June 02, 2009 12:33PM
By Gabby Warshawer
A visit to Boymelgreen Developers' Web site gives the impression that
the firm, founded by Shaya Boymelgreen, is one of the most powerful
real estate companies in New York — and a major player on the global
stage. The site notes that "in just over a decade, Mr. Boymelgreen has
transformed his family business into one of the largest and most active
development companies in New York City and a powerful global
development and investment firm."
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June 02, 2009 12:08PM
By Melissa Dehncke McGill
With few deals to latch onto, brokers have started paying much
closer attention to first-time buyers and are now giving them first-class status. In this month's Q & A, brokers told The Real Deal that
first-time buyers now constitute anywhere from 30 to 70 percent of all
of their clients. That's a jump from 15 to 50 percent from before the
credit crunch.
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June 02, 2009 12:04PM
By Catherine Curan
Since opening her eponymous millinery shop in Nolita 10 years ago, Lisa Shaub has witnessed the euphoria of a trendy district on the rise. But now she's watching the fall. Shaub says she has never seen business conditions as rough — or vacancy rates as high — in Nolita as they are now. Three storefronts just south of her shop at 232 Mulberry Street are available.
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May 27, 2009 06:22PM
By Candace Taylor
These days, one or two buyers can make or break an entire project by
helping developers reach crucial benchmarks in the selling process. In
response, sponsors are doing everything in their power to win over
these tipping-point buyers.
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May 29, 2009 06:23PM
By Candace Taylor
Robert A.M. Stern is dean of the Yale School of Architecture in New
Haven, Conn., and founder of Robert A.M. Stern Architects, where he
personally directs each project.
The firm designed 15 Central Park West, the limestone condominium
where total sales topped $2 billion, making it the most successful
apartment building in the world.
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June 01, 2009 09:33AM
By Michael Stoler
In the boom years of 2006 to 2007, investment bankers and financial
services firms were making the big bucks. Any way you look at it, the
numbers were fat, with big bonuses, high expense accounts and very high
rents for office space, especially in Class A office buildings in the
Plaza District.
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May 29, 2009 06:32PM
By James Gardner
On a recent trip to Chicago, I was struck once again by the profound
difference in the way Chicagoans and New Yorkers consume architecture.
For our Midwestern brethren, architecture is a way of life and a source
of ongoing pride. The charming boutique hotel in which I stayed, the Burnham, was
actually named in honor of the architect who conceived the building
over a century ago, Daniel Burnham, the man responsible for our own
Flatiron Building.
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May 27, 2009 06:19PM
By Sarah Ryley
In many of America's most popular destinations, from the beaches of
South Florida to the Las Vegas strip, "ghost towers" — empty or near
empty buildings — mark the skyline, mere shells of their developers'
failed ambitions. The perfect storm of plunging property values, frozen credit
markets and excess supply in certain real estate submarkets is stalling
many newly built projects. That raises the question: Is New York City,
late to the real estate downturn that has plagued the rest of the
country, due to be haunted, too?
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June 02, 2009 12:15PM
By Katherine Dykstra
Walk down Main Street in East Hampton Village and there is little sign
that times have been tough on commercial landlords. J.Crew just
expanded into a 5,000-square-foot store at 14 Main Street. Tommy
Hilfiger recently opened at 69 Main Street. Michael Kors is opening up
at 48 Main Street. And Hermès is coming to 63 Main Street. "New this year we have Brooks Brothers right beside us at 54 Main,"
said Judi Desiderio, CEO and president of Town and Country Real Estate
in East Hampton Village. And Brooks Brothers has some high-profile
neighbors. "On the other side is Dylan's Candy store, owned by Ralph
Lauren's daughter Dylan. Next to her is Gucci," said Desiderio.
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June 01, 2009 11:47AM
By Adam Pincus
The Downtown office market, a hot topic at a major summit held last
month on the World Trade Center site, has held up better than the other
two Manhattan markets in the current recession, but experts said that
will change as beleaguered financial firms return space to the market.
