The Real Deal New York

The Closing section with Bob Toll [more]

Fall could get buildup of apartments on market amid widening mortgage woes [more]

Agents: more hangers-on, paparazzi than ever before

[more]

It was a relatively warm summer for Hamptons real estate, but the fall may get quite chilly. The high-end rental market fared well — some houses went for $500,000 for a single month — and the sales market this year has mostly performed better than last year, brokers told The Real Deal as part of an annual summer Q & A wrap-up. Q&A: Cool fall for Hamptons” class=”read-more-link”>[more]

To find Kenneth Fisher, look into the eye of a real estate storm. A
former City Councilman, Fisher is a fixer who has emerged as a go-to
guy for real estate clients embroiled in contentious projects or public
relations problems.
Got problems? Call the Fixer” class=”read-more-link”>[more]

From hesitancy to headaches, how subprime fallout will affect city’s real estate pros [more]

Development of the Hudson Yards area is still in its infancy, but big builders have been amassing large swaths of land on the far West Side with plans to infuse the area with major residential and commercial projects. Major players gobble up sites in Hudson Yards” class=”read-more-link”>[more]

The ripples of the subprime mortgage debacle continue to widen, and market watchers worry that its consequences will soon spread beyond poorly qualified home buyers to affect commercial real estate values in Manhattan. [more]

Rents up over summer, but possible cracks emerge [more]

Press-shy developer sold $1.2B worth of real estate since January [more]

Combining small offices yielding higher rents, lower costs for landlords [more]

Unstable market frustrates players in residential and commercial real estate alike [more]

Not all Midtown space is priced the same [more]

Commercial properties and investments on the marketplace [more]

Fall could get buildup of apartments on market amid widening mortgage woes [more]

Wall Street buyers are lowering their expectataions and looking at less expensive properties.
[more]

A panel of experts weigh in on local fallout from national housing slump [more]

A look a the class of pricey homes that trade of-market
[more]

Costs, lack of education result in low demand [more]

Beyond Penn Station, bargain prices and pioneering buyers [more]

East Williamsburg
Grand Maujer
223-227 Maujer Street
Sales are under way for the four-story, 24-unit condominium. The ground-up project’s one-bedroom homes range in size from 610 to 1,300 square feet, with prices running from $350,000 to $500,000. The building is expected to be completed in fall 2007. The Developers Group is the exclusive sales and marketing agent. Contact: www.thedevelopersgroup.com.

Greenpoint
Manhattan Avenue Condos
450-460 Manhattan Avenue Sales are expected to begin soon for the six-story, 24-unit condominium. Four ground-floor duplex apartments will have access to private patios and yards, while the remaining 20 homes will feature key-operated elevator access and private outdoor space. All residences are two-bedrooms ranging in size from 1,060 to 1,780 square feet. The units will be priced from $660,000. Completion is slated for late 2007. The Developers Group is the exclusive sales and marketing agent. Contact: www.thedevelopersgroup.com.

Harlem
The Bridges
2279 Third Avenue
The two-tower condominium complex on either side of 124th Street will have 31 units. The project’s one-, two- and three-bedroom residences range in size from 750 to 1,700 square feet. Prices start at $450,000. The penthouses will all have private terraces or roof decks, and all residents will have access to a common roof deck and a storage facility. Prudential Douglas Elliman is the sales and marketing agent. Contact: www.thebridgesnyc.com.

Riverdale
Riverdale Court
3751 Riverdale Avenue
The seven-story, 10-unit condominium will have medical offices and retail on the ground floor. Each floor has two units separated by a landscaped courtyard. The building’s three- and four-bedroom homes start at $1.1 million. Most apartments have balconies or terraces, and residents will have access to a roof deck. Contact: www.riverdalecourtcondominium.com.

Riverdale
Riverstone
3220 Arlington Avenue
Developer Shmuel Jonas is building the 13-story, 26-unit condominium. It was recently renamed from Arlington Suites. Two- to five-bedroom homes range in size from 1,875 to over 3,300 square feet and are priced from $1.28 to $2.33 million. Halstead Property Development Marketing is handling sales. Contact: www.riverstonecondo.com.

