The Real Deal New York

Newcomers join Macklowe and Tishman in total purchases over past year Manhattan’s biggest building buyers” class=”read-more-link”>[more]

Mix of units increasingly appeals to developers Hedging bets with rental-condo hybrids” class=”read-more-link”>[more]

Few things underscore the quirks and excesses of New York real estate more than seeing them through the eyes of someone from a foreign country. Q & A: Foreigners learn the language” class=”read-more-link”>[more]

Despite faster growth, NYC cushioned from U.S. glut Too many rooms built at the inn” class=”read-more-link”>[more]

Size means clout in New York, but niche brokerages also prosper Taking the commercial pulse” class=”read-more-link”>[more]

Speculative office projects are back: lessons from the ’80s? [more]

Rents rise in Lower Manhattan as office vacancy rate drops below equilibrium point [more]

A struggle is under way for the identity of Astor Place — once a no-man’s land between an untamed East Village and the edge of New York University’s unofficial turf, and now the epicenter of high-powered redevelopment in an area associated with the birth of punk rock. [more]

Pomeranc-owned hotel finally opens after two-year delay [more]

Companies dislike ‘flipper’ label [more]

Critics say developer got sweetheart deal for concession [more]

Latest strategy uses smaller footprints to squeeze into new neighborhoods [more]

Concessionaires redesign retail spaces, offer more upscale goods to fliers [more]

Deutsche Bank and Con Ed jobs highlight deconstruction challenges in NYC [more]

Kushner to sell residential holdings
Kushner Companies is looking to sell the bulk of its residential holdings — nearly 18,500 units, most in the tri-state area — to shore up cash for office building purchases. The residential portfolio will net Kushner around $2 billion, the New York Post reported. CB Richard Ellis’ Darcy Stacom and Bill Shanahan, along with Goldman Sachs, are handling the assignment.

Class B building near MSG on the market
The 460,000-square-foot building at 225 West 34th Street, known as 14 Penn Plaza, is on the market and could fetch as much as $400 million, the Post reported. The Class B building includes 22,000 square feet of retail space and is expected to benefit from the proposed development activity around Madison Square Garden. Cushman & Wakefield’s Jon Caplan, Scott Latham, Richard Baxter and Ron Cohen are marketing the building for seller Charles Borrok.

SL Green selling 1372 Broadway
SL Green will sell 1372 Broadway, a 21-story tower on 37th Street, the Post reported. The fully leased, 550,000-square-foot building is expected to go for more than $300 million. Douglas Harmon of Eastdil Secured is handling the sale.

Mixed-use portfolio could fetch $225M
A 24-property portfolio in Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx is on the market and expected to sell for $225 million, the Post reported. It includes 894 apartments in elevator buildings, 89 retail stores, five professional offices and unsold shares for 19 co-op units. Peter Hauspurg and Marcia Rose Yawitz of Eastern Consolidated are representing the local seller, Intervest Development Corp.

Herald Square office building for sale
A joint venture of the City Investment Fund and Savanna Investment Management is looking to flip the office building at 131 West 33rd Street for $500 per square foot, or $88 million, according to the New York Sun. The venture bought the 16-story, 176,000-square-foot building for $43 million, or $244 a square foot, in February. Woody Heller, Will Silverman, and David Endelman of Studley are marketing the building.

Witnesses’ sales could top $60M
The sale of six Jehovah’s Witness properties in Brooklyn Heights will likely fetch around $60 million, the Post reported. The religious group is expected to get $35 million just from the sale of the 12-story Standish Arms Hotel building at 169 Columbia Heights. The Witnesses own some 30 buildings in Brooklyn Heights and Dumbo that they began buying up in the 1980s and ’90s.

Midtown East development site for sale
A 7,490-square-foot development site at 313-317 East 46th Street is on the market with an asking price of $42 million. The site can support a residential building of up to 89,880 square feet with an affordable housing component. Eastern Consolidated is handling the sale.

Flatiron development site on the block
The parking lot at 39-41 West 23rd Street, which can support a 21-story, 90,677-square-foot residential building with ground-floor retail, is on the market. It is expected to sell for close to $400 per buildable square foot, or approximately $36 million, according to the Sun. Massey Knakal is handling the sale.

