From left: Starwood Capital CEO Barry Sternlicht, RAL Companies CEO Robert Levine, Two Trees founder David Walentas and Brooklyn Bridge Park

Extell Development, Starwood Capital Group and Toll Brothers are just three of the seven high-profile developers vying to build a waterfront hotel and residential complex on Brooklyn Bridge Park, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The Brooklyn Bridge Park board will select among the three aforementioned proposals and ones submitted by Dumbo-based Two Trees, RAL Companies, SDS Procida and Dermot. The developers can build 170 to 225 hotel rooms and 150 to 180 residential units across two buildings no taller than 110 and 55 feet. [more]

The Dillon, a 83-unit condominium at 425 West 53rd Street between Ninth and 10th avenues, rolled out two red carpets for brokers last night to debut its townhouse units and showcase its penthouses (see photos above).


Developed by SDS Procida and marketed by Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group, the Dillon is 60 percent sold, including one of the nine townhouses, according to a spokesperson for the project. The available units range from a 565-square-foot studio priced at $595,000, to a four-bedroom townhouse spanning 2,750 feet and priced at $4.15 million. The six-story building hit the market in May 2010.

Nina Freudenberger, founder of the interior design firm Haus Interior, made an appearance to show off the interiors she designed, followed closely by cameras from the HGTV reality television series, “Real Designing Women,” on which she will star. Comments

From left: Joseph Sitt, CEO of Thor Equities, Faith Hope Consolo, chairman of retail leasing at Prudential Douglas Elliman, Louis Greco, principal at SDS Procida, and Paula Del Nunzio, senior vice president at Brown Harris Stevens

Impending doom or exaggeration by media spin doctors? While economists remain divided over the long-term implications of the Standard & Poor’s treasury bond downgrade for U.S. residential and commercial real estate, New York City’s real estate pros are keeping upbeat. The Big Apple, they said, is the best place to weather the storm.
S&P downgraded the U.S. credit rating from AAA to AA+ Aug. 5, after much debate in Congress over raising the nation’s debt ceiling. The downgrading of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac soon followed.
The Real Deal talked to some of the city’s most well-known brokers and developers in the wake of these events to find out whether they were shocked by the downgrade and what effect they expect it to have on their livelihoods.
While they disagreed on the immediate impact the downgrade might have on market activity and whether or not we’re headed for full-scale economic Armageddon, they all agreed there wasn’t a better city than New York in which to watch the action unfold. Click here to see what they had to say. [more]

Developer SDS Procida couldn’t have asked for better weather to show off the last three penthouses at the Richard Meier-designed On Prospect Park.

Brilliant sunshine and cooling breezes greeted visitors last night to the glass and steel tower at 1 Grand Army Plaza (though the wind did cause quite a few cocktail napkins to disappear). Brokers and potential buyers wandered through three newly unveiled penthouses — all pure white in typical Meier fashion — with floor-to-ceiling windows and private terraces. (See party pics above.)
[more]

  
From left: 1600 Broadway, Cipriani Club Residences and 555 West 23rd Street

From the March issue:One in every 13 homes is in pre-foreclosure. Half are listed for rent or sale. This predicament isn’t taking place in the outer boroughs. It’s happening in Manhattan at a luxury condo. The building is one of dozens in Manhattan where multiple owners have fallen behind on their mortgages. This month, The Real Deal put together a top 10 list of buildings in Manhattan with the most units that received a pre-foreclosure filing in the last year. [more]

[more]

From left: 360 Smith Street, 73 Pineapple Street, 303 East 51st Street, Beekman Tower and 189 Schermerhorn Street

From the February issue:Hundreds of dormant construction sites still dot the city, but a
handful of these beleaguered projects are finally seeing new life –
even if it’s not what was once dreamed of for the location. Those that
have seen some type of resolution were able to do so by selling off
their debt at steep discounts, slimming their construction costs or
setting their sights way lower.
This month, The Real Deal tracked down 20 stalled projects
that have seen some type of resolution within the past several months
(see chart after the jump).  [more] [more]

Construction has resumed at the troubled development Be@Schermerhorn, after being purchased by Jamestown Properties, an Atlanta-by-way-of-Germany real estate investment firm, in November. Meanwhile, sales have been completed at 90 First Place in Carroll Gardens, according to a press release sent today from developer the Brody Group, which built the brownstone conversion project, and its exclusive marketing firm Halstead Property, and groundbreaking on the new Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park on Roosevelt Island has been scheduled for Jan. 2010, thanks in part to a $10 million gift awarded today from the Alphawood Foundation of Chicago. Click here for more. TRD [more]

189 Bridge is now partly rental

From the November issue: Like many other development firms, the Clarett Group rode the wave of
the real estate boom expertly, building successful condos in Manhattan
and other markets across the country. Like a host of other developers,
however, the company hit a damaging riptide in Downtown Brooklyn. A few
months ago, Clarett’s condo, the Forté, went back to its lender,
Eurohypo AG. The move was the most boldface example thus far of the
difficulties developers have encountered selling condos in Downtown
Brooklyn, generally defined as the section of the borough bounded by
Nassau Street to the north, Ashland Place to the east, Schermerhorn
Street to the south and Court Street to the west. That catch zone
encompasses several micro-neighborhoods, including the western edge of
Fort Greene. Several big developers are feeling pain in the saturated
area, which has been generating a lot of attention lately because three
new luxury rental towers are preparing to launch. [more]

Matt Bronfman, COO of Jamestown Properties and be@Schermerhorn

Jamestown Properties has purchased the mortgage for be@Schermerhorn at 189 Schermerhorn Street in Downtown Brooklyn. The asset management company, which has headquarters in Atlanta, Ga. and Germany, said that it was in a unique position to invest in the 246-unit condominium, developed by SDS Procida and scheduled to be completed early next year. The building, which is between Smith and Hoyt streets, will definitely be going condo, not rental, according to the spokesperson, despite speculation otherwise. The Real Deal reported in its November issue that the condo’s sales figures were lagging, while other media outlets reported this month that the development was 90 percent vacant. “We are committed to the Brooklyn market,” Matt Bronfman, COO of Jamestown Properties, said in a statement released today. “We believe our ability as a highly liquid investment company, coupled with the seasoned market knowledge of SDS Procida, will deliver a successful project.” [more]