Upper East Side
The Laurel
400 East 67th Street
The Alexico Group is developing the 31-story, 129-unit condominium. The LEED-certified building will have a fitness center and pool, and residents will be offered a custom-made training program by triathlon coach Orion Mims. Homes will range in size from 500-square-foot studios to 4,000-square-foot six-bedrooms. Prices are expected to average around $1,700 per square foot. Sales are expected to launch this month, and occupancy is slated for fall 2008. The Sunshine Group is the exclusive sales and marketing agent. Contact: www.laurelcondominium.com.

Williamsburg
Urban Green
142 North 6th Street
Northside Realty LLC is developing the 44-unit condominium. Architect Thomas O’Hara designed the project, which comprises a four-story and a five-story building. The studio to three-bedroom apartments range in size from 600 to 1,600 square feet. Prices for available units range from $650,000 for an 878-square-foot two-bedroom to $1.45 million for a 1,590-square-foot three-bedroom. Prudential Douglas Elliman is handling sales. Contact: www.elliman.com.

Construction Update

Dumbo
Dock Street and Water Street
Opposition is mounting to David Walentas’ proposed 16-story, 400-unit rental project, the New York Post reported. Although plans include a middle school, opponents are unhappy with the tower’s blocking views of the Brooklyn Bridge. “Dumbo and Brooklyn Heights do need a middle school, but it should not be used as an excuse for an inappropriate building,” said Councilman David Yassky, who is forming a task force to find an alternate site for a school.

Gramercy
Gramercy Lofts
270 Park Avenue South
Owner Pan Am Equities reopened the 13-story, 80-unit building to renters on August 1 after deciding not to follow through with a plan to convert it to condominiums. The apartments have been completely refinished in preparation for the conversion. They range in price from $3,500 per month for a studio to $8,500 per month for a two-bedroom. The building also has two floors of duplex and triplex penthouses. The Real Estate Group New York is the broker. Contact: www.tregny.com.

Harlem
West 145th Street between Amsterdam Avenue and Broadway
The M.L. Wilson Boys & Girls Club has chosen ARCTAC Development Partners to redevelop the former public school. The two towers planned for the site will contain 101 co-op units, 25 percent of which will be market rate. The remainder will be affordable to households making up to $124,000 a year. For plans to proceed, the mayor must give approval to lift a restrictive deed that currently requires 85 percent of the site to be used for nonprofits. The project will include a facility for the Boys & Girls Club, which will continue to own and operate the property.

Lower Manhattan
50 West Street
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer rejected the $550 million hotel and condo project planned last month, saying the developer needs to make a substantial investment in affordable housing. Under the proposed deal, Time Equities would buy 183,000 square feet of air rights from the city to build a 63-story tower with 400 condominiums and 183 hotel rooms. Time Equities CEO Francis Greenburger said construction of the tower would be too expensive to build affordable housing, but he is looking to buy another Downtown property soon that is suited for a “substantial affordable housing component.” Stringer’s rejection is only advisory, but is likely to influence the City Council, which needs to approve the project for it to go forward, the Downtown Express reported.

Madison Square Park North
241 Fifth Avenue
The site, which had been on the market with plans in place for a new condominium, sold recently. Seller Avraham Sibony put the site on the market last summer, shortly after plans for a 19-story, 70,000-square-foot tower designed by Perkins Eastman were approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. The buyer, 241 Fifth Ave. Hotel LLC, plans a luxury hotel and condominium tower.

Financing

Brooklyn Heights
73 Pineapple Street
Wrightwood Capital provided $10.9 million in financing for the acquisition of this lot and the two adjacent residential buildings at 71 and 75 Pineapple Street. Deepak and Neera Raj are developing the site, which will become a five-story, 10-unit apartment building. Rush Brook Partners LLC will manage the property’s construction.

