The Real Deal New York

Within the spectacle that is the New York real estate market, rental units are pulling off a vanishing act. [more]

Condo boom in once remote area bets on transport, neighborhood expansion [more]

From the converted Plaza Hotel to Place 57, from developer Jules Demchick to Donald Trump, do signs point to a glut of new condos about to hit the market in Manhattan? Comments

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Though their influence has lessened, finance firms still leave heavy footprint [more]

Midtown and Midtown South leasing keeps moving while Lower Manhattan drags [more]

 In vino veritas, the old, old saying goes, and as wine bars begin to dot a range of New York neighborhoods, landlords are perfecting their own variation on the proverb. Call it in vino prosperitas. [more]

Advertisers, non-profits and pop-up stores claim vacant retail sites [more]

Properties recently placed on the market [more]

Manhattan average price tops itself again, rising to $1.2M [more]

Lending’s new lax standards [more]

 As politicians, Olympic officials and sports team owners scrambled to keep the political football that was the proposed West Side stadium from deflating, Donald Trump pulled off a $1.8 billion deal that took second place in the headlines, but could have a more profound and immediate impact on the development of the Hudson River waterfront. [more]

City’s tax break provisions a boon for new developments if they can be deciphered [more]

Equity-averse investors get a boost from joint brokerage efforts to bring money into real estate [more]

Bedford-Stuyvesant
The Lofts on Dekalb
794-802 Dekalb Avenue
Four buildings each contain around eight duplexes with open loft-style living spaces. The 33 units range from 742 to 1,838 square feet. All apartments have outdoor space with either a roof terrace, backyard or balcony. Contact: Liz Emmanuel, Corcoran, 718-210-2109.

Brooklyn Heights
322 Hicks Street
Three of the six units in the five-story, 10,000-square-foot condo building have already gone into contract. The developer is Second Development Services. Architectural firm Larsen Shein Ginsberg Snyder collaborated with the Landmarks Preservation Commission to develop the modern building in the historic context of the neighborhood. Prices range from $1.1 million for the ground-floor apartments to $1.7 million for the penthouse, the New York Times reported.

Dumbo
J Condo
100 Jay Street
Cara Development has broken ground on the 33-story condo project, which will be the tallest building in Dumbo. There will be 267 one- to three-bedroom apartments and just over 407,000 square feet of space total, along with ground-floor retail. Gruzen Samton is the architect.

Dumbo
70 Washington Street
Former manufacturing plant converted to 257 condos sold one-third of its units in the first week of sales last month. The studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments average 1,324 square feet and start at $485,000. The 1912 building developed by Two Trees Management most recently housed artists’ studios. Each unit has its own laundry/storage room and finishes such as bamboo flooring and glass bathroom tile. Apartments feature high ceilings, wine coolers, Sub Zero refrigerators, Viking cooktops, walk-in showers and Jacuzzi tubs. The building has a 24-hour concierge and health club. Twenty-two rooftop cabanas will be available for purchase by residents. Contact: Toby Klein, Two Trees, 718-222-5555.

Edgewater
One Hudson Park
168-unit project will be the first high-rise condo built in Edgewater, just across the Hudson River from Upper Manhattan. One, two- and three-bedroom units range in price from $398,880 to more than $1.5 million. The building features a 24-hour doorman and concierge, 50-foot lap pool, fitness center and yoga studio, media lounge, children’s playroom, parking and other amenities. The developer is Tarragon Corporation and Gruzen Samton Architects is designing the building. Scheduled for completion in fall 2006. Contact: 201-840-9080 or www.onehudsonpark.com.

Greenwich Village
135 West 4th Street
The Washington Square United Methodist Church has been sold to developers-architects Jon Kully and Mick Walsdorf, who are most likely turning it into condos, New York magazine reported. The 1860s church and next-door refectory had gone on the market for $13 million last winter after they became too expensive to maintain.

Harlem
5th Avenue and 127th Street
Recently formed development group AFC Realty Capital will renovate a five-story building into 28 condos. Prices for the units will range from the upper $400,000s for one-bedroom units to more than $1 million for three-bedroom duplexes, Globest.com reported.

