251 19th Street and Francis Greenburger

Time Equities has paid $8.1 million for two residential rental buildings in Brooklyn’s Greenwood Heights, city records filed today show. Francis Greenburger, the developer’s chairman and CEO, told The Real Deal that the buildings would be operated as rentals, but could be considered for a condominium conversion in the future. [more]

From left: 114 Fulton Street and Lightstone Group president Mitchell Hochberg

The Lightstone Group has purchased a cluster of three buildings on Fulton Street in Lower Manhattan, as well as air rights for three adjacent properties owned by Time Equities, according to city records. The deal is worth roughly $63 million, sources familiar with the transaction told The Real Deal. Moreover, Lightstone has permission to demolish the three buildings, one source said, and may develop a mixed-use property. According to The Real Deal’s calculations, the development could exceed 300,000 square feet. Meir Milgraum, Lightstone’s director of acquisitions, orchestrated the deal, which had been in the works for several months, a source said. The development site is nestled between Fulton, Nassau, Dutch and John Streets. … [more]

350 Bleecker Street

American Realty Capital New York Recovery REIT Inc. has paid $10.9 million for the long-term master lease — which has 50 years remaining — on a retail and garage space at 350 Bleecker Street in the West Village, the New York Observer reported. The off-market deal for the 14,510-square-foot space closed on Dec. 31, partly in order to avoid the impending increase in capital gains taxes, said Cohen Real Estate’s Michael Cleeman, who represented the buyer. Cohen Real Estate’s Vera Thomas represented the seller, an entity affiliated with Time Equities. The seller had owned the property since the 1970s. The building’s 6,290 square feet of ground floor retail space is fully leased by upscale shoe store JMC Shoes and the only U.S. outlet of European retailer SP Fashions…. [more]

From left: Francis Greenburger, CEO of Time Equities, 125 Maiden Lane and Flock House “Chromasphere,” an exhibit at 125 Maiden Lane.

A program called Art-in-Buildings, which landlord Time Equities launched in the lobby of its building at 125 Maiden Lane nine years ago, will expand to other properties, the Wall Street Journal reported. The new spaces will include 223 West 10th Street, a mixed-use building in the West Village, and 51 Haddonfield Road, in Cherry Hill, N.J., the Journal said.

The program, which puts art on display in commercial and residential buildings in New York, now has a full-time curator, the Journal said. [more]

Brennan Realty Services President Donald Brennan and a rendering of the townhouse he's building at 2 Strong Place

Several developers are planning more than a dozen new townhouses throughout Cobble Hill, the New York Post reported. Because of a lack of supply, the properties can command prices of more than $1,000 per square foot.

Developer Donald Brennan just earned Landmarks Preservation Commission approval to begin construction on three new ground-up townhouses on Strong Place off Kane Street that will range from $3.95 million to $5.95 million ($1,018 to $1,208 per square foot). They’re slated to be finished next year. [more]

Andrew Cuomo and 633 Third Avenue

Time Equities has put Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office space on the market for twice what it paid five years ago, the New York World reported, which lends further speculation to the Empire State Development Corp’s decision to sell the space back in November 2006. [more]

Office condominium sales are on the rise in Manhattan, with particular appeal to foreign business owners, Crain’s reported.
Indeed, 80 percent of sales at Manhattan’s 88 office condos are to
foreign buyers. Office condo sales, which peaked at $235 million in
2008, and dropped to around $150 million in both 2009 and 2010, are on
the rise as investors, particularly in Europe, look to stash their cash.
The average asking price at a Manhattan office condo has rebounded to
$531 per square foot, though before the recession, the average asking
price was $879 per square foot…. [more]

In early 2008, Francis Greenburger’s Time Equities began demolishing three buildings at 50 West Street to make room for a $600 million, 62-story hotel and residential development. A few months later, the development was put on hold as a result of the financial crisis.
“Market conditions were too unstable to proceed at the time,” Greenburger said. “We just secured the site and decided to wait until conditions improved.”
Time’s prospective development was just one of many stalled construction sites on a 650-building list compiled by the city’s Department of Buildings in 2009, Crain’s reported. Now, two years later, construction is recommencing at some of those sites — about 550 sites have restarted in the two years the list has existed, including 111 Kent Avenue and 175 Kent Avenue in Williamsburg — but not as quickly as some might hope. Experts say it may take longer than it did after the last downturn in the early 1990s for all of these projects to get going again. … [more]

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Jahn’s rendering of 50 West Street and developer Francis Greenburger

Developer Francis Greenburger’s Time Equities is putting the kibosh on speculation that a revival of its planned, Helmut Jahn-designed 50 West Street tower is imminent. Yesterday, the developer was reported to have paid $1.5 million to obtain new permits for its $600 million, 65-story hotel and condominium project, which has been shelved since 2008, causing several publications to infer that this signaled the rebirth of one of Lower Manhattan’s largest stalled developments. But contrary to those reports, Time Equities said today that such conclusions are “premature.” Time Equities did obtain new permits at the site, but only because it changed the contractor of record to Skanska after its previous contractor, HRH, decided to pursue a Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation in April, the company said.
– Sarabeth Sanders… [more]

Helmut Jahn’s $600 million hotel and condominium tower at 50 West Street is coming back to life after a three-year hiatus during the downturn. According to the Post, developer Francis Greenburger of Time Equities paid $1.5 million last week to obtain new construction permits for the 714-foot-tall, 65-story project, which is slated to go up south of the World Trade Center site and which had previously been shelved since 2008. Curbed reported yesterday that the Department of Buildings has just issued a new permit at the time to Gruzen Samton Architects, the local architect of record (Jahn is still the design architect). Plans call for a 139-room hotel on floors four through 13 of the building, while floors 14 through 63 will contain 301 condos…. [more]