At peak, 51 percent of the buyers at the 505 at 505 West 47th Street had cases in federal court to rescind their contracts.

From the December issue: At peak, buyers of 55 out of 108 units (51 percent) at the 505 at 505 West 47th Street had cases in federal court to rescind their contracts, which were worth a combined $43.1 million. Six have since dropped their cases, and three have closed on their units (one received a 3.5 percent discount). The plaintiffs claimed Parkview, headed by Ian Reisner and Mati Weiderpass, failed to provide the property report required under the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act. After Parkview realized its mistake, the buyers claim it filed an amendment to the offering plan in an attempt to exempt itself from the law by removing eight units and combining another two, so the initial offering plan would only be comprised of 99 units. Developers across the city are fighting to keep buyers in contracts — but 20 condos and co-ops are facing a particularly tough time. Click here to read about the rest.

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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.”

With Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov reportedly in talks to purchase the New Jersey Nets — and subsequently help finance Bruce Ratner’s massive Atlantic Yards development — the owners of high-end Brooklyn condos are vying for his attention. The managers of two properties, one the famous $25 million Clock Tower penthouse at One Main Street in Dumbo and the other a $7.5 million Brooklyn Heights penthouse at One Brooklyn Bridge Park, got in touch with Prokhorov’s representatives this week to pitch units to him for purchase, the New York Post reported. The developers of both properties referenced the Russian oligarch’s love of parties as a main selling point for their respective penthouses. “You don’t get any better than a 1,000-square-foot roof deck … to hold parties,” Ian Levine, COO of RAL Companies, which manages the 4,638-square-foot One Brooklyn Bridge Park spot, said. But David Walentas, developer for the Clock Tower spot, said that his place is unrivaled in its party appeal. “The second I heard Prokhorov was buying the Nets, I knew this space was made for him because he’s known for throwing some incredible parties,” Walentas said. There is no word yet on whether Prokhorov has picked a favorite, or if he’s even planning to move to Brooklyn.

The Forte in Fort Greene

From the October issue: Few buyers who bought fancy condos in the last few years could have
predicted that their building would end up as a poster child for the
failed real estate market in the city. But at some buildings that’s
exactly what’s happened. Satian Pengsathapon, who is 30 and works in the advertising industry,
purchased a unit in the Forté tower partly because he liked that the
well-known architecture firm FXFowle designed the building. And having
gone to school at the nearby Pratt Institute, he was also a fan of the
neighborhood, Fort Greene. “I haven’t had buyer’s remorse,” Pengsathapon said. “If anything, I wonder why people aren’t buying in this building.”

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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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One Brooklyn Bridge Park and former Jets player Curtis Martin

Former New York Jets player Curtis Martin is reportedly reconsidering purchasing a
4,368-square-foot triplex penthouse at One Brooklyn Bridge Park. Martin
originally looked at and dismissed the $7.25 million seven-bedroom unit
two years ago, when it was Brooklyn’s most expensive apartment. The
borough’s most expensive unit now is a $25 million penthouse in Dumbo.
Martin will be hosting an NFL opening weekend party in One Brooklyn
Bridge Park’s screening room this Sunday.  [Post]

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Some developers are offering a portion of their condo units for rent in an attempt to fill apartments during the recession. The New York Times looks at One Brooklyn Bridge Park, where 77 of 438 units have closed and 26 more are in contract. Robert Levine, president of RAL Companies and developer of the project, said many apartments in the project have remained empty because buyers are having trouble selling their current apartments and financing the purchase of new ones. The building has started to accept renters, the first of whom moved in this month. But while renting out apartments can help developers through tough times, buildings with a high proportion of renters can be less attractive to potential buyers, brokers and apartment owners said. Appraiser Jonathan Miller, president and CEO of Miller Samuel, said, though, that there is less long-term impact on apartment values when apartments are rented than when they are left vacant. [more]

Clockwise from left: Joseph Moinian, Sam Chandan, David Von Spreckelsen, Robert Levine, Jeffrey Levine and David Lowenfeld spoke at the New York Real Estate Summit yesterday.

Deep price drops and buyers bent on negotiation are trends in all of New York City’s boroughs, but residential developers say they are seeing distinct variations by neighborhood in the magnitude of price drops and the number of deals that make it to closing. “We have found a difference in neighborhoods in terms of closings,” said Robert Levine, president and CEO of RAL Companies & Affiliates, at a residential market panel at yesterday’s New York Real Estate Summit, hosted by The Real Deal columnist Michael Stoler. The Real Deal was a sponsor of the event. [more]

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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