Lower Manhattan
The Downtown Club
19 West Street
Sales recently began at the 288-unit former Downtown Athletic Club developed by Joseph Moinian, with occupancy expected this summer. Apartments range from 500 to 1,000 square feet, and cost around $1,000 per square foot, the Post reported. Residents have access to a 12,000-square-foot gym, lounge and daily breakfast. The building until recently housed college football’s Heisman Trophy. Contact: 212-363-2020 or www.trophycondo.com.

Madison Square Park
The Grand Madison
225 Fifth Avenue
Sales are under way at the 216-unit condo conversion overlooking Madison Square Park. Elad Properties is developing the 1906 landmark, which was recently the New York Giftware Building. One- to three-bedroom apartments range from 706 to 2,400 square feet. There will be 98 one-bedrooms, 69 two-bedrooms, 26 three-bedrooms and 23 penthouses. Starting prices will range from approximately $685,000 to more than $4.5 million, according to Dana Pecorella of Cantor Pecorella, the sales agent for the property. Information: 212-679-5252 or www.grandmadison.com.

Park Slope
Rose Hall
219 17th Street
New condominium with 10 units by developer On The Level Enterprises. Most remaining apartments have 1,020 square feet and two bedrooms and start at $510,000. A four-bedroom, 2,651-square-foot triplex is also available for $895,000. The Corcoran Group is marketing the property. Contact: Eva Zurek, Corcoran, 212-941-2549.

Prospect Park
Caton Place
Williamsburg developer Moshe Feller bought one of the two buildings used by the Kensington Stables at the southern tip of Prospect Park and an adjacent tire factory with plans to knock them down and build an eight-story luxury condominium with 107 apartments and underground parking, the Daily News reported. Feller’s $20 million building, designed by architect Karl Fischer, will have a garden, floor-to-ceiling windows and a two-story lobby. The 13 horses, which resided in the century-old barn now owned by Feller, have been moved to the main building.

Tribeca
51 Walker Street
The nine-story new construction project by developer Liton Partners will feature 15 two- and three-bedroom condos. Each apartment has 10-foot ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows, and was designed by architects Cetra/Ruddy. Veracity Real Estate Management, an affiliate of the developers, is the sales agent. “The concept was ‘under 2,000 feet and under $2 million,’ ” Hunter Lipton of Liton told the Post. “We thought there was a good niche for the two-bedroom, two-bath market.” Contact: www.walker51.com.

Upper East Side
170 East End Avenue
Celebrity architect Peter Marino is designing the interiors and exteriors of a new 110-unit condominium in his first apartment building project. The units, housed in two connected limestone and glass towers, will range from one to five bedrooms. Skyline Developers expects to complete the project in the fall of 2006. Although the offering plan has not yet been approved, proposed prices range from $1,600 to $3,000 per square foot, the New York Times reported. The Sunshine Group is marketing the building.

Upper West Side
223 West 80th Street
Seventy-five percent of the condo units in the Cavan Development project were sold within their first two months on the market. The 12-unit loft-style property features 1,562-square-foot, two-bedroom, two-bath units with balconies and terraces. There is also a garden duplex and a penthouse apartment with a 219-square-foot roof terrace. All units have gourmet kitchens, marble baths, fireplaces and keyed elevator access. Prices for the sold units range from $1.395 million to $2 million. Douglas Elliman is marketing the project. Contact: sales office, 212-727-6158.

West Village
302 Spring Street
The 11-story condominium is close to topping out, according to web site triplemint.com. The project was designed by architects Zakrzewski + Hyde.

Sales Update

Chelsea
Lion’s Head Condominium
121 West 19th Street
The 66-unit project developed by Alchemy Properties was sold out in mid-June after two months on the market. Apartments were priced from $500,000 to $2.75 million and range from 766 to 3,948 square feet. Contact: Wendy Triffon, director of sales, 212-732-0372.

Hudson Square
255 Hudson Street
Developer Metropolitan Housing Partners sold 40 percent of its 64-unit building in its first month of sales ending in mid- June. The 11-story building has one-bedrooms priced from $1 million, lofts are priced from $1.535 million, two-bedrooms priced from $1.875 million and townhouses priced from $2.95 million to $3.7 million. One-bedrooms range in size from 776 to 1,945 square feet and two-bedrooms measure 1,450 to 1,750 square feet. The project will be ready for occupancy in the summer of 2006. Contact: 212-255-5503 or www.255hudson.com.

