The economic downturn continues to batter the middle and lower classes. New York City’s unemployment rate is over 9 percent, and of the 10 occupations expected to have the largest number of annual job openings in New York City through 2014, only two offer median wages greater than $28,000 a year, according to a recent report by the Manhattan-based Center for an Urban Future. [more]
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Anthony Orso of Cantor Commercial Real EstateConditions weren’t exactly ideal when Doug Tiesi arrived from London in the spring of 2009 to head up The Royal Bank of Scotland’s North American real estate advisory group. The bankers on his new team were shell-shocked from the recently imploded markets and the layoffs that followed. The market for securitized commercial debt had disappeared. Many believed that it was never coming back. [more] -
Yaron HershcoUnable to afford an attorney, Clement, 31, is representing herself in a lawsuit against all of their clients — chiefly United Homes, most known as a pioneering luxury developer in Downtown Brooklyn. The suit alleges that United Homes’ owner, Yaron “Ron” Hershco, along with her lenders, appraisers and attorney, operated a “one-stop” shop that Clement claims preyed on her ethnicity and inexperience to defraud her into buying an overpriced, lemon home in Far Rockaway, Queens. [more] -
Andrew HeibergerAndrew Heiberger has decided that Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village is a neighborhood. Most New Yorkers think of the massive rental housing complex as part of the East Village. But it’s large enough to warrant its own neighborhood, at least according to the 42-year-old founder of Citi Habitats, who largely credits himself with creating the current layout of neighborhoods in Manhattan. [more] -
The collapse of the commercial real estate market in New York has sparked a phenomenon that is being widely debated in legal and financial circles: Is loan-to-own an act of bad faith or simply a smart business move?. [more] -
From left: Kathy Braddock, Jonathan Miller, Frederick Peters, Barbara FoxPossible price erosion. No more government stimulus propping up the market. But all with the saving grace of more stability. Those are some of the things we can look forward to in the New York residential market in the coming year. Indeed, the good news is that the predictions for the New York City market aren’t dire for the coming year. The bad news is that they aren’t that awe-inspiring either. In this month’s Q & A, The Real Deal talked to market analysts and CEOs of brokerages to get their unvarnished views of what to expect in 2011. [more]
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From left: Aby Rosen and Ian SchragerNow that their split is official, financier Aby Rosen and hotel impresario Ian Schrager are wasting little time moving on. Rosen acknowledged publicly for the first time last month that he had reached a deal to buy his ex-partner out of the Gramercy Park Hotel, the troubled boutique project the pair sank $200 million into renovating during the frothy pre-crash days. Then he issued a news release touting the new additions he has planned on his own for the 185-room high-end hotel, including a redesigned culinary operation headed by famed restaurateur and Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer. [more]
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Faith Hope ConsoloFaith Hope Consolo is the chairman of Prudential Douglas Elliman’s retail leasing and sales division. Before joining Elliman in 2005, she served as vice chairman of Garrick-Aug Worldwide for nearly 20 years, founding the firm’s international division in 1987 and opening the European office in Paris. Well known for her signature pink and ubiquitous slogans, such as, “To Find the Best Retail Space — You Need Faith,” Consolo has brought many prominent retailers to Manhattan, including Cartier, Versace, Jimmy Choo, Manolo Blahnik, Giorgio Armani and Fendi. [more] -
Stuart ElliottHello, lackluster 2011! At least, that’s what some pundits are saying. New York’s housing market won’t be a lot better than it is now, but also not a lot worse, according to a survey of experts. While our panel is relying on the usual market indicators (as they should), I’ve decided to divine an outlook for 2011 from our blog. The key, as with any soothsayer, is reading between the lines. Here are headlines from the last month and what they really say about the market’s future. [more] -
The Manhattan real estate market has been full of contradictions over the past few years, but perhaps never more so than right now. Last month, much like November, ushered in a number of very high-end deals, like the sale of Brooke Astor’s 778 Park Avenue duplex and the much-anticipated closing of William Zeckendorf’s penthouse at 15 Central Park West (which still hadn’t shown up in public records at press time). “We’re being barnstormed right now,” said one high-end broker. “The last 10 days have been pretty wild.” [more] -
