The Real Deal New York

Reforms by Spitzer’s office, city have sped up permit and offering plan OKs, but developers still…
Condo surge sparks offering plan delays” class=”read-more-link”>[more]

Harlem deals no longer as plentiful; townhouse bargains disappearing Harlem adjusts to post-boom housing market” class=”read-more-link”>[more]

A piece of legislation signed into law by Gov. George Pataki will level the real estate playing field by disclosing co-op sale prices. Brokers prepare for public co-op prices” class=”read-more-link”>[more]

Corcoran Sunshine and Marketing Directors head list as newer firms like Shvo stake claim Top marketing brokerages” class=”read-more-link”>[more]

Facing sales declines and stiffer competition, clothier reassesses where it wants to open outlets [more]

Manhattan office rents continue climb in tightening market; large-scale leases wash over Midtown [more]

Service retailers like locksmiths and florists forced off major thoroughfares, including East 86th Street. [more]

Coffee chain quietly plans to close less profitable city outlets [more]

In an office market flooded with capital, buying fully occupied buildings sometimes the only option Buyer bets on long-term tenant at 1211 Avenue of the Americas” class=”read-more-link”>[more]

Dub it whatever you want, but blocks of Fifth Avenue in 20s and 30s drawing higher-end retail as condos arise
A stretch of Fifth shakes off inferiority complex” class=”read-more-link”>[more]

For its New York flagship, Uniqlo wanted lots of space. For an estimated $3 million annually, it got [more]

Brokers ponder eventual location of retail giant’s first city store; Uptown, Bronx look likely [more]

Top earner among public real estate investment trusts topped $42 million in 2005 REIT execs may find it lonely at top, but not poor” class=”read-more-link”>[more]

Boutique hotels now shunning design, embracing “experience” in new projects Boutique hotels now shunning design, embracing “experience” in new projects” class=”read-more-link”>[more]

From Dubai to Downtown Manhattan, a scion of the Donald himself talks in-depth about new development The Real Deal Podcast: Donald Trump Jr.” class=”read-more-link”>[more]

Park Avenue rental to be sold
The 20-story, 116-unit residential rental building at 737 Park Avenue is expected to be sold later this year, according to the New York Sun. The 210,000-square-foot building, built in 1940, may fetch more than $300 million.

Upper East Side rental on the market
The 19-story, 182,000-square-foot building with 183 residential units and four commercial spaces at 530 Park Avenue is on the market for sale, the Sun reported. The property could sell for more than $200 million.

Soho development site on the block
A development site at 80 Sixth Avenue is on the market and could fetch more than $600 per square foot, GlobeSt.com reported. The site is approved for the development of a 66,734-square-foot residential building with a ground-floor retail component. Eastern Consolidated’s Ronald Solarz, Eric Anton, Mary Willison, Eric Klein and Paul Nigido are marketing the property.

Former Village hotel could fetch $39 million
Village Care of New York has put 607-09 Hudson Street on the market for $39 million, the Sun reported. The building has frontage on Hudson and Greenwich streets, as well as the entire block front on West 12th Street. The property, which once served as a hotel, was converted to a nursing home in 1981.

Bronx Hub retail building on the market
A 41,305-square-foot retail building at 2914 Third Avenue, in the Hub section of the Bronx, is on the market with an asking price of $23 million. Dr. Jay’s occupies 31,305 square feet in the building. Robert Knakal, Nicholas Burns, Jonathan Hageman and Daniel Hagan of Massey Knakal are the exclusive sales agents.

Flatiron landmark on the block
The five-story, 19,400-square-foot mixed-use building at 901 Broadway is on the market for $17.5 million. The cast-iron building, built in 1867, was home to the original Lord & Taylor Dry Goods Store. The upper floors consist of four residential rental units; the ground floor is leased to a high-end furniture store. The existing landlord has started conversion plans and is in the process of getting approvals from the Landmarks Preservation Commission and the Department of Buildings. Robert Knakal, John Ciraulo, Jonathan Hageman and Craig Waggner of Massey Knakal are the exclusive sales agents.

Developer to sell Sundari lot
Developer Buttonwood Real Estate in late June put the lot at 158 Madison Avenue, the site for its proposed Sundari Lofts & Tower, on the market, the New York Post reported. Massey Knakal Realty is handling the sale of the project site. Buttonwood paid $11.37 million for the site in early 2005.

Bensonhurst commercial building on the market
The fee-simple interest in the non-condo portion of the two buildings at 8622 Bay Parkway and 15 Bay 29th Street is on the market for $12.5 million. The office and retail buildings total 24,400 square feet. Jeffrey Shalom of Massey Knakal is the exclusive sales agent.

Bay Ridge church for sale
The Bay Ridge Methodist Church at the corner of Fourth and Ovington avenues, a two-story school building, and a building used as a parsonage are being offered for sale at $12 million, the Sun reported. The buyer can build an 85,550-square-foot residential tower and a 92,754-square-foot community facility.

Flushing development site on the market
A development site at 135-25 Northern Boulevard, currently home to a church, is on the market for $12 million. The site can be built to more than 52,000 square feet, and is zoned for both commercial and residential use. Joseph Cappello Sr. and Ching-Tien Chen of Massey Knakal are the exclusive sales agents.

Downtown office building on the block
The 11-story, 336,000-square-foot Class B office building at 99 Church Street, owned by Moody’s Investors Service, is being marketed for sale, according to the Sun. The buyer is expected to convert it into residential condominiums.

Bids due for Upper East Side hotel
The winning bidder was expected to be chosen last month for the 130-room Surrey Hotel at 20 East 76th Street, the Sun reported. The hotel is to be sold and renovated as a cooperative hotel with the rules and regulations of a condo.

Grand Central office building on the market
The six-story, 16,000-square-foot commercial elevator building at 5 East 44th Street is on the market. Built in 1940, the building was once home to Canfield’s Gambling House, a popular entertainment spot. The property also includes 19,000 square feet of air rights. Adelaide Polsinelli of Besen & Associates is the exclusive sales agent.

Columbus Circle commercial property for sale
A four-story office and retail property at 940 Eighth Avenue is on the market through Vin Carrega and Neil Helman of Grubb & Ellis and independent broker Ephraim Hirsch. The top three floors each have 5,000 square feet of office space; the ground floor has 4,000 square feet of retail. A 400,000-square-foot hotel planned for the former Hearst site is less than one block away.

Brokers trying to change minds — and open checkbooks — during slower months In summer, open houses get creative” class=”read-more-link”>[more]

Firms reexamine where to put dollars; more ads focus on “people, bodies, sweat, sex” [more]

Firms reexamine where to put dollars; more ads focus on “people, bodies, sweat, sex” Divvying the marketing money in slower times” class=”read-more-link”>[more]

Less experienced brokers face tougher times in mortgage industry, with buyers scarcer and nature of  Mortgage brokers adjust to slower sales market” class=”read-more-link”>[more]

Condos outsell co-ops in second quarter; inventory hits record Prices rise as sales sag in Manhattan” class=”read-more-link”>[more]

Noise rarely a deal breaker in apartment sales, analysts say, with homes on louder thoroughfares act Traffic noise a fact of New York life for buyers” class=”read-more-link”>[more]

Link between Dow, New York real estate hard to pin down, but both now in rockier straits [more]

Oft-quoted facts and figures about New York markets require second look and a critical eye Running the real estate numbers ragged” class=”read-more-link”>[more]

What is your name?

