Robert Durst and 218 Lenox Avenue

It’s been only two weeks since Robert Durst, older brother of developer Douglas Durst, bought a townhouse in East Harlem, but residents are already protesting, saying he is a danger to the neighborhood. Some believe that Durst, who purchased a 19th century property at 218 Lenox Avenue for $1.75 million earlier this month, is a threat, after being linked with various murder cases, the New York Post reported.

Isaiah Owens, owner of a funeral home in East Harlem, said he has a message for the police department: “If I disappear, go and check him out first.’’

Robert has received attention in some high-profile police cases, including one that was the basis for a film about the disappearance of his wife that Douglas and the Durst Organization sought to block. He admitted killing a 71-year-old neighbor in Texas in 2001 and dumping his dismembered body in Galveston Bay. He was also a suspect in the 2000 execution-style shooting of writer Susan Berman. [more]

From left: 4 Times Square; John Grotto, senior leasing manager at Durst Organization, and Tom Bow, senior vice president of leasing at the Durst Organization; and a crowd shot at the Wednesday night’s event

There’s a rumor floating in real estate circles that the vacant retail space in 4 Times Square at the corner of 42nd Street and Broadway is accounted for. Last night, the Durst Organization held a party for brokers to show off the space, in part, to prove those rumors false.

“It’s frustrating when you reach out to a respected brokerage and you hear them say, ‘I thought that space was taken,’” John Grotto, senior leasing manager at the Durst Organization, told The Real Deal.

Durst Organization President Douglas Durst and more than 100 brokers were on hand to tour the 42,550-square-foot, three-floor space and enjoy ribs, brisket and mac and cheese from Virgil’s Real Barbecue — so much of it, in fact, that the restaurant was begging lingering brokers to take leftovers home. [more]

Durst Organization President Douglas Durst, the Fetner family and various brokers, public relations gurus and hangers-on mingled at the grand debut of Durst Fetner Residential’s new 55-unit condominium development at 1212 Fifth Avenue last night, enjoying market chit chat and sensational appetizers (see photos above).
It was a lavish affair; the catering by award-winning chef and cookbook author Marcus Samuelsson of Red Rooster held its own against the pull of the Central Park views, featuring a swan carved from a large melon and various platters of exotic vegetables and dips, as well as cheeses.
Randi Fetner Sherman, a principal and executive vice president of Durst Fetner Residential, gave The Real Deal the grand tour of four separate units on the ninth floor of the building. Comments

Clockwise: Durst Fetner Residential’s Hal Fetner, 855 Sixth Avenue, Baruch Singer, Yitzhak Tessler of Tessler Development and Douglas Durst of Durst Organization

From the August issue: For the owners of distressed properties, it’s a harrowing ride to stabilization. Note sale, foreclosure, bankruptcy or recapitalization, there is no easy path from financial trouble to stable footing. And while some savvy investors have seized control of valuable New York City properties, many owners and lenders have lost billions of dollars through distressed real estate sales and restructurings since the financial crisis began. This month The Real Deal examines five deals and how they unfolded. In the third part of the series, we look at 855 Sixth Avenue, a development site just a few blocks south of Herald Square where Durst Fetner Residential stepped in and is preparing to erect a 500,000-square-foot building — 300,000 of which will be devoted to 350 rental units (80 percent market rate and 20 percent “affordable”). There will also be a 325-key, 130,000-square-foot hotel, and 90,000 square feet of retail. Click here to read the story. [more]

Douglas Durst, chairman of the Durst Organization, said he has no current plans to acquire any more buildings in Manhattan because prices are not corresponding with value. “During the recent recession… prices just never came down to a level that we were comfortable with,” Durst said in an interview in the Wall Street Journal. “And now they’re rising again.” As for his recent investment in 1 World Trade Center, Durst said his firm was wanted on the project to manage the building once completed because the project’s developer, the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, has a poor reputation with office towers. He said in addition to the 1.2 million square feet being leased by Conde Nast and the Chine Center, the government agency General Services Administration is in talks to lease 600,000 square feet. [more]

Two thousand clear prismatic glass panels designed by architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, an elegant way of disguising the 185-foot tall concrete base of 1 World Trade Center, have proved difficult to manufacture at the scale necessary for the building, according to the New York Times.

Trials have resulted in brittle glass prone to shattering, leaving the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey to look for new ideas. With the structure now rising to the 65th floor, it’s back to the drawing board.
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From left: Douglas Durst, Jody Durst, Andrew Cuomo, Marc Holliday and Andrew Mathias

What do Douglas and Jody Durst, heads of the Durst Organization, Marc Holliday and Andrew Mathias of SL Green and Governor Andrew Cuomo have in common? They topped the Observer’s annual list of the 100 most powerful people in New York real estate. Carlos Slim, believed by some to be the world’s richest person, Sam Zell and Gary Barnett headline the notable newcomers to the list, while old money like Peter and Anthony Malkin and Bill Rudin also place in the top quarter of the list. Finally, the newest presidential candidate, Donald Trump, jumped two places to 14th on the list from last year, and and Mitchell Steir and Michael Colacino are the highest ranking working brokers, both at No. 33. [NYO] [more]

Women from three of the city’s top real estate families, the Silversteins, Dursts and Olshans, discussed the market as well as their personal experiences in the business last night on a panel hosted by New York Commercial Real Estate Women’s Network, or NYcrewn (click here to see the photos). The forum was titled “The Women Leading NY’s Real Estate Families.” The discussion with Lisa Silverstein, senior vice president of Silverstein Properties; Helena Durst, vice president of Durst Organization; and Andrea Olshan, COO of Mall Properties was moderated by Faith Hope Consolo, chairman of retail leasing and sales at Prudential Douglas Elliman. TRD [more]

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has put its Madison Avenue headquarters and two adjacent buildings on the market in an attempt to close its massive budget gap and expects to bring in upwards of $150 million in a sale. According to the New York Times, the three, 20-story buildings, at 341, 345 and 347 Madison Avenue could fetch at least that much thanks to the opportunity to purchase air rights from Grand Central. A buyer could opt to demolish the existing structures and use those air rights to erect a taller-than-usual skyscraper on the site. The MTA purchased 347 Madison for $11.9 million in 1979 and acquired the other two properties in 1991 for a combined $36 million. [more]

Publishing giant Conde Nast is likely to finalize its 1 million-square-foot lease at One World Trade Center by March, developer Douglas Durst told Crain’s today. The Durst Organization has a deal with the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey to buy a $100 million stake in the tower, and scored a major coup last year when the magazine behemoth agreed to relocate from 4 Times Square, which Durst also owns. The only tenant to actually sign a lease at the 2.6 million-square-foot project thus far is China’s Vantone Industrial, but Durst said two government agencies are also in negotiations to lease a combined 1 million square feet. [more]