From left: Rushmore, Aldyn and New York by Gehry (credit: Gehry Partners, LLP)

Wall Street professionals are accounting for less business in the residential sales and rental markets, as banks slash pay and jobs, and brokerages have begun shifting their focus towards home hunters in the technology, media and entertainment industries.

Citing data from Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group, Crain’s reported that just 24 percent of the brokerage’s new luxury condominium buyers in 2011 worked in finance, compared to 35 percent in 2006 and 2007. [more]

Corcoran Sunshine Director of Sales Dan Tubb and new renderings of One57

About 30 percent of the apartments at One57 are under contract, according to Gary Barnett, founder of Extell Development Company, the developer behind the 95-unit luxury condominium tower.

Barnett, who would not discuss which units are finding buyers or what kinds of prices they are paying, was at the One57 off-site sales office today for a press-only panel discussion on the architecture and design of the 90-story tower at 157 West 57th Street. [more]

From left: the exterior of 41 Bond Street, a model apartment and Fred Gehring, CEO of Tommy Hilfiger

By Lauren Elkies and Adam Fusfeld
Fred Gehring, CEO at Tommy Hilfiger, has closed on the purchase of a 2,592-square-foot condominium unit at 41 Bond Street.
Gehring bought unit 7 from the developer, DDG Partners, for $7.07 million, in a deal that closed Dec. 13, according to public records filed with the city yesterday.
The floor-through three-bedroom, 3.5-bath home with private outdoor space and custom-designed fireplace is one of seven in the nine-story Noho building. [more]

Clockwise from top left: The Aldyn at 60 Riverside Boulevard, Beth Fisher, managing director at Corcoran Sunshine, and a living room in the buildingThe condominium portion of the Aldyn, Extell Development’s first foray into condo-rental hybrids, is now 50 percent sold, according to the project’s exclusive marketers, Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group.

The building is one of four developed by Gary Barnett’s Extell Development on Riverside Boulevard between 59th and 72nd streets.

The 40-story Aldyn, at 60 Riverside Boulevard near 64th Street, has 136 rental units on the bottom 10 floors and 150 condos on the remaining floors. Sales began in January with prices ranging from $765,000 for a 691-square-foot one-bedroom unit to $16.9 million for a 5,487-square-foot, seven-bedroom unit, Streeteasy.com shows. – Adam Fusfeld [more]

The Dillon, a 83-unit condominium at 425 West 53rd Street between Ninth and 10th avenues, rolled out two red carpets for brokers last night to debut its townhouse units and showcase its penthouses (see photos above).


Developed by SDS Procida and marketed by Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group, the Dillon is 60 percent sold, including one of the nine townhouses, according to a spokesperson for the project. The available units range from a 565-square-foot studio priced at $595,000, to a four-bedroom townhouse spanning 2,750 feet and priced at $4.15 million. The six-story building hit the market in May 2010.

Nina Freudenberger, founder of the interior design firm Haus Interior, made an appearance to show off the interiors she designed, followed closely by cameras from the HGTV reality television series, “Real Designing Women,” on which she will star. Comments

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Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and the Apthorp

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has shut down the sales office at the Apthorp, fined the developers $190,000 and ordered rescission for all contracted buyers following an investigation into misleading statements made to the AG months before they filed suit to block Anglo Irish Bank from selling their $385 million mortgage loan.
The Apthorp developers, led by Africa Israel USA and Broadwall Management, filed suit against the troubled bank Sept. 12, alleging the sale of the $385 million Apthorp loan would “adversely impact sales” and potentially “threaten the conversion project itself.”
[more]

From left: One57 and Extell Development President Gary Barnett, the Touraine and Toll Brothers CEO Bob Toll and MiMA and Related Companies CEO Stephen Ross

There’s a scarcity of new development in Manhattan, and developers are licking their chops. According to Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group data cited by the New York Times, by the end of 2011 just 1,111 new units will open in Manhattan south of Harlem. That’s down from 1,767 last year, ad 8,552 in 2007.

That’s good news for developers — such as Extell Development, Related Companies and the Toll Brothers who are delivering One57, MiMA and the Touraine, respectively, to the market — who recognize the scarcity of supply and are raising prices and foregoing concessions. In fact, some developers are even refusing to negotiate with buyers on price. [more]

1212 Fifth AvenueFrom the September issue: When the stock market is plummeting and panicked investors are pouring money into gold, it would seem a less-than-prudent moment to predict the next cycle of new residential development in New York City. But despite the economic turmoil, some New York City developers and their consultants are holding fast to the theory that the increasing demand for living space in the city means that it’s a good time to bet on new residential buildings.

“We’re starting to see purchasers willing to pay, if not above-peak prices, pretty close to peak — where they were in the second quarter of 2008,” said Kelly Kennedy Mack, president of Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group. Developers “are optimistic about future market conditions. … They have a real appetite to jump back in after sitting on the sidelines” during the downturn. [more]

Gary Malin, president of Citi Habitats (seated), and Cliff Finn, managing director of new development marketing, at rental tower New York by Gehry

From the August issue: In the past, top-of-the-line, modern finishes just weren’t available in most New York City rentals. Not so in 2011. The economic conditions of the past few years have ushered in an era of new luxury rental buildings, catering to would-have-been condo buyers looking for high ceilings, European-designed appliances, and plush amenity packages that have traditionally only been available in apartments for sale.
For the major players in new development marketing, this shift toward rentals has been shaking up the field. Firms that have always excelled in leasing are now benefiting from an influx of new inventory that fits their niche, while some sales-focused companies are expanding their repertoire to include rentals.
This month, The Real Deal surveyed the city’s new development marketing firms to find out how they’ve adjusted to the changed landscape. [more]

In November 2010, Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group took over marketing for the troubled Apthorp building at 79th Street and Broadway, after Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Dolly Lenz resigned. The sales team, said Beth Fisher, senior managing director of Corcoran Sunshine, has closed on one unit, and an additional six are in contract, for a total of $30 million, and an average sale price of $2,000 per square foot, according to the Times. Condos on the market range from $2.65 million for a one-bedroom to $16.07 million for a 10-bedroom.

Elliman had already sold 35 condo units out of 165, many of them at discounts as steep as 30 percent off original asking prices. [more]