Agent’s conviction shows how state, industry deal with criminal cases

Courtney Wall; the TREGNY office where he was arrested

From the August issue: Agent Courtney Wall was slated to meet a client to finalize a rental deal on the morning of Aug. 29, 2005, when his life changed forever. “There’s been a little bit of a problem,” Wall told the client over the phone when city detectives showed up to arrest him. “I’m going to have to send someone else.” Wall, now 34, had a few minutes to gather his things, and then he was off to jail. The charge: jumping bail on earlier felony burglary charges. He later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six years in prison. [more]

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From the March issue: In the past year, New York City renters have come to expect a bevy of incentives, like months of free rent, landlord-paid brokers’ fees, and even — in the case of boutique luxury rental 436 West 20th Street — a butler. Could these perks be disappearing? In recent weeks, brokers have reported that landlords are doing away with concessions, and even increasing rents. “As their vacancies begin to drop, landlords around Manhattan are beginning to test rent increases,” noted Daniel Baum, CEO of the Real Estate Group New York, in a January market report. “Some of the major players, and even a few small outfits, have begun to remove concessions and bump up prices … around $100 to $200 per unit.” [more]

As New York City residential renters reach the end of their leases, many are are getting their rents slashed. Rents dropped in the fourth quarter of 2009 over the same quarter in 2008. “A lot of tenants have been successfully renegotiating rents,” said Daniel Baum, CEO of TDG/TREGNY. Prudential Douglas Elliman’s rental market report, released today, says the average monthly rent of a Manhattan apartment in fourth-quarter 2009 was $3,789, 4.3 percent less than $3,958 in the same quarter of 2008. The best way to get the landlord to drop the rent is to hit him up at the end of the lease, Baum said. “Traditionally, an owner is not going to renegotiate a lease mid-term,” he noted. Another strategy to receive lower rents is to check out comparable prices in the building. Jordanna Dworkin, who rents a studio on the Upper East Side, found that an identical unit in her building was being rented for $400 less than she was paying. She immediately called her landlord and he agreed to lower her rent — saving her $4,800 a year.

Source: TDG/TREGNY

The 2010 rental market is expected to start off slow, though there is potential to see a return to stability, according to the 2009 year-end report from TDG/TREGNY, released today (see full report after the jump).

The Manhattan Rental Market report, which conflates the group’s monthly Manhattan rental market reports, shows that seasonal rental trends were less noticeable in 2009 than in other years, with the summer showing only a slight uptick in activity compared to the rest of the year. Crucial to the rental market’s future improvement, the report says, is how other segments of the Manhattan economy perform in the coming months.

“The most important factor for a market improvement is employment,” the report says. “As it steadily improves, we can expect the rental market to do the same.”

Overall, the 2009 rental prices show downward momentum from 2008. Rents on doorman studios declined the most year-over-year, with average rents last year clocking in at 8.12 percent lower than 2008. Doorman units saw significant declines in rent due to renters’ interest in finding bargain homes, according to the report. TRD  More

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Christakis Shiamili, principal broker with Ardor Realty

After having his defamation claim against TDG/TREGNY denied in the New York State Appellate Court, Christakis Shiamili, a principal broker with ArdorNY, told The Real Deal that he intends to appeal the decision. In a suit filed March 2008, Shiamili claimed that TDG/TREGNY — which, at the time, went by the name the Real Estate Group New York, or TREGNY — had financially-backed a now-defunct Web site ShittyHabitats.com. The site, Shiamili said, published defamatory comments about many of TDG/TREGNY’s competitors, including Manhattan Apartments, Citi Habitats (from which the site got its name, Shiamili said) and  Ardor, Shiamili’s firm, which was previously known as Ardor Realty. The lawsuit also names Ryan McCann, who currently works in TDG/TREGNY’s marketing group, and Daniel Baum, CEO of TDG/TREGNY, whose credit card number was allegedly used to register the domain name. McCann had operated the Web site, according to Robert Shapiro, Shiamili’s attorney. McCann was not available for comment by press time. “[The Web site] was created solely, we allege, to harm their competitors,” Shapiro said. Baum told The Real Deal that his firm did not financially-back the Web site. But, when asked whether his personal credit card had been used to register the site, Baum declined to comment. [more]

Source: TDG/TREGNY

Manhattan rents remained relatively flat month-over-month, according to
TDG/The Real Estate Group of NY’s December Manhattan residential rental
market report released today (see full report after the jump). Doorman units saw a 1.19 percent drop in price in December, according to the report, which covers Nov. 15 to Dec. 15, while non-doorman units actually saw a price increase of .87 percent.

