From left: Peter Riguardi, Don Capoccia, Frederick Peters, Roger Erickson and Daun Paris

Although many end-of-the-year residential and commercial real estate sales reports have yet to arrive, a new year grants the license to look back and evaluate how predictions and prognostications made last year panned out over the past 12 months. Many of the experts The Real Deal talked to last year had a bleak outlook for 2009 — and rightly so. But others missed the mark, either with too-optimistic predictions for recovery or overreaching pessimism that — if it’s possible — actually overstated how devastating the market would ultimately prove to be in 2009. Here, The Real Deal looks back at some of the top claims and predictions made in the beginning of last year to see who hit the nail on the head and who missed the mark.  More

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Left to right, Barbara Fox of Fox Residential Group, Jed Garfield of Leslie J. Garfield & Co. and Michele Kleier of Gumley Haft Kleier.

From the May issue: A precipitous drop in sales like Manhattan
saw in the first quarter of 2009 can be particularly challenging for
boutique real estate firms. That became painfully clear this year when
a number of small firms went out of business, including several newer
boutiques just starting to make their presence felt on the New York
City real estate industry, like JC DeNiro & Associates, Homestead
New York and New York City Dwellers. Other firms with longer track
records, like venerable Edward Lee Cave, were absorbed by larger
companies. But there are smaller firms that are still surviving, and
even thriving, in the current market, most notably the three that
ranked at the top of The Real Deal’s survey of boutique Manhattan firms
– Leslie J. Garfield & Co., Gumley Haft Kleier and Fox Residential
Group. [more]

The co-founder of the now-defunct brokerage Homestead New York has started his own company. Homestead co-founder Danny Shamooil said he recruited roughly 12 former Homestead agents to work at the new company, Prime New York, which is headquartered in a 1,000-square foot space at 48 Wall Street at William Street. Homestead announced last month that it would cease operations after what Shamooil said was a series of disagreements between him and partner Eli Adahan. Homestead alum Eric Hantman is vice president at Prime, and Jared Scotto is managing director. The company, which is launching its Web site in two weeks, will specialize in residential sales and rentals but will also dabble in commercial leasing, building sales and investment packages, Shamooil said. [more]

Homestead New York, the four-year-old boutique sales and rental brokerage firm, is closing up shop. Danny Shamooil, co-owner and co-founder of Homestead, told The Real Deal that
the company ceased operations before the New Year and is in the process
of completing the paperwork required to dissolve the business. The Web
site is no longer operational, he said. Shamooil and co-founder Eli Adahan decided to end their partnership
after a series of disagreements this fall, Shamooil said, combined with
pressure from the dour economic climate. [more]