Diamond District building on the market
The seven-story, 11,410-square-foot office and retail building at 26 West 47th Street is on the market with an asking price of $15 million. The building has 11 office units and one retail store; the retail unit can be delivered vacant. Paul Massey, Mark Spinelli and Kyle Mast of Massey Knakal are the exclusive sales agents.

Price drop for East Harlem school
A former school at 2269-2275 First Avenue, which went on the market at the end of last year for $15 million, is now asking $12.75 million. The five-story, 47,390-square-foot building has 20,000 square feet of air rights and is ready for an immediate condominium conversion. Massey Knakal is the exclusive sales agent.

Would-be NASCAR track site for sale
A 676-acre, industrial-zoned site at the foot of the Goethals Bridge on Staten Island is on the market. The location, where plans were axed last year to build a NASCAR track, is the largest undeveloped waterfront site in New York City, according to exclusive broker Cushman & Wakefield. Stan Danzig and Jules Nissim are handling the sale.

While new condos hit the market, co-ops in short supply [more]

Getting it all beats splitting the commission pie, some unethical agents decide [more]

Water rate and property tax increases, tougher housing code laws drive up costs [more]

Defaults don’t bring disaster to Queens neighborhood buttressed by strong market [more]

About 40 percent of agents sign up for new site open to the public [more]

This month, Rachel Deahl drops in on the open houses in Tribeca [more]

Memoir tells tales from the boom [more]

Chairman and chief executive officer of Time Equities, a New York real estate development and investment company with more than 20 million square feet of property in the United States, Germany and Canada.
[more]

In Shvo’s latest, what’s outside the window is more important than what’s inside [more]

Banks pull back on lending for new development [more]

Partial demolition won’t stop conversion of Clinton Hill icon [more]

Atlanta

The 150-unit Lodge at BridgeMill, Cherokee County’s largest rental property for people over 55, will open this September, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. The development will serve one of the fastest-growing demographics in the county — according to the Atlanta Regional Commission, the area’s over-55 population, currently estimated at 29,000, will reach nearly 100,000 by the year 2030.

Boston

Though the median price for a condominium in downtown Boston rose 4 percent to $479,000 in the first quarter compared to the same period a year ago, the number of sales dropped 8 percent. Areas showing the largest decreases in sales included South End, Fenway and the waterfront, the Boston Globe reported. Apartment buyers are gravitating to larger, higher-end units while forgoing smaller ones. The number of two- and three-bedroom sales rose compared to the first quarter of 2006, and sales of one-bedrooms dropped by 28 percent, with studio sales showing a decline as well.

Chicago

Chicago apartment rents are expected to rise anywhere between 2 and 11.5 percent this spring, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The increase would have a significant impact, as 57 percent of Chicago-area residents are renters. The Chicagoland Apartment Association, a trade organization for landlords, said the jump was a result of five years of increasing operating costs without corresponding rent increases. Rent increases could also be due to more renters in the city as a result of job growth, rental inventory lost to recent condominium conversions and scarcity of new rental construction. But with an estimated 1,700 new rental units expected to come online by spring 2008, the rent hikes could be short lived.

The number of housing units within one block of the Chicago River has risen 85 percent from 5,576 to 10,332 between 1996 and 2006, and it is expected to grow more. An increase of 22 percent is projected by the end of 2009, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. New condo and rental developments under construction include the 17-building, 4,950-unit Lakeshore East complex along Randolph Street. Another project, the River East complex in Streeterville, consists of seven high-rise residential buildings, with six more in the works.

Las Vegas

Industrial development in Las Vegas is going strong, with 4.5 million square feet of space under construction in the first quarter of 2007. The growth follows high demand, as industrial vacancy was under 4 percent for the third straight quarter, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. A new 513,000-square-foot project by developer DP Partners is the largest speculative industrial building in the valley. The majority of the 672,488 square feet of industrial construction completed in the past quarter was in North Las Vegas and the southwest valley.

Home repossessions by banks are on the rise in the Las Vegas housing market, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. Repossessions accounted for 402 of the 3,175 existing home closings in March, or 13 percent. This number is up from 9 percent in January and February. While overall sales are slowing considerably, prices are relatively stable. New home sales were down 43.2 percent to 5,264 in the first quarter compared to a year ago, and existing home sales fell 20 percent to 8,539. But the median price for new homes was up 4 percent in the first quarter to $324,035, while the median price for existing homes dropped only 0.3 percent to $280,667.

