From left: Steve Kliegerman, president of Halstead Development
Marketing, theToren and Juliana Brown, senior managing director at
Corcoran

BFC Partners Partners has hired the Corcoran Group as the new exclusive sales and marketing agent for the Toren at 150 Myrtle Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn, replacing Halstead Property Development Marketing, BFC announced today. Corcoran took over marketing the project today.
The 240-unit, 37-story condominium is 79 percent sold, with approximately 20 percent of the total sales taking place in 2011, according to BFC. The developer hopes to see the building sell out by the end of the year.
“Developers make these decisions for various reasons,” said Juliana Brown, senior managing director at Corcoran’s Fort Greene office. “Halstead’s been on it for a number of years and [the developers] felt they wanted a fresher face.”
Sales will be headed up by Corcoran sales agents Marco Auteri and Alexander Capoccia. [more]

Halstead Property Development Marketing has sold half the units at Harlem development 88 Morningside in the last year, the company announced yesterday. Sales launched at the 12-story, 73-unit condo by BOS Development, Horsford & Poteat Realty and the Bluestone Organization last June, and the building is now 50 percent in contract or closed. The remaining 32 units range in size from approximately 735 to 1,270 square feet and in price from $415,000 to $880,000. “[Buyers] are seeing the long-term value in buying a luxury residence located right in between Morningside Heights and the ‘gold coast’ of Fredrick Douglass Boulevard — two areas that are booming,” said Stephen Kliegerman, president of Halstead Property development Marketing and of recently announced Terra Development Marketing. — Katherine Clarke [more]

From left: Griffin Court, Alchemy’s Kenneth Horn and Steve Kliegerman,
president of Terra Development Marketing

[Updated at 5.15 p.m.] With sales underway for more than a year, and the building just recently
hitting the 30 percent sold mark, Griffin Court and its developer, Alchemy
Properties have brought in Halstead Property Development Marketing to
help sell the remaining units at the Hell’s Kitchen condominium. The Halstead team, led by Stephen Kliegerman, who The Real Deal recently reported was tapped to be president of Terra Development Marketing, will work alongside Alchemy’s existing sales team, headed up by Wendy Triffon. Alchemy announced the decision yesterday, in its first ever sales and marketing collaboration. Alchemy has been having a tough go of it since launching sales in March 2010 at the 95-unit Griffin Court, offering multiple incentives. [more]

A former vice president and director at Brown Harris Stevens has been named director of sales for Brooklyn at sister company Halstead Property, Halstead announced today.

Starting July 11, Trish Martin will manage Halstead’s offices in Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill and Boerum Hill with a goal of enhancing the presence of the firm in the borough.

Martin is replacing Roberta Benzilio, who has been promoted to executive director for Terra Development Marketing, a new company overseeing new developments for Halstead and Brown Harris. TRD
[more]

South Harlem is seeing a considerable residential boom, due in part to
the recent influx of higher-end retail businesses, the New York Times
reported, with new condo development the Douglass,
on the corner of West 114th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard,
the latest luxury addition to the neighborhood. The region, which the
Times defined as Frederick Douglass Boulevard between West 110th Street
and West 138th Street, is seeing asking prices akin to those in
Downtown Brooklyn and Fort Greene, according to Stephen Kliegerman,
executive director of development marketing at Halstead Property. While
the price per square foot in the region is around $600 to $700, down
from $800 during the pre-recession high, the neighborhood has remained
more stable than others in Manhattan during the market downturn,
according to Kliegerman, and has outperformed many analysts’
expectations. [more]

Steve Kliegerman, executive director of development marketing at Halstead Property, and Central Park Plaza at 1851 Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard in Harlem, which just gained FHA approval today

A temporary move to ease lending standards by the Federal Housing Administration has fueled hopes of a turnaround in New York’s residential housing market, as condominium developers have struggled to get financing for new buyers and fill thousands of unsold units.

Earlier this month, the agency announced that starting Dec. 7, it will lower the FHA pre-sale requirements for new condo buildings to 30 percent from 50 percent. In addition, the FHA will guarantee loans for 50 percent of a condo building’s units if the project meets strict underwriting standards.

“It completely changes the face of the New York City real estate market,” said Gary Goldman, president of National Condo Advisors, a Westchester-based firm that helps developers qualify for end-loan financing. “Now all these new construction buildings have a shot at getting some units closed.” [more]