Dollar volume and number of properties sold (source: Massey Knakal Realty Services)

Manhattan investment sales last year declined as the year wore on as sellers decided not to place properties on the market, even as the total amount sold far outpaced 2010, executives at investment firm Massey Knakal Realty Services said.

There were $21.7 million in investment property trades in 2011, up 87 percent from the $12 billion in 2010. But investment sales in the fourth quarter were just $5 billion, down from the $6.1 billion in the third quarter and $8 billion in the second quarter, the firm reported at a year-end market briefing this morning. [more]

Helen Hwang, an executive vice president at Cushman & Wakefield, Aaron Jungreis, president at Rosewood Realty Group, James Nelson, a partner at Massey Knakal Realty Services, David Schechtman, senior director at Eastern Consolidated

Compiled by Adam Pincus
Brokers broadly expect next year to be an improvement over 2011 in New York City’s investment sales market, although concerns about the global economy and financial services layoffs create uncertainty, and that puts a drag on activity. This year, total investment sales are expected to end up at about $25 billion, far ahead of the $14.5 billion in 2010. The Real Deal talked to a series of brokers about what they expect for the new year. [more]

From left: Robert Knakal and Jeff Sutton From the December issue: Sometimes, the Penn is mightier than the sword — at least when it comes to New York City’s real estate elite. The roster of “Wharton Mafia” — those who have graduated from the real estate program at the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania — is long and illustrious.

The school — which now has a center named for billionaire investor Sam Zell and his late business partner — has churned out heavyweight grads like Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump, William Mack, Richard Mack, Jeff Sutton, Andrew Isikoff, Jeff Blau, Robert Knakal, Andrew Mathias, David Brause and Ara Hovnanian.

The schooling can prove professionally transformative. For every heir like Trump or Mack who gains some polish, there are others with fewer — if any — connections who gain the New York real estate world partly through Wharton. [more]

The Associated Builders and Owners of Greater New York held its 101st annual dinner dance to honor achievements and contributions from notable members of New York City’s real estate community last night. About 200 members filled the ballroom of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Battery Park City to take part in the celebration.

This year’s honorees were: Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly as Public Servant of the Year; George McDonald, founder of the DOE Fund, as Jerome Belson Humanitarian of the Year; Fred Harris, senior vice president of AvalonBay Communities, as Development Company of the Year; and Massey Knakal Realty Services Chairman Robert Knakal for leading the Brokerage Company of the Year. – Marc Becker [more]

From the November issue: Commercial real estate brokers Faith Hope Consolo, Robert Knakal and Stephen Siegel are well-known personalities in New York City real estate. But thanks to bookstore shelves, Kindles and Amazon.com, they’ll soon be introduced to a much larger audience.

The three Manhattan brokers are featured in a new book, released in September by Domus Publishing, called “Brokers Who Dominate: 8 Traits of Top Producers.” For just $24.99, readers can now learn the secrets and stories of real estate professionals from across North America.

The book’s author is Rod Santomassimo, the founder and president of Massimo Group, a real estate coaching and consulting firm based in North Carolina. In an interview with The Real Deal, Santomassimo said he came up with the idea for the book after being constantly asked for the secret to success in the real estate world. Rather than try to summarize it himself, he asked 23 top commercial brokers to do it for him. [more]

Manhattan investment sales by quarter (source: Massey Knakal)

New York City investment sales fell a sharp 25 percent in the third quarter from the prior three-month period, but commercial property trades are still expected to top 2010 activity and reach $24 billion by the end of the year, executives at brokerage firm Massey Knakal Realty Services said.

Total third-quarter sales in the city hit $6.5 billion, down from $8.7 billion in the second quarter of the year, according to figures the company released at its quarterly media briefing in Midtown this morning. For the first nine months of the year, commercial property sales including multi-family, office, retail and development, reached $19.2 billion citywide, the firm reported.

But Robert Knakal, the company’s chairman, did not see the quarterly falloff as a permanent pullback. [more]

From the September issue: In the last few weeks, as many of the city’s big banks have been besieged by bad news, and the stock market has seesawed sharply in a short span of time, the question on many analysts’ minds is: Could a new round of pain on Wall Street trickle down to New York’s already vulnerable commercial and residential real estate markets?

