From the September issue: In terms of longevity, it’s hard to match the real estate dynasties of the Dursts, Rudins and Roses. But the Pickets, who have steered the Gotham Organization for four generations, come close. They’ve been building towers in New York since 1913, when Nathan, a Russian immigrant, began putting up Midtown high-rises after a stint with an Orchard Street fruit business. Today it falls to Joel Picket, 73, Nathan’s grandson, and his son, David, 49, to expand the company. In June, the firm sold its wildly successful, 196-unit Upper West Side luxury rental the Corner for $209 million to the retirement fund TIAA-CREF. Now, as CEO of Gotham Developers, a full-service development arm of the parent company, David is set to break ground on a full-block project on 10th Avenue with 1,250 apartments. Click here to visit Picket at his desk. [more]

Developers create layouts that can get bigger or smaller,
depending on what kind of buyer comes knocking

The Corner and developer David Picket

From the August issue: New York City developers are relieved that the market has picked up, but many have been caught off guard by the sudden change in buyers’ preferences.

To adapt, New York developers are speedily altering unit sizes and floor plans in upcoming projects and those already on the market — sometimes even before construction is finished.

Lower-end apartments are getting smaller to accommodate value-seeking buyers, and make it easier for them to get mortgages. At the other end of the spectrum, developers are combining more condo units to create larger apartments — sometimes at the request of specific buyers, other times in a preemptive attempt to target families or others looking for more space.

“Developers are doing everything they can to accommodate any potential buyer, so if it takes combining a unit, you combine a unit,” said Gerard Longo, the developer of new Tribeca condos Pearline Soap Factory and the Fairchild.

[more]

David Picket, CEO of Gotham Developers, the company responsible for the up-and-coming Upper West Side rental building the Corner at 200 West 72nd Street, sat down with the New York Times to talk about his latest ventures and what it’s like being in a fourth-generation family business. Although Picket said that his father “never, ever forced” the business on him, he contend that it was always an option. After nearly entering the litigation field, Picket said he realized that the family business was his true calling. “My dad, at the time, needed somebody, and we sat down over a few lunches and basically worked out a deal,” Picket said. “I had a contract and a salary and a title.”

David Picket, president of the Gotham Organization, inside 200 West, his firm’s new rental on West 72nd Street.

From the December issue: West 72nd Street and Broadway epitomizes old New York. Brick-and-terra-cotta icons like the famed Dorilton mix with the bright lights of Gray’s Papaya. But there’s a newcomer that looks more like South Beach, splashing glass amid the stately stone.
Named 200 West for its 72nd Street address, the 19-story rental tower broke ground in 2007, near the height of the boom, and is scheduled to start leasing in February. In addition to the 196 apartments, the building, which wraps an obtuse-angled corner, also has a total of 50,000 square feet of big-box-style, multilevel space for three retailers. That’s in a neighborhood where stores typically measure a fraction of the size. “We will certainly liven up that corner a lot,” said David Picket, president of the Gotham Organization, the developer of the $220 million project and one of its three investors. The others are Philips International Holding and Rhodes NY. [more]

From the August issue: In a bad economy, the plight of the unemployed gets most of the
attention. But as the ranks of New York City’s jobless increase, and
more people downsize apartments or take on roommates to deal with the
economic downturn, they also send their landlords’ utility and
maintenance costs skyrocketing in rental buildings.
“Where you get lots of move-ins and move-outs, you worry about
damage at the building,” said David Picket, president of the Gotham
Organization, which operates more than 1.7 million square feet of
residential and retail real estate in New York and other parts of the
Northeast. “Even in a good market, it’s a fine line,” he said. “When you boost
rents up, which forces certain people to leave, you create certain
costs for yourself that you don’t have if people stay in place.” In a bad market, however, those costs don’t come with the added benefit of higher rental income. Comments

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