Construction Update

Midtown West
Clinton West
516 West 47th Street
Construction is nearing completion on 149 condos in two six-story buildings by developer SDS/Procida. The property, which will be marketed by The Corcoran Group, is scheduled to go to market in summer 2005. The project was designed by Larsen Shein Ginsberg Snyder Architects and offers studios, one- and two-bedroom units featuring vertical-grained bamboo flooring and Graham Architectural windows to maximize light. The building will offer a recreational greenhouse, with plasma televisions and a wet bar, which will open to a grand terrace with a landscaped garden and putting green. The building will also have a fitness center and on-site laundry facility. Contact: 212-957-3914 or www.clintonwest.com.

Tribeca
200 Chambers Street
In a ceremony attended by Michael Bloomberg and a host of dignitaries, groundbreaking took place on the 254-unit luxury condominium and retail building being developed by the Resnick family. Plaza Construction is serving as construction manager for the project.

Financing

Midtown West
125 West 31st Street
American Property Financing announced the closing of a $176.8 million Fannie Mae DUS construction loan for the 58-story project being built by a partnership of the Franciscans of the Holy Name Province, the Durst Organization and Sidney Fetner Associates. Upon completion, the development will be sub-divided among the partners into five condominium units. The residential portion of the project will contain 458 rental apartments.

Murray Hill
1 East 35th Street
Commerce Bank provided a $15 million bridge loan to Senior Living Options Inc. for the acquisition of the vacant plot. The developer secured the interim financing in order to build a residential development. The loan term is nine months.

Tribeca
137-141 Duane Street
A local developer acquired the six-story, 74,000-square-foot rental building and will transform it into condos. Multi Capital Group arranged and closed the $32 million loan for the developer.

New Developments from Previous Month

Atlanta

Commercial
The Buckhead neighborhood is hotter than it’s been in years. Demand for office space there is accelerating in 2005 after two slow years, according to the Atlanta Business Journal. Recent high-profile purchases and developments that have lured companies include the sale of the 20-story, 466,000-square-foot One Live Oak building for $31 million. Cousins Properties recently broke ground on Terminus, a mixed-use development at the intersection of Peachtree and Piedmont roads that will include a 532,000-square-foot office building and 65,000 square feet of retail space.

Boston

Commercial
Boston is on Google’s short list. The Internet behemoth is planning to open a massive office compound in one of four cities across the country that could expand to as much as 275,000 square feet of commercial space. Representatives in June scoped out potential sites in Boston and neighboring Cambridge, according to the Boston Business Journal, visiting at least 10 buildings, many in the Back Bay neighborhood. Google is looking to sign a five- to 10-year lease by the end of the year.

Commercial/Residential
A major push is on to redevelop the banks of the Mystic River, according to the Boston Globe. Polluted, with many factories along its route, the Mystic is being envisioned as a landmark next to residential and commercial developments, an enticement for buyers much in the same way as is the Charles River. The Boston suburb of Medford released a proposed plan for mixed-use development that would reorganize its downtown to better capitalize on the Mystic streaming through it.

Chicago

Commercial/Residential
Centrum Properties Inc. will build a massive three-tower, $700 million luxury condominium in downtown Chicago, according to Realtor.org. The condominium, dubbed CityFront Plaza, will be a half-block east of Michigan Avenue on St. Clair Street in the Streeterville neighborhood. Prices in the first condo tower will range from $300,000 to more than $1 million. Sales started in June, and construction should begin in the first quarter of 2006.

Residential
Housing prices in the Chicago metro area appreciated 1.96 percent in the first quarter of 2005, according to a report from the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. That places Chicago, the nation’s third-largest city, at No. 103 of the 265 metro areas studied, well behind New York and Los Angeles, but ahead of Houston, the fourth-largest city in the U.S. Housing in Chicago appreciated 10.57 percent during the 12-month period ending March 31 and has appreciated more than 45 percent in the past five years.

Las Vegas

Residential
The Las Vegas metro area had the nation’s second-highest housing appreciation rate from the first quarter of 2004 to the first quarter of 2005, with housing prices up 33.3 percent, according to early June data from the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. Las Vegas housing prices are up 89.1 percent over the last five years. Nevada’s appreciation rate overall for the 12 months ending the first quarter of 2005 was 31.2 percent, well above the national rate, according to the Las Vegas Sun.

