The year 2009 was a trying time to be a real estate broker, developer or investor, but it never lacked for news. In the aftermath of the financial crisis, the industry watched in awe — and sometimes horror — as residential sales ground to a virtual halt, condo projects stopped in their tracks, office rents shrank and retail stores disappeared. Buyers at buildings like 22 Renwick sued to get out of their contracts, and some were granted the opportunity to back out of their contracts. Meanwhile, an amazing cast of characters — from Kent Swig to Harry Macklowe to Lev Leviev — publicly fought for survival. There were also glimmers of hope, from the opening of the High Line in June to the expansion of Halstead Property into Connecticut to the sale of Former Lehman Brothers CEO Dick Fuld’s sale 16-room co-op apartment at 640 Park Avenue for $25.87 million, almost $5 million more than he bought it for two years ago. Click here to see The Real Deal staff’s picks for the stories that most altered the New York City real estate landscape in 2009. [more]

The New York City Economic Development Corporation is expected to decide today whether to grant $20 million in tax-exempt bonds to stalled project City Point, a Downtown Brooklyn development on the former Albee Square Mall site. If granted the funds, City Point would be one of the first U.S. developments to receive the federal stimulus program bonds. During a public hearing last Thursday, several Fort Greene residents protested the possible funding, arguing that the money would be better used on low-income residential assistance.

The owners of two distressed condominium buildings are negotiating with
the city on a deal that would put vacant apartments on the market as affordable housing, the New York Post reported. City officials would
not reveal the exact locations of the buildings, which are in Harlem
and Downtown Brooklyn, but they are negotiating with the banks that
have foreclosed on the properties. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn
has advocated a $20 million program that would put vacant apartments on
the market at a discount as affordable housing, and these two buildings
would be the first to take part in the program. Potential apartment
buyers would have to meet income requirements and be chosen in a
lottery.

After attempts to market units in bulk failed at the Forte tower at 230 Ashland Place in Downtown Brooklyn, Manhattan-based developer the Clarett Group and partner Goldman Sachs are in the process of negotiating with the project’s construction lender to transfer control to the lender. The 108-unit, 30-story condominium development is still only 37 percent sold despite being on the market for two years and German-based Eurohypo Bank, which holds $41 million in debt on the tower, is exploring its options. Sales in Downtown Brooklyn dropped 42.8 percent during the second quarter from the same time last year, according to a recent Prudential Douglas Elliman market report. And although units at Forte will remain for sale, sources say investors are likely to be unwilling to pay more than $350 per square foot for the units, which previously sold for an average of $681 per square foot. [Crain's] 

City Point, the multi-use complex that is slated to be built in
Downtown Brooklyn, will now be constructed in two phases. The
developers, a consortium of Acadia Realty Trust, MacFarlane Partners,
Rose Associates, P/A Associates and Washington Square Partners, will
start building the first phase at the east end of Fulton Mall, on the
site of the old Albee Square Mall. It will include affordable housing
and several big-box retailers such as Best Buy. The second phase will
include market-rate housing, office space and additional retail space.
The original plans for City Point, which have been changed due to the
credit crunch, called for a 1.5 million-square-foot development to be
completed by 2010. [more]

Hotel developer Sam Chang has finally lined up a buyer for his three-pack of budget hotels on West 39th Street, The Real Deal has learned. Chang and his company’s COO Gary Wisinski of McSam confirmed they have a deal in the works that’s set to close next month for the three hotels in one building with separate entrances at 337, 339 and 343 West 39th Street. Sources said the buyer is Hersha Hospitality, a Philadelphia-based, publicly traded REIT and an affiliate of the Hersha Trust, which has partnered with McSam before. Last year, Chang boasted to The Real Deal that he and all the Hersha Hospitality Management partners have similar large diamond rings and diamond-encrusted Rolexes. Chang denied Hersha is the buyer, but noted he has signed a strict confidentiality agreement related to the sale. [more]

Another high-rise has been planned for Downtown Brooklyn. If construction is completed on a new, 57-story high-rise building called the Avalon Willoughby West, it would overtake the 51-story Brooklyner, currently Brooklyn’s tallest building, by 82 feet. To make room for the development, which includes 861 rental apartments, developer Fred Harris has acquired many low-rise storefronts on Willoughby Street between Bridge and Duffield streets. These empty storefronts are now the home of a temporary art show. With the amount of high-rises being built in Downtown Brooklyn, skyscraper experts are saying Brooklyn is in the midst of a battle for the tallest building, comparable to the Manhattan race 80 years ago. [more]

The New York City Housing Authority has signed a 20-year lease for
62,400 square feet of office space in the Telecom building at 470
Vanderbilt Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn. According to GFI Development,
which purchased the building two years ago, NYCHA is consolidating a
number of its offices around the city into the new location. The lease
marks the first major tenant to come to the building, now less than 50
percent occupied, since GFI bought it two years ago. [more]

A temporary art show organized by the MetroTech Business Improvement District will take over 12 empty storefronts on Willoughby Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn where construction was supposed to begin on a $208 million residential and commercial complex. Due to the bad economic climate, construction on the complex was halted and the stores were left vacant. Developer Albert Laboz did not say when the complex would be built, but in the meantime, he said, the Willoughby Windows art show is meant to give the neighborhood some streetscape life during the pre-development stage. [NYDN]

From the June issue: One might expect a corporate mogul who owns grocery stores, office
buildings and oil refineries to run his empire from a fancy skyscraper.
Not John Catsimatidis, CEO of the Red Apple Group and one-time mayoral
hopeful. His office is in a low-rise building at 823 11th Avenue.
There, clutter belies a command central for a new foray into
residential development with a plan to build apartments on a
three-block stretch in Downtown Brooklyn. The first piece, a 100-unit
rental at 218 Myrtle Avenue, opens in September. See after the jump for a snapshot of Catsimatidis’ office. Comments

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