Robert James Shiller

When is your birthday and what’s your sign?

March 29, 1946. I am an Aries, not that I believe in such things.

Who are your parents?

Benjamin and Ruth.

Where did you grow up and where did you attend college?

Detroit, Mich. I went to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and then I got a PhD at MIT in economics.

What is your job?

The official title is the Stanley B. Resor Professor of Economics at Yale.

What are your greatest achievements professionally?

I wrote the first edition of Irrational Exuberance in 2000, about the stock market [which correctly predicted the dot-com bust]. The second edition was recently released, on the real estate market as I interpreted it. I’ve written five books and over 100 journal articles.

What has been your biggest contribution to society?

Education. I’ve been teaching since 1972. I also co-developed a futures and options market on real estate [which began trading in late May on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange].

Who is your hero? Why?

The original Adam Smith, who wrote The Wealth of Nations in 1776. He launched the field of economics, and because he was a moral philosopher, he had a sense of law and purpose in what he did.

What do you read every day?

I have an addiction to reading, and I’ve always been very broad. But I subscribe to the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Forbes, the Economist, BusinessWeek, and I particularly enjoy Science and Nature.

Do you feel rich? Successful? Happy?

Yes. I am happily married. I have two fine children. I have a wonderful job which brings me in contact with young people.

What is your philosophy on love and money?

I’ve been married to the same woman for 30 years, so I believe in long-term consistency, and money is just a game to me as long as you have enough. My parents would be surprised, because as a child I never showed any interest in monetary things. I wanted to be a professor. I found it amusing to make money.

What’s the secret to a happy marriage?

Mutual support. I try to look at the positive things of it. I married a psychologist, so she thinks there is a science to it.

What’s your idea of the perfect Sunday afternoon?

Sitting by the seashore thinking about the intricacies of economics with my wife sitting beside me.

How do you size up people when you first meet them?

I value sincerity and if they look you in the eye.

If you were mayor of New York, what is the first thing you would change about the city?

I might not rebuild the World Trade Center. It’s challenging the terrorists. A little park and monument is not backing down.

And what would you fight to keep the same?

I guess it was under Mayor Giuliani that we got rid of a lot of the graffiti and trash, and it’s a brighter, safer and more civilized place, and I would want to keep that.

How do you deal with antagonists?

Going back to my childhood, I would tend to not pacify people, but I would tend to stall and hope they would turn their aggression to someone else.

What’s your biggest pet peeve?

Conventional thinking.

What do you consider to be your greatest vice?

I work too hard. It sometimes takes away from the finer things in life.

Give advice to someone 20 years younger.

I think young people often underestimate their own human capital. Your investment in yourself is to improve yourself with education, improve your knowledge, your skills. With every decision you have to ask yourself, “How will I grow from this experience?”

What’s the biggest professional gaffe you’ve ever made?

Waiting too long to take a broader view of economics. I started out in economics studying some very narrow things. As I got confidence, I became a lot more of a broad thinker.

What was the biggest obstacle on the path to succeeding?

I am always short of time. There is a famous quote from Napoleon: “Ask anything of me but my time.”

What should be the first sentence of your eulogy?

“Time and chance happeneth to them all.” It’s Ecclesiastes 9:11. I don’t always quote the Bible, but I thought that was a very profound passage about the role of chance in our lives. My mission in life has been to use our wit and intellect to reduce the role of chance as much as possible. But there is an irreducible component.

What is people’s biggest misperception about you?

I wish I knew the answer to that.

Brokers see second-quarter shifts as outer boroughs adjust to post-boom pace Outer boroughs: Inventory, prices climb” class=”read-more-link”>[more]

Brighton Beach
Sochi
The all-glass structure, named for a resort on the Black Sea, is set to open in 2008. It will be anywhere from 22 to 28 stories, the New York Post reported. Every unit will have floor-to-ceiling windows with unobstructed views of the ocean. Amenities include a 10,000-square-foot fitness center with tennis courts and a pool. One-bedrooms are projected to start at $500,000.

Chelsea
100 West 18th Street
GD Development Group is developing a 10-story, 41-unit luxury condominium with 30,000 square feet of retail space. Meridian Capital Group arranged a $79.5 million loan for the construction of the $100 million project, which is expected to begin this summer and last 14 to 16 months.

East Williamsburg
Aria
134-136 Powers Street
The 20-unit condominium will offer 15 different layouts. These include two-bedroom duplexes, one-bedrooms with terraces, and European-style flats, one of which has a private garden. Units will range in size from 600 to 1,400 square feet, with most ceilings reaching 17 feet. Elliot Tamir is the developer; Andres Escobar & Associates designed the apartment interiors and environmental art consultant Novo Arts is directing the lobby project. The building is slated for completion in early 2007. The Developers Group is the exclusive sales and marketing agent.

East Williamsburg
The Devoe
233 Devoe Street
The five-story, seven-unit green condominium is slated to open in spring 2007. When completed, the 5,500-square-foot building will have a green roof (a planted garden that acts as a natural way to cool the building), a water-retention system, and geothermal heating and cooling, the Post reported. Gita Nandan is the architect.

Gravesend
Village Terrace
71 Village Road North
Sales have started at the seven-story, 42-unit condominium designed by architect Karl Fischer and interior designer Andres Escobar. One- to three-bedrooms range in price from approximately $369,000 for 776-square-foot one-bedrooms to $696,500 for a 2,222-square-foot two-bedroom. Five penthouse townhouses will be released for sale at a later date, according to the Post. Contact: www.villageterracecondos.com.

Harlem
308 West 116th Street
The eight-story, 15-unit condominium will have an all-white façde made from a self-cleaning concrete that has an additive of titanium dioxide, the Post reported. When UV rays hit the building, the concrete cleans itself and the air around it. Grzywinski Pons designed the building, where prices are expected to average about $1,000 a square foot.

Harlem
The Stamford
414 East 120th Street
Leasing began in July at the six-story, 12-unit rental. Rents start at $1,900 per month for the 677-square-foot one-bedrooms. CGS Developers is the developer; Karl Fischer is the architect for the project. The Corcoran Group is the exclusive leasing and marketing agent. Contact: www.thestamfordnyc.com.

Hudson Yards
Hudson Mews
Between West 36th and West 38th streets
Two new apartment buildings will add 800 rental units to the far West Side. The Port Authority has approved a transaction with the Dermot Company and Equity Residential to develop the two buildings, which will have 800 units total. FXFowle Architects is the project architect and Bovis Lend Lease is the construction manager. Construction is expected to start in the middle of next year. The estimated cost is more than $450 million.