Leasing volume rose in the Downtown market while falling in both
Midtown and Midtown South, the most recent report from commercial
services firm CB Richard Ellis showed. And while all three markets
showed declines in average asking rents and increases in availability
rates, the Downtown results were the healthiest, the survey, which was
released last month, said.
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June 01, 2009 11:00AM
By Candace Taylor
Now that New York City brokerage Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy is
closing its doors, what's next for the 21-year-old, 214-agent company?
The remainder of Manhattan's sixth-largest firm, according to a recent survey by The Real Deal,
is believed to be on the auction block and priced at around $5 million.
But because Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy — including its luxury
marketing division Coldwell Banker Previews International — allegedly
owes some $12 million, the price would presumably go toward its debt. Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy is by far the largest Manhattan
company to close so far, with offices at 555 Madison Avenue, 329
Columbus Avenue, 64 West 21st Street and 155 Seventh Avenue in Park
Slope.
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May 29, 2009 04:04PM
By Candace Taylor
The West Village office of the now-defunct JC DeNiro & Associates
was a prime location for luring wealthy passers-by to browse framed
professional photos of $2 million condos.
The firm's sleek, glass-enclosed and "very shiny offices" were one
reason salesperson Andrew Goebel was attracted to the 30-agent company.
As Goebel — who was fired from the company in the summer of 2008
after being told the company no longer needed a rental division — had
begun to realize, JC DeNiro's carefully cultivated glossy image
concealed dire financial straits.
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June 01, 2009 11:31AM
By Candace Taylor
Just when things appeared to be looking up for the New York City real
estate market, the industry was hit with shocking news: Coldwell Banker
Hunt Kennedy would close its doors. The fate of CBHK remains unclear
(see sidebar). But one thing is certain: Now that traffic seems to be
reviving somewhat in the normally busy early summer market, brokers are
scrambling to make up for this winter's very slow months by doing as
many deals as possible. And as the demise of CBHK shows, many may find
that isn't enough to put them on par with what they've earned in the
past.
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May 29, 2009 07:17PM
By Candace Taylor
Potential buyers are musing about why — in light of the new market
landscape — some developers of new condo developments haven't dropped
their prices.
"Seems like [Williamsburg condo development] 80 Metropolitan is
another building that's stubbornly clinging to the pricing they set
before things dropped," wrote one poster on the real estate Web site
StreetEasy.
What incredulous buyers often don't realize is that
across-the-board price cuts have not been easy for most developers to
make, because price reductions must be cleared with lenders.
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June 02, 2009 01:10PM
By Candace Taylor
While deal volume is nowhere near where it was last year at this time, residential brokers are finally starting to report an increase in bargain-hunting buyers and a slight uptick in rental deals. But while the prognosis for resales seems to be improving, things on the new development front are still bleak, with no signs of improvement on the horizon. In response to the unsavory market conditions, developers are drastically changing their strategies to survive the downturn.
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June 02, 2009 12:29PM
By David Jones
In June 2008, William "Billy" Macklowe ousted his legendary father, Harry, as chairman and CEO of Macklowe Properties. A year later, instead of moving the company forward, the younger Macklowe is still putting out the fires that were set during the final tumultuous years of his father's reign. For months, Macklowe has fought to stave off the seizure of the former Drake Hotel site at Park Avenue and 56th Street by Deutsche Bank, which filed to foreclose in August 2008 after the company defaulted on a $543 million loan meant to finance the redevelopment of the site into condominiums and retail stores.
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May 29, 2009 07:04PM
By Julia Dahl
While the auction gavel has made its way onto the real estate scene in
the New York area in recent weeks, not everyone is sold on the idea of
putting properties up for bid. Those who run auctions have, of course, very publicly touted them
as a way to get property moving in a market where transactions seem to
be stuck in quicksand. But the question remains: Do auctions really work for high-end
properties, or other properties that are not in distress? Or do they
simply set an artificial floor for prices and depress surrounding
property values?
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