Fashion District
315 West 35th Street
Meridian Capital Group arranged $25.3 million in financing for the conversion of the 14-story office building into 57 residential units and 5,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. Wrightwood Capital provided the loan.

Midtown West
River Place II
42nd Street and 11th Avenue
Larry Silverstein secured a $700 million construction loan for the 58-story, 1,359-unit rental. The two-tower project will include 21,000 square feet of retail space, a 13,000-square-foot amenity center and 194 parking spaces. Approximately 20 percent of the units will be affordable. Costas Kondylis designed the towers, which will share a 22,500-square-foot landscaped park with River Place I, the first phase of the project that was completed in 2001. The loan is the largest single residential construction loan ever closed in the nation, according to Cushman & Wakefield Sonnenblick Goldman, which arranged the financing.

Sales Update

Brooklyn Heights
One Brooklyn Bridge Park
360 Furman Street
RAL Companies & Affiliates had sold 100 of the project’s 449 units as of early August, in the first 100 days of sales. The 14-story condominium conversion had sold 50 percent of its penthouse homes and seven of its riverfront cabanas. Prices for studios to four-bedrooms run from $550,000 to more than $4.45 million. The Developers Group, Stribling Marketing Associates and Spandrel Property Services are handling the sales and marketing. Contact: www.onebrooklyn.com.

Chelsea
Chelsea Stratus
101 West 24th Street
The 40-story, 204-unit luxury condominium developed by LCOR was 60 percent sold by early August. Prices for available units range from $1.03 million for an 842-square-foot one-bedroom to $4.5 million for a 2,280-square-foot two-bedroom. Occupancy is slated for spring 2008. Prudential Douglas Elliman Development Marketing Group is the exclusive sales and marketing agent. Contact: www.chelseastratus.com.

Chelsea
Loft 25
420 West 25th Street
RAL Companies & Affiliates’ nine-story, 79-unit condominium conversion was more than 50 percent sold as of early August. The project, designed by Creative Design Associates and Traboscia Roiatti Studio, contains studio to two-bedroom lofts ranging between 1,000 and 1,700 square feet in size. Remaining units range from $825,000 to $2.975 million. The lofts will be ready for occupancy in late fall. Stribling Marketing Associates is the sales and marketing agent. Contact: www.loft25.com.

Downtown Brooklyn
One Hanson Place
Stribling Marketing Associates has replaced the Corcoran Group as the exclusive sales and marketing agent at the 37-story, 189-unit condominium conversion. Although sales have reportedly been successful, developers the Dermot Company and the Canyon-Johnson Urban Funds switched to Stribling to sell the project’s highest-end units. The penthouses are expected to go for between $4.5 and $8.5 million. Contact: www.onehanson.com.

Murray Hill
The Charleston
225 East 34th Street LCOR’s 22-story, 172-unit luxury condominium was more than 70 percent sold as of early August. Prices for available units run from $855,000 for an 836-square-foot one-bedroom to $2.385 million for a 1,761-square-foot three-bedroom. Amenities include a fitness center, media lounge and dining area. Prudential Douglas Elliman Development Marketing Group is the exclusive sales and marketing agent for the project. Contact: www.thecharlestonnyc.com.

Tribeca
101 Warren Street
Edward J. Minskoff Equities’ 228-unit condominium project had sold all but three units as of late July. The recently released duplex “skyhomes” range in size from 3,796 to 4,518 square feet and are priced from $13.5 to $29.6 million. Occupancy is slated for spring 2008. Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group is the exclusive marketing and sales agent. Contact: www.101warrenst.com.

Union Square
8 Union Square South
All of the 14-story, 20-unit condominium’s two- and three-bedrooms had been sold as of mid-August. Two penthouse units remain, with prices starting at $5.36 million. Shvo Marketing is the exclusive marketing and sales agent. Contact: www.8uss.com.

Upper East Side
170 East End Avenue
By early August, the Skyline Developers’ 90-unit luxury condominium was more than 90 percent sold, according to the New York Sun. Architect Peter Marino designed the project, which offers one- to five-bedroom homes. The Sunshine Group is the exclusive sales and marketing agent. Contact: www.170eea.com.

