While there was little or no change in asking rents in Midtown and Midtown South last month, Downtown saw a moderate drop after landlords cut prices in anticipation of higher vacancy rates in the coming months, a new Manhattan office leasing report covering February from commercial service firm Jones Lang LaSalle shows.

The average asking rents in Midtown did not change from January, at $59.43 per square foot, while in Midtown South, the average asking rents rose by 3 cents from the prior month to $43.79 per foot, JLL reported.

But Downtown, asking rents fell by 31 cents in February to $36.97 per square foot, the data show.

James Delmonte, a JLL vice president and director of research, said that for Manhattan, overall pricing has flattened compared to the steep drops seen last year, but Downtown asking rents dipped as landlords expected more available space to be put on the market.

“There are adjustments in pricing ahead of [an] anticipated continued rise in vacancy rates,” he said. [more]

Construction workers gathered yesterday at an open landing in a brand new Meadowlands stadium to watch 34-year-old Giants Stadium’s demolition kickoff. The $10 project is slated to take roughly four months and began at Gate B, part of which overlaps with the concourse of the as-yet-unnamed future home of the Jets and Giants football teams. Once that area is clear, crews from Westbury-based Gramercy, the contractors in charge of the demolition project, will move on to the stadium’s interior, where seats are being sold to fans as memorabilia, and will then take apart the stadium from the top down. The new stadium, slated to officially open in May with a Bon Jovi concert, will be the third largest in the National Football League, with room for 82,500 fans, including 9,500 club seats and 222 luxury suites. [Post]

New York Living Solutions co-founders Michael Roche and Arnon Barzilai have parted ways, with Roche leaving the company to pursue other interests, Barzilai told The Real Deal. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs has granted $302 million in contracts to minority and women-owned businesses for the construction of its new world headquarters, according to a statement released today. This awarding of contracts may mark the largest single project ever granted the M/WBE business program in New York State. Click here for more. [more]

Rolan Shnayder of Home Owners Mortgage, which has been lending in a number of new condo buildings that are less than half sold

From the October issue: New condos — the black sheep of the real estate industry for much of 2009 — are finally beginning to move again as construction progresses and developers find ways to circumvent stiff presale requirements for mortgages. For example, the Tempo condominium in Gramercy, which sat virtually buyerless for months after it went on sale in September 2008, sold 10 units this summer. In Lower Manhattan, District on Fulton Street sold 10 units in August alone. The Fairchild at 55 Vestry Street in Tribeca, which had sold only one unit in April and none in February or March, put five units in contract in August and even saw a bidding war, the developer said. “Deals are getting done at new developments,” said Stephen McArdle, the principal of brokerage Urban Marketing, which is handling sales at District. “We’re seeing activity. Six months ago you weren’t seeing anything. The fact that the bottleneck is open is very encouraging.”

From the September Issue: In the West 20s, the name “F.M. Ring Associates” is emblazoned on the
sides of numerous buildings. The fading mural-like advertisements look
like relics from a bygone era. Brokers say much of Ring’s valuable
portfolio, most of which is in the prime neighborhoods of Gramercy,
Chelsea and Flatiron, sits strangely empty. This month, The Real Deal looks at the mystery of the Ring family and profiles a host of big under-the-radar players in New York. more