From left: Donald Trump, president of the Trump Organization, Dottie Herman, president of Prudential Douglas Elliman, Elizabeth Stribling, president of Stribling & Associates, Stuart Saft, chairman of Dewey & LeBoeuf’s global real estate department, and Frederick Peters, president of Warburg Realty Partnership, and Lois Weiss, real estate columnist for the New York Post

Compiled by Lauren Elkies

In the wake of Sandy Weill’s reported $88 million sale of his 15 Central Park West penthouse, The Real Deal wanted to touch base and see if real estate executives had any last minute predictions for the New Year since speaking with the magazine for the December residential market report.

Dottie Herman, president of Prudential Douglas Elliman, and Frederick Peters, president of Warburg Realty Partnership, said to expect 2012 to be a bit of a repeat of 2011, while developer Donald Trump said “really good real estate will have excess value.” Elizabeth Stribling, president of Stribling & Associates, predicts a “continuing strong demand for new condominium offerings all over town,” while Stuart Saft, chairman of Dewey & LeBoeuf’s global real estate department, said “the euro will continue to be in trouble causing a flight to safety to the U.S. and particularly New York City, so New York City properties will trade at even lower cap rates.” Meanwhile, Citi Habitats President Gary Malin and Halstead Property Development Marketing President Stephen Kliegerman recently told amNY that 2012 would bring more development and fewer amenities to New York City’s real estate market. [more]

Judi Desiderio, CEO of Town & Country, and Kathleen Beckmann’s office

Town & Country has acquired local Montauk brokerage Kathleen Beckmann Real Estate for an undisclosed amount, Town & Country announced today. Kathleen Beckmann Real Estate owner Kathleen Beckmann will join Town & County brokerage as of tomorrow, bringing with her three other brokers from her firm.

“Beckmann had a large portion of the market share of Montauk, even with a small amount of people,” Town & Country CEO Judi Desiderio said of her decision to acquire the company. Town & Country has eight Hamptons offices in total, including in North Sea Harbor, Bridgehampton and East Hampton.  [more]

From left: Stacey Barnds and Julia Stavola of Town & Country Real Estate and the docks site

A long-untouched swath of the Montauk fishing docks — one of the last remnants of the village’s sleepy past — is on the market for the first time in decades.

The half-acre waterfront site of Lenny’s on the Dock restaurant is now for sale, priced at $4.7 million. Julia Stavola of Town & Country Real Estate has the listing, which includes the 2,400-square-foot commercial building and 11 boat slips.

The property joins its next-door neighbor, Salivars Restaurant and Bar, on the market. The 3,649-square-foot Salivars building, listed for $3.95 million with Town & Country’s Stacey Barnds, has been on the market for about a year, but the availability of Lenny’s paves the way for broader changes in the area, opening up “a whole set of new opportunities” for buyers, said Judi Desiderio, the CEO of Town & Country Real Estate. [more]

The Hamptons home on Fireplace Road and the celebrities who first played there. Clockwise from left: Joan Mitchell, Philip Pavia and Jackson Pollack

An East Hampton home on Fireplace Road famous as the first location of the Artists and Writers Softball Game, frequented by Philip Pavia, Jackson Pollack and Joan Mitchell, has just hit the market for $4.99 million. The game was played on the 10 acres of lawns at the home, formerly owned by Wilfrid Zogbaum, which now features a barn and waterside pool.

The five-bedroom, four-bathroom 3,500-square foot home was built in 1835. Its sellers are relocating to Amagansett. – Katherine Clarke [more]

From the May issue: Patrick Galway, managing director of Town & Country Real Estate’s Westhampton Beach office, had a lot of empty office space on his hands when he casually strolled into Phillips Beach Realty with a proposal last October. He wanted the 30-year-old Westhampton brokerage to bring its 14-agent team to Town & Country.
In its efforts to expand its neighborhood presence, Town & Country had just snapped up neighboring retail space, effectively doubling the size of its Westhampton office at 132 Main Street, and Galway and Judi Desiderio, the firm’s CEO, were charged with finding more brokers to fill it. Galway immediately thought of Phillips Beach. [more]

155 Trees Lane in Sagaponack, which is listed with Elliman’s Paul Brennan for $25 million

From the May issue: The tiny village of Sagaponack, tucked into the larger town of Southampton out on Long Island’s East End, has perennially been one of the wealthiest zip codes in the United States. Perhaps as a result, real estate in the hamlet (which has a population of 582) suffered even more than its neighboring Hamptons towns during a downturn that did not discriminate against luxury markets. Judi Desiderio, CEO of Town & Country Real Estate, said prices in Sagaponack tanked by as much as 40 percent. But as Wall Street profits — and the high-end market — have come back, so has Sagaponack. [more]

Rick Hoffman

From the April issue: It is often said that the Hamptons market moves in lockstep with the stock market. And the upcoming season on the East End is shaping up to be no exception. As the stock market has made gains in the last year and, perhaps more important, shown some stability, the Hamptons market has followed suit.

“I think the latest wave of business we’re doing is very much tied to the increase of the stock market,” said Andrew Saunders, president of boutique brokerage Saunders & Associates.

In this month’s Q & A, The Real Deal spoke to East End brokers and firm heads, including Saunders, who said that sales activity has picked up recently and that the rental season started earlier and stronger than it has in the last few years.  [more]

Patrick Galway, Judi Desiderio and the Westhampton Beach office

East End brokerage Town & Country Real Estate acquired boutique Westhampton Beach brokerage Phillips Beach Realty yesterday, marking the latest move in a broader expansion plan for the eight-office firm.

Fourteen Phillips Beach agents are joining Town & Country’s Westhampton Beach office at 132 Main Street, doubling the number to around 28 as a result of the acquisition.

Desiderio, who declined to comment on how much her company paid in the buyout, said that expanding her company’s reach in the Westhampton Beach area has been a top priority. [more]

North Fork

Home sales declined 3.95 percent in the third quarter on the North Fork of Long Island to 73, compared to the same time period a year earlier, according to Town & Country Real Estate’s quarterly market report for the region, which analyzes all sales in the area. The total sales volume also declined year-over-year, dropping to $44.8 million, marking a 7.31 percent fall. The biggest drop in sales were seen in the higher ends of the market. No sales over $3.5 million were recorded during the quarter, compared to one logged during third-quarter 2009, while the $1 million to $1.99 million range saw four sales, a 50 percent drop. The data reflects a “bobbing along the bottom,” according to Town & Country CEO Judi Desiderio, who said that the market saw its lowest point in the second quarter of 2009. TRD

NF Q3 2010 Report&Chart

[more]

While Labor Day weekend on the East End can present many hazards — traffic jams and crowded beaches, for starters — the specter of Hurricane Earl has presented an array of additional problems, especially for agents trying to squeeze in as many showings as possible during the last weekend of the summer.
“Flying furniture,” in particular, is a major concern, said Judi Desiderio, CEO of East End-based Town & Country real estate. “You could literally have lounge chairs up in the air and in the pool,” Desiderio said. “That’s a biggie, especially if you’re showing a property on the water.” [more]