MGM Mirage is spending $575 million in two land acquisitions on the north Strip that were expected to close last month. MGM was to purchase 25.8 acres from Gordon Gaming Corp. for $444 million, and 7.6 acres from Concord Wilshire Partners for $131 million, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The two sites are adjacent to MGM’s 68-acre Circus Circus complex, which will soon be renovated. MGM Mirage will own more than 100 contiguous acres on the north Strip, a site that could potentially support a bigger development than MGM’s own 66-acre, $7 billion Project CityCenter under construction on the south Strip.

Los Angeles

Tougher lending standards and a drop in the number of subprime mortgages are contributing to a decrease in Los Angeles home sales, the Los Angeles Times reported. Sales were down 4.6 percent in March from a year ago, though the median price rose 2.6 percent to $571,110. Sales of existing homes were down 8.4 percent from the previous month, the sharpest month-to-month decline since January 1989. Homes in Los Angeles Country remained on the market an average of 54 days in March, up from 36 days a year earlier. According to brokers, the slowdown is mostly affecting the market in the $550,000 to $10 million range; the starter-home and highest-end markets remain healthy.

In response to large profit drops in the last year, at least two mortgage lenders in the greater Los Angeles area, Countrywide Financial Corp. and IndyMac Bancorp, are now requiring higher credit scores, larger down payments and better documentation of borrowers’ incomes. First-quarter profits were down 37 percent for Countrywide compared to last year, from $684 to $434 million. IndyMac saw a 34 percent drop, from $79.8 to $52.4 million, largely because of risky subprime lending policies. Countrywide plans to reduce zero-down payment mortgages to account for 3 percent of its total loans, compared to 25 percent last quarter. The company also plans to lower its proportion of subprime mortgages to between 4 and 6 percent this year from 8 percent last year, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Philadelphia

A trend that has migrated from New York City to Philadelphia’s Chinatown is the sale of ground-floor retail condos in residential buildings. Parkway Corp.’s Pearl Condominiums at 8th and Arch streets, slated to be completed in several months, will be one such mixed-use project. All 10 first-floor retail units and 75 of the 90 residential units in the six-story building have already been sold, the Philadelphia Daily News reported.
Existing-home sales in Philadelphia were down 5.3 percent in the first quarter of 2007 compared to the same time last year, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Homes are staying on the market longer as well, but the median price is still on the rise, up 3.5 percent to $133,000 in the first quarter from $128,500 last year.

Phoenix

A big New York City developer is heading to Phoenix with a massive mixed-use project. The Related Companies, in conjunction with Thomas J. Klutznick Company and JER Partners, has announced plans to build a 144-acre urban development in Phoenix’s Northeast Valley, to be called CityNorth. The joint venture has acquired $379 million in financing to begin construction of the first phase of the project, known as the High Street district, which is expected to open in fall 2008. It will contain 290,000 square feet of retail and restaurants, 305,000 square feet of offices and 410,000 square feet of residential space. The second phase, slated to open in November 2009, will contain more than 200,000 square feet of retail. An additional phase will include a five-star hotel, spa and health club.

San Francisco

In the Bay Area, 6,730 homeowners defaulted on their mortgage payments in the first quarter, up 160 percent from last year, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Default notices in San Francisco proper were up more than 67 percent, to 216 from 129 last year. The Bay Area’s wealthier residents and higher-priced homes have protected it from the statewide spike in foreclosures, and 60 percent of homeowners who receive default notices are able to avoid foreclosure, according to analysts. California’s foreclosure figures spiked to 11,033 in the first quarter from 1,223 in the same period a year ago, an 802 percent increase.

Washington, D.C.

Approval for the construction of the two tallest buildings in the Washington, D.C., area is in its final stages, according to the Washington Post. JBG Companies plans to erect the buildings — a 31-story, 388-foot office building with ground-floor retail, as well as a 30-story, 350-unit residential building — in Rosslyn, Va., across the river from Georgetown University. While the plans were recently approved by the Arlington County Board, they still need to clear the Federal Aviation Administration, which deemed the towers a possible hazard for planes flying into and out of nearby Reagan National Airport.

Hit by taxes, sales of vacation homes drop

Second-home owners in Florida are feeling the sting of skyrocketing property taxes. Unlike primary residences, owners of vacation and rental homes are not protected under the state’s homestead exception, which caps increases in property tax assessments at 3 percent per year.