New Developments from Previous Months

Developers of projects for seniors spur sales with incentives, upgrades [more]

Markets adjacent to NYC brace themselves for mortgage crisis impact [more]

Conversion of 100-year-old Powerhouse to challenge limits on high-end market in Queens nabe [more]

Share of new buildings’ total cost now about double [more]

West Side Highway seen as undervalued, ripe for development [more]

Automated garages, en suite parking, private access make celebs feel secure [more]

Third-generation Brooklyn builder finds condo project not as easy as it first looked [more]

Big new development projects around New York City [more]

To keep up with reality, a novelist finds himself repeatedly raising prices [more]

Steven James, Prudential Douglas Elliman’s director of sales at 575 Madison Avenue — home to 587 agents — and president of the firm’s Manhattan brokerage division.  As told to Lauren Elkies [more]

Eddie Hidary, 26, COO of commercial real estate company Hidrock Realty

I grew up in Midwood on Avenue J. My parents still live in the house I grew up in, and I live down the block. I’m
working on a development in Midwood, a 15-minute walk from my house.

I never had any special fantasy of what I wanted to do when I grew up. I had no interest in construction when I was younger, and I am not very handy. If I tried to put a cabinet together, it would come out crooked.

I’m developing the East 19th Street Condos in Midwood [at 1288 East 19th Street and Avenue M]. It was a single-family home that was basically vacant and left for dead. It wasn’t occupied for as long as I can remember and was basically boarded up.

As a kid, any sites that were boarded up were spooky to me. I was always worried that homeless people were living in them.

I have the same feeling today, and that is a reason why I like to turn such sites into new usable areas. Blocks that were scary at night don’t feel unsafe when you have a new lit-up building on the block.

There has been some change in the stores in the neighborhood since I was younger, but there are a few diners, fruit stores and ice cream shops that are still there. I would go to the Carvel ice cream shop down the block from the site every weekend with my parents, and then we’d go to the park. Both are still there.

I went to school a couple of blocks away from my home at the Yeshiva of Flatbush. Ever since I can remember, I walked to school on the Avenue J corridor, which is two blocks away from the Avenue M site. Since I know the area well, I am more comfortable analyzing a project there. If you look at a deal in an area you don’t know, there is always a feeling of whether or not you are missing some key information that may affect the project at some time down the road. It is also easy to travel to the sites, which helps move it along faster, and I get to see the projects progress daily since I live in the neighborhood.

I am a believer of changing with the times. Some buildings can’t stand forever and are in need of renovation or a demolition and new building all together. As long as you pay attention to the area while designing new construction and keeping the context of the neighborhood the same, it should be welcomed.

The Midwood project is as-of-right, and we used a lot of brick to try to blend in as much as possible.

I don’t feel remorse about the project. If you were taking down some historic place that was close to your heart or had some
significance, then there might be an issue. But this project, like the other ones I’m
doing and have done, really is on sites that are better to be developed than sitting the way they were.

Joshua Muss, 65, principal of Muss Development Company

Between the ages of three and 11, I lived in Flushing at 148-09 Northern Boulevard, close to the mixed-use center we are building at College Point Boulevard and Roosevelt Avenue, in downtown Flushing.

I certainly remember the area. It was always a retail center, and it was bustling and busy at the time.

I used to play in the empty lots of undeveloped properties that abounded in Flushing, across the street and around the corner and down the block. I remember bringing my tricycle down the elevator and exploring the wooded lots by myself.

I was great at building blocks and drawing buildings. I wanted to be a “builder,” which is what my father and grandfather were.

As far as Flushing is concerned today, it appears that most of it is only 15 years old, and there’s a new building being built almost every week.

I would say the community there would be unrecognizable to the young man that grew up in the ’50s, but creating change is the business in which I am. Unfortunately, in Flushing, for many years that change was virtually unregulated, without an overall master plan.

