New Yorkers looking to purchase a “starter” apartment would be wise to stick to the East Side. Citing Streeteasy.com research, New York magazine reported that competition for selling studios and one-bedroom apartments in the Upper East Side, Lenox Hill, Turtle Bay and Murray Hill is so strong that more than one-third of those units have had their asking prices cut.

Apartments in those neighborhoods linger on the market for 33 to 42 weeks, on average, so owners “have to make their listings more compelling,” said Sofia Song, vice president of research at Streeteasy.com. [more]

Twin, 12.5-foot-wide townhouses on East 78th Street are being marketed as a single unit, despite belonging to two different families, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The Turner and Usdan families, who have lived next to one another on the Upper East Side for more than 30 years, figure the two units are worth more than the sum of their parts. Asking price on the combination of units is $11.95 million.

While the units are mirror images, the similarities end there. One is decorated in a Victorian style, the other is quite modern, the Journal said. [more]

A vital bridge loan from Canyon Capital Realty Advisors for the stalled condominium development at 1355 First Avenue known as the Charles has finally gone through, according to a press release from Canyon. The $25.6 million senior loan for developer Bluerock will enable the $170 million Upper East Side project to “refinance existing debt and to resume pre-development activities,” at the embattled site between 72nd and 73rd streets. The infusion from Los Angeles-based Canyon has been held up by legal issues since last month. Bluerock will retain development firm Victor Homes to get things going at the site, where construction should begin in the next 12 months, according to the release. – Guelda Voien [more]

Bluerock CEO Ramin Kamfar and a rendering of 1355 First Avenue

The developer of a $170 million project to build luxury apartments on the Upper East Side can’t get a new loan because an earlier “white knight” lender now wants a piece of future profits even though its loan at the site has been paid off in full. Bluerock Real Estate’s stalled high-end development known as the Charles at 1355 First Avenue between 72nd and 73rd streets, is being held up because an unidentified lender wants to remain in the deal even though its $5.57 million second mortgage was paid off in full. Developer Bluerock, led by former restaurant impresario CEO Ramin Kamfar, is claiming in a lawsuit filed Oct. 11 in New York State Supreme Court that the lender, known only as Glacier 1355 First Avenue LP, won’t formally cancel the mortgage obligation despite the fact that the note has been paid off. [more]

Several neighborhoods are changing significantly along ethnic and racial lines, the 2010 census reveals, according to news reports. In Bedford Stuyvesant, for example, the population is only 60 percent black, the New York Times reported, down from 75 percent. And in the older Bedford section, blacks have become a minority for the first time in 50 years.

John Mollenkopf, director of the Center for Urban Research at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, attributes the change in the neighborhood to the fall in the crime rate and improvement of subway conditions. [more]

City officials were allowed to enter a townhouse at 312 East 86th Street by court order to make sure the building would be steady during construction for the Second Avenue Subway. The property has been of particular interest to local residents because of the peculiar habits of Phyllis Battista, the longtime owner, according to DNAinfo. [more]

The West Village’s 10014 placed fifth on Forbes’ annual list of America’s most expensive zip codes based on home prices, down from third place last year, with a median of $3.8 million. The Upper East Side’s 10065 came in at number seven, with a median home price of $3.7 million. Soho’s 10012 ranked in the top 10 this year, coming in at number 9, moving up from 18th place last year, with the median home price rising 22 percent to $3.2 million. Last year’s most expensive zip code, 07620 in Alpine, N.J, dropped to fourth place as the median home price there fell 8 percent to $3.8 million. [Forbes]

[more]

From the April issue: There are still plenty of unsold new construction condos in New York City, especially in areas like Midtown, the Financial District and Williamsburg. But brokers say that months of busy sales activity (combined with some sellers taking their units off the market) is creating a shortage of inventory in some hot spots. Indeed, Miller Samuel’s fourth-quarter market report found that Manhattan inventory was down 18 percent from the previous quarter and almost 25 percent over the fourth quarter of 2008. In some neighborhoods, buyers are increasingly frustrated because they can’t find the type of apartment — often resale condos or prewar co-ops — they want. As a result, the competition for those apartments, when they do come on the market, can make the downturn seem like a distant memory. This month, The Real Deal asked brokers to identify the types of Manhattan apartments facing the worst shortages. [more]

From left: 360 Smith Street, 73 Pineapple Street, 303 East 51st Street, Beekman Tower and 189 Schermerhorn Street

From the February issue:Hundreds of dormant construction sites still dot the city, but a
handful of these beleaguered projects are finally seeing new life –
even if it’s not what was once dreamed of for the location. Those that
have seen some type of resolution were able to do so by selling off
their debt at steep discounts, slimming their construction costs or
setting their sights way lower.
This month, The Real Deal tracked down 20 stalled projects
that have seen some type of resolution within the past several months
(see chart after the jump).  [more] [more]

Turns out Robert Ziff’s $10 million purchase at the Trump International Hotel and Tower at 1 Central Park West wasn’t the only big New Year’s deal. Two other deals filed this week cracked that $10 million mark, one at 25 Central Park West and another at 1133 Fifth Avenue. The first, a penthouse unit listed by Stribling & Associates’ Cathy Taub, closed at $10.05 million, about $1.5 million under the asking price, the Observer reported. The second, sold by Eva Weinstein, ex-wife of movie studio chairman Harvey Weinstein, was bought by Tom Bernstein, president of Chelsea Piers, for about $3 million less than the original asking price.