The tax issue may be affecting the volume of second-home sales. According to Coldwell Banker, second-home sales fell by 10 percent in 2005, followed by a 20 percent drop in 2006.

Second homes occupy a multibillion-dollar portion of South Florida’s housing market. About one-third of Miami-Dade homes and 40 percent of Broward residences belong to second-home owners from around the country and overseas, the Miami Herald reported. These properties range from modest mobile homes to sprawling waterfront estates.

Palm Beach County hotel rates now rival New York City

Although hotel guest spending and occupancy in South Florida were weak this winter compared to the same period last year, new figures hint at a brighter future.

West Palm/Boca Raton hotels had an occupancy rate of 87.9 percent in March, the latest figures available, up 3.8 percent from the same period last year. The number topped the national average of 64 percent, and the area claimed Florida’s highest average hotel occupancy rates. In addition, hotel rooms in Palm Beach County averaged $210.12 per night, rivaling New York City’s average rate of $212.

Investor interest in developing hotels in the area has not faltered. One group hopes to build a 250-room hotel at Datura Street and Dixie Highway in West Palm Beach, the Palm Beach Post reported. Another has plans to erect a 22-story InterContinental Hotel and office complex nearby.

State Road 7 to see residential and commercial makeover

North Lauderdale developers plan a series of residential and commercial projects along State Road 7, the Sun-Sentinel reported. A 2.1-mile stretch of the road will soon be lined with townhouse and condo communities, many of which have residential and retail spaces built into the same complex.

Tuscany Village will have 392 new condos, villas and townhouses, with condos priced in the mid-$100,000s and townhouses starting in the low $200,000s. The project will replace the existing Imperial Estates mobile home park, which is not the only one being vacated. A project called Marbella will displace residents of about 300 mobile homes in Village Park Mobile Home Estates.

Projects completed recently as part of redevelopment plans include the 129-townhouse community Santa Catalina, the 292-unit rental apartment complex Sanctuary Cove, and Gennaro’s Farmer’s Market, a 35,000-square-foot space that opened in April 2006. Timetables have not yet been set for construction on the newly proposed projects.

$1B resort to replace one of region’s largest hotels

A New York-based developer has finalized plans to build a luxury St. Regis resort at the site of the Sheraton Bal Harbour, which is expected to be demolished later this year. Starwood Hotels and Resorts first announced the project in 2005, the Miami Herald reported.

The oceanfront project is expected to bring in more than $1 billion in condo sales and will replace one of the region’s largest hotels. Contracts and reservations are already in place for about a third of the resort’s 268 condos, which will sell for between $1.8 and $5.8 million. Rising 27 stories, the new three-tower resort will also house 219 hotel rooms and 24 luxury timeshares.

The 645-room Sheraton Bal Harbour, which first opened in 1956 as the Americana, is set to close July 1 and will be demolished in the fall. The delay in an official announcement is said to be the result of rising construction costs and a weak luxury-condo market. The new St. Regis resort is scheduled to open in 2011.

Home sales market remains sluggish

Home sales in South Florida are down across the board, as buyers and sellers await possible changes in property tax legislation. About 75,000 houses and condos were up for sale in March, the latest figures available — 4 percent more than in February and a 58 percent increase over a year ago.

The number of single-family home sales fell by 33 percent in Miami-Dade County and condo sales dropped 45 percent compared to a year ago.

Single-family homes in Miami-Dade sold for a median $382,600 in March, showing no appreciation compared to February and last year, the Miami Herald reported.

Condo prices were down 18 percent from a year ago to $295,100 — the weakest part of the Miami-Dade market. Potential reasons for the slump include overbuilding, tightened credit standards and rises in property taxes and insurance costs.

Investors say condo market hasn’t bottomed yet [more]

Jersey City neighborhood sees developer interest [more]

New condos push traditional boundary [more]

Transformation of gritty stretch in Brooklyn’s Park Slope slow to arrive Comments

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Why is the neighborhood the best-kept secret in the borough? [more]

Developers hope to entice renters to buy into high-end projects priced lower than other area develop [more]

Stringent disclosures frustrate REBNY, but haven’t impeded its success Comments

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Elimination of tax shelter to bring in $83 million a year; companies cry foul [more]

Rezoning battle set for UWS
The Department of City Planning is proposing the first comprehensive rezoning of the Upper West Side in almost 50 years. The battle has been partly touched off by the Ariel Condominiums — two 30-plus-story towers currently rising on Broadway between 99th and 100th streets — which have led to some neighborhood opposition because of their height. The rezoning calls for height limits on new construction that would see most future developments rise less than half the height of the Ariel towers, the New York Sun reported.

