Developer SDS Procida couldn’t have asked for better weather to show off the last three penthouses at the Richard Meier-designed On Prospect Park.

Brilliant sunshine and cooling breezes greeted visitors last night to the glass and steel tower at 1 Grand Army Plaza (though the wind did cause quite a few cocktail napkins to disappear). Brokers and potential buyers wandered through three newly unveiled penthouses — all pure white in typical Meier fashion — with floor-to-ceiling windows and private terraces. (See party pics above.)
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41 Bond Street (click to see more photos)

Another condominium development along Bond Street in Noho began marketing units last week, and like its neighbors, 41 Bond Street is demanding more than $2,000 per square foot, according to the New York Post (see newly released photos above). The 10-story, seven-unit building with a bluestone exterior was designed and developed by DDG Partners and has two-floor units at the base of the building and the top of the building, each with more than 1,500 square feet of outdoor space. Meanwhile the remaining five units range from 2,600 to 5,400 square feet. “We’re priced in the mid-$2,000s per square foot,” DDG CEO Joe McMillan told the Post. “And we’re raising prices right now.” Comments

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From the May issue: If there’s one thing that residential real estate experts agree on, it’s that there’s demand for new development condos in New York City. But that demand doesn’t mean that everything is hunky-dory in the new condo market again.
In this month’s Q & A, The Real Deal talked to new development brokers, heads of new development marketing companies and industry analysts about the strength of the new development market and the challenges that still exist.
They all said there are encouraging signs in the sector and exciting new projects — like the Stahl Organization’s Laureate on the Upper West Side and the Related Companies’ MiMa on 42nd Street — that could be bellwethers for the market.
But buying a new condo remains complicated for buyers. [more]

The Aldyn

From the March issue: The 40-story Aldyn is the latest in a wall of luxury towers, and the fourth by Extell Development, to sprout up on Riverside Boulevard in the West 60s.

This largely glass building, however, is a condo-rental hybrid — an option that, as The Real Deal has reported, has become increasing popular for developers since the economy soured because it helps them hedge against the uncertain sales market. The Related Companies has a hybrid project at 440 West 42nd Street, and J.D. Carlisle Development Corp. has the Beatrice/Eventi combination on 29th Street.

But the hybrid model is a first for Gary Barnett’s Extell, which has also built the Avery and the Rushmore, both condos, and the Ashley, a rental, on this patch of Riverside South, a site extending from 59th to 72nd streets. [more]

The exterior of 1 Rector Park, the lobby and the children’s playroom

The offering plan for 1 Rector Park, a new condominium at 333 Rector Place in Battery Park City, has been declared effective by the attorney general’s office, Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group announced today. Residents will soon be able to close on their new homes, on the corner of South End Avenue and Rector Place, and move in this spring. Since relaunching sales in September 2010, 1 Rector Park already has over 30 percent of the units under contract.The building features a recently completed lobby designed by Rick Livingston of Period LLC, with crystal chandeliers, mahogany textured walls and custom sofas. TRD [more]

From left: Lauren Muss, Carrie Chiang, Janet Wilkinson and Pam Liebman

Residential brokerage the Corcoran Group held its annual company awards ceremony this week, honoring some of its top-producing teams and agents. Lauren Muss was named the Individual Salesperson of the Year, while the Carrie Chiang Team was honored as the Top Team of the Year. Janet Wilkinson took home the Rookie of the Year prize. At Corcoran Sunshine, the top-selling onsite sales team was comprised of Graham Spearman, Aidan Sullivan, Melissa Ziweslin, Lynne Brown and Lena Nusimow, who work at Extell Development’s the Rushmore, at 80 Riverside Boulevard between 64th and 65th streets. TRD

Top: Protesters at the REBNY event; bottom, from left: Mary Ann Tighe, Douglas Durst and Rob Speyer

The Real Estate Board of New York’s annual banquet — the most high-profile event of the year for the industry — last night was marred by the shouts of protesters.

A group of about 30 people inside the New York Hilton, where the glitzy event was being held, chanted: “Hey you millionaires, pay your fair share!”

Before being escorted off the property by hotel staff, the protesters handed out fliers stating their opposition to the Committee to Save New York, a group of business leaders formed in support of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s campaign to oppose tax increases, reduce the size of government and reform Medicaid and pensions for public employees. Donors to the committee include a number of prominent real estate figures, including Tishman Speyer Properties and the Durst Organization. Tishman Speyer’s Rob Speyer is the co-chair of the committee’s board of directors, which also includes REBNY President Steven Spinola and REBNY Chairman Mary Ann Tighe. Tighe, Spinola, Rob Speyer and Douglas Durst all attended the banquet. [more]

As the market moves towards a recovery, brokers and developers are saying New York City will soon face a shortage of new development projects, which can drive home prices up, the New York Times reported. Last year, through November, the city issued permits for only 10 new residential buildings, for a total of 505 new units, 95 percent fewer apartments than for the same period in 2008, when permits were filed for 9,448 units in 147 buildings, according to census data. “We tend to go through these cycles where, when you finally come out of a recession, there’s a shortage of inventory,” said Gregory Heym, the chief economist for Halstead Property and Brown Harris Stevens. Comments

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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]

From the December issue: Kitchen counters that can barely fit a coffeemaker, doors that swing the wrong way and terrace railings that hide views. These are just a few of the notorious apartment layout mistakes that regularly work their way into blueprints for New York City apartments. But if there is an upside to this long-standing problem, it’s that the downturn is having a corrective effect on floor-plan blunders. Unlike in the heady days of the boom, today there is little room for these sorts of layout and design miscalculations, brokers say. “I think the pressure on the development community to provide marketable product is so high today that people are now being sensitive to every single issue in order to build the best possible product,” said Adrienne Albert, CEO of The Marketing Directors. [more]