Murray Hill
45 Park Avenue
The sales office has opened for SJP Residential’s 22-story, 105-unit luxury condominium, which is scheduled for occupancy in fall 2007. The project is the first new condominium on Park Avenue in 10 years, according to the developer. The property is being marketed by The Marketing Directors. Contact: www.45parkave.com.

Prospect Lefferts Gardens
1 Sullivan Place
Plans for the site, which sits directly across the street from the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, include an 11-story, 26-unit condominium with garden and park views made up of 14 one-bedroom and 12 two-bedroom units. The property contains 20,400 buildable square feet.

Red Hook
Dwight Gardens
18-22 Dikeman Street
Sales have begun at the three-story, nine-unit condominium, which offers two- and three-bedrooms priced from $700,000 to $825,000, the Post reported. The units range in size from 1,200 to 1,320 square feet; some have terraces or rooftop access. Private parking spaces are available for $25,000 each. The project is just down the road from the Ikea set to open in 2007 and about a quarter-mile from the new Fairway. Occupancy is expected in late summer. Frank P. Manzione Real Estate is the exclusive sales agent. Contact: www.fpmre.com.

Rockaway Park
Belle Shores
101st Street and Shorefront Parkway
Frameworks Group’s three-story, 78-unit condominium sold 20 percent of its units in two weeks, according to the Post. The two- and three-bedrooms range in size from 972 to 1,700 square feet and are priced from $439,000 to $989,900. Frameworks also plans to build a seven-story condominium along the beach at 94th Street named The Landmark. Three-bedroom penthouses will hit the million-dollar mark. Contact: www.frameworksgroup.com.

Soho
Mercer Greene
109 Mercer Street and 92 Greene Street
The 15-unit condominium, housed on a former parking garage, opened for sales in late April. Two- and three-bedrooms from 1,550 to 2,600 square feet are priced from $2.3 to $7 million. Five of its units were under contract as of mid-June, according to the Post. The Corcoran Group is marketing the property. Contact: www.mercergreene.com.

South Bronx
The Orion
3044 Third Avenue
Work is under way on the first elevator-equipped condominium building in the South Bronx, the New York Daily News reported. The nine-story, 60-unit project is expected to open for sales in the fall. Most of the units will be for low- or moderate-income buyers; 14 units will be market-rate, with three-bedrooms priced at $325,000. The partners developing the project — Melrose Associates, Procida Realty & Construction, L & M Equity and community group Nos Quedamos — are also working on a second building. The Aurora will have 90 units, of which 21 will be market-rate.

Upper West Side
120 West 72nd Street
Construction is expected to start this summer on the 16-story luxury condominium designed by BKSK Architects. Developer Anbau Enterprises said the 60,000-square-foot building, which will open for occupancy in late 2007, will have 22 units, including four-bedrooms, as well as 4,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space. The project cost is $52 million, GlobeSt.com reported.

Construction Update

Downtown Brooklyn
Lookout Hill Condominiums
199 State Street
Alchemy Properties topped out the 46-unit condominium in July. Studios to three-bedrooms are priced from $470,000 to $995,000 and range in size from 677 to 1,653 square feet. Contact: www.lookouthillcondo.com.

Greenwood Heights
182 15th Street
Developer Isaac Katan wants to build a luxury condominium tower up to 131 feet at the site, the Daily News reported. Some residents say the project is much taller than new zoning allows. The developer argues that most of the foundation had been built when the zoning took effect last November, and construction should be able to proceed. The city’s Board of Standards and Appeals was expected to issue a decision in late July.

Madison Square Park North
Sundari Lofts & Tower
158 Madison Avenue
The condominium project has been cancelled. In June, developer Buttonwood Real Estate put the site for its proposed project on the market. Buttonwood says it may still build the Sundari somewhere else in Manhattan.

Red Hook
160 Imlay Street
A Brooklyn Supreme Court justice ruled in June that developer Bruce Batkin’s plans to convert the deserted Red Hook warehouse into luxury condos must go back before the city’s Board of Standards and Appeals, the Daily News reported. The board had approved the project in December 2003. The six-story warehouse stands next to the new luxury cruise terminal in Red Hook.

Tribeca
200 Chambers Street
Jack Resnick & Sons topped out the 30-story, 258-unit condominium early last month. Since sales began in July 2005, 200 of the units have been sold. Contact: www.200chambersstreet.com.

Upper East Side
170 East End Avenue
The 20-story condominium topped out early last month. Contact: www.170eea.com.

Williamsburg
164 Kent Avenue
Mayor Bloomberg broke ground at the end of June for the first residential development spurred by last year’s rezoning of the Greenpoint-Williamsburg waterfront. A market-rate complex called Northside Piers and a building called Palmer’s Dock will make up the first phase of the project. Both parts of the first phase will create 300 residential units, 113 of which are expected to be affordable to residents earning as low as $21,300 annually, and up to $56,700 for a family of four.

Financing

Harlem
2279 and 2283 Third Avenue
Commerce Bank recently placed a $16.13 million loan to 2279-2283 Third Avenue Associates for the construction of a mixed-use, ground-up development. Upon completion, the complex will comprise two seven-story condominiums with a total of 31 one-, two- and three-bedroom units. The ground floors of both buildings will have a combined 25,000 square feet of commercial and community space.

Lower Manhattan
The Crest Lofts
67 Wall Street
The Singer & Bassuk Organization placed a $100 million construction loan on the 325,000-square-foot mixed-use conversion. Owners Nathan Berman and Ronny Bruckner will develop 211 residential rental units on the lower 16 floors of the 25-story building. Completion of the first phase is expected early in 2007.

Sales Update

Harlem
The Walden
69 East 130th Street
All but two of the project’s 25 units had been sold as of late June, according to the Post. The remaining units are penthouses: a 1,389-square-foot three-bedroom with a 700-square-foot terrace listed for $795,000 and a 1,114-square-foot two-bedroom with a 900-square-foot private roof deck asking $690,000. Prudential Douglas Elliman is marketing the property. Contact: www.elliman.com.

Rockaway Park
Ocean Grande
Beach 117th Street and the Rockaway Boardwalk
After a year of sales, more than 80 percent of the eight-story condominium’s 92 units have been sold, according to the New York Times. Prices for remaining units range from $420,000 for a two-bedroom facing Jamaica Bay and Manhattan to $1.035 million for a two-bedroom penthouse. The first buyers are expected to move in in August. Contact: www.theoceangrande.com.

Roosevelt Island
The Octagon
888 Main Street
The rental’s 500 units were 50 percent leased as of mid-June, according to the Post. Contact: www.octagonnyc.com.

Soho
139 Wooster Street
The Marketing Directors was named exclusive sales and marketing agent from the 16-unit condominium. Prices range from $1.995 to $4.995 million, with occupancy slated for January 2007. Contact: www.139wooster.com.

