5th on the Park

A total of 41 contracts were signed at 5th on the Park, a new residential high rise on Upper Fifth Avenue, throughout 2011, the most out of any new development property in Harlem, Halstead Property Development Marketing, the exclusive sales agent for the building, announced today.

The development was closely followed in sales volume by 88 Morningside at 88 Morningside Avenue with 38 signed contracts and 2280 FDB at 2280 Frederick Douglass Boulevard with 31 contracts, which are marketed by Halstead and MNS respectively. (note: correction appended) [more]

A 60-year-old Harlem barbecue restaurant could be going out of business come Sunday if the owner can’t come up with the $15,000 she owes to satisfy health code violation fines, according to NY1. Sherman’s Bar-B-Q, at 2509 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard near 146th Street, was ordered to close in August after the city’s Department of Health inspected and determined there was “insufficient refrigeration, vermin infestation, extensive sanitary conditions and [they were] operating with an expired permit.” As a result, the restaurant, which at one point had five locations, was ordered to close.  [more]

The new liquor store at 183 Lenox Avenue (credit: Harlem + Bespoke)Rarely do liquor stores exemplify the tensions of a gentrifying neighborhood, where once-abandoned brownstones now garner $3 million-plus purchase prices, like the one coming to Lenox Avenue near West 119th Street in Harlem.

The New York Times reported that the liquor store owner, Behiru Mesfin, has drawn the ire of Harlem residents for a cheap-looking, bright yellow and red sign, a roll-down steel gate and low-quality liquor that recall the grittier days of the neighborhood when poor residents would sit on stoops drinking. [more]

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]

Building scaffolding fell onto a public city bus at West 125th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard in Harlem this morning, the New York Times reported, injuring 17 people. “We pulled into the stop and I heard a falling sound of something collapsing toward the back, and the back of the bus filled up with smoke,” said Sasha Chavkin, a reporter for Columbia University’s new investigative journalism website, the New York World. “People were running from the back and screaming. After about a minute the bus driver let everyone off the bus. I talked to a kid in the back who said he thought he was going to die. He said rubble had fallen through the windows of the bus.” Fire officials described the injuries as minor and not life threatening. The address from which the scaffolding fell was not immediately available. [NYT]

Founding Father Alexander Hamilton’s yellow villa in Harlem will open to the public Saturday after massive restoration work by the National Park Service, the Wall Street Journal reported. Hamilton’s historic home, which had previously loomed over Covent Avenue, was moved to St. Nicholas Park in 2008 (see video above), its current home, while the work was being done. Back in 1889, during the height of the Harlem construction boom, the home was salvaged from the wrecking ball of a developer by Hamilton and relocated to a spot next to St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. An exhibition by the National Park Service features objects from those historic rooms: a dainty, London-made square piano, reproductions of the silver-plated wine cooler sent to him by former President George Washington and the roll-top desk in his little study. [WSJ] [more]

A screenshot of the show finale, set in a Harlem brownstone

HGTV’s “Design Stars,” the television series which features 12 interior designers battling it out for the ultimate design crown, showcased some trendy Manhattan brownstones in its season finale last night (click here to see the video), Harlem + Bespoke reported. Viewers saw finalists Meg Caswell and Karl Sponholtz tasked with each redesigning a room in a Harlem brownstone for real-life homeowners, then turning each of their projects into five-minute pilot presentations.

Reality shows seem to be eager to shoot in Harlem these days, the Harlem website noted, judging by this recent HGTV cameo and its recent spot on “Project Runway” a few weeks ago. Harlem has been experiencing a real estate renaissance in recent years. [more]

Carver Federal Savings, the nation’s largest bank founded and run by African Americans, has avoided collapse by raising $55 million in new capital, Crain’s reported. The bank had recently moved into large commercial real estate lending, veering away from its tested strategy of lending to one- to four-family homes — the move backfired. Earlier this year, faltering under a load of delinquent real estate loans, the bank was ordered by regulators to raise additional cash.
The new investors include Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, which have agreed to invest $15 million each, while Citigroup and Prudential Financial have agreed to put in $10 million, according to an announcement from Carver’s parent, Carver Bancorp. [more]

Halstead Property Development Marketing has sold half the units at Harlem development 88 Morningside in the last year, the company announced yesterday. Sales launched at the 12-story, 73-unit condo by BOS Development, Horsford & Poteat Realty and the Bluestone Organization last June, and the building is now 50 percent in contract or closed. The remaining 32 units range in size from approximately 735 to 1,270 square feet and in price from $415,000 to $880,000. “[Buyers] are seeing the long-term value in buying a luxury residence located right in between Morningside Heights and the ‘gold coast’ of Fredrick Douglass Boulevard — two areas that are booming,” said Stephen Kliegerman, president of Halstead Property development Marketing and of recently announced Terra Development Marketing. — Katherine Clarke [more]

From left: Lenox Avenue and 125th Street, the second section of the High Line and 3 Columbus Circle

From the January issue: Home and office markets in New York improved in the last year, even if the signs of progress were measured in baby steps. Rental buildings scaled back incentives, distressed-debt investors sank their money into stalled condo projects, and office vacancies appeared to inch down in prime areas. Those trends should continue through the New Year, according to brokers, developers and urban policy experts, even if things won’t look like the heyday of the mid-2000s before Lehman Brothers collapsed. To gauge the rebound’s staying power, keep an eye on these 10 projects and deals over the next 12 months. [more]