The interior of Scarano & Associates Architects’ office in Dumbo buzzes with activity and it’s not just because the D train is crossing the Manhattan Bridge. As one of New York’s busiest firms, Scarano is now involved in about 300 projects across the five boroughs, running the gamut from single-family homes to 650-unit complexes, the vast majority of which are in Brooklyn. In fact, some might characterize architect Robert M. Scarano as single-handedly remaking Brooklyn… [more]
May 2005
-
-
Investment sales in Manhattan set a record last year as $14.5 billion worth of property traded hands, but the market may break its own record in 2005. After three major deals were completed inside of one month, it’s not an outlandish prediction, despite concerns of a commercial real estate bubble. The $1.72 billion sale of the MetLife Building to Tishman Speyer set an all-time record. The second biggest deal, SL Green’s purchase of One Madison… [more]
-
A Fifth Avenue address has never been cheap, but when it comes attached to a Manhattan mansion, the price tag may strain the bounds of belief. Over the past decade, gargantuan homes have started to move in New York City, and recent asking prices are breaking records. Relatives of Doris Duke, the late tobacco heiress, are asking $50 million for the Duke Semans Mansion at 1009 Fifth Avenue, a Beaux Arts style mansion with 19,000… [more]
-
Examining top agents and top firms, The Real Deal set out this past month to take a comprehensive look at the current Web site listings of the 10 biggest residential real estate companies in Manhattan. Following up on a similar survey last year, we tallied total listings at each company, total dollar value of listings, top producers and how the average broker in the industry is faring. Dolly Lenz has a concise explanation for why she… [more]
-
They aren’t making any more land in Brooklyn, which is why it’s increasing in value as developers follow savvy urban homebuyers to the borough. Manhattan attracted the most expensive and dazzling construction in the previous decade, but now Brooklyn is seeing more new construction. There is more and cheaper vacant land in the borough, but it’s being gobbled up quickly. “Manhattan prices have gone crazy it’s 10 times more expensive to build,” said Isaac Hager… [more]
-
When FAO Schwarz shuttered the doors on its flagship store in January 2004, it marked the end of a storied company, and caused a collective gasp as New York parents looked around and realized retail options for their kids weren’t in good shape on the island of broken toy stores. While the kids clamoring to get through the doors of the Midtown landmark made a much louder noise, the din underscored the fact that changes… [more]
-
Reports of Downtown’s death as a commercial center may be greatly exaggerated. Despite several recent blows an apparent pullout by the investment bank Goldman Sachs, the absence of an anchor tenant at 7 World Trade Center as Larry Silverstein tries to rebuild around Ground Zero, and a spate of office buildings converting to residential things are not all bad for the nation’s third leading commercial center, say experts. The Class A vacancy rate Downtown fell… [more]
-
The prospect of a deflated real estate market is constantly looming, but some private and institutional investors may be taking moves to protect themselves from a down market. Market insiders such as Steven Roth, chairman and CEO of Vornado Realty Trust, are selling their shares in real estate investment trusts, also known as REITs, and the number of overall short sellers in the real estate sector has increased. That means bets against the real estate… [more]
-
575 Fifth Avenue on the blockMets owners Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz are selling their 575 Fifth Avenue office tower for a deal that could bring in more than $375 million. The 40-story, 569,000-square-foot Class A high-rise at 47th Street is fully leased to tenants that include Ann Taylor and L’Oreal USA. Darcy Stacom and Bill Shanahan at CB Richard Ellis are marketing the building, The New York Post reported. Bids due for Javits development… [more]
-
Fresh off first-quarter reports that prices in the residential real estate market took another dramatic leap, brokers report that foreign buyers are investing even more heavily in smaller condominium units. Several large residential real estate brokerages reported hikes of as much as 23 percent in the average sales price of a Manhattan apartment in the first three months of the year. The median sales price, often considered a more reliable indicator, also increased by 16.5… [more]