This led to some lousy development. The local community, legislators and the city have stepped up big time in recent years.

The biggest loss is the closing — but not yet complete loss — of the RKO Keith’s Theater on Northern Boulevard, which was by far the most iconic landmark in Flushing of my childhood. I loved to go there.

There is a great sense of satisfaction that comes when one has the opportunity to create and build such special projects within the neighborhoods that one has had a lifetime association with. I also think the local community and legislators have a better comfort level with developers whom they recognize as a part of the landscape, past or recent.

And, of course, a “local” person has a better sense as to what is needed and what will work. To be able to develop a site that you recall as a kid? Priceless.

Ricky’s moves to Brooklyn, fabulously [more]

Condo development draws new upscale retailers [more]

In addition to banks and drugstores, Starbucks still on tear; healthful eateries grow [more]

The country’s mortgage crisis has left prospective buyers and real estate watchdogs wondering how hard it will hit the Manhattan residential real estate market.

The second half of the year is traditionally slower for sales, and the anticipated first-quarter bump from Wall Street bonuses will suffer as those checks are predicted to be smaller in early 2008. In short, there could be some serious ripple effects.

“I think we’re in a somewhat uncertain time now,” said Diane Ramirez, president of Halstead Property. “People, in situations that are uncertain, tend to get a little gun-shy.”

While Manhattan buyers and sellers hadn’t rushed to the sidelines in August, this month could usher in a significant drop-off in sales activity.

“I think in the fall, there will be a heightened sensitivity to the availability of credit and how that will affect housing. I think it’s more of an issue in other parts of the country, but it certainly has people wondering here,” said Jonathan Miller, president of appraisal firm Miller Samuel.

Manhattan is protected somewhat from mortgage woes because co-ops, the majority of for-sale housing in New York City, maintain strict financial standards, often requiring buyers to make large down payments in cash — usually about 20 percent of the sales price. Nationwide, the Federal Reserve also took steps last month to ameliorate the situation by infusing liquidity into the market and cutting discount rates.

Co-op buyers “are very strongly buffered against these variations in mortgage rates. It is more of an inconvenience or an annoyance,” said Meredyth Hull Smith, a senior vice president and associate broker at Sotheby’s International Realty.

The fact that Manhattan’s condominiums have not been attracting investment buyers, who depend on hefty mortgages, will help keep the market sustainable for a while, Ramirez said. But marginal buyers might have a hard time getting a home if mortgage money is slashed.

“Your margins are just going to become a little more great,” she said.

Meanwhile, the fallout could actually benefit an already hot rental market and rental development.

“If someone is uncertain about where this is going, they might want to step out and go into the rental market, and that’s already pretty tight,” Ramirez said. “Maybe you’ll see more developments going more toward a rental product.”

Miller said that he expects a slow September followed by an even slower fourth quarter, regardless of the fallout from the financial crisis.

Historically, apartments languish on the market at the end of the year, and that figure has risen over the course of the several past years. The number of days a unit sat on the market between the third and fourth quarters increased 3.1 percent from 2001 to 2006, to 798 days from 774 days, Miller Samuel data indicates.

That’s partly because of the surge in inventory that comes online in September.

The total number of listings increased 8 percent between August and September for the six years starting 2001, Miller Samuel data shows. The only drop in the two month-period occurred between August 2003 and September 2003, when there was a 7.1 percent decline.

Seasonal trends aside, inventory has dropped dramatically in the Manhattan market this year. There was a 35.8 percent year-over-year drop in listings from July 2006 to July 2007, to 4,712 from 7,339.

The influx of new inventory in early fall does not necessarily translate into more sales.

Leonard Steinberg, an executive vice president at Prudential Douglas Elliman, focuses on the downtown luxury sales market. He said that over the last few years, he has received fewer inquiries about properties and has seen a dip in contract signings after Labor Day, a trend he expects to continue.

