Louise Sunshine and the W Downtown New York

The sluggish sales pace has picked up at the condominium units in Joseph Moinian’s W New York Downtown hotel thanks to a new marketing focus on fully-furnished units led by Louise Sunshine, according to the  Wall Street Journal.

Interest in the building was high when a sales effort was launched before it was built in 2007, but the  prospective buyers vanished when the recession hit. When the 57-story building’s 22 lowest floors opened as a 217-room hotel in 2010 the building, at 123 Washington Street, had its first sale. By the fall of 2011, though, just 15 of the 223 for-sale units had closed, in part because of a controversial Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act lawsuit. [more]

[Updated at 2:50 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. with most recent sales figures for the Laurel and a statement from Studley] Real estate investment firm Prudential Real Estate Investors has closed on its purchase of three separate commercial condominium units, including one parking garage, at the Alexico Group’s Laurel condominium building at 400 East 67th Street, according to public records filed with the city today. The units were acquired Aug. 24 for a combined $61.6 million, records show.

Alexico recently signed TD Bank as a retail tenant at the building. Quik Park, a parking facility, currently occupies one of the other lots. Quik Park wasn’t immediately available for comment.
Woody Heller, Will Silverman and Eric Negrin of Studley’s Capital Transactions Group represented Alexico in the transaction. Prudential handled the deal in house. [more]

The new Tui Lifestyle showroom at 136 Greene Street in Soho and (left to right) brokers Brenda Powers and Louise Sunshine, who are fans of the brand; designer Tui Pranich

Less than two months after the debut of their Soho showroom, the founders of Miami-based Tui Lifestyle, the two-year-old interior design start-up that promises turn-key luxury home furnishings in a span of 72 hours, are thinking about moving their corporate headquarters to New York City.
Tui, the brainchild of entrepreneur Jason Atkins and designer Tui Pranich, timed its 2008 launch with that of Jorge Perez’s Icon Brickell in Miami and has since made a name for itself in the South Florida region by marketing its affordable, yet high-end, furniture and accessories collections to developers who use them to furnish their model apartments and incentivize buyers.
Among the takers so far: Canyon Ranch Miami Beach, Trump Hollywood, Trump Towers in Sunny Isles Beach and Miami’s Viceroy condominium. But in Atkins’ own words, “Miami is nothing compared to New York.”  [more]

While Suzanne Sunshine, daughter of luxury marketing guru Louise Sunshine, might have gotten her passion for real estate from her mom, she told the New York Times that she was determined to carve out her own niche in the industry. Sunshine, the president of S. Sunshine & Associates, which focuses on the non-profit sector, said that while her mother often “did try to pull [her] into her company,” she was determined to strike out on her own. “My mother was very independent herself, and I think greatly respects that I’m independent,” Sunshine said. [NYT]

[more]

Louise Sunshine and the Mark

Anglo Irish New York is quietly selling loans on three upscale
hotels owned by Alexico Group totaling $350 million
to $400 million, industry sources told Crain’s. It was
unclear if Alexico had defaulted on one or more of the loans
associated with the properties, which are the Mark Hotel on East 77th
Street, the Alex Hotel on East 45th Street and the Flatotel
on West 52nd Street. But sources familiar with the deal said the
prospective buyers were only interested in the mortgages because they
hoped to eventually foreclose on the company. Alexico, where industry veteran Louise Sunshine is director of development, recently
invested at least $100 million into renovating the 16-story Mark, hotel. It planned to convert some suites into private
residences that it would sell to pay off debt, but fell short of the
cash it needed and borrowed $255 million from Anglo Irish. The other
hotels don’t appear to have the same issues as the Mark. However,
Alexico has had problems with some of its residential developments
such as the Laurel condos
on the Upper East Side, where buyers have filed lawsuits to break
contracts. [Crain's]

[more]

Louise Sunshine and the Mark

Anglo Irish New York is quietly selling loans on three upscale
hotels owned by Alexico Group totaling $350 million
to $400 million, industry sources told Crain’s. It was
unclear if Alexico had defaulted on one or more of the loans
associated with the properties, which are the Mark Hotel on East 77th
Street, the Alex Hotel on East 45th Street and the Flatotel
on West 52nd Street. But sources familiar with the deal said the
prospective buyers were only interested in the mortgages because they
hoped to eventually foreclose on the company. Alexico, where industry veteran Louise Sunshine is director of development, recently
invested at least $100 million into renovating the 16-story Mark, hotel. It planned to convert some suites into private
residences that it would sell to pay off debt, but fell short of the
cash it needed and borrowed $255 million from Anglo Irish. The other
hotels don’t appear to have the same issues as the Mark. However,
Alexico has had problems with some of its residential developments
such as the Laurel condos
on the Upper East Side, where buyers have filed lawsuits to break
contracts. [Crain's]

[more]

Bob Siegel, co-founder of Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects

Bob Siegel who co-founded Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects in 1968, said his staff numbers 40 today, down from 65 two years ago. Plus, a few major projects are winding down, “and there are not a lot of replacements coming in” to the firm’s sole office, in Manhattan, Siegel said. One recently completed project is the new W Hoboken Hotel and Residence, a 26-story high-rise in New Jersey with 225 rooms and 30 condominium units, while the Financial District’s under-construction W New York Downtown Hotel & Residences, whose 58 stories contain 217 rooms and 159 residences, is set to debut within weeks, though the project has been somewhat troubled: the city has slapped it with 30 stop-work orders, and it’s wrapping up two years behind schedule. In an interview with The Real Deal, Siegel, 70, spoke about why his favorite New York neighborhood is Battery Park City, what apartment buildings will look like later this century and coping with the death of the firm’s other founder, Charles Gwathmey, last year. [more]

From left: Dolly Lenz, Louise Sunshine, Suzanne Sunshine

Dolly Lenz and Louise Sunshine are among the New York City real estate stars that will be honored this month at Baruch College’s annual Bernard Baruch Dinner later this month at Cipriani 42nd Street, the school announced today. Lenz, who majored in accounting at Baruch and is now the vice chairman of Prudential Douglas Elliman, will receive the Distinguished Alumnus Award. Luxury marketing guru Louise Sunshine will receive the Bernard Baruch Medal for Business and Civic Leadership along with her daughter, non-profit real estate pro Suzanne Sunshine, Sylvia Smith of architecture firm FXFowle and Doris Koo of non-profit housing group Enterprise Community Partners. TRD [more]

Louise Sunshine, who recently helped her son, Sam Sunshine, sell her husband’s One Beacon Court apartment for close to its $6.7 million asking price, is moving to the Laurel at 400 East 67th Street. Her new $3.2 million condo, where her husband, medical consultant Martin Begun, is in contract, was developed by her own Alexico Group and marketed by Corcoran Sunshine Marketing. The home is a 2,000-square-foot three-bedroom in the 31-story green building. [Post]

From left: Louise Sunshine, Pam Liebman

Luxury marketing guru Louise Sunshine told the Post that she is meeting with the Corcoran Group CEO Pam Liebman today to discuss new business opportunities. Sunshine, who sold her company, the Sunshine Group, to the owners of Corcoran for $9 million in 2002, is also teaming up with her son, Corcoran broker Sam Sunshine, to sell her husband’s One Beacon Court apartment. The two-bedroom, two-bathroom unit is on the 36th floor, with Hudson River views through floor-to-ceiling windows, and a $6.75 million price tag. An open house will be held in the 1,972-square-foot space Dec. 1, and will be catered by Le Cirque, which is located in the Upper East Side building. Former GE chief Jack Welch recently bought a flat there, paying $8.3 million for the addition to his 46th-floor apartment.