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From left: Winick Realty’s Diana Boutross, One Brooklyn Bridge Park and Ian Levine of RAL Companies & Affiliates

Residents of One Brooklyn Bridge Park will soon — in theory — have a grocery store, at least one restaurant and a bicycle shop added to the offerings available to them in the voluminous ground-floor retail space. The question for the foreseeable future however is — when?

Ian Levine, COO and CFO of RAL Companies & Affiliates, the developer in charge of the site, said he is close to sealing a deal with a bicycle shop. He said he is particularly focused on getting a large restaurant operator into a corner space that boasts some of the best views of Lower Manhattan and is keen on signing a smaller neighborhood grocery store.

In April, two relatively large retail signings in the massive condominium conversion, at 360 Fulton Street, sparked a wave of reports that the available retail space, which is one of the largest contiguous available retail spaces in all of Brooklyn, was gaining traction. [more]

New York City condos are seeing unseasonably high buyer interest, with buildings like RAL Companie’s One Brooklyn Bridge Park and the Rushmore reportedly seeing more interested buyers in part because buyers feel the market has stabilized. After a new sales team, the Developers Group, took over at One Brooklyn Bridge Park Oct. 1, 20 new contracts were signed, with more than 100 visitors coming to look at the waterfront development each week, according to the Daily News. At the Rushmore, which has reportedly been experiencing buyer backouts, Extell Development said that 12 apartments have gone into contract over the past two months and that 11 more are in negotiation. Gary Barnett, Extell’s president, told the Daily News that buyer sentiment has improved, which is helping to move units. “The overall market has picked up, people have a better feeling that New York real estate is starting to steady,” Barnett said. “There is no new inventory, and buyers who have been looking know a good opportunity.”

One Brooklyn Bridge Park and RAL COO Ian Levine

More than two years have passed since developer RAL Companies & Affiliates began marketing the 75,000-square foot retail space in its waterfront condominium conversion One Brooklyn Bridge Park, at 360 Furman Street, and it has yet to secure a tenant. RAL is hoping its fortune will change as it kicks off discussions with two restaurant operators and a high-end market, Ian Levine, RAL’s COO and CFO, told The Real Deal. Within the past 45 days, two local “seasoned” restaurant operators and one high-end market that “caters to grocery needs and prepared foods” contacted RAL about the space, Levine said. He declined to disclose the retailers’ names and would not specify about possible lease pricing. RAL and Winick Realty Group, whom the developer had commissioned to market the space, re-launched marketing efforts within the past month, Levine said.  More
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Elizabeth Stribling and Ian Levine

Stribling & Associates has formed a property management alliance
with Spandrel Property Services, a property management firm and
affiliate of developer RAL Companies & Affiliates, the firms
announced this week. Spandrel will be able to solicit property management business from
Stribling’s high-end brokers, said Ian Levine, Spandrel’s president,
who is also COO and CFO of RAL. RAL developed One Brooklyn Bridge Park,
for which Stribling is the exclusive sales and marketing broker. Elizabeth Stribling, Stribling’s founder and president, said since her company does not have a property management division this
arrangement benefits her firm because her sales agents can better meet
client needs. Stribling & Associates can refer clients who are looking for a
property manager to Spandrel, Stribling said. Often, building board
members ask for property manager recommendations, she said. [more]

The latest edition of The Real Deal’s Webcast is now online. The Real Deal
heads to One Brooklyn Bridge Park, the new luxury condo building that
has recorded some of the highest sales prices in the borough amid
controversy over the project. Reporter Jill Gardiner talks to Ian
Levine, chief financial officer and chief operating officer of RAL
Companies & Affiliates, which developed the project, and with City
Council Member David Yassky about the other controversial projects
proposed for the park.
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