Meanwhile, year-over-year, doorman apartments were hit the hardest, price-wise, the report says, while non-doorman units saw more moderate price declines. Apartment rental prices for doorman buildings dropped 5.79 percent compared to 2008 and non-doorman units declined just 1.74 percent.

The flat month-over-month activity bucks the downward seasonal trend typically seen in the winter rental market, the report says.

Even so, non-doorman units saw a 6.08 percent rise in vacancies from last month, something that could precipitate a price decline in that type of unit, said Andrew Barrocas, COO of TDG/TREGNY.  More

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Source: TDG/TREGNY

Month-over-month residential rental prices remained relatively flat in mid-December, according to the TDG/The Real Estate Group of NY monthly Manhattan rental market report released today (see full report after jump), while year-over-year figures continued to lag. Doorman units saw a 1.19 percent drop in price in December, according to the report, which covers Nov. 15 to Dec. 15, while non-doorman units actually saw a price increase of .87 percent. Meanwhile, year-over-year, doorman apartments were hit the hardest, price-wise, the report says, while non-doorman units saw more moderate price declines. Apartment rental prices for doorman buildings dropped 5.79 percent compared to 2008 and non-doorman units declined just 1.74 percent. The flat month-over-month activity bucks the downward seasonal trend typically seen in the winter rental market, the report says. [more]

While year-over-year rental prices have continued to lag, figures month-over-month have remained relatively stable, according to the November monthly Manhattan rental market report released today by TDG/The Real Estate Group of NY (see the full report after the jump).

Rents dropped just .03 percent this November, compared to the month before. This figure is cause for some optimism, according to the report, because a more dramatic seasonal decline is typically seen during the month.

Daniel Baum, CEO of TDG/TREGNY, said that November’s strong showing was unexpected.

“We were actually somewhat surprised to see that November [prices] were [so stable],” Baum said. He attributed the unseasonally strong numbers to a delay in spring Wall Street hirings. Many Manhattan employers have actually begun taking on new hires this fall, according to Baum, which has created an uptick in demand. [more]

From the November issue: The rental market in New York is not exactly known as a bastion of transparency: To fill the information void, several competing rental market reports have recently emerged and are going head-to-head. However, in a puzzle for the industry, the reports sometimes feature wildly divergent information. Ubiquitous appraisal firm Miller Samuel launched its first-ever rental report a few months ago; rental brokerage giant Citi Habitats, long a provider of rental statistics, released a new “peak season” rental report in September; and newly merged TDG/TREGNY is continuing to publish its frequently cited Manhattan monthly report, which it has been doing since 2007. But while it may seem that a sudden increase in rental information would help paint a clearer picture of New York’s long-mysterious rental market, there have been significant differences in some key numbers.

New hires with delayed start-dates are helping to temporarily support the rental market, but likely won’t be enough to prevent further price declines this winter, according to Daniel Baum, the CEO of TDG/The Real Estate Group New York, which released its October Manhattan rental market report today (see the full report after the jump). This spring, law firms and consulting companies began offering new hires incentives to push back their start dates. For example, in March, law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore asked first-year associates to postpone their start date with an option of beginning in October, November or January, according to the American Lawyer. These kinds of decisions had an impact on the rental market, Baum said, as those new hires postponed their apartment searches until the fall. That, combined with rising unemployment, led to a slower-than-normal summer rental season, Baum said. He said this group of renters is finally moving to the city and that their presence is helping to temporarily prop up the rental market. [more]