Manhattan Avenue historic district created
Also on the Upper West Side, the Landmarks Preservation Commission last month created a historic district comprised of 40 buildings on Manhattan Avenue between 104th and 106th streets. The designation means property owners need to get commission approval for changes to building exteriors.

Pols push for foreclosure aid
Democratic leaders in the State Senate have proposed legislation that seeks to help the approximately 28,000 New York State homeowners who will face foreclosures this year, the New York Daily News reported. The number marks a dramatic rise in foreclosure filings and is linked to fallout in the subprime mortgage market. The bill would give the state’s mortgage agency, Sony Mae, the power to provide refinancing for some troubled loans, earmark millions of dollars for community groups to counsel homeowners facing foreclosure, and call for lenders to halt new foreclosures for a six-month period.

REBNY floats LIC housing plan
Real Estate Board of New York chairman Stephen Ross has been in “secret talks” with the Bloomberg administration about a plan that would result in the city handing over a 24-acre Long Island City parcel to REBNY, the New York Times reported. REBNY would form a nonprofit corporation to build 5,000 units of middle-class housing on the site. The city has already said it plans to build moderate-income housing on the Queens waterfront land. Some community members have been critical of the talks, saying they are being kept out of what was supposed to be an open planning process and that the private developers represented by REBNY would not necessarily be acting in the best interests of the community.

Spitzer to announce housing bills
Governor Eliot Spitzer is expected soon to announce a number of bills aimed at preserving and expanding affordable housing, the Sun reported. One of the bills calls for raising the rent-stabilization deregulation threshold from $2,000 a month to $2,800. Republicans said raising the rent-stabilization ceiling would not get past the State Senate, and the laws governing stabilization will not expire until 2011. “It’s not one of our priorities,” said John McArdle, a spokesman for majority leader Joseph Bruno.

Hudson Yards guidelines released
At a public forum last month, the Hudson Yards Development Corporation and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority presented design guidelines for developing Hudson Yards that they say address community concerns while achieving maximum possible revenue for the MTA. The guidelines call for 20 percent of rental housing built on the site to be affordable, and for the future developer to build additional affordable housing offsite. The MTA-owned Hudson Yards will go up for auction this month.

Rockaways-to-Manhattan ferry plan
Mayor Bloomberg last month proposed establishing a year-round ferry service between the Rockaways and Lower Manhattan that would, at minimum, run Monday through Friday during rush hour, NY1 reported. The Rockaways have long been underserved by public transportation. “We want to be treated like the rest of the boroughs in the city,” said one resident. “We are sort of the stepchild in New York City when it comes to transportation.”

Bank of America says economies of scale allow it to offer mortgage plan without charges [more]

Congressional agency investigates alleged anti-competitive practices [more]

British office building sale sets new record
Madrid-based real estate company Metrovacesa acquired the 45-story London headquarters of HSBC Holdings at 8 Canada Square for a record $2.2 billion last month. It was the highest price ever paid for a British office building. The previous record was $1.37 billion, paid in 2003 by the Royal Bank of Scotland for Citigroup’s London headquarters, the International Herald Tribune reported.

HSBC, Europe’s largest bank by market value, will lease back the 1.1-million-square-foot building designed by architect Sir Norman Foster for more than $86 million per year.

Central London now has the world’s priciest office spaces for lease, and investors bought nearly $30.3 billion worth of real estate in the area last year. Average rents for offices in the City of London increased by more than 18 percent to $109 per square foot.

Spanish island sees growth in property values
Spain’s Ibiza has earned a worldwide reputation as a party destination, but its sister island of Majorca has seen considerable real estate price appreciation in recent years. According to real estate firm Kuhn & Partner, property values on the island increased by 214 percent since 1999.

Said to receive 300 days of sun a year, Majorca has long attracted international buyers and is especially well regarded in Germany and England, according to the International Herald Tribune.