Manhattan home prices rose this year, but assuming 2007 follows the same pattern as the previous six years, the average price of a Manhattan home will drop in the fourth quarter. Between the third and fourth quarters of every year since 2001, prices decreased (except for 2003, when prices between the quarters rose to $1.15 million from $1.13 million, a 1.8 percent uptick), Miller Samuel data shows.

For the six-year period between 2001 and 2006, the average sales price dropped more than 5 percent between the third and fourth quarters to $1.19 million from $1.26 million.

Some brokers expressed optimism about the amount of business they expected to do this month.

Barring catastrophe, “I think we’re going to have a strong September. I think our whole fourth quarter will be strong,” Sotheby’s Smith said. “I see the fourth quarter setting itself up as a very strong close to what was already a great year.”

Miller of Miller Samuel said he believes third-quarter data will show no sign of summer blues. It would likely be too soon to see effects of a mortgage crisis in third-quarter data, he said.

“The third quarter, we’re still looking at the expectation of an active market and a brisk level of sales activity, but tempered somewhat from the tightening credit situation,” Miller said.

Long days behind the wheel pay off as drivers become property owners [more]

[more]

Victorian nabe gets fresh look from buyers eager for more Brooklyn space [more]

Building boom moves inland, reaching final frontier of gentrification [more]

The next great battle pitting affordable housing advocates against market forces is coming soon to a neighborhood near you. That’s if it hasn’t already arrived.

Well-documented showdowns involving Brooklyn’s Starrett City and Manhattan’s Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village recently highlighted the deepening struggle between building owners looking to maximize profits and residents who want to preserve affordable units. Tenant groups contend that thousands of affordable apartments are in danger of becoming too expensive for many working families, but that this threat is getting lost in the debate.

Castleton Point on Staten Island and Sea Rise in Brooklyn are dwarfed in size by mega-developments, but they face the same plight. Compounded by the tightening residential housing stock, many buildings leaving the Mitchell-Lama affordable housing program, and new restrictions in the 421-a developer tax incentive provision, tenants’ advocates have plenty of reasons to warn that the situation has reached critical proportions.

The war is being waged neighborhood by neighborhood, block by block and even building by building as affordable housing supply fails to keep up with demand, said Dina Levy, executive director of organizing and policy for the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board, a group that helps residents restore neglected properties in low-income neighborhoods. In the past year alone, tenants in 4,000 units in 14 buildings scattered throughout the city have received buyout notices saying that their landlords plan to opt out of the Mitchell-Lama program, passed by the state in 1955 to spur the construction of middle-income housing, Levy stated.

“That’s just an incredible number of housing units that don’t get the play because of their size,” Levy said. “Right when Starrett City was becoming an issue, there were a number of buildings that were facing the same problem.”

It’s with good reason that affordable housing and tenant advocates are worried. Buying buildings containing affordable housing units in New York City is still a lucrative proposition, said Heidi Burkhart, director for Eastern Consolidated, a commercial building sales brokerage.

Although the market has cooled somewhat in the outer boroughs, particularly the Bronx, demand is still high in Manhattan, she said. Tightening access to credit is having little effect on investors flush with capital who are seizing opportunities to convert units to market rate.

“I think in major metropolitan areas, you will always have a demand,” Burkhart said. “As long as people have their equities, there will always be a market to invest.”

For tenants, the situation is becoming so dire that even brokers — who aren’t always seen as advocates of building affordable housing — are stepping in. Stan Ponte, chairman of Brokers Build, a group of the city’s top brokers who have joined with Habitat for Humanity to raise $1 million to construct 11 of 41 homes in a Brooklyn complex, called the issue “a crisis.”

If steps aren’t taken to stem the loss of affordable units, the city will be threatened with the erosion of its ethnic and economic diversity, Ponte contended. A May 2007 report conducted by Housing Here and Now, a coalition of affordable housing advocates, stated that between 2002 and 2005, nearly 205,000 housing units affordable to families at 80 percent or below the city’s median income level were lost. The results are dire, Ponte argued. Lower-income tenants are forced to pay more for housing and less for other essentials.

“The idea that people are spending as much as half of their income on rent is a crisis,” Ponte said.