Tribeca
101 Warren Street
The condominium’s 228 units were more than 40 percent sold as of mid-June, within 60 days of the start of sales. The Sunshine Group is the exclusive marketing and sales agent. Contact: www.101warren.com.

Upper East Side
985 Park Avenue
The topping-off ceremony was held in June for the 15-story, seven-unit condominium. The project was 45 percent sold after five weeks on the market, with sales averaging $2,300 a square foot, according to the New York Sun.

West Village
147 Waverly Place
More than 85 percent of the condominium’s 20 units had sold as of early last month, according to Stribling Marketing Associates, the exclusive marketing and sales agent. Sales opened in March. Contact: www.147waverlyplace.com.

West Village
744 Greenwich Street
The five-unit condominium sold out in June, within six months of the start of sales, according to marketing agent Prudential Douglas Elliman. The average sales price was $1,600 per square foot.

Development in Brief

Manhattan (from north to south)

813 Park Avenue
DCD America is converting the 12-story residential building into three luxury condominium residences, the New York Sun reported.

737 Park Avenue
The 20-story, 116-unit rental is expected to be sold later in the year and converted into a condominium, according to the Sun.

37 East 64th Street
The Hotel Plaza Athenee is expected to be sold and converted into a condominium, the Sun reported.

31, 33, 35, and 37 West 56th Street
A developer wants to demolish four Beaux-Arts townhouses to clear space for a 16-story high-rise with street-level offices and 47 apartments, the New York Times reported. Area residents are fighting the demolition.

99 Church Street
The 11-story, 336,000-square-foot Class B office building is expected to be sold and converted into residential condominiums, according to the Sun.

111 Fulton Street
Lev Leviev bought the commercial building and plans to convert it into condominiums, the Times reported. The project will involve a 10-story addition and a total of 289 units, according to the Sun.

133 Greenwich Street
A 30-story condominium tower with 100 units is planned at the site, also known as 25 Thames Street, according to the Sun.

New Developments from Previous Month

To entice brokers in a slowing sales market, marketers of new developments in New York City have started offering payment incentives, including raising broker commissions beyond the traditional 3 percent threshold. [more]

Projects by Ian Schrager and others raise prices, building heights; some residents fret loss of arti Big wave of condos washes over little Bond Street” class=”read-more-link”>[more]

Marketing for new condos includes charm of a junction known for foodie delights Residential projects join retail in Union Square” class=”read-more-link”>[more]

Last remaining parcels getting filled in with housing as flower and flea market retailers recede Chelsea’s Sixth Avenue completes shift to high-rise row” class=”read-more-link”>[more]

Developers say swankier spreads offer challenges in design and marketing, but payoffs are generally Think penthouses are more expensive to build? Think again.” class=”read-more-link”>[more]

Back in the days when developers needed only to announce a New York condo project in a hot neighborhood or a design by a celebrity architect, buyers snapped up fresh units amid the city’s real estate boom. Born in boom, what these condos sell for now” class=”read-more-link”>[more]

American Express deal lets buyers in West Side project put payment on their cards Got Amex? You may have condo down payment.” class=”read-more-link”>[more]

Asbury Park, NJ
The Blu
510 Monroe Avenue
Pyramid Equities is developing the five-story, 24-unit condominium. The one-bedroom units range in size from 900 to 1,500 square feet. Prices will start at $400,000. Completion is slated for early November. Schultz Residential is the marketing and sales agent. Contact: www.bluasburypark.com.

Asbury Park, NJ
The Esperanza
The 22-story, two-tower project will be the tallest structure in Asbury Park, according to the New York Post. Occupancy is slated for mid-2008. Studios to five-bedrooms will be offered, with prices starting in the mid-$300,000s.

Asbury Park, NJ
North Beach Asbury Park
Ready for occupancy in early fall, the development’s first phase comprises three oceanfront mid-rise towers. Prices start at $475,000, and penthouses begin at $1.2 million, according to the Post.

Hoboken, NJ
Adams Square
501 Adams Street
Developer R Squared converted the five-story rental building into 51 condo units. Prices for the one- to three-bedrooms, now available for occupancy, range from $355,000 to $800,000. Contact: www.adamssquare.com.

Hoboken, NJ
New York City-based TreeTop Development is building 33 condominium units in two projects, GlobeSt.com reported. The four- and five-story Emsee will have 21 units on Jackson Street. The second project, Ariel Square, is a four-story, 12-unit building.

Jersey City, NJ
Liberty Harbor North
Jersey Avenue
Mocco Enterprises is developing 269 condominium units, along with an eight-story, 140-unit rental building. CBRE Melody and NorthMarq Capital arranged a $60 million construction loan for the first phase of the project, which will eventually have 6,000 residential units.

Weehawken, NJ
Henley-on-Hudson
Sales have opened for the new development within the Port Imperial riverfront community. The project comprises 94 condo units in four six-story buildings and 64 four-level townhomes. Prices range from the $700,000s to $3 million. Lennar Corporation’s Urban Division developed the project. Contact: www.henleyonhudson.com.

Condos in the Country from July 2006

South Florida retail market finishes summer strongly
Behind a healthy economy and a steadily rising population, the South Florida retail market continues to boom.

Between the middle of 2005 and the middle of 2006, about 2 million square feet of new retail space opened in Palm Beach, Miami-Dade and Broward counties, according to a recent report from brokerage CB Richard Ellis, with most of it opening in Broward. Nearly 4 million square feet of space is currently under construction and expected to reach the market later this year and in 2007.

When it does, it should find a lot of interest.

The retail vacancy rates for all three South Florida counties remain below 5 percent, part of a downward trend that started in 2003 and that appears unaffected by the threat of hurricanes, according to CB Richard Ellis. As vacancy rates decline, analysts expect rental rates to rise. The average lease rate for retail space in Broward County was $18.12 a square foot by the beginning of 2006, according to CB Richard Ellis; in Palm Beach, $21.05. In Miami-Dade, it hit $23.23 a foot.

Population growth in South Florida, at a rate of 1,060 new residents a day, and a strong economic outlook — job growth has been up in all three counties in 2006 — underpin rosy retail projections, because both factors increase demand for retail space and activity. “Virtually all retail product is being quickly absorbed by the market as rapidly as it appears,” the CB Richard Ellis report concluded. “Investors and developers expect retail sites to be built in South Florida at a faster pace than in other parts of the country.”

Foreclosures spike as housing market cools
Foreclosures are on the rise in South Florida, perhaps the clearest sign the once-scorching housing sales market there has cooled.

Almost a third of the state’s 29,636 foreclosures were in South Florida in the first quarter of 2006, according to statistics from RealtyTrac. In Broward County, foreclosures spiked in the first quarter over the end of 2005 by 57 percent. In Palm Beach county, foreclosures jumped 69 percent, and, in Miami-Dade, they were up 17 percent, according to the Sun-Sentinel.

First-quarter foreclosures in the area jumped 40 percent overall from the end of 2005. Buyers who used creative types of financing, such as interest-only mortgages, to get in on the now-ended housing boom are at greatest risk of foreclosure, analysts say.

