From left: Starwood Capital CEO Barry Sternlicht, RAL Companies CEO Robert Levine, Two Trees founder David Walentas and Brooklyn Bridge Park

Extell Development, Starwood Capital Group and Toll Brothers are just three of the seven high-profile developers vying to build a waterfront hotel and residential complex on Brooklyn Bridge Park, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The Brooklyn Bridge Park board will select among the three aforementioned proposals and ones submitted by Dumbo-based Two Trees, RAL Companies, SDS Procida and Dermot. The developers can build 170 to 225 hotel rooms and 150 to 180 residential units across two buildings no taller than 110 and 55 feet. [more]

David Tepper and a view of the Sagaponack mansion he plans to demolishThis season’s hottest Hamptons real estate trend? Multi-million-dollar teardowns. According to the Post, some of New York’s most deep-pocketed buyers are planning demolitions of some of the East End’s priciest mansions. One such buyer is hedge fund manager David Tepper, who last May picked up a $43.5 million Sagaponack estate from Joanne Dougherty, the ex-wife of former New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, in the Hamptons’ priciest sale of 2010. He’s rented out the home for the summer to billionaire Henry Silverman for $900,000, after which he plans to raze it. David Walentas is also giving his East End mansion one last hurrah before leveling the property. [more]

Two Trees Management has signed a deal with the city’s School Construction Authority to build a 300-seat middle school within its planned Dock Street residential tower, moving ahead a project that’s drawn criticism from the likes of actress Helen Hunt, historian David McCullough and director Ken Burns. According to the Brooklyn Paper, Two Trees, which is run by father-and-son development team David and Jed Walentas, has agreed to pony up the construction costs for the middle school. The facility will be on the Dock Street side of their future 17-story building and is slated for completion in time for the 2014 school year. Comments

In a sign that the credit markets are loosening, two developers have secured $135 million of state-backed construction loans, Crain’s reported. Two Trees Management has closed on a $77 million loan to finance its Clinton Park residential and commercial project at 770 Eleventh Avenue in Hell’s Kitchen, the Brooklyn-based company’s first development in Manhattan, and its largest, at 1.2 million square feet. Landlords Savanna and Monday Properties closed a $58 million loan from private investor PCCP to fund a renovation at 386 Park Avenue South, a 20-story art deco office building in Midtown South. [more]

While David Walentas, owner of Two Trees Management and de facto baron of Dumbo, may spend his fair share of time in Brooklyn, the property owner has made his mark out east, as well. Walentas’ Bridgehampton farm is home to the annual Mercedes-Benz Polo Challenge — and, with an asking price of $95 million, is among the priciest Hamptons listings around. The 115-acre property, which has languished on the market for 21 months, was on display for the New York Observer, which provided a peek inside the lavish property. The farm, which includes a lap pool and equine facilities , includes some of Walentas’ more outlandish decor ideas, including a moose head he’s named “Moosilini.” [NYO]

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While David Walentas, owner of Two Trees Management and de facto baron of Dumbo, may spend his fair share of time in Brooklyn, the property owner has made his mark out east, as well. Walentas’ Bridgehampton farm is home to the annual Mercedes-Benz Polo Challenge — and, with an asking price of $95 million, is among the priciest Hamptons listings around. The 115-acre property, which has languished on the market for 21 months, was on display for the New York Observer, which provided a peek inside the lavish property. The farm, which includes a lap pool and equine facilities , includes some of Walentas’ more outlandish decor ideas, including a moose head he’s named “Moosilini.” [NYO]

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From the February issue:
Thirty years ago, the notion that the largely industrial area at the foot of the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges would one day command some of the highest prices in Brooklyn real estate might have seemed about as plausible as an elephant taking wing. Nowadays, of course, Dumbo is well established as one of Brooklyn’s most sought-after neighborhoods. So much so that it has weathered the real estate downturn better than Brooklyn as a whole — a reality that the few developers planning projects in Dumbo hope continues. In December, the publicly traded luxury home builder Toll Brothers closed on a parcel of land at 205 Water Street where the firm intends to develop a condo with approximately 70 units. Toll paid $8.6 million for the land and hopes to start building by the end of the year. “Dumbo is fairly unique within the Brooklyn market,” said David Von Spreckelsen, a senior vice president with Toll Brothers. “It’s really been holding value better than the other neighborhoods in Brooklyn, and if you look at [condo] resales they’re at really strong numbers.”  [more]

Condominiums in Brooklyn, including BellTel Lofts, One Hanson Place and Oro, still have empty retail spaces. Two of the buildings have lost out on national retailers — BellTel was in discussions with Starbucks, and One Hanson Place lost Borders as a tenant — and now retail brokers are focusing on attracting local tenants. According to Lawrence Lee, vice president with Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Bracha Group, which represents BellTel, said they are looking for a locally owned lounge, restaurant or small grocer. Paul Rich of TerraCRG, who is marketing Oro’s space, said people have approached the company to open a diner or restaurant in the space. And at One Hanson Place, the 15,000-square-foot ground-floor space is being rented for weddings and special events. According to Caroline Pardo, director of leasing at Two Trees Management, “There are definitely more mom-and-pops looking right now than big national tenants.” [Post] and [Post]

From the June issue: Canvassing commercial buildings — the
old-school practice of going office to office to see if tenants need
more or less space — seems to be making a comeback. While commercial
brokers can blast out mass e-mails or pick up their cell phones
whenever they want to check if tenants need more space, some are tired
of waiting around for responses. As a result, they are wearing out
their shoe leather drumming up business the old-fashioned way: face to
face. “Since the economy is in a slump, business has slowed down
drastically, and I’ve been canvassing,” said Sasha Majerovsky, vice
president of Citywide Properties. “Advertising isn’t as effective as it
used to be, and you can’t sit by the phone.” [more]