Burger chain phenom Shake Shack has grand plans for its pending Nolita location at 47 Prince Street on the corner of Mulberry Street. The spot will feature a 30-person rooftop terrace for diners, according to papers recently filed with the Department of Buildings. The Nolita storefront will be the fourth New York City outpost for the chain, whose current locations include 366 Columbus Avenue at West 77th Street, Madison Square Park at the corner of Madison Avenue and East 23rd Street, and Citi Field. The burger chain has made wave this year, with the announcement of its Miami expansion, and the recent rumors of a possible Financial District outpost in the future.

Conventional wisdom tells us that seemingly too-good-to-be-true Craigslist apartments are often just that. But Time Out New York decided to put this theory to the test, visiting the real-life counterparts of some photo-less, dubiously advertised units. The result was surprisingly positive, with just one of the four units examined deemed to be a complete aberration from its promised credentials. The sub-standard apartment in question, a $1,850-per-month one-bedroom with a “bathroom the size of an airplane lavatory” and a “window in the closet; ideal for growing cannabis” was called out for being worse than promised in its ad.

The uncertainty in New York City’s real estate market has left many
prospective buyers and sellers unsure about how to act this summer,
psychologists say. Many sellers who bought at higher points in the
market are reluctant to sell, even if selling could be a good idea,
because they don’t want to admit a mistaken purchase. Buyers are
equally unsure about their purchases. One buyer, actor Hans Tester,
signed a contract for an Upper West Side one-bedroom but continued to
attend open houses elsewhere, anxious about his decision. According to
a Corcoran Group poll, nearly two-thirds of New Yorkers think now is a
good time to buy, but many buyers say worries about job security and
bonuses are still significant concerns. Corcoran broker Debra
Bondy, also a psychotherapist, says she has to do a lot of interpreting
of her clients’ emotions. [more]

Jewelry dealer Mascha Selden has alleged in a lawsuit that Carrie Chiang, senior vice president at the Corcoran Group, has damaged her Upper West Side townhouse. Chiang purchased a brownstone that shares a wall with Selden’s townhouse last October. Chiang began renovating her $4.2 million multi-family property to turn it into a one-family home, and Selden’s lawyers charge that Chiang’s contractors have weakened the wall in Selden’s home and that the walls, floors and ceilings have cracks in them. Chiang’s lawyer said Selden’s building was damaged before the work began on Chiang’s property. [more]

Rents on some of the city’s most prestigious shopping corridors have fallen by nearly a third over the last year, second-quarter retail data from Cushman & Wakefield shows. The sharpest drop was seen on Madison Avenue from 57th to 72nd streets, where average asking rents for first-floor retail fell 31 percent in the second quarter of the year to $745 per square foot from $1,091 per square foot, the firm’s data shows. At the same time, the availability rate grew from 13.4 percent to 15.47 percent. While the rents in most of the six shopping districts covered in the survey declined, one area, Times Square from Eighth Avenue to Broadway and 42nd to 49th streets, saw an increase in average rents from last year. [more]

Howard Margolis discussed the Apthorp at a continuing education class at Touro College.

Now is a good time for deals at controversial Upper West Side condo conversion the Apthorp, said Howard Margolis, executive vice president and managing director at Prudential Douglas Elliman, who heads up sales for the project. Prices have dropped to an average of $1,850 per square foot for a finished apartment, down from $3,000 when the 163-unit building, which spans an entire block between Broadway and West End Avenue on 79th Street, first came on the market in June 2008. The Apthorp narrowly avoided foreclosure in January after lenders Anglo
Irish Bank and Apollo Real Estate demanded that Maurice Mann, the
original sponsor of the condo conversion, pay more than $22 million to
correct a loan imbalance. Mann was replaced as managing agent by
Broadwall Management, and the price cuts represent the latest effort to
kick-start sales at the struggling building. [more]

Although some Upper West Side residents say the Columbus Village
complex looks like it’s on hold, the development’s project manager said
the buildings should be ready for move-in by Memorial Day. The
five-building complex, at Columbus Avenue and 97th Street, will add 710
new rental units to the city, with Prudential Douglas Elliman as the
exclusive marketing and leasing agent. The complex’s pricing and
availability details will be revealed in two weeks, a spokesperson
said. The development has faced harsh criticism from community groups and
the Manhattan borough president, and has faced legal battles over the
legality of the construction and the need for an environmental review. [more]