Retirement condos glutting Palm Beach market
More than 2,700 condos in Palm Beach County retirement communities are now on the market, a reflection of the aftershocks of recent hurricanes, according to the Sun-Sentinel. Century Village, just west of Boca Raton, has 282 listings, for instance, and Kings Point, west of Delray, has 255 listings; around 20 percent of those listings have been on the market for over 200 days.

Hurricanes aren’t the only contributing factor to the over-55 condo glut. Some of the buildings haven’t been updated in years and no longer appeal to existing residents or buyers. That could result in the market continuing downward and not picking up for at least another year.

Revenue boost for hotels in Florida Keys
Hotels in the Florida Keys improved their performance in May and June, continuing a recovery from last year’s hurricane-ravaged tourism season. Keys hotels increased room rates an average of 9 percent and occupancy grew 2 percent year-over-year, yielding an 11 percent gain in per-room revenues, the Miami Herald reported.

Hotels in Broward and Miami-Dade counties have enjoyed a record year, with per-room revenue up between 11 percent and 19 percent in May from the same time period in 2005. The condo conversion trend in the area, though, has left all three markets with 3 percent fewer condo-hotel rooms to sell than a year ago, which helped send room bookings down 4 percent in Miami-Dade in the past month, and down about 1 percent in Broward and the Keys.

Trump Royale project in Miami Beach receives $210M construction loan
The 391-unit Trump Royale condominium project recently received a $210 million construction loan for the 55-story project at 182-1 Collins Avenue in Sunny Isles, part of Miami Beach.

The closing date of the loan was June 28. The financing will reportedly pay for the majority of the construction of the project. Dezer Development is developing the project in addition to the Trump Organization. The Trump Royale is the third phase of the $700-million Trump Grande Ocean Resort & Residences project.

Miami Briefs from Previous Month

San Francisco office building buy to set city record

The San Francisco office market hasn’t claimed as much attention as the city’s housing market, one of the priciest in the nation. But a pending building sale could turn the spotlight on the city’s increasingly strong commercial scene, once hobbled by the dot-com bust, where the overall vacancy rate fell more than 1 percent to 13.9 percent from the first quarter of 2006 through the second quarter. The 665,000-square-foot tower at 560 Mission Street is under contract to be purchased for more than $400 million, or approximately $700 per square foot — what would be the highest price ever paid for a San Francisco office building, according to published reports. The 31-story building includes 5,000 square feet of retail space and a two-level underground parking lot. JP Morgan Chase leases the entire building, but occupies only half and subleases the rest.

–
Atlanta

Commercial
One Atlantic Center in Midtown sold in late July for approximately $305 million to a Houston-based developer. The 50-story tower was for years the most expensive office tower in Atlanta, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. A Japanese conglomerate bought it in 1989 for $300 million — what was then an incredibly high amount.

Commercial
Atlanta is now ranked among the top 10 cities in the world by number of major corporate headquarters. Fortune Magazine, in a survey released last month, said Atlanta is home to six of the world’s 500 biggest corporations — twice as many as in 1992 — tying the city with Houston, Munich and Osaka for ninth place. Home Depot is the highest-ranking Atlanta company on Fortune’s list at number 43, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Boston

Residential
Boston housing remains at its highest risk ever for price declines, according to a study by PMI Mortgage Insurance reported in the Boston Herald. There’s a nearly 60 percent chance that home values in Boston will tumble in the next two years. This probability, based on weak local job growth and a general lack of housing affordability, make Boston the third-riskiest city for price declines among the nation’s 50 largest housing markets.

Residential/Commercial
A New York-based REIT has completed an agreement with Federated Department Stores to purchase the Filene’s building in the Downtown Crossing district of Boston for approximately $100 million, Commercial Property News reported. The deal will close in the fourth quarter of this year. The company plans to redevelop and expand the 656,000-square-foot complex to include multiple levels of retail space, an office component, a hotel, a residential tower and a supermarket.

Chicago

Residential
Many rental apartment buildings have been turned into condos in downtown Chicago, sparking a rental shortage. But construction is wrapping up at the Residences at Left Bank, a 37-story luxury rental apartment building at 300 North Canal Street. The tower, located in the Kinzie Station/Fulton River District, includes 451 rental units with 18 different floor plans, including six penthouses, according to GlobeSt.com.

Residential
Some are dubbing the South Loop of Chicago “Crane City” because of how much housing construction is going on there. The South Loop outperformed other parts of downtown last year in new-construction home sales and has increased its share of the downtown condo market to 44 percent, the Chicago Tribune reported. More than 6,100 condo units are proposed for the South Loop in the next two years.

Las Vegas

Residential/Commercial
High-rise condo development in Las Vegas is moving beyond Sin City’s major thoroughfares, the Las Vegas Sun reported. Plans are being pushed forward for the Great Mall of Las Vegas — a combination of a mall and condominium high-rises. But the developer would need a zoning change to allow two 250-foot-tall condominium towers on a property that carries a two-story height limit and doesn’t allow residences. The city Planning Commission recommended that the City Council reject the proposal.

Commercial
Office vacancy jumped 1 percent to 9.4 percent in the second quarter of this year from the second quarter of last year, as record new construction completions pushed the total office inventory to 39.3 million square feet in Las Vegas. According to a second-quarter report from Applied Analysis, absorption came close to keeping up with supply when 900,000 square feet was delivered in the first quarter, but in the second quarter absorption backed off to 669,000 square feet while construction completions rose to 1.2 million square feet. The total amount of space delivered in the first half of the year is higher than any six-month total in the past decade, according to the report.

Los Angeles

Commercial
Developers recently unveiled plans for a 1,000-room hotel complex in downtown Los Angeles, set to include a five-star Ritz-Carlton and a four-star Marriott Marquis, which will be added to the new Convention Center. The $750 million hotel project will rise 54 stories and be one of the largest buildings in Los Angeles at 2 million square feet, according to the Los Angeles Times. The hotel, scheduled to open in 2010, would anchor the 27-acre LA Live sports entertainment complex.

Residential
Los Angeles’ ongoing condo conversion craze has displaced thousands of renters from their apartments. At least 11,000 rental apartments have disappeared from the city’s market in the last five years because of condo conversions, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Myrtle Beach

Commercial
Construction is set to begin on Myrtle Beach’s new $400 million Hard Rock theme park, which will include rides, a concert venue, rock memorabilia and a hotel, the Myrtle Beach Sun reported. According to a source, the park could be an economic boon for the up-and-coming area, creating an estimated 3,000 jobs and thrusting the Myrtle Beach Grand Strand tourism industry into the international spotlight. The 140-acre rock ‘n’ roll theme park could open its gates in spring 2008.

Philadelphia

Residential/Commercial
Philadelphia’s once-struggling Center City continues its resurgence — the latest evidence being a luxury hotel-condo planned at the corner of 12th and Arch streets, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The W Hotel will have 250 rooms and 95 condo units, and is expected to open in 2009, the same year the city’s Convention Center expansion is scheduled to be completed.