Commercial
Construction on the 1.5-million-square-foot, open-air Town Square at the intersection of Interstates 15 and 215 started in June. Centra Properties, the project’s developer, also revealed the names of several tenants, including a bowling alley, a movie theater and dozens of retailers such as Abercrombie & Fitch and Kenneth Cole. Scheduled to open in late 2006, the $400 million project will also include a 230-room hotel and 200,000 square feet of office space, according to In Business Las Vegas.

Los Angeles

Residential
The Los Angeles metro area had a housing appreciation rate of 25.55 percent for the 12 months ending March 31, according to recently released government data. The brisk rate places LA among the top 20 metro areas in the nation for housing appreciation, according to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. It also puts the city well above the national average rate of 12.5 percent. Over the past five years, LA housing has appreciated more than 100 percent.

Miami

Residential/Commercial
More than 114 projects, most of them high-rise condominiums, are under construction or in the planning stages in downtown Miami along Biscayne Bay, the Miami Herald reported. Citywide, developers are planning more than 61,000 new condominium units eight times the number built during the past 10 years. These plans include the tallest skyscraper in Florida and the tallest residential building south of Manhattan, as well as nearly 4 million square feet of retail space.

Commercial
Two new big box retail developments are going up in Miami. A five-story complex called the Bayview Market received approval from the city council and will be built a few blocks from the Performing Arts Center. It will include 24 residential units and more than 580,000 square feet for four large retailers and smaller, ground-floor shops, the Miami Herald reported. A 600,000-square-foot shopping center is also under development in Midtown Miami on the former Buena Vista Rail Yard, the Herald reported.

Philadelphia

Commercial
A three-story, 12,000-square-foot prototype of a small corner of the Comcast Center is being built by Liberty Property Trust. The prototype will give prospective tenants of the 57-story, 1.2-million-square-foot building a feel for how the inside will look, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal. Set to open in late 2007, 43 percent of leased space in the building, at 17th Street and John F. Kennedy Boulevard, will serve as headquarters for cable giant Comcast.

Residential
Adding to Philadelphia’s already brisk condo construction market, a City Council committee in early June approved plans for a 1,110-unit, two-tower condo rising 40 stories on the Delaware River waterfront between Fairmont Avenue and Laurel Street. Nearly 15,000 condo units in Philadelphia are either under construction or in the planning stages.

Phoenix

Residential
Arizona’s population will increase by 5.6 million within the next 25 years, making it the second-fastest growing state behind Nevada, according to a recent U.S. Census analysis by the Arizona Blue Chip Economic Forecast. By 2030, Arizona will be the 10th largest state by population, the Phoenix Business Journal reported, further fueling what is already one of the hottest housing markets in the nation.

Residential
Phoenix politicians and developers broke ground in early June on the first market-rate downtown apartment project in nearly a decade. The $40 million, 328-unit Alta Phoenix is across the street from the Arizona Center near Arizona State University’s downtown campus, the Arizona Republic reported. The project is expected to open in January 2007, with rents from $850 to $3,000 a month.

San Francisco

Commercial
The retail link between Market and Mission streets is nearing completion, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Yerba Buena Lane will bring more than a dozen stores and restaurants to a dense area that already includes the Four Seasons and Marriott hotels. Eight of the new stores, ranging from 2,000 to 4,500 square feet, will be built into the Marriott. Rents range from $35 to $125 a square foot. Much of the fresh space should be rented within the next five months, the paper reported.

Commercial
The historic Landmark building at 1 Market Street has a new owner. TMG Partners announced in early June that it had closed the sale of the building to American Assets for a reported $496 per square foot or, about $190 million, according to the San Francisco Business Journal. The building includes 380,000 square feet of office space and a 44,000-square-foot annex. Built in 1917 and located at the foot of the popular San Francisco drag, current tenants of The Landmark include Microsoft and Del Monte.

Washington, D.C.

Residential/Commercial
Construction started in June on a Falls Church, Va., development that is one of the largest projects there in 20 years, the Washington Business Journal reported. The mixed-use project includes an 85,000-square-foot, five-story office building that Atlantic Realty plans to finish by mid-2006. It will adjoin a six-story, 349,000-square-foot condo building developed by Carr Enterprises. The building will have 230 units for sale and is scheduled for completion by early 2007.