Son Vida, near the capital of Palma, is popular among buyers. Two-bedroom, 1,500-square-foot apartments start at around $1 million, and four-bedroom, 5,500-square-foot villas go for around $2.5 million. In Andratx, an exclusive area another 20 minutes’ drive away, villas currently on the market range from $1.2 million to $33 million.

Hotel developers target downtown Kuala Lumpur
The 384-room Westin Hotel in downtown Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, was recently purchased by a Thai investment firm for a record 455 million ringgit, or almost $134 million. The sale broke the million-ringgit-per-room barrier, making it the highest price ever paid in the city for a hotel, the International Herald Tribune reported.

Investors are increasingly targeting the downtown hotel market in Malaysia’s capital city, even though the low value of the ringgit and the large number of hotels have contributed to lower room rates across the city. But experts remain optimistic about the market’s future as developer interest rises.

Asian property groups are bidding for the 921-room Renaissance Kuala Lumpur and the 576-room Crown Princess KL. The Regent Kuala Lumpur is being renovated to reopen as a Four Seasons. Other big international hotel chains like W Hotels and Grand Hyatt are looking into development opportunities.

World’s largest mall languishes in South China
The South China Mall, the world’s largest shopping center, is struggling to lure consumers and tenants, the International Herald Tribune reported. The mall is located in Dongguan, a southern Chinese city of 6 million about two hours north of Hong Kong, populated mostly by factory workers, many of whom cannot afford to shop there.

The 9.6-million-square-foot mall has three levels of retail spread out on 220 acres, more than twice the size of the biggest shopping center in the U.S., the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Developers had initially expected to attract 100,000 shoppers daily. But, more than a year after the mall’s opening, only 10,000 are reported to visit per day. China claims seven of the world’s 20 largest shopping centers.

With the spring residential market in full swing, Jacqueline Urgo was promoted to president of the Marketing Directors Inc., a residential marketing firm specializing in new developments. [more]

As the residential mortgage market continues to shrink, residential lenders have been weakened, and some brokers are leaving the game. [more]

Cushman & Wakefield enters research alliance
Cushman & Wakefield has joined forces with Property & Portfolio Research Inc., a Boston-based research and analytics firm that focuses on commercial real estate. The companies plan to publish white papers for real estate professionals throughout the world, and develop new research products and analytical tools.

Elliman offers ‘For Dummies’ help
Prudential Douglas Elliman has partnered with Katabat Industries to offer a new feature on its Web site called “Real Estate for Dummies.” The feature, based on the popular reference books of the same name, will give visitors to Elliman’s site tips on investing and provide a glossary of real estate terms.

Boutique firm joins City Connections
The Square One Group, a brokerage team that specializes in residential sales, condominium conversions and rentals, has joined City Connections Realty. Allen Davoudpour and Shalom Ibrahimian founded the group in 2004.

PBS Realty Advisors changes name
PBS Realty Advisors has changed its name to PBS Real Estate. The company has also leased additional space for its headquarters at 230 Park Avenue. Its Web site is now www.pbsrealestate.com.

Hamptons real estate fund launched
The principals of a Hamptons construction business, brothers Frank and Roy Dalene, have launched a real estate fund for the area, Hamptons Real Estate Fund LP, which is looking to raise $100 million from 100 investors. The fund will seek to acquire older properties in prime sections of the Hamptons, tear them down and build new houses, the New York Sun reported.

PropertyShark adds Westchester maps
PropertyShark.com added color-coded maps with information on recent sales and land use to its Westchester County tools. The new maps complement existing data on comparable sales, foreclosure listings and property reports.

Residential

Barak Realty
Catherine Holmes was promoted to senior vice president.

Charles Rutenberg Realty
Johan duPlooy, Kingchih Fan, Heidi Graf, Arash Jaberi, Stephanie Merrill, Bevan Versfeld and Joshua Weiner joined the firm.

Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy
David Saba joined as public relations director. Darin Shaw was named Internet leads manager.

The Marketing Directors Inc.
Martin Brady rejoined the firm as vice president of sales.

Commercial

The Clarett Group
Eric Deutsch joined as a managing director. He was formerly president of the Alliance for Downtown New York.

Colliers ABR
Gary Rosenberg was promoted to principal. He retains the title of vice president of finance. Aron Schreier was promoted to managing director. Patrick Gardner joined as a managing director. He was previously a senior vice president at Cresa Partners.

GVA Williams
Barbara Nelson joined as director of corporate communications. She was formerly editor of Real Estate New York and had been an editor at Real Estate Weekly.