Residential
While home prices were up in the first half of 2006, sales are down. The median home price in Philadelphia from January through May increased 4.8 percent over the same time period in 2005 to $216,167, USA Today reported. At the same time, however, home sales declined 5.8 percent year over year. Still, Philadelphia was healthier sales-wise than the rest of Pennsylvania, where sales were down 19 percent from the first half of 2005 through the first half of this year.

San Diego

Residential
San Diego, once one of the most reliably hot housing markets in the nation, has seen home price declines recently. In June, the median price of a home in San Diego County dropped year-over-year for the first time in a decade. The price dipped 1 percent from June 2005 to June 2006, drifting to $488,000, the Associated Press reported.

Washington, D.C.

Residential
Apartment rents in Washington, D.C., are rising as many residents decide to rent rather than to buy in what they feel is an inflated real estate market, the Washington Post reported. At least 4,000 condos will be turned into rentals over the next two years. More than 6,500 renters leased units in the past year, which is up 4,400 from the 12 months before. The Washington area has one of the lowest apartment vacancy rates in the nation, down to 1.7 percent from 2.4 percent a year ago. (The nation’s average is 5.7 percent.) Experts say rents are expected to rise 5 to 9 percent annually over the next few years.

Efficiency in as a slowing sales market drives new Downtown projects toward a tinier scale Miami developers go small to attract buyers” class=”read-more-link”>[more]

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As Manhattanites rediscover old seaside houses, preservationists fear for their future Retro chic revives, threatens Rockaways bungalows” class=”read-more-link”>[more]

Silverstein battles his former chief operating officer

World Trade Center site leaseholder Larry Silverstein has sued a veteran executive who spent 25 years in his employ, claiming his former colleague owes about $2.6 million for the reconstruction of 7 World Trade Center.

Silverstein claims that Joseph Ritorto, a former senior executive vice president and chief operating officer at Silverstein Properties, owes more than $2.55 million for the reconstruction effort of the tower destroyed on September 11, according to documents filed in state Supreme Court.

The case revolves around matching funds that Ritorto, who worked for Silverstein from 1978 to 2001, was supposed to provide to rebuild 7 World Trade.

Silverstein, who contributed $51 million to the rebuilding of the property, says Ritorto agreed to provide 5 percent of his former boss’ contribution in exchange for an equity stake. In August 2005, Silverstein asked for the money, giving Ritorto six days to pay the $2.55 million. When he didn’t, Ritorto lost his interest in 7 World Trade.

Ritorto claims Silverstein’s suit is about revenge. Ritorto filed a suit in 2004 for money he believes he was owed for other development projects. After a January 2005 ruling that upheld most of his suit against Silverstein, Ritorto got the cash call for the $2.55 million.

Justice Helen Freedman of the New York State Supreme Court’s commercial division rejected Ritorto’s claim that Silverstein’s lawsuit was retaliatory. On May 3, she ruled that the suit also came shortly after Silverstein’s contribution to 7 World Trade Center and that Silverstein’s contribution to the reconstruction costs “constitutes a reasonable motivation for [Silverstein's] cash call.”

Ritorto is appealing that decision. He says he had an oral agreement with Silverstein under which money he owed Silverstein would be advanced by his former boss, then repaid from money already owed to Ritorto. Rosalind Fink, Ritorto’s attorney, told The Real Deal that “it had been understood by everybody that cash calls would not be done.”

Ritorto in May appealed Freedman’s decision. The appeal has not yet been resolved.

Silverstein could not be reached for comment.

Milstein brothers in fraud lawsuit

Peter R. Friedman, former owner of New York commercial brokerage Peter R. Friedman, is in a litigation tussle with market veterans Howard and Edward Milstein as well as Milstein Brothers Real Estate for an undisclosed sum upward of $10 million.

Friedman says he entered into an oral agreement with the Milsteins to establish a joint venture, full-service real estate company that later began operating as Douglas Elliman Commercial, but claims he was defrauded by his erstwhile partners.

The plaintiff said he dedicated himself and his company to developing the joint venture between October 1997 and the middle of 1999, but claims the Milsteins in June of that year sold the rights to operate under the name Douglas Elliman to Insignia.

Around the same time, Friedman was being investigated by the Attorney General for reasons not disclosed in court documents.

Though the court documents don’t detail the reason, they state that the Milsteins and Friedman never signed off on their joint venture, Douglas Elliman Commercial, possibly because of the investigation and sale of the naming rights.

In August 1999, according to Friedman’s complaint, the Milsteins banked commissions from the joint venture into their own accounts, not that of Douglas Elliman Commercial.

Friedman asserts in the documents that “Milstein fraudulently induced Friedman to relinquish control of the joint venture’s assets.”

Friedman is suing for damages in the tens of millions of dollars and equity position in Milstein Brothers Real Estate, LLC and/or MB Real Estate Services, the two companies to which Friedman claims his assets were transferred.

The Milsteins filed a motion to dismiss the claim, but in April of this year Justice Bernard Fried upheld 19 of 21 complaints by Friedman.

The case is currently beginning discovery and a compliance conference is scheduled for late September.

Lawyers for both parties declined to comment.

Tax assessor arrests and lobbying efforts by city’s finance department landed legislation on Pataki’ Lifting the veil on co-op prices: how the law came about
” class=”read-more-link”>[more]

City Council looks at larger landmarks role
The City Council may get more involved in deciding what buildings and neighborhoods are designated as landmarks. A Queens councilman last month introduced a bill that would empower the Council to determine what is considered by the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission, according to the New York Sun.

OK given for lower Staten Island rezoning
Community Board 3 in Staten Island recently approved a controversial rezoning that favors large homes in sections of the borough’s southern half, the Staten Island Advance reported. The rezoning would make 5,700 square feet the minimum lot size for new, detached homes. The rezoning now goes to the City Planning Commission.

City bids to buy far West Side rail yards
The city has offered to buy the far West Side rail yards from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, WNBC reported. Last month, the city offered a formal proposal to the MTA of $500 million to buy the yards, which run from 30th to 33rd streets and from 11th to 12th avenues. The yards had been the site of the proposed West Side stadium, which was nixed last summer by a state board.

Study lays out effects of Atlantic Yards
A 1,400-page draft Environmental Impact Statement has laid out the effects the Atlantic Yards project would have on downtown Brooklyn. For one thing, a new school would be needed to handle the number of children the project would bring to the area. The project’s many buildings would also throw more of the surrounding neighborhoods into shadow during the day, the New York Times reported.

Gowanus Canal Conservancy formed
The Gowanus Canal now has its own conservancy, the New York Post reported. Activists in southwest Brooklyn recently announced the creation of the Gowanus Canal Conservancy in a further attempt to clean up a waterway once dubbed Lavender Lake for its chemically altered hue.

