1511 Third Avenue (credit: PropertyShark)

An Upper East Side preservation group is looking for the city to landmark a commercial building that is home to a Gap and an Equinox gym, DNAinfo reported. [more]

Time Warner Center

Eight years after the Time Warner Center opened, the gamble to build an indoor mall so far west in Manhattan has paid off, the New York Times reported.

The Related Companies, developer of the retail portion called the Shops at Columbus Circle, reports that sales are $1,600 per square foot currently, up from $1,000 in 2007. The rest of the Time Warner Center is made up of offices, residential condominiums, the Mandarin Oriental hotel, CNN’s studios and Jazz at Lincoln Center, which is expected to relocate. [more]

From the December issue: Now that the light bulbs have been changed and the solar power panels have been harnessed, real estate firms in New York are gearing up for Sustainability 2.0.

In fact, just about every big New York firm has some sort of sustainability department or point person: Jones Lang LaSalle, Cushman & Wakefield, CBRE Group, Vornado, Silverstein Properties, the Durst Organization, Malkin Holdings, the Related Companies and SL Green, to name just a few.

And there’s good reason for that. Gone are the days of merely hanging out a sustainability shingle that touts a building owner for being concerned about the environment.

In recent years, investors have started paying closer attention to how green an asset is before deciding whether to pump their own greenbacks into the property. [more]

From left: Yair Levy, Rector Square and 620 Sixth Avenue

Rector Square condominium this past Friday obtained a temporary restraining order on the $500 million sale of the Chelsea building home to Bed Bath & Beyond and other real estate assets connected to Yair Levy, in order to collect on a $7.4 million judgment against the embattled developer.

The suit, filed Dec 16 in New York state Supreme Court, alleges the Levy sold off or illegally transferred his real estate holdings after a court found that he illegally raided the Battery Park building‘s reserve fund.

In June, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman banned Levy from selling real estate in New York after a judge ruled that he illegally spent Rector Square reserve fund money on personal expenses. [more]

Friends of the High Line, the non-profit group that oversees development of the West Side elevated park, has decided to open the final phase up to the public for input on what should grow on the tracks surrounding the Related Companies’ Hudson Yards development in the future, the New York Observer reported.

Until recently, it had not been clear whether the final section of elevated train track would be preserved for the High Line as the city worked to redevelop the site, but the Bloomberg administration and Related have both thrown their weight behind the project.

Friends of the High Line has issued a Request for Proposals on YouTube, inviting interested parties to a meeting tonight to discuss the last phase of the park (see video above). [NYO] [more]

Stephen Ross, chairman of the Related Companies, and the Time Warner Center

The Samsung Experience showroom is departing the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle in January, the New York Post reported, as 10-year leases signed at the center when the project opened begin to expire.

Samsung’s departure from the third floor, as well as the closure of the Borders bookstore space on the second floor, which is now vacant after the chain went bankrupt, leaves building owner the Related Companies with some interesting leasing options, the Post noted. The 10,000-square-foot Samsung space could be combined with the Borders space to create a duplex. [more]

From left: Related CEO Stephen Ross, Greek shipping executive Vasilis Bacolitsas and the Brompton

Lawyers for Related Cos., the developer of the Upper East Side’s Brompton condominium , asked the U.S. Circuit Court yesterday to overturn a lower court ruling under the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act that critics charge would stifle new condo development by forcing sponsors to record sales contracts with city agencies even before a building is constructed.

In September 2010, Related, led by billionaire Stephen Ross, lost a closely watched ILSA case from Greek shipping executive Vasilis Bacolitsas and his wife, Sofia Nicolaudou, one of several buyers that filed suit in 2009 to get their escrow deposits returned at the building, at 205 East 85th Street, after the real estate market crashed. [more]

From the November issue: Three autumns ago, the collapse of Lehman Brothers knocked the wind out of New York’s real estate industry. Home sales flattened. Prices plunged. And, as layoffs mounted, office buildings emptied out. While there have been some spurts of activity, the industry has not gotten back to the highs of the boom. In fact, as the unemployment rate still hovers at an uncomfortably high level, and Wall Street (a once-reliable real estate engine) reports losses, it seems that a complete recovery might be years away.

All the same, there are signs of comebacks — whether they are from developers who once defaulted on mega-loans and seemed like pariahs, or stock prices that have bounced back from the doldrums at some public real estate companies. There are also geographic stretches of the city that had been pocked with empty retail spaces and empty condo buildings, but are now filling up with stores and residents. There are even some bankers who had been caught up in the subprime mess who are now back on the lending scene in a big way. [more]

Related Companies CEO Stephen Ross and President Jeff Blau were on hand at the official announcement that Coach would occupy about 600,000 square feet at the first building the developer plans to construct in its Hudson Yards project on the West Side. Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, as well as executives from bag maker Coach, were present at the event at 30th Street and 11th Avenue this morning. CBRE brokers Mary Ann Tighe and Greg Tosko, represented Coach in the transaction. – Adam Pincus [more]

Stephen Ross, chairman of the Related Companies, and Ruppert playground

The Related Companies is bringing a state-of-the-art cancer treatment center to its Upper East Side development site occupied by a beloved park, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The site, at 205 East 92nd Street between Second and Third Avenues, is currently home to Ruppert Playground, which Related took over in 1983 from the city and agreed to preserve for 25 years. Now that the period has expired and Related is moving forward to develop the site, neighbors are rallying to save the public space (note: correction appended). While Related is in the process of trying to find a suitable compromise with residents of the neighborhood, the firm has exceeded its legal obligation to the playground and can begin development without interference. [more]