Mortimer Zuckerman and 510 Madison Avenue

[Updated: 8:27 p.m., Aug. 22, 2010 and 2:32 a.m., Aug. 21, 2010] Boston Properties said today that it has agreed to buy Harry Macklowe’s embattled [more]

Some of the top 100, from left: Stephen Ross, Marc Holliday, Andrew Mathias, Mort Zuckerman, Dolly Lenz

The New York Observer has released its list of the 100 most powerful people in New York City real estate, with Stephen Ross, chairman of Related Companies, ousting last year’s number one ranked player, President Barack Obama from the top spot. The list is populated with many long-time real estate bigwigs. SL Green honchos Marc Holliday and Andrew Mathias jointly took the second place title, up from last year’s showing at number seven, while Boston Properties CEO Mort Zuckerman stayed in the third place position. [more]

Boston Properties head Mort Zuckerman

Boston Properties has made its first office building acquisition since its buying spree in 2008, according to the Wall Street Journal, picking up a 30 percent stake in a Washington, D.C. property. But rather than celebrate, industry insiders are pointing to the relatively small size of the deal — Boston Properties is paying just $8.5 million for its portion of the 180,000-square-foot office building — a far cry from the company’s larger boom time purchases. [more]

Robert Hurst, former president of the Whitney Museum of American Art, 950 Fifth Avenue, unit 89

The limestone prewar co-op at 950 Fifth Avenue has only seven units and a reputation as a haven for billionaire bachelors — reportedly single Boston Properties CEO Mort Zuckerman lives there, and bigwigs Dennis Kozlowski, formerly of Tyco, and Jonathan Tisch of Loews Hotel are ex-residents. For a cool $29 million, one newcomer could join the pack. The 12-room duplex that belongs to Robert Hurst, a Goldman Sachs alum and former president of the Whitney Museum of American Art, hit the market today, according to Streeteasy.com. The spread, unit 89, has views of Central Park, a maid’s room and on the second floor, via a limestone staircase, three bedrooms. Hurst, now a managing director at private equity firm Crestview Partners, could not be reached for comment and Brown Harris Stevens’ Alexis Bodenheimer, who is the exclusive agent with the brokerage’s Cathy Franklin, was mum on the listing. TRD [more]

The New York Daily News has hired Cushman & Wakefield to find a new office, according to the New York Observer, away from its digs at 450 West 33rd Street on the corner of 10th Avenue. The paper is reportedly looking for about 120,000 square feet — roughly the same size as its current headquarters — after spending roughly 16 years in its current office. While Michael Burgio was named as the paper’s Cushman broker, the Observer pointed out that this search may just be a scare tactic to garner lower rent from 450 West 33rd’s property manager, Broadway Partners.
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Mortimer Zuckerman

Mortimer Zuckerman, chairman of Boston Properties and publisher of the Daily News, is mulling a possible senate bid, according to the New York Times. Zuckerman, a known Democrat, would be angling for the seat currently occupied by Kirstein Gillibrand, who replaced Hillary Clinton in the post. Although Zuckerman’s possibly candidacy has been kept very hush-hush, inside sources said he’s considering using a poll to test popular support. If he does choose to run, Zuckerman may not be the only Democratic angling for Gillibrand’s seat — Harold Ford Jr., a former congressman from Tennessee, has been widely thought to be launching a campaign soon.

Boston Properties, the real estate investment trust which in 2008 spent a record $2.8 billion on the GM Building and three other Midtown properties from Harry Macklowe’s distressed portfolio, brought good news to its shareholders yesterday. The company’s Board of Directors has declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.50 per share of common stock, the company announced. Boston Properties chairman and CEO Mort Zuckerman recently told CNBC that commercial real estate is doing “reasonably well” in major cities, though minor cities were struggling. TRD

Mort Zuckerman, chairman and CEO of Boston Properties, sat down with CNBC today to discuss his outlook on commercial real estate and whether the national recovery is on its way. While he was somewhat pessimistic about the industry as a whole, he said that there are some pockets of the country that are moving toward stabilization. “The industry in general is in a fairly weakened condition,” Zuckerman said. “In the major cities the commercial real estate is doing reasonably well… in the minor cities they’re having a lot more difficulty.”

From the October issue: Stupid, stupid, stupid cheap.” That’s how low prices have to fall before the commercial real estate market hits bottom, Steven Roth, the chairman of Vornado Realty Trust, predicted earlier this year. In a letter to shareholders in April, the square-jawed mogul confided, “I think we are now at the third and last stupid. Not that he’s buying yet. But in recent months, the 67-year-old real estate titan, along with CEO Michael Fascitelli, the other half of the so-called “Vornado Tornado,” has been building a war chest to go shopping. And when Vornado gets ready to shop, there’s good reason to pay attention.

General Motors’ bankruptcy could have repercussions for Mort
Zuckerman’s Boston Properties, which owns the GM Building. General
Motors’ lease for 101,000 square feet at the GM Building expires in
March 2010, and the company’s 120,000-square-foot lease at another
Boston Properties building, 601 Lexington Avenue — the former
Citigroup Center — began on Monday, and expires in May 2019. GM hasn’t
begun construction on the new space, according to a source familiar
with the building. According to a document Boston Properties filed with
the SEC, GM’s bankruptcy gives it the right to reject the leases at any
time, but Boston could, in turn, file a claim for damages, which would
be subject to the limitations under the bankruptcy laws and
availability of funds to pay creditors. [more]