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Frank Sciame, CEO of Sciame, is a builder both architects and developers can like. “Thou shall not kill a good design,” says Sciame, who has an architecture degree. And offbeat building plans don’t force him off-kilter or over budget, as evidenced by his work making Thom Mayne’s 41 Cooper Square a reality. Comments
Manhattan’s commercial market bounced along the bottom for much of the last 12 months. But the start of the New Year brings fresh signs that landlords, even in the lagging Downtown market, are gaining back some of the leverage they lost over the past two years. Both Midtown and Midtown South are beginning 2011 with good news — the availability rate has declined by over 2 points in the last year and the average asking rents have risen. And in Lower Manhattan, the only district of the three where the availability rate remains higher than it was one year ago, brokers reported signs that landlords are winning back some leverage. [more]
The High LineHome and office markets in New York improved in the last year, even if the signs of progress were measured in baby steps. Rental buildings scaled back incentives, distressed-debt investors sank their money into stalled condo projects, and office vacancies appeared to inch down in prime areas. Those trends should continue through the New Year, according to brokers, developers and urban policy experts, even if things won’t look like the heyday of the mid-2000s before Lehman Brothers collapsed. To gauge the rebound’s staying power, keep an eye on these 10 projects and deals over the next 12 months. [more]
The Palisades CenterThe frenzy of the holiday shopping season is winding down, but malls across the region don’t expect a holiday hangover. Mall leasing was up 38 percent in 2010 nationally, and rents were about 14 percent higher, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. Sales jumped 7 percent in September from the prior year. [more]
Tens of thousands of condominium unit owners around the country may not know it, but their ability to sell or refinance could be jeopardized by a rolling series of federal government deadlines. [more]
Richard AndersonA new City Council measure seeks to force slumlords to pay their debts to the city or risk not getting new permits and government contracts allowing them to build. “If they want to build more projects in the city, they should pay up first before they go on and build more,” Council member James Vacca, the bill’s sponsor, told the Daily News. [more]
Broker Howard MargolisBroker Howard Margolis in his $29.5 million listing at the Park MillenniumIn October, three penthouse condos at Soho Mews — priced between $7 and $10 million — went into contract. The apartments, one of which sold to pop star Justin Timberlake, were not new to the market. In fact, they’d been on sale for three years, ever since developer Albert Laboz began marketing the new condominium in late 2007. [more]
Marc Lewis, head of Century 21 NY Metro, which ceased operations in NovemberJust when it seemed like New York City had gotten past the string of brokerage closures that occurred early in the downturn, an abrupt shift in market conditions has led to a second round of shutdowns. But this time those closures are being offset with openings of new firms amid a general realignment of the city’s brokerage world. [more]
15 Central Park WestMore than any other new building, 15 Central Park West represents the crème de la crème of Manhattan’s high-end real estate market. Developed by brothers William and Arthur Zeckendorf, the Robert A.M. Stern-designed condo has lured the city’s wealthiest buyers since its inception. All of its 202 apartments were sold — for approximately $2 billion — before the doors opened in late 2007. [more]Brown Harris Stevens’ Richard Wallgren has nabbed perhaps the best gig in Manhattan: “broker specialist” at the city’s most expensive condo, 15 Central Park West. [more]
The long-standing divide-and-conquer mentality that has been the norm in the New York City investment sales world is beginning to loosen — well, at least a little. [more]
Fraud. Architecture. Investment. Scandal. And a bit of celebrity. Those are just some of the themes explored in the real estate books that have hit the shelves recently. This month, The Real Deal looked at what’s being published on our favorite topic, and what the authors have to say. The list is wide-ranging and includes everything from analysis of the financial (and housing) crisis to emerging international markets to New York’s most famous buildings.
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1961: Record-setting $70M mortgage at Pan Am Building.1939: Massive waterfront area of Lower East Side rezoned.