JDF Realty
Leah Rubin joined as a broker associate. She was previously at Coldwell Banker Commercial Wextrust.

Jones Lang LaSalle
Nisan Gertz joined as a vice president and head of the team’s northeast healthcare group.

Massey Knakal
Lydia Detres joined as an associate in the Queens office. Dina Townsend joined the sales support team in the Queens office.

Meridian Capital Group
Alan Fishman was named chairman. He was previously president and COO of Sovereign Bank.

Monday Properties
Craig Panzirer was promoted to senior vice president and director of leasing and marketing. He was previously vice president and director of leasing.

Robert K. Futterman & Associates
David Alani joined as a director in the investment sales division. He was previously director of sales at Massey Knakal.

Silverstein Properties
Sol Levitin joined as a senior vice president in the acquisitions department. He was previously a managing director at the Kaufman Organization.

SL Green
Andrew Levine was named chief legal officer. Steven Durels was named executive vice president and director of leasing and real property. Edward Piccinich was named executive vice president and director of management and construction. Neil Kessner was named executive vice president and general counsel. David Schonbraun was named managing director in the investments group. David Balaj was promoted to senior vice president in the investments group.

Trinity Real Estate
Garett Varricchio joined as a leasing director. He was previously at CB Richard Ellis.

SL Green, New York City’s largest office landlord, keeps growing — and it has made changes at the top to help handle the expansion.

While buying and selling at a furious clip, the commercial building giant, which is organized as a real estate investment trust, reorganized its upper ranks in April. It named a new president and a new chief operating officer, according to CEO Marc Holliday. It also promoted other executives, he said (see Broker Exchange).

Andrew Mathias was named president, taking over the job from Holliday, who retains the post of CEO. Mathias was previously the chief investment officer. Also promoted was chief financial officer Gregory Hughes, now chief operating officer. Hughes will also keep his title of CFO. “Our organizational structure needs to keep pace with our growth as a company, Holliday said. “SL Green has been on a steep growth trajectory and it’s essential that we have the executive and management structures that can accommodate that growth.”

Both Hughes and Mathias worked with Gramercy Capital, a commercial real estate finance REIT affiliated with SL Green. Hughes was the chief credit officer for the company, while Mathias served as chief investment officer.

In a new hire, Isaac Zion took on the managing director job in SL Green’s investment group, coming from a similar position at Tishman Speyer Properties.

SL Green owns approximately 24 million square feet in Manhattan office properties and approximately 300,000 square feet in retail properties. It is the fourth most active property buyer in the past 12 months in Manhattan, with acquisitions totaling more than $3 billion (see Manhattan’s biggest building buyers).

In its most recent deal, SL Green sold the 41-story Clock Tower at Five Madison Avenue to Africa Israel Investments for $200 million. SL Green’s biggest transaction in the past year — and biggest deal for the company — was its $6 billion buyout of Reckson Associates Realty Corp., which closed in late January. The deal gave SL Green control of six city buildings — including 919 Third Avenue, 810 Seventh Avenue and 1185 Avenue of the Americas — totaling 5.6 million square feet.

Donald Trump — who last month saw his low-rated reality show, “The Apprentice,” axed from NBC’s new prime-time schedule — has a new gig: telemarketing.

The Donald recently left more than 2,000 brokers and potential buyers messages singing the praises of the Trump Plaza in Jersey City. The 55-story condo project is being developed by Trump in conjunction with Metro Homes, and will be the tallest residential project in New Jersey.

Brokers received recorded messages offering 3 percent commissions for selling condo units in the two-tower development. Potential buyers were assured of the strength of the market and the benefits of low interest rates.

According to the Marketing Directors Inc., which is spearheading sales for the project and orchestrated the marketing tactic, the recorded messages were meant to revive interest about the project among prior sales prospects.

“Trump’s voice is so recognizable and impactful because he’s perceived as a celebrity, and we thought it would be well received,” said Jackie Urgo, president of the Marketing Directors.

The happy hour plates of fried calamari that turned up at Il Palio, a Shelton, Conn., restaurant about a two-hour commuter train ride from New York, were more than a typical bar promotion.

The crispy seafood was the latest offering from Robert Scinto — the largest individual commercial landlord in Fairfield County, according to brokers — in his quest to retain tenants. Other freebies he provides to his lessees and their employees include annual flu shots, gym memberships, car washes and a 6,000-guest Labor Day party.

