From left: Jennifer Johnsen of MNS, Ari Harkov of Halstead and a photo of the Edge and Northside Piers

The wave of Williamsburg’s new development inventory has slowed to a small swell, with many boom-time projects finally selling out after years of fitful sales — and relatively few newly built condominiums coming online. As a result, neighborhood brokers who cut their teeth working at on-site sales offices are struggling to learn the business of resales and to build up a roster of clients, sources said. [more]

MNS’ Chelsea and Gramercy locations, Jennifer Johnsen and Alex Cho (inset)

While gearing up to open its newest Williamsburg outpost, residential real estate brokerage MNS has also been reshuffling personnel at two of its other offices. The goal is to consolidate its rental division at one location and build a more cohesive sales and rental team in its Chelsea retail space. [more]

From left: MNS CEO Andrew Barrocas and 601-603 West 137th Street (source: PropertyShark)

Bonjour Capital, a New York City-based investment and development firm, has tapped residential brokerage MNS to lead leasing efforts at the Westbourne, a five-building rental complex located at 601-611 West 137th Street in Manhattanville, The Real Deal has learned. Bonjour and MNS are gradually revamping the building with renovations and a new marketing campaign that targets value-conscious tenants from outside the neighborhood.  [more]

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Manhattan rents more or less stayed the same in February, compared to the previous month, according to the latest Manhattan rental market report issued today by brokerage MNS. The overall average rent inched up by 0.92 percent, marking a total increase of $34.66 per month. However, year-over-year, the average rent rose 5.45 percent, representing a $196.32 climb. [more]

Andrew Barrocas and the edge

Williamsburg’s the Edge sold 167 units with a median sale price of more than $800,000 in 2012, making it the best selling building in New York City, according to data compiled by Property Shark. This is the second consecutive year that the Edge took the top spot on Property Shark’s list. [more]

The Edge

From the November issue: Residential brokerage MNS is livin’ on the Edge. The company will soon open an office at Douglaston Development’s the Edge, the 500-unit new-construction condo in Williamsburg, MNS CEO Andrew Barrocas told The Real Deal.

MNS has secured 3,000 feet of space for a storefront office at 34 North 6th Street, the south tower of the Edge, Barrocas said. The firm will house 40 brokers in the new office, which is slated to open in January 2013. [more]

The Edge (credit: Brooklyn Paper)

Brooklyn new development sales are on the upswing, with the median price per square foot hitting a historic high, according to an MNS report released today. In the third quarter, total sales volume rose 31 percent over the previous quarter, to a total of $307 million from $232 million.

In addition to total sales volume, the median sales price rose 11 percent to $687,318compared to the previous quarter, and the median price per square foot increased 5 percent, to $723 from $690, in the same period. This is the first time the median price per square foot ticked above $700 since MNS began tracking the numbers, the report says. [more]

Fort Greene studio rents (source: MNS)

The neighborhoods closest to the Barclays Center are seeing the greatest appreciation in average rents as the arena finally nears its long-anticipated opening date. Boerum Hill and Fort Greene saw their average rents increase 3.4 percent and 3.0 percent between August and July 2012, according to the August Brooklyn rental market report released today by MNS. The brokerage’s data also show rents are rising fastest for larger units.

The average rent for two-bedroom units reached $3,083 in August, up 9.2 percent on a year-over-year basis. By comparison, one-bedroom rents rose 7.1 percent to $2,415 and studio rents jumped 6.8 percent to $1,895 over that time frame. [more]

From left: Massey Knakal's Michael Amirkhanian and 77 Commercial Street

Reacting to the rising rental market in Brooklyn, investors purchased more than 1.5 million square feet of residential development space in the borough during the first six months of 2012, almost four times the amount purchased during the same period in 2011, The Real Deal found in an analysis of Massey Knakal Realty Services data.

Investors spent $171 million to buy those 1.5 million square feet this year, while developers paid $55 million during the first six months of 2011 to buy land with just over 400,000 square feet of development rights, the analysis reveals. [more]

321 East 22nd Street

An existing Gramercy rental building recently purchased by Benedict Realty Group will undergo a new marketing push in the coming months, according to an announcement from sales and rental brokerage MNS, which has been selected as the exclusive marketing agent for the building.

Benedict purchased 321 East 22nd Street for $31 million in April, according to news reports, and is now set to renovate the units and rebrand the building. All homes will be renovated as they become available, the announcement said. A spokesperson for Benedict confirmed that 95 percent of the units are currently occupied, with leases set to begin expiring shortly. [more]