Long Island City-based brokerage Modern Spaces has picked up its first ever Brooklyn assignment, CEO Eric Benaim told The Real Deal. The firm was appointed the new exclusive sales and marketing team for a 13-unit condominium development at 91-93 Metropolitan Avenue in Williamsburg by developer G&L Realty, taking over for Tom Le, Dennis McCarthy and Stanley Krauze of the Corcoran Group.

Modern Spaces has dubbed the condo, formerly known as 268 Wythe, the Louver House.

“It needed a new identity and a brand,” Benaim said of the building, whose new name reflects the vertical louvers, or shutters, which characterize the unusual MDIM Architects-designed exterior of the property. “The vertical louvers accent the building’s façade.” – Katherine Clarke [more]

From left: Catherine Harding, Susan James, Patricia Vance, Lauren Muss and Vickey Barron

Sources: Streeteasy.com and The Real Deal

Footnotes: Data is for closed deals filed with the city this week through Friday. The chart only includes sellers’ brokers, because buyers’ brokers’ names are not available in city data or listings. The data does not include deals in contract. To obtain broker information, listing information was compared with sales records filed with the city. Only deals where an individual broker and address can be identified are included. As a result, private sales, listings where an address has not been provided and new development sales by a sales center are not included.

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Hall Willkie, president of Brown Harris Stevens, and the Laureate

Demand for luxury condominiums in Manhattan has been driving an improved rate in closed sales in the third quarter, according to preliminary data, the Wall Street Journal reported.
With only three days left in the quarter, there have so far been 150 recorded closed sales at $4 million or more, including 18 at the Laureate, the Stahl Organization’s 70-unit condominium on West 76th Street and Broadway, the Journal said. Sales of expensive co-ops were also strong during the quarter.

“There has been a real uptick for properties of that size and price range,” said Hall Willkie, president of Brown Harris Stevens, which manages sales at the Laureate. “This is a difficult time in the economy, but if properties are priced well in New York they sell.”
Pamela Liebman, president of the Corcoran Group, said she is seeing a phenomenal growth in demand for luxury residents in comparison with properties on the lower end. [more]

From left: Eli Braha of Berkley, Ariel Brenner of Corcoran, Debra LaChance of Corcoran, Eric Roth of Brick Realty, Robert Toshi Chan and the Flatiron Hotel

Berkley Acquisitions, led by investor and apparel executive Eli Braha, filed a $30 million lawsuit against the owners of the Flatiron Hotel, alleging they reneged on a deal to sell the troubled property to them.
The Aug. 16 lawsuit, filed in New York state Supreme Court, alleges the owners — led by investor John Mei — committed fraud, fraudulent misrepresentation and fraudulent concealment and seeks to force them to perform on the sales agreement.
The lawsuit alleges that Berkley entered negotiations with Ariel Brenner, an agent and senior associate at the Corcoran Group, in February 2011, and spent two months negotiating a deal to buy the hotel, located at 1141 Broadway.
Berkley attorneys said the firm submitted an offer in April 2011 to buy the property for $30.2 million in cash, which was signed by Mei, a managing member of Main Team Hotel, the leading firm behind the owners of the property. [more]

From the August issue: A sudden flurry of New York City brokers are setting up shop in Florida, hoping to cash in on a housing market making strides toward recovery.

In the last six months, commercial brokerage Robert K. Futterman & Associates and residential firm Prudential Douglas Elliman have both dipped their toes into the Sunshine State market with new Miami offices. They’re joining the Corcoran Group and Brown Harris Stevens, which already have offices in Florida.

“Miami seems to be one of the most vibrant places in the U.S. right now, especially in terms of foreign investment,” said Robert Futterman, founder of the eponymous retail firm. [more]

All 69 units at Williamsburg’s Wythe Confectionary at 390 Wythe Avenue have been rented after just four months on the market and tenants have moved in, the Corcoran Group, which marketed the property, announced today. The loft-style units rented for an average of $48 per square foot.

According to data from Streeteasy.com, a 451-square-foot studio unit in the former candy factory rented for $1,850 per month while a 923-square-foot, two-bedroom penthouse was rented for $4,700 a month.

It was the quality of the restoration by developer Caro Enterprises that sealed the deal for many prospective renters, said Christine Blackburn, a senior vice president at Corcoran who marketed the property with fellow agent Lior Barak. – Katherine Clarke [more]

David Stevens, chief executive of the Mortgage Bankers Association, and Richard Smith, CEO of Realogy

Housing market experts remain divided over the Obama administration’s proposal yesterday to sell government-owned foreclosed properties and convert them to rentals. The administration’s suggestion would involve teaming up with private-sector partners, who may be willing to purchase pools of similar properties for conversion, in order to clear the foreclosure backlog and meet increasing demand for rental units. Yesterday’s request for information by the government, was primarily aimed at potential investors, the Journal said.
Solutions that rely on investors to clear the overhang of foreclosures have “extraordinary value,” said David Stevens, chief executive of the Mortgage Bankers Association, who previously served as the commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration.  [more]

Extensive water damage at a Williamsburg condo could require $1.15 million in repairs, Curbed reported.The building, at 91-93 Metropolitan Avenue, formerly known as 268 Wythe, was first put on the market in 2009, but never closed any sales. According to a Curbed tipster, shoddy construction might be the culprit. An inspection earlier this year found “pinholes through the walls… observed to be leaking water,” a report obtained by the blog says. In addition, the balcony ceilings allegedly aren’t water-tight, causing icicles to develop where lighting fixtures are supposed to be. “With no means of escape, water will infiltrate the building envelope at all possible openings into the building interior,” according to the report, which goes on to recommend repairs to the roof, balconies, indoor common spaces, plumbing and elevator. Tom Le, Dennis McCarthy and Stanley Krauze of the Corcoran Group are handling sales at the building, where prices range from $625,000 to $769,000 for available units. Four apartments are currently in contract, according to Streeteasy.com. A representative for the building declined to comment to Curbed. [Curbed] [more]

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]

Sales price for market-wide Brooklyn apartments (source: the Corcoran Group)

The Brooklyn residential market may have made inroads in its recovery thanks to a surge in new development transactions, but sales are still down in Queens as the borough continues to feel the impact of the expiration of the homebuyer tax credit, according to separate second-quarter residential sales market reports for the two boroughs released today by Prudential Douglas Elliman and the Corcoran Group.

Overall, prices saw moderate quarterly increases in Brooklyn, with sales remaining at about the same level as last year, the Elliman report, prepared by Miller Samuel, shows.

The overall median sales price increased 3.7 percent to $480,000 from $463,000 in the second quarter of 2010.
Luxury sales, the upper 10 percent of all sales, mostly in new developments, propelled overall sales volume with the lower limit of the top 10 percent of all sales reaching $969,000. The median sales price for a luxury property was $1.3 million, up 14 percent since the second quarter of 2010. [more]