In fact, the way he runs his $600 million empire — which includes 235 tenants across 3 million square feet of commercial space, half of it clustered in Shelton’s Enterprise Corporate Park, an 11-building, 65-acre complex that’s also home to Il Palio — Scinto can seem more feudal lord than landlord.

“I’ve created a little city,” says Scinto.

But there can be good economic sense in providing freebies, according to brokers.

In Scinto’s buildings, rents average $22 a square foot, which is typical for the outer reaches of Fairfield County, say brokers. About $7 goes to his unique retention programs, meaning he clears about $15 a square foot, he says.

Every time he loses a tenant, it can cost $35 a square foot to get somebody new in the space. A 10,000-square-foot berth, then, would cost $350,000 to market and build out. Why not spend less on lemon ice, he reasons, which is scooped outside every warm-weather Thursday?

“The secret of my business is not raising rents, it’s maintaining occupancy,” Scinto says.

Paul Tortora, a commercial broker with Albert B. Ashforth, based in Stamford, gives Scinto credit for making the region attractive to business owners looking for a Fairfield County address, but with access to a labor pool that can be 25 percent cheaper than in nearby tri-state locations.

“He basically created the Shelton market,” Tortora says.

Morgan Stanley bankers may be banned from taking business lunches at the Hawaiian Tropic Zone in Times Square, but real estate players are still reserving tables.

A number of financial firms — including Lehman Brothers and Smith Barney — have recently closed off the restaurant to their executives’ expense accounts because of the scantily clad bikini-wearing wait staff. The policy is an extension of internal industry reforms that curbed Wall Streeters’ practice of expensing visits to strip clubs as “client entertainment.”

But for a party held last month, commercial real estate brokerage Besen & Associates’ Platinum Team brought more than 250 industry folks to the Midtown spot, known as much for its swimwear-clad servers as its gourmet grill menu.

“It’s a nice venue, and the entertainment added another dimension to just talking about real estate,” said Adelaide Polsinelli, senior executive broker at Besen. “It has a lot of energy while still an elegant restaurant. It’s a worthy business lunch venue.”

More real estate players are becoming fans of celebrity chef David Burke’s middlebrow eatery. Real estate investment trust SL Green is making plans to have its holiday party at the restaurant’s 729 Seventh Avenue location for a second year in a row.

That sits well with the restaurant’s owners, who, spurned by finance, are planning to aim more for the real estate world. They say the restaurant is misunderstood, with people often assuming it is an adult establishment — and not simply a restaurant.

“We’re marketing more to the real estate industry,” said restaurateur Dennis Riese, chairman and CEO of the Riese Organization. “They are the primary movers and shakers in our city.”

The Real Deal takes a look back at some of the big stories in New York City over the past cen [more]

Unlisted listings in brokerage rankings

I write with regard to your May 2007 issue and your annual Top Residential Firms rankings.

I take issue with the results you published in the Total Manhattan Listings category. In counting the total number of Corcoran listings, The Real Deal omitted approximately 300 new development listings belonging to Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group from our tally, probably due to the fact that many of these listings are still labeled as being under the Sunshine Group in the OLR system. Corcoran Sunshine is part of Corcoran — not a separate company — and all of their listings should be credited to us.

Had these new development listings been included, Corcoran would be the No. 1 residential firm in the Total Manhattan Listings category. We have taken steps to correct the misleading labels in the OLR system.

Thank you for your assistance.

Sincerely,
Pamela Liebman
President, The Corcoran Group

A story in the May issue, “Tough decisions for NYC mortgage companies,” incorrectly referred to American Home Mortgage as being up for sale. Representatives for the company said it is not on the market.

A 60,000-square-foot lease for Whole Foods at 808 Columbus Avenue mentioned in the Deal Sheet in the April issue incorrectly listed the name of the tenant broker in the deal. He is Chase Welles of Northwest Atlantic Real Estate Services.

A sale involving 39 and 43 West 38th Street mentioned in the Deal Sheet in the April issue incorrectly listed the broker representing the seller. The broker is David Noonan of Newmark Knight Frank.

A story in the April issue, “The condo as blank canvas,” misstated the name of an art dealer who worked on the gallery in 650 Sixth Avenue’s sales office. He is Jack Shainman.