From the first showing to the final closing, every apartment sale has a story, and some of them are real jaw-droppers. The broker and her clients who received an unexpectedly snooty greeting from a surprise squatter. The luxury co-op client who got indicted for fraud before the deal closed. The real estate attorney with a sideline in kidnapping. The tranquilized dog. (Don’t worry, it’ll all be clear below.) From farce to tragedy, there are a… [more]
Real estate circles these days are bullish, but nobody has a crystal ball. The effects of a sudden downturn are a subject rarely acknowledged. Market watchers and real estate veterans call it the elephant in the room, or the dead horse in the bathtub. But dodging the question doesn’t mean it’s not hovering on the edge of the horizon. While experts believe there is no imminent likelihood that the current ripe real estate market will… [more]
So will it turn or won’t it? Not surprisingly, developers and brokers are optimistic about the current real estate market. Most point to growing employment numbers and the fact that the economy continues to grow as evidence of a strong market. Emerging New York neighborhoods appear to be fairly established, and there’s a broad consensus that overbuilding isn’t affecting any market sectors. Asher Alcobi, co-founder and president of brokerage Peter Ashe Inc., predicts a recovering… [more]
Guests at the Plaza Hotel probably didn’t look twice at the flags flying in front of the New York landmark the night of Oct. 14. Casual observers saw the display of Israeli, Saudi, Singaporean and Canadian standards above the doors of the slightly careworn, but iconic hotel as further evidence that this city is the crossroads of the world. But the principals of the recently concluded $675 million sale of the property knew better the… [more]
The Real Estate Board of New York will ring in the New Year with some big changes for residential brokers. The powerful industry trade organization, which counts around 3,000 residential salespeople as members, passed resolutions for 2005 to boost membership, change how listings are distributed, and increase sanctions on members who don’t co-broke listings in a timely fashion. The Real Deal recently sat down with REBNY president Steven Spinola to talk about the push for… [more]
It was a tale of two diverging office markets – a “roaring” Midtown and a suffering Downtown – that left the October Manhattan vacancy rate at 10.5 percent, unchanged from the previous month. After hitting a two-year low in September, vacancy rates stayed constant, according to research by Grubb & Ellis. While Midtown leasing “roared through the month” with activity up 62 percent from the September total of 1.25 million square feet, according to CB… [more]
A stretch of Atlantic Avenue once known for its junk shops has moved upscale, and may soon be a magnet for national retail chains, according to eager commercial brokers in Brooklyn. The storefronts of bric-a-brac that lined the artery from Hoyt Street to Third Avenue are gone, replaced by upscale boutiques. The shift has been noticed by more than the neighbors, with a recent New York Times story celebrating the upgrade. But retail brokers have… [more]
The Manhattan apartment market seemed to fare better in November than it had during the third quarter, with studio and one-bedrooms the most active segment, brokers and appraisers said. Jonathan Miller, president of the appraisal firm Miller Samuel and author of the Douglas Elliman Manhattan Market Overview, said the market appeared to “kick back on” to a degree in mid-October, around two weeks before the election. “The sales volume each month declined throughout the third… [more]
New York co-op owners are very particular about their neighbors, and boards don’t hesitate to reject potential buyers if their finances aren’t on par with the rest of the building, or if they believe an applicant simply isn’t the right fit. When it comes to the composition of boards, too, board members can be similarly picky – some don’t like brokers among their ranks. Brokers’ experiences with their boards run the gamut from rejection to… [more]
Tenants in thousands of apartment buildings nationwide are converting to condominium ownership arrangements, but the New York market lags far behind the rest of the country. Other areas, particularly in California, Boston, Washington, D.C. and New Jersey, are pressing forward with high conversion volumes, often in rental to condo shifts. In south Florida alone, some 10,000 apartment-to-condo conversions are planned for the next 12 months. But real estate in New York has long been measured… [more]
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