, like Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy and JC DeNiro. But as the market began its slow recovery, the closures stopped, and brokerages began renting new office space again. [more]

From the May issue: A year ago this month, New York’s real estate community experienced one of the darker moments of the recession when Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy — one of the city’s largest and most established firms — announced it would close. However, CBHK turned out to be the only major firm that disappeared. Business, meanwhile, has steadily improved for months. “New York has had a very good rebound,” said Pamela Liebman, CEO of the Corcoran Group. [more]

Century 21 Real Estate today announced that President and CEO Tom Kunz has resigned, and that industry veteran Rick Davidson will replace him, effective immediately.

In June of 2004, Kunz became CEO of Century 21, a subsidiary of the New Jersey-based Realogy.

Davidson was previously the COO of Coldwell Banker Real Estate — another Realogy brand — and president and COO of Coldwell Banker Commercial Affiliates.

“We thank Tom Kunz for his many years of service to the CENTURY 21 System, and we wish him well in the future,” said Alex Perriello, president of the Realogy Franchise Group, in a statement. “I am especially pleased that we were able to make this executive appointment from within Realogy, which speaks to the high level of managerial talent that exists across our organization.” [more]

From left: Peter Riguardi, Don Capoccia, Frederick Peters, Roger Erickson and Daun Paris

Although many end-of-the-year residential and commercial real estate sales reports have yet to arrive, a new year grants the license to look back and evaluate how predictions and prognostications made last year panned out over the past 12 months. Many of the experts The Real Deal talked to last year had a bleak outlook for 2009 — and rightly so. But others missed the mark, either with too-optimistic predictions for recovery or overreaching pessimism that — if it’s possible — actually overstated how devastating the market would ultimately prove to be in 2009. Here, The Real Deal looks back at some of the top claims and predictions made in the beginning of last year to see who hit the nail on the head and who missed the mark.  More

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Some of the most commented stories of the year include (from left): the Corcoran Group’s court appeal, the Marcus & Millichap sham sale lawsuit, the closure of Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy, and Kent Swig’s Square Mile woes

The most popular story of the year based on the number of comments it has received on The Real Deal Web site is Corcoran appeal of broker privacy ruling begins. The item is about the the beginning of oral arguments in the Corcoran Group’s appeal of a State Supreme Court ruling that found the firm took advantage of former broker Sarit Shmueli by accessing her client list after she was terminated from the agency. The article has generated 232 comments. The second most commented article is a follow-up story on the Corcoran-Shmueli case. The story, “Corcoran ruling upheld in appellate court,” addresses how the ruling against Corcoran was upheld, in what is considered a
landmark case that found agents — and not firms — to be in ownership
of their own client lists. The item received 197 comments. The third most popular story based on comment tally is a question The Real Deal posed to readers: “Who is the best real estate lawyer out there?” One hundred and sixty-one people submitted responses. See the full list of the most commented stories of the year, in order of popularity, here. [more]

When a broker switches firms, mailing out glossy announcement cards is the easy part. What’s not so simple is wresting listings away from the old firm to bring them to the new one. The armor-plated contracts that govern exclusive listings threaten sellers with punitive fees or lawsuits if they try to pick up and follow a relocating broker.

But the recent shuttering of several New York firms has shaken loose hundreds of listings, in a whirlwind that few have seen in years, brokers say.

“There have definitely been a lot of listings in play that otherwise wouldn’t be. It’s very unusual,” said Michael De Rosa, a senior vice president at Halstead Property who joined the firm in June after Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy closed. more

Across the street from the affordable housing complex Marcy Houses lies
a block of Flushing Avenue that has been particularly hard-hit by
recent construction stops. The block, which is predominately populated
by Hasidic Jews, is located on the north side of Flushing Avenue,
between Lee and Marcy avenues. The partially built block is situated on
the border between Bedford-Stuyvesant and South Williamsburg. At 587-589 and 591 Flushing Avenue sit two vacant seven-story condos,
with a total of 30 units. The buildings are on the market as a package
with an asking price of $15.75 million, according to real estate Web
site Zillow.com. They do not have a certificate of occupancy, a
Department of Buildings spokesperson said, meaning more work needs to
be done before the building is ready for occupants. A few doors down at 565 Flushing Avenue is an abandoned eight-story,
13-unit condo designed by Bricolage Design, which was in progress until
receiving a stop-work order in November 2008. (Photos by Alex Hansen, www.alexhansenphotography.com)  More
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Stan Ponte, a former manager at now-defunct Coldwell Banker Hunt
Kennedy, has joined Sotheby’s International Realty as a senior vice
president. “I’m back, and I’m selling,” said Ponte, who worked at Stribling & Associates for 10 years before becoming president of the Manhattan division of the luxury marketing division Coldwell Banker Previews International. Former Coldwell sales agent Robin Reardon has joined him at Sotheby’s, as well as an assistant, Christina Jurado. [more]

From the July issue: The shuttering of several New York real estate brokerages, including
Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy and JC DeNiro & Associates, has set in
motion a game of musical chairs among brokers. While some agents are
still scrambling for their next jobs, many seem to have quickly landed
seats — even if the transition has been a bit hectic. “It’s a
very discombobulating time,” said Armanda Squadrilli, who is now a
senior vice president at Prudential Douglas Elliman after an
eight-month stint at Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy, which shuttered in
May. For two years prior to that she worked at JC DeNiro, which closed
in April.

Century 21 hopes Ashanti’s singing can entice people into buying a home

Aiming to generate more brand recognition in New York City, Century 21
Real Estate will host a performance by “The Wiz” star Ashanti in Grand
Central Terminal Monday during the morning rush hour. The Grammy-winning R&B singer, who plays Dorothy in the Encores! Summer Stars
production of “The Wiz” at City Center, will sing the appropriately
themed song “Home” from the show, in Vanderbilt Hall at 11 a.m. Century 21 Real Estate President and CEO Tom Kunz will then
present a check for $221,000, to be used toward the purchase of a new
home, to the winner of Century 21′s recent “Path To Your Dreams”
sweepstakes. Century 21 Real Estate, a subsidiary of Realogy Corporation, is the
franchisor of independently owned New York City sales and rental firm
Century 21 NY Metro. [more]