From left: Faith Hope Consolo, Peter Kozel, Adelaide Polsinelli, Karen Bellantoni, Edward Mermelstein and Robin Abrams

This year was an uneven one for the commercial real estate market in which the volume of sales and leasing improved, but prices remained far below those seen in the boom years. In the sales arena, a number of major properties traded hands at steep discounts, but the overall volume was light. Office leasing activity improved dramatically in 2010 — 50 percent year-over-year in terms of volume — but while prices stabilized, they have not risen much from their low points. The Real Deal spoke to some of New York City’s top real estate pros — from office and retail leasing experts to investment sales specialists to real estate attorneys — to get their views on where the New York City commercial market is headed in 2011. Click here to see what they had to say.
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Sales of office buildings in Manhattan hit $3.7 billion in the first three quarters of 2010, compared to $1.9 billion for all of 2009, according to a report from Colliers International. So far, 19 sales of Manhattan office properties have closed this year, with more than half of them in the third quarter alone, Crain’s reported. However, the sales activity this year represents only a fraction of the level hit in the peak of the market in 2007. Foreign buyers and REITs have been the most active purchasers so far, representing 36 percent and 31 percent of total activity, respectively. “The dollar is down and that makes the U.S. market fairly cheap, from a foreign perspective,” said Peter Kozel, chief economist at Colliers. Regarding the REITs, he said their financial stability has greatly improved since last year after they strengthened their balance sheets and raised equity financing. [Crain's]

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From the December issue: Major lease deals signed at the Boston Properties trophy office building at 399 Park Avenue over the past month seemed to indicate the market was getting a boost. But the latest reports from the city’s commercial brokerage firms show continued slippage in Manhattan office leasing, and those mixed signals make it difficult for brokers to agree on what advice to give their clients. Erik Schmall, a senior managing director at commercial firm Studley, said at the start of the crisis, his firm counseled tenants to hold off on making deals. But that stance has softened recently, and the company believes low-priced space can be had at attractive pricing. “Whether we are at the bottom of the market or really close to it, we feel we are close enough where the quality of the deals we can get probably outweigh any possible further benefit,” he said. [more]