Doug Steiner

From the December issue: Douglas Steiner is the president of Steiner Equities Group, a development, management and leasing firm based in Roseland, N.J., specializing in office, industrial and retail development nationwide. He is also head of Steiner NYC, the development firm behind the 50-unit condominium at 58 Metropolitan Avenue in Williamsburg and an upcoming 52-story, 720-unit rental building in Downtown Brooklyn. Steiner also wears another professional hat. He’s chairman of Brooklyn-based Steiner Studios, the largest film and TV production complex on the East Coast. He is currently working on expanding the 300,000-square-foot facility by 328,000 square feet to bring new stages, media offices and classrooms for Brooklyn College students studying film and entertainment. “Spider-Man,” “Sex and the City” and “Boardwalk Empire” are just a few of the productions that have filmed there. [more]

From left: Douglas Steiner and the Brooklyn Navy Yard

Brooklyn has cleared another hurdle on the path to becoming a techcology center set to rival Midtown South, the New York Times reported. The Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation and developer Douglas Steiner have reached an agreement to convert the Naval Annex Historic Campus, the perhaps most neglected section of the Navy Yard, into a media, technology and film hub.

Steiner owns the nearby Steiner Studios, and other investment properties in Brooklyn, and would link the project to his film studio to create a 50-acre tech and media campus, he told the Times. [more]

From left: Steiner Studios Chairman Douglas Steiner and a rendering of the Jardin

Steiner Studios has purchased the Jardin, a 44-unit Williamsburg luxury rental building, for $38 million, Crain’s reported. This marks Steiner’s second residential building acquisition this year alone.

Last month, Steiner Studios paid $24.5 million in cash for a 60-unit Carroll Gardens rental property. The company also purchased a Downtown Brooklyn portfolio of four buildings for $30 million, and has plans to bring a 720-unit rental building to the site. [more]

Steiner Studios Chairman Douglas Steiner and 204 Huntington Street

Steiner Studios paid $24.5 million in cash to land a 60-unit Carroll Gardens rental building, Crain’s reported. The building, at 204 Huntington Street, was sold by an investment team led by Area Property Partners, which acquired it along with an adjacent building at 505 Court Street, that has since been converted into a 124-unit condominium, for $50.5 million. [more]

Brooklyn-based Steiner Studios closed last week on the acquisition of a four-property package with a contract price of $30 million, including 350 Livingston Street in Downtown Brooklyn.

Steiner Studios bought the four properties: a 120,000-square-foot office building at 350 Livingston Street; a vacant lot at 325 Schermerhorn Street; a medical building at 345 Schermerhorn Street and a 20,000-square-foot parking lot at 62-64 Flatbush Avenue, last Wednesday, Ray McKaba, president of the Brooklyn-based seller Nevins Realty, said. He would not comment on the sale price. … [more]

Construction is progressing rather quickly at the new Steiner Studios sound stages for the Brooklyn Navy Yard, slated to be complete next spring, Brownstoner reported. The film and TV studio will add 11 sound stages and 280,000 square feet at Building 1, at 25 Washington Avenue, to its current 310,000-square-foot space at 15 Washington Avenue that includes five sound stages. Within the next 10 to12 years, Steiner expects to have about 6,000 people working at the studio.
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Clockwise from top left: 345 Schermerhorn Street, 325 Schermerhorn Street, 350 Livingston Street (building credits: PropertyShark) and 62 Flatbush Avenue. Center: Paul Massey

[Updated 4:40 p.m.] Massey Knakal Realty Services has filed a lawsuit against Nevins Realty
and its president, alleging he directly negotiated a $30 million sale of
four downtown Brooklyn parcels to Steiner Studios, costing the commercial
real estate brokerage $900,000 in lost commissions.

Massey Knakal, in the suit, filed June 22 in Manhattan Supreme Court,
alleges fraud and breach of contract against Nevins and asked the court for
an injunction to prevent the transfer of the $900,000 commission fee at the
closing, which is scheduled for tomorrow…. [more]

Brooklyn cinephiles will soon have a new academic option. Brooklyn College is set to open a Graduate School of Cinema in the Brooklyn Navy Yard beginning in the fall semester 2013. The school, which will operate inside Steiner Studios’ production lot, will be the first in the country to be incorporated into a professional movie studio. The school, which will offer nine different degree programs, is expected to include roughly 275 students on two floors of 25 Washington Avenue, a seven-story building in the yards. TRD

From left: City Council member Steven Levin with Douglaston Development chairman Jeff Levine and the Steiner Studio party

The Real Deal swung by Williamsburg last week for the “Hardcore House Party” grand opening at Douglaston Development’s the Edge, where the waterfront building’s shiny new amenities — among them, a pool, spa, basketball court and party lounge — were on display. Also last week, The Real Deal hit the Steiner Studios party in the Flatiron District, where film industry players collided with real estate bigwigs to eat, drink and dance among a plethora of go-go dancers.

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Will Smith and 75 Grand Avenue

Actor Will Smith will soon be in town, filming his new “Men in Black 3″ movie at Steiner Studios in Brooklyn. While the film is now only in the pre-production stage, Smith has the opportunity to live for free in a 2,300-square-foot duplex penthouse in a new Mendy Gorodetsky-developed rental building at 75 Grand Avenue in Clinton Hill, the Daily News reported. The apartment has 16-foot-high ceilings and mezzanines, full-aperture windows and European custom cabinetry. In addition to the free accommodations during filming, Gorodetsky is also offering “ensuite meals” delivered by nearby Choice Market and “between-takes chocolate massage treatments” from Clinton Hill’s Body By Brooklyn. No word yet from Smith about accepting the offer. [NYDN, 2nd item]

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