Prudential Douglas Elliman executive vice president Rob Gross, who has been working on 14 West 14th Street for two years.

From the April issue: You can file the bizarre sales situation at 14 West 14th Street under “thanks to the economy. “Rather than sell all their units at post-meltdown discounts, the sponsors of the building decided to sell just one-third of the units. Read: Roughly 20 of the 30 condos will remain in the developer’s hands and be rented out. Because most banks won’t finance buyers in a building where only 33 percent of the units are being sold, the developers, Albert and Robert Dweck, originally said they would sell only to all-cash buyers. Sales started in September. That strategy, not surprisingly, didn’t bear much fruit. No buyers plunked down cash for their apartments out of the gate. But then, after a couple of months, the team finally found a bank, NJ Lenders Corp., willing to finance buyers at the building. [more]

After years of sluggish — or virtually non-existent — sales at Saxa’s the Prime condominium at 333 West 14th Street, between Eighth and Ninth avenues, a late-summer uptick in sales has left the 10-story, nine-unit condo with only one unit left on the market. Why the sudden surge? “I think price has a lot to do with it,” said Michael Katz, RP Miller’s on-site sales associate. His group kicked off a new sales effort at the development a year ago (note: correction appended). Almost immediately after taking the helm, RP Miller slashed asking figures, and invited carolers to sing outside an open house at the project. Two weeks ago, RP Miller & Associates closed on its eighth unit: a 4,000-square-foot, three-bedroom, three-bathroom penthouse with three balconies and a private roof terrace that sold for $4.1 million, Katz said. Back when sales launched in September 2006, the asking price was $9.5 million. It was reduced to $7.5 million in January this year, and then finally to $5.9 million in July. TRD

The home to see the biggest price cut today is a three-bedroom,
four-bath co-op at 1040 Fifth Avenue, according to Streeteasy.com. The
price of the prewar home, apartment 56B, was cut by $1 million, and the apartment is
now on the market for $10.2 million. This is the apartment’s second
price cut, and it is now listed for 21 percent less than its asking
price of $12.9 million when it first went on the market in February.
The Corcoran Group’s Immy Mullin and Ruth Samuels have the listing.
Another home to see a significant price cut today, according to a press
release, is the penthouse at the Prime, at 333 West 14th Street. The
penthouse’s price was lowered by 21 percent, and is now on the market
for $5.9 million, down from $7.5 million. TRD
[more]

The co-founder of the now-defunct brokerage Homestead New York has started his own company. Homestead co-founder Danny Shamooil said he recruited roughly 12 former Homestead agents to work at the new company, Prime New York, which is headquartered in a 1,000-square foot space at 48 Wall Street at William Street. Homestead announced last month that it would cease operations after what Shamooil said was a series of disagreements between him and partner Eli Adahan. Homestead alum Eric Hantman is vice president at Prime, and Jared Scotto is managing director. The company, which is launching its Web site in two weeks, will specialize in residential sales and rentals but will also dabble in commercial leasing, building sales and investment packages, Shamooil said. [more]