Indeed, the thinking goes, the financial services industry and its numerous offices keep commercial occupancy rates high in Manhattan, while its well-paid executives buoy the high-end residential market. Meanwhile, its lower-rung workers drive demand for rental units, sources say. Wall Street has served as an economic engine of the city for decades,
ever since major manufacturing and energy companies — like Mobil, Exxon
and chemical company Union Carbide — abandoned their New York
corporate headquarters in the 1970s and 1980s for other (cheaper)
addresses. [more]
[more]

From left: Adam Spies, Robert Knakal, Woody Heller, Richard Baxter and Harry Krausman

Sources: CoStar Group, PropertyShark.com and The Real Deal.
Footnotes: Sales data is for Manhattan deals published on the city property record site Acris in September and provided by PropertyShark.com. Brokers and additional information is from CoStar Group and The Real Deal.

The top commercial deal to be recorded in city property records in September
was JPMorgan Chase Asset Management closing on the $719 million acquisition of the 14-story office and commercial building
200 Fifth Avenue, (part of the former International Toy Center buildings),
PropertyShark.com data shows. Eastdil Secured’s Adam Spies and Douglas
Harmon brokered the sale (see chart above). The purchase drove much of the
monthly total transfer value, which was $2.9 billion in commercial deals reported
on the city property record site Acris, an analysis of PropertyShark.com figures
show. [more]

From left: Kenneth Krasnow of CB Richard Ellis, Daniel Hagan, Cory Rosenthal, Michael Wlody, Robert Knakal and
Paul Massey, all of Massey Knakal and Steven Spinola of REBNY

Massey Knakal Realty Services paid a $4,000 penalty to resolve a complaint brought by the New York State Department of State that alleges that the influential commercial brokerage firm violated the state’s real estate licensing laws.

In the agreement finalized last Thursday, Massey Knakal CEO Paul Massey and chairman Robert Knakal each agreed to pay $2,000 in fines after admitting that Kenneth Krasnow, former managing director of the Brooklyn office, was not licensed while managing real estate agents, and that three other company officers were licensed as salespersons, not brokers, as required by the law.

The agreement, known as a consent order, says, in part: “By allowing respondent Krasnow to act as a broker in a supervisory role without insuring that he was property licensed, [Massey and Knakal] failed to properly supervise respondent Krasnow, and [has] violated [state law].” The fines have been paid, the document says. [more]

From left: Kenneth Krasnow of CB Richard Ellis and Daniel Hagan, Cory Rosenthal, Michael Wlody, Robert Knakal and Paul Massey, all of Massey Knakal

The New York State agency tasked with overseeing real estate licenses, the
Department of State, served commercial real estate firm Massey Knakal Realty
Services this week with a complaint alleging violations including failure to
supervise a former managing director of the Brooklyn office and for failing to
properly license three corporate officers as real estate brokers, according to the
complaint provided by the agency (see complaint below).

The complaint seeks penalties including the revocation or suspension of the
company’s licenses held by Paul Massey, the CEO, and Robert Knakal, the chairman, as well as fines, although
an amount was not stated. Insiders noted that despite the complaint stating a
demand for a revocation or suspension of licenses, the actual penalties often
wind up being far less severe.

Massey Knakal, founded in 1988 by Massey and Knakal, has one of the largest
investment sales forces in the city with 76 brokers, agents and associates and
earlier this year branched into retail leasing and commercial mortgage brokerage, with additional personnel.

The complaint follows an investigation opened after a February 2011
article in The Real Deal reported that Kenneth Krasnow, then the company’s
managing director of the Brooklyn office, did not hold a real estate license in New
York.

The complaint, dated May 9, 2011, but served Aug. 1 alleges that Krasnow was
managing director of the Brooklyn and Queens offices despite not holding a
license between Oct. 6, 2008 and Feb. 14, 2011. An individual who supervises
agents in brokerage matters is required to have a real estate license, according
to the DOS.

In addition, the state’s inquiry discovered that three individuals — Daniel Hagan,
vice president of special assets; Cory Rosenthal, vice president of executive
operations; and Michael Wlody, CFO — held corporate offices at Massey Knakal
with salesperson’s licenses, not brokers’ licenses, as required. Hagan, Rosenthal and Wlody weren’t immediately available for comment.

“By allowing respondent Krasnow to act as a broker in a supervisory role without
being properly licensed, respondent Knakal and respondent Massey have…
demonstrated untrustworthiness and/or incompetency,” the agency complaint
said, following standard language used in such documents.

The next step in the process is a hearing, but a spokesperson for the state did
not immediately know if a date had been set.

Knakal referred questions to Massey, who declined to comment. Krasnow did not
immediately respond to a request for comment.

In June 2010, the DOS fined the Corcoran Group $70,000 for allowing 79 brokers and agents to work despite licensing irregularities. Since
2009, the state has fined firms more than $200,000.

In May, CB Richard Ellis announced that Krasnow was tapped to lead its offices
in Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale. CBRE did not immediately
respond to a request for comment.

Massey Knakal DOS complaint [more]