Fiterman Hall demolition delayed
Fiterman Hall, a 15-story building on West Broadway badly damaged on September 11, won’t be demolished anytime soon as originally planned, according to the New York Daily News. Bids from four contractors were rejected by the state on the grounds that none fully addressed the environmental issues surrounding a demolition.

City comptroller to World Trade Center insurers: Pay up
The city comptroller is urging five insurance companies to settle billions of dollars in claims related to the September 11 attacks as part of an April deal between World Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein and the government. Comptroller William Thompson sent letters last month to the CEOs of the insurance companies, Crain’s reported.

City approves financing for baseball stadiums
The Yankees and the Mets will get $1.58 billion of tax-exempt financing to build new baseball stadiums. The city’s Industrial Development Agency approved the financing last month. The stadiums have now been approved by the City Council, the Empire State Development Corporation and the Public Authorities Control Board.

Rent board approves biggest hikes since 2003
At a raucous meeting at the end of June, the city Rent Guidelines Board voted 5 to 4 to allow landlords to raise the rent on more than 1 million rent-stabilized apartments in the five boroughs. Increases of as much as 7.25 percent on two-year leases and 4.25 percent on one-year leases — the highest increases since 2003 — would apply to leases renewed between September 2006 and October 2007.

City sets aside funds for hip-hop museum
The City Council allocated $1.5 million last month for a hip-hop museum in the northeastern Bronx, the Sun reported. The museum will rise at the corner of 212th Street and White Plains Road.

Report critical of state real estate commissions filled with brokers [more]

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So-called “piggyback” mortgage users more likely to go into default, analysts worry Ken Harney – Wall Street sours on piggybacks” class=”read-more-link”>[more]

Trump plans Israel’s tallest building
Donald Trump is developing what is slated to be Israel’s tallest building. In late June, Trump purchased land for a $300 million, 70-story luxury residential building in Ramat Gan, an Israeli city just north of Tel Aviv. His first project in the country, Trump says that he is “confident that Israel’s future can only go one direction, and that is up,” according to Bloomberg. The average price for a unit in the tower is going to be around $1 million, according to the newspaper Yedioth Ahronot. With the construction of his Ramat Gan tower, Trump plans to “set a new standard for luxury condominium living in Israel.” The tower will be built on the site of an old chocolate factory.

Heading to Turkey for bargains
Following the significant drop in the value of the Turkish lira, some savvy Europeans see bargains in the Turkish real estate market, according to the International Herald Tribune. Foreign real estate purchases in Turkey are up 83 percent since 2003, according to a report cited by the Tribune. Three-bedroom apartments of 2,000 square feet in the Elite Park development in Istanbul cost around $120,000, according to Ready2invest, a British company that helps Brits invest in Turkey. The company says the country is undergoing “an unprecedented housing boom” and that “investment companies are predicting capital growth of 80 to 120 percent.” There are significant risks, though, observers say, as Turkey has been rocked by earthquakes, as well as political and financial crises, in the past few years.

Golf properties grow abroad
Europeans in the market for a second home are looking more and more to golf resorts, according to the Times of London. The Golf Research Group, a consulting firm, estimates that approximately 60 percent of golf courses also have residential properties, and more and more of them are found worldwide. The growing success of golf course property may have to do with the fact that people in the market for second homes are generally older men, who also represent a large share of the people who enjoy golf. Countries putting in more resorts include Portugal, Jamaica, Bulgaria and South Africa. At the Gondwana Game Reserve in South Africa, the site of a new course, buyers can purchase land plots of an acre for $260,000 and can have a four-bedroom house built on the plot for $275,000 more.

Toronto suburbs draw buyers from pricey downtown
Toronto housing prices are up 5 percent in the first half of 2006, but unlike previous price increases that were mainly a result of raising prices in the downtown area, it is Toronto suburbs that are now booming. According to the Toronto Star, high prices in the downtown area have left home buyers looking elsewhere to purchase property. Some areas, like Scarborough Bluffs, have seen detached home prices climb over 20 percent during the same period to around $320,000. The average price for a home in downtown Toronto is around $730,000.

Jacquelyn Sonenberg, head of Stribling Marketing Associates since last fall, has left the high-end marketing firm behind such new development sales efforts as the condo conversion in the Plaza Hotel to form her own real estate advisory firm.

She joined Stribling in July 2005 as a managing director, and weeks later succeeded Christopher Wilson at the helm of the brokerage’s marketing division.

Sonenberg, formerly a top executive at the Sunshine Group who also worked for Donald Trump, and Stribling founder Elizabeth Stribling both told The Real Deal the split was amiable. Sonenberg’s new firm, J.R. Sonenberg & Associates, will act as an adviser to the real estate investment banking industry.

Before joining Stribling, Sonenberg was managing director of sales and marketing at the Beekman Regent. Her career in real estate development marketing stretches back to the mid-1970s. At the Trump Organization she was involved in Trump Tower and 500 Park Tower.

In 1986, Sonenberg moved from Trump with Louise Sunshine and formed the influential Sunshine Group, becoming its first executive vice president and broker of record as it marketed several luxury residential developments in the late 1980s.

The directors of Cendant, the beleagueredécorporate parent of brokerages like the Corcoran Group and Sotheby’s International Realty, approved in mid-July the spin-off of its real estate division into the new firm Realogy Corporation, capping months of efforts to stem the slide in the company’s stock price, which is down nearly 30 percent in the last 52 weeks. The S & P 500 stock index is up about 1 percent for the same period.

In late July, two offspring of Cendant, Realogy (H) and Wyndham Worldwide (WYN), began trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Whether this stops the slide remains to be seen.

“This isn’t the best time for Realogy to go public,” said analyst Rick Munarriz at the Motley Fool financial Web site. Real estate-related stocks, in general, haven’t done well in the past 12 months, Munarriz noted.

Current Cendant shareholders received one share of Realogy for every four shares of Cendant; they got one share of Wyndham, the hospitality services spin-off, for every five shares of Cendant stock. Richard A. Smith, who headed the real estate services division of Cendant, became the president and vice chairman of Realogy with the spin-off.

Brokers at Realogy-owned firms, for their part, have greeted the official Cendant split with a collective yawn. Independent contractors in their respective firms, New York-based brokers are indifferent to the identity of the corporate parent, according to brokers who spoke anonymously with The Real Deal.

Architectural firms join forces
Meltzer/Mandl Architects and Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn Architects have formed a new architectural firm, EE & K Residential. The new company is already working on some of the largest projects under way in the New York metro area, including the Arverne by the Sea redevelopment in Rockaway Park and Thor Equities’ entertainment and residential complex on Coney Island.

Developer acquires clothing chain
Following its June purchase of department store chain Lord & Taylor, a developer partnership between Apollo Real Estate Advisors and National Realty & Development Corporation said it has no plans to close stores or lay off employees. The acquisition is another example of real estate developers acquiring struggling retail brands in the hopes of a turnaround but with the underlying value of the real estate as protection should things not work out, the New York Times reported.