Follows development of neighborhood’s main arteries; larger mid-block projects on rise [more]

Brooklyn’s hipster ‘hood to see more new condos, rising prices [more]

Connected to Manhattan by boat, the neighborhood provides a place for more space [more]

The Internet took New York by storm a decade ago when Silicon Alley altered part of the real estate landscape and spawned a neighborhood name that’s outlived most of the businesses that filled its offices. [more]

Housing prices still showing double-digit growth, hints of slowdown [more]

Investment funds prepare to cash in on housing price declines in near future [more]

After mulling various offers, top mortgage broker Jeff Appel in June left the Manhattan Mortgage Company, where he was managing director, to join Preferred Empire Mortgage Company as senior vice president. [more]

The Corcoran Group is carving out a share of the expanding South Florida market and making some changes in its ranks in the wake of an earlier change among the firm’s leadership in Brooklyn. [more]

New York real estate legend Julien Studley is known for his out-of-the-box thinking, and his involvement with a new firm dedicated to mixed-income development appears to demonstrate this anew. [more]

Newmark heads to Miami

The commercial brokerage has opened an office on Brickell Bay Drive in downtown Miami, after previously running its Florida operations out of its Atlanta office. Newmark recently advised South Florida’s largest employer, Burger King Corp., on a 250,000-square-foot headquarters consolidation as well as brokering a 75,000-square-foot lease for law firm White & Case.

Fenwick-Keats opens in Flatiron

Fenwick-Keats has opened a new storefront at 64 West 21st Street. The brokerage’s new location consists of a 3,000-square-foot duplex with an outdoor terrace and deck, and is the company’s fifth office.

First Upstate broker opens city office

Catskills real estate broker Frank Lumia has a new office on North Moore Street, and is likely the first Upstate broker to open a storefront in Manhattan. He markets nothing but properties in the Catskills. Since Lumia opened last month, three clients have gone into contract, New York magazine reported.

Winoker targets commercial co-ops

Winoker Realty has formed a new commercial co-op and condominium division for tenants who want to buy their office space. Jonata Dayan, who will be heading the new division along with David Winoker, president of Winoker Realty, has said there are only 40 to 50 buildings in Manhattan currently offering commercial co-op and condominium space for sale. During the first quarter of 2005, Winoker closed on or was in contract for six such transactions.

Metro Commercial expands to tri-state area

Metro Commercial Real Estate, a Philadelphia-based real estate firm, announced its expansion into northern New Jersey and the New York City area. The N.J. office will be located in Fort Lee. Jeff Lagowitz will be the principal in charge of the region.

Newmark to manage more projects

Newmark is growing its project management services by merging with affiliate Honour Inc. The new division will be called Newmark Project Management. Honour founder Jeff Estep will remain at the helm as managing principal.

Corcoran adds RSS feeds

The firm has introduced the latest online gadget on its web site to provide property listings and open house information. RSS feeds involve providing users with updates whenever new information is posted on a given web site.

How much work is too much work for a real estate agent? [more]

 Imagine the conversations at Thanksgiving dinner: Two daughters of noted postwar architects have moved into buildings their fathers did not design, opting instead for prewar elegance. [more]

One New York journalist who has covered the city’s notoriously exuberant housing market thinks the media is behind much of the bubbling hysteria. Daniel Gross, who wrote a story about the housing bubble for a May edition of New York magazine, told a National Public Radio audience last month that the media now is using the housing bubble to make up for its lack of coverage before the bust of the tech-fueled stock market boom in the late 1990s.

“In the late ’90s and even through 2000, the large sort of media complex collectively missed calling the bubble,” Gross told NPR’s Bob Garfield. “And we all rode over the cliff together. I think in compensation for that, you see many more people who make their living in the media as analysts, journalists, wanting to get out on the record saying, ‘I may have missed the stock bubble, but I’m not going to miss this one. You’re warned.’”

Brooklyn developer and owner David Walentas has dropped his bid to own Major League Baseball’s Washington Nationals, the Washington Post reported. [more]

Maybe he’s trying to generate a little cash toward the $600 million he agreed to pay for a new stadium next to the existing Shea Stadium. [more]