1909: Midtown South sees explosive growth. [more]
Now that the grand Setai Fifth Avenue is finally open, this seems like a good occasion to consider not only that building, but the architect, Charles Gwathmey, whose firm designed it. [more]
When will financing for commercial real estate return to the market? That’s the big question as we enter 2011. My answer is rather simple: It began to return in 2010 and will continue to pick up this year. [more]
Ilan Bracha[Updated 1:30 p.m. with comments from Prudential Douglas Elliman CEO Dorothy Herman] For years, Texas-based real estate franchise company Keller Williams Realty has wanted to get into the lucrative Manhattan market. The question was how. [more]
Eden Gardens, a six-story residential and retail project in downtown Beirut, being developed by Lebanon-based A&H Construction & Development.A real estate surge in Beirut that led to prices in some neighborhoods more than tripling over the past five years has peaked, yet values and rents remain among the highest for the region, recent reports and industry insiders said. Comments
Baltimore’s Ritz-Carlton ResidencesNovelist Tom Clancy has purchased three additional penthouse condos at Baltimore’s Ritz-Carlton Residences, adding to the three he already owned, the Baltimore Sun reported last month. [more]
Office building for sale in Plaza DistrictA 10-story, Class B office building is on sale at 587 Fifth Avenue for $30 million. The 43,000-square-foot property — which was built in 1920 — sits between 47th and 48th streets in the Plaza District. The building is 100 percent leased. Zamir Equities has the leasehold, which extends until 2079. Richard Baxter, Ron Cohen, Scott Latham and Jon Caplan of Jones Lang LaSalle are handling the listing for the building.
[more]View all the commercial deals printed in The Real Deal’s January issue and browse the archives here:
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5 Thompson Street+aRt
540 West 28th Street
Construction is complete at the 13-story, 91-unit condo building by Ekstein Development, which has also received its temporary certification of occupancy. The building features studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom units that range in size from 445 to 1,570 square feet and in price from $490,000 to $2.3 million. Amenities include a 24-hour attended lobby and a roof deck. Halstead Property Development Marketing is the agent. Contact: www.540w28.com. [more]
Bay Ridge
$730,000
453 Bay Ridge Parkway
Three-story, 2,340 sf townhouse with 3-bedroom, 1-bathroom apartment and first-floor office with separate entrance and bathroom; house has dining room and windowed kitchen; taxes $161 per month; asking price $755,000; 64 weeks on the market. (Brokers: Scott Klein, Prudential Douglas Elliman; Tony Ursino, Brooklyn Realty Center) [more]The real estate data website Zillow.com has launched a new program that allows clients to rank and review real estate agents on a one-to-five scale in categories like “local knowledge,” “process expertise” and “responsiveness.” While Zillow is keeping the rankings relatively quiet as they cull more reviews from users, the feature is familiar territory for Zillow: The site’s Mortgage Marketplace, which allows borrowers to review lenders, has a database of roughly 6,500 user reviews. [more]
A luxury residential report once made available only to an exclusive few New Yorkers is now available en masse, providing yet another insight into New York’s vast real estate market. [more]
Residential
Modern Spaces
Jermain Miller joined the brokerage as a senior vice president. He was previously a vice president at Elliman. [more]
Core’s Brittley JarrellThe holidays swept through New York last month, bringing lots of good cheer and, of course, parties. Here was the buzz at a couple.
Shaun Osher was missing in action. Word was that he was babysitting his kids while wife Lauren DeFranco, a reporter for WABC-TV on Long Island, was covering the recent string of Jones Beach-area killings. [more]
Larry Silverstein
Larry Silverstein is pretty well known in New York — even outside real estate-only circles. Rebuilding the World Trade Center will do that. [more]
Gramercy19For a new Gramercy condo development, one amenity is key. Gramercy19, a 16-unit building at East 19th Street and Third Avenue, offers access to Gramercy Park, the only private park in Manhattan, through a deal with the historic Players club. The deal is likely boosting apartment sales, although the park leadership isn’t enthusiastic about it. [more]
