Cathedral of Saint John the Divine and AvalonBay Morningside Park

Talks to landmark the perpetually unfinished Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Morningside Heights have renewed for a fourth time in more than 40 years as Equity Residential lays plans for a 15-story apartment building on the church’s campus, the Wall Street Journal reported. Once again, preservationists and activists want the building and its surrounding campus — called “the close” — landmarked before Equity begins work on its development. [more]

180 Riverside Boulevard

A fire broke out at the Trump Place apartments on Riverside Boulevard this morning and injured 11 people, according to Bloomberg News, including one firefighter.

The fire was on a third floor apartment of the 42-story rental tower at 180 Riverside Boulevard, near 68th Street, owned by Equity Residential. The cause of the fire is not yet known, according to the New York City Fire Department, which responded at 5:03 a.m. this morning. [more]

Sam Zell, Chairman of Equity Residential

Equity Residential’s purchase of a stake in apartment builder Archstone was blocked by the estate of Lehman Brothers Holdings, as Lehman exercised the option to match the bid, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Equity, run by Sam Zell, offered $1.33 billion for 26.5 percent of Archstone, a major competitor of Equity’s. Lehman’s purchase is half of the position in Archstone owned by Bank of America and Barclays and brings its total stake in Archstone to 73.5 percent.   [more]

Ten23Equity Residential is requiring renters to put down a $1,000 non-refundable deposit to reserve an apartment in its new Ten23 rental building near the High Line, the New York Times reported. That’s on top of the astronomical rents at the 111-unit building, at 500 West 23rd Street near 10th Avenue, where Equity is charging $3,205 for a studio. “This is the most expensive deposit that I’m aware of,” said Citi Habitats President Gary Malin. “Typically, it’s more like $500.” [more]

Sam Zell’s Equity Residential has purchased 175 Kent Avenue, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, for $76 million, Crain’s reported. The condominium-turned-rental was developed by the Chetrit Group, which bought the property for $56 million in 2007. It was not clear why it chose to sell the project, which leased up after only six months. It may have been less profitable than the developer expected after it converted to rental, Crain’s speculated. Aptsandlofts.com is the exclusive marketing agent for the building, at North 4th Street. Renting commenced in March 2011, with studios for $2,343 a month, one-bedrooms starting at $2,756 and two-bedrooms at $3,413. [more]

Lehman Brothers Holdings matched Equity Residential’s $1.33 billion bid for a 26.5 percent stake in Archstone, and then sued partners Bank of America and Barclays for breaching Lehman’s right of first refusal for the stake in a sale, Bloomberg News reported.

Archstone is a real estate investment trust with stakes in 60,000 U.S. apartment units and 14,000 units in Germany, that Lehman purchased in October 2007 with Tishman Speyer for $22 billion. Lehmar eventually filed for the biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history and refinanced the portfolio and brought in equity partners Barclays and BofA, which combined for a 53 percent stake. [more]

From left: Rendering of 388 Bridge Street and 88 Willoughby StreetThe Brooklyn skyline continues to grow, as two planned towers are vying for the title of tallest building in the borough, according to the Wall Street Journal, after the mark was set last year by Equity Residential and the Clarett Group’s the Brooklyner.

Early next year, the Stahl Organization will break ground on a 590-foot residential tower, at 388 Bridge Street in Downtown Brooklyn, that would surpass the height of the Brooklyner, at 111 Lawrence Street, by 76 feet. That building was the first to rise taller than the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower, which was built more than 80 years ago to 512 feet tall. [more]

From left: Sam Zell of Equity Residential, Bob Toll of Toll Brothers, Will Silverman, Woody Heller, both of Studley, and 400 Park Avenue South

In the most expensive development site deal of the year so far, home builder Toll Brothers and real estate investment trust Equity Residential partnered in reportedly paying $134 million for a large development site at 400 Park Avenue South.

The joint venture plans to build a 40-story condominium and rental apartment tower at the Park Avenue South and 28th Street site, which has 400,000 square feet of development rights, the companies said in a statement.

Sam Zell’s Equity Residential will own and operate the lower 22 floors with 265 rental apartments and retail, while Toll Brothers will build and sell about 100 condo units on the upper floors, the Wall Street Journal reported. [more]

From left: Equity Residential CEO David Neithercut and UDR CEO Thomas ToomeyAs nationwide residential rental vacancy rates near their five-year lows, multi-family real estate investment trusts are performing well and believe more profit is on the way. Reporting from the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts’ conference in Dallas the Wall Street Journal said generational factors and the weak economy are driving rental strength, and large landlords will hike rents in their portfolios as a result.

Young adults prefer to live close to city centers, UDR CEO Thomas Toomey said, and the firm’s 62,000-unit portfolio is more than 96 percent occupied. “We don’t have a problem finding customers. This is now a time when we’re just going to end up increasing rents.” [more]