Cendant sells travel division for $4.3B
Cendant, the corporate parent of brokerages like the Corcoran Group and Sotheby’s International Realty, announced at the end of June it had sold its travel services division to an affiliate of the Blackstone Group. The division, which includes Days Inn and Orbitz.com, sold for $4.3 billion in cash, Crain’s reported.

Elliman moves Long Beach office
Prudential Douglas Elliman recently celebrated the relocation of its Long Beach office. The new office has desks for 42 agents.

Fund forms for workforce housing
Phoenix Realty Group has teamed up with the Housing Partnership Development Corporation on the $250 million Metropolitan Workforce Housing Fund. The fund, headed by Ralph Raciti, aims to provide market-rate housing for middle-income families and commercial development throughout the tri-state area.

DTZ Rockwood creates hospitality services group
DTZ Rockwood has launched a Hospitality Services group based in the firm’s New York office. Managing directors Jon Kurnit and Tom Huffsmith head the group, which provides advisory, acquisition, disposition, financing and asset management services for hotel assets.

AFC Realty forms self-storage finance group
AFC Realty Capital has formed the AFC Self-Storage Finance Group. The group focuses on originating and executing transactions for owners and developers of self-storage facilities. Paul Fried, a principal at AFC, serves as president of the new group.

Brokerage A.C. Lawrence starts out
Residential firm A.C. Lawrence & Company, started by Anthony DeGrotta and Larry Friedman, both formerly of Citi Habitats, is focusing half on rentals and half on sales.

Residential

Barak Realty
Antonio del Rosario joined as executive vice president and managing director. He was a manager at Citi Habitats.

City Connections Realty
Stacey Chametznik and Jeffrey Feig joined the firm.

Citi Habitats
Avi Mosli was promoted to managing director from sales manager.

DJK Residential
Phyllis Pezenik joined as director of residential sales.

HH Realty Group
Richard Benitez joined as director of rentals and sales.

The Marketing Directors
Lauren Salmanson joined as a project coordinator. Lora Pham joined as operations analyst.

Terra Holdings
Gregory Heym was promoted to senior vice president of research and communications.

Commercial

Apollo Real Estate Advisors
Robert Gigliotti, William McCahill and Steven Wolf joined as partners.

Besen & Associates
Ellen Volpe joined the firm’s Platinum Team.

Broad Street Development
Hy Chalme joined as residential development manager.

CRESA Partners
Edward Wartels was promoted to assistant vice president.

Cushman & Wakefield
Brian Corcoran was named global head of valuation services. Stephen Jones was named head of the U.S. investment sales division, a unit of the firm’s capital markets group.

Forest City Ratner
Jim Stuckey was named president of the Atlantic Yards development group. MaryAnne Gilmartin was promoted to executive vice president for commercial and residential development. Matt Messinger was promoted to director of investment management.

Hypo Real Estate Capital
Eileen Lyons joined as senior director for whole loan origination.

Jones Lang LaSalle
Leandro Zucchi joined as a vice president. Karen Weber was named director of marketing for Grand Central Terminal.

Massey Knakal
Brian Hanson and Kevin Clark joined the Brooklyn office as directors of sales. Brian Sarath was promoted to resident manager of the Queens office. Rubin Isakharov joined the Queens office as a director of sales. Eugene Kim was promoted to associate in the Queens office.

Morgans Hotel Group
Tim Miller rejoined as chief branding officer. Jennifer Nellany joined as general counsel.

SL Green
Elizabeth Majkowski joined as vice president and portfolio manager.

Staubach Retail
Patrick Smith was promoted to executive vice president.

Studley
David Carlos moved into brokerage from brand development.

To most New Yorkers, “flat” is an adjective. But some marketers and developers have started using the word as a noun, as in the British slang for “apartment.” The 20-unit Aria in East Williamsburg, for one, promises European-style flats amid its 15 different layouts, according to marketers the Developers Group. And, in Manhattan, at least two new projects are putting “flats” in their names. Just off Fifth Avenue, Union Square Flats, marketed by Prudential Douglas Elliman, will be paired with a sister project, Union Square Lofts; and Infinity Flats, also a Douglas Elliman-marketed project, will have eight full-floor units — or flats — on East 21st Street.

One of the latest and most telling signs of change in Red Hook is the cost of parking in a future luxury condo there. The fact that a luxury condo is planned in the once gritty, heavily industrial Brooklyn enclave is news of change enough, but private parking spaces in the future nine-unit Dwight Gardens on Dikeman Street will go for $25,000 each — this in a neighborhood where you can park on the street, albeit with some difficulty. Occupancy at the condo is slated for later this summer, so get a jump on the competition if you truly need a space. If you need an extra incentive to buy one, the future Red Hook Ikea is just down the road from the future Dwight Gardens, and the newly opened Fairway is half a mile away.

This land is my land, this land isn’t the landlord’s land…
Ever rented an apartment you grew very attached to, so much so that you considered it your own and not the landlord’s? A new play at the Irish Repertory Theatre in Chelsea explores just that theme. “The Field,” by the late John B. Keane, centers on a farmer who leases four acres of low-grade land from a widow for five years, during which time he turns the plot around into prime pasture. The widow, though, decides to sell the land to the highest bidder, and the farmer who’s been tilling it to perfection decides to take matters into his own hands. (Does this sound like the time the landlord said you couldn’t paint the living room red?) “The Field” had its American debut in Chelsea in June, and runs through the first week of August.

Nursing Roosevelt Island memories
They came, they saw, they posed. Nurses who worked at the hospital that was transformed into the Octagon, the first luxury rental on Roosevelt Island, returned to their old stomping grounds several weeks ago. The nurses, mostly now in their 80s and 90s (the hospital moved to East Harlem in 1958 and its buildings fell into disrepair quickly) took to the centrally located spiral staircase to re-enact a locally famous photo snapped in 1942. The nurses then had gathered on the staircase to sing Christmas carols in what was called the hospital’s Octagon Tower.

New York industry craves better market analysis

While I agree with several of Tom Acitelli’s conclusions about the Manhattan residential market in his article on the downward trend in prices (At the top end, it’s not quite as bad, July 2006), I wonder if it is not possible to exclude that least helpful of numbers, the average price, from the equation when discussing market facts.

Average price is completely unreliable and gives a distorted picture of a marketplace in which there are numerous more significant indicators of flat prices and rising inventory. Median prices, which Mr. Acitelli also cited, are, of course, a little more accurate, while prices per square foot are best.

Among other issues, since average price is usually based on closed deals, it is always several months out of date (as are all the indicators except signed contracts, a fact few writers acknowledge). For another, condo sales in new buildings, an extremely significant force in today’s sales climate, are not factored in since they tend to have contracts today for closings six to 18 months away.

And, most importantly, why do articles about the current market so consistently emphasize the negative? After years of runaway price growth, a year or 18 months of flat prices is precisely what this market needed in order to stabilize! While it is difficult for all of us to get complete and accurate information, our market is crying out for real analysis. I hope we can count on The Real Deal to give it.

Frederick Peters
President, Warburg Realty
Manhattan