Prudential Douglas Elliman executive vice president Rob Gross, who has been working on 14 West 14th Street for two years.

From the April issue: You can file the bizarre sales situation at 14 West 14th Street under “thanks to the economy. “Rather than sell all their units at post-meltdown discounts, the sponsors of the building decided to sell just one-third of the units. Read: Roughly 20 of the 30 condos will remain in the developer’s hands and be rented out. Because most banks won’t finance buyers in a building where only 33 percent of the units are being sold, the developers, Albert and Robert Dweck, originally said they would sell only to all-cash buyers. Sales started in September. That strategy, not surprisingly, didn’t bear much fruit. No buyers plunked down cash for their apartments out of the gate. But then, after a couple of months, the team finally found a bank, NJ Lenders Corp., willing to finance buyers at the building. [more]

Marc Lewis, president and CEO of Century 21 NY Metro and his company’s new office at 228 East 45th Street (building photo source: PropertyShark)

Century 21 NY Metro is relocating to a 13,000-square-foot office at 228 East 45th Street, the company announced today.
The sales and rental company, which has around 150 agents and staff, will vacate its current space at 575 Madison Avenue June 1, according to President and CEO Marc Lewis. The new office is some 40 percent larger and can house up to 200 people, Lewis said. The asking rent for the new space is listed on CoStar as $29.50 per foot. Lewis would not comment on the taking rent, but said it was comparable to what the company is paying now. Since the recession hit, a number of real estate companies have switched locations to take advantage of lower rents for office space. Aside from offering more space for a comparable price, Century 21’s new office — on 45th Street between Second and Third avenues — is “in a much better location,” Lewis said. [more]