The razing
of the Mars Bar for a glassy condominium is the latest sign of
gentrification in the East Village, and as Local East Village notes, it’s being
carried out by the man who helped kick off the process more than a decade ago. Donald
Capoccia, the head of BFC Partners, is replacing the gritty bar and housing
that rises two stories above it with a 60-unit apartment building at 11-17
Second Avenue, on the corner of East 1st Street.
Thanks to his commitment to include affordable housing, Capoccia got unanimous
support for the project from Community Board 3 and the backing of city
agencies. [more]

From left: Peter Riguardi, Don Capoccia, Frederick Peters, Roger Erickson and Daun Paris

Although many end-of-the-year residential and commercial real estate sales reports have yet to arrive, a new year grants the license to look back and evaluate how predictions and prognostications made last year panned out over the past 12 months. Many of the experts The Real Deal talked to last year had a bleak outlook for 2009 — and rightly so. But others missed the mark, either with too-optimistic predictions for recovery or overreaching pessimism that — if it’s possible — actually overstated how devastating the market would ultimately prove to be in 2009. Here, The Real Deal looks back at some of the top claims and predictions made in the beginning of last year to see who hit the nail on the head and who missed the mark.  More

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