Steven Durels, an executive vice president with SL Green Realty, said that the number of larger deals (those between 100,000 square feet and 200,000 square feet) that his firm has seen in 2010 “dwarfs last year.” Still, Durels noted that [more]
The Real Estate Board of New York’s 114th Annual Banquet was the usual whirl of floor-length dresses, schmoozing and cameos by politicians like Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Governor David Paterson (see slide show above of The Real Deal’s Lauren Elkies interviewing people at the REBNY event, and click here for a Webcast from the night). But for the first time, a woman presided over the event — new REBNY Chairman Mary Ann Tighe, CEO of the tri-state region of CB Richard Ellis, swathed in a sparkling blue gown. Her presence at the microphone, however, didn’t do much to quiet the boisterous crowd, which was just as loud as usual despite the fact that there were slightly fewer attendees this year than last — 2,000 versus 2,300 last year — according to REBNY President Steven Spinola. The crowd’s smaller size didn’t do much to dampen the markedly higher spirits that set this year’s event apart from last year’s. “Last year, this was like a funeral,” said Jeffrey Levine, principal of Douglaston Development, who attended the banquet with his son Benjamin. “We were licking our wounds from the collapse of Lehman. There’s no question everyone tonight is in a much better frame of mind.” [more]
Developers such as Lloyd Goldman, the Chetrit family and commercial broker Robert Knakal have recently opened their wallets as the citywide race for comptroller heats up, according to the most recent campaign finance documents filed last week. Brooklyn City Council member David Yassky took in the largest amount of contributions from real estate interests among the four major candidates for city comptroller, an analysis of the most recent reports from the city’s Campaign Finance Board, covering July 12 to August 10, by The Real Deal shows. But Yassky remains far behind Queens Council members Melinda Katz and John Liu in overall contributions, and is about tied with David Weprin, another Queens Council member. [more]