No doubt the estimated 14,000 tenants at the 5,881-unit Starrett City complex, the largest publicly financed housing development in the nation, are nervously waiting for the next buyer.

State and federal agencies rejected a $1.3 billion bid in the spring from David Bistricer of Clipper Equities in part because they considered the price too high for the units to remain affordable. However, with the owners intent on selling the complex, tenants remain fearful of a future marked by rent hikes and evictions.

Rents have been rising at Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village since the $5.4 billion sale last year of the largely rent-stabilized complex. Alvin Doyle, president of the Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village Tenants Association, in May told The Real Deal that since Tishman Speyer took over, rents on market-rate, one-bedroom apartments are around $3,000 a month, while two-bedrooms are going for around $4,000 a month. Tenants renewing leases are seeing rent increases of between 15 and 30 percent, Doyle said.

But tens of thousand of tenants in nondescript buildings across the city are left to fight on their own without garnering the same attention and assistance. Some of the buildings where the skirmishes are developing are as small as 100 units, Levy noted.

Julie Miles, Housing Here and Now’s executive director, was reluctant to predict where the next major fight will take place. Individual tenants’ groups face the same dilemma on a daily basis. That’s largely due to a legal provision that permits owners of Mitchell-Lama buildings built after 1973 to leave the program for market-rate rents if they’ve paid their debt. While Miles hailed the efforts by New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer to close loopholes in the law for older buildings, the Housing Here and Now report estimated the loss of another 21,000 Mitchell-Lama apartments by 2016.

Even Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s groundbreaking 2004 initiative, called the New Housing Marketplace, which has added or preserved nearly 65,000 affordable units and promises to add another 100,000 units by 2013, falls well short, said Nicholas LaPorte, executive director of the Associated Builders and Owners of Greater New York. The economic boom of the 1990s, which drew hundreds of thousands of new residents to the city, created “the perfect storm,” LaPorte said. As more people flocked here, the demand for housing at all levels grew.

The city’s 421-a tax break program has failed to spur the building of enough affordable housing units to keep pace with demand, LaPorte maintained. The program has been revised, with changes signed into law by Gov. Spitzer last month.

“There need to be more flexible programs by the government,” LaPorte said, adding that “421-a, the way it was written, was wrong.”

To address the housing shortfall, the New Housing Marketplace committed $7.5 billion of public money, making it the largest municipal housing program in the nation, said Seth Donlin, press secretary for the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

“Clearly, more can always be done, but we’re talking about limited resources,” Donlin said. “The city, state and federal government can only build so much housing. The private market has to build much of that.”

A major obstacle in the struggle to save affordable units is that so many fronts have been opened. Small building tenants need protection, but a loss of Starrett City to market-rate housing would also be a devastating blow, tenants’ advocates conclude. “All we can do is hang in there,” said Starrett Tenants Association president Marie Purnell. “If we go down the tubes, a lot of the affordable housing will go down.”

Levy said tenants’ groups need to refocus their efforts sensibly. Until now, each complex has been left on its own. Stuyvesant Town and Starrett City apartment dwellers had a fighting chance simply because of their size. In the future, elected officials and housing advocates must develop a plan and draft accompanying legislation that deals with the issue globally, not on an individual basis, Levy said.

Levy concluded that the city and the state “have to figure out what their preservation strategy is going to be.”

Interviewed by Jen Benepe
[more]

Expediters combine experience with building codes and a tolerance for standing in line [more]

Harlem residents vote overwhelmingly against Columbia University expansion
A West Harlem community board voted almost unanimously last month against Columbia University’s push for rezoning. The board voted 31-2 against zoning changes for the university’s planned $7 billion expansion north into Harlem. Planning officials say they will consider the vote before making a decision. The 17-acre expansion plan includes new buildings for the arts, business and sciences, along with a public high school.

Official: Coney Island plan ‘dead’
Thor Equities’ $1.5 billion plan to redevelop Coney Island into a Las Vegas-style resort is “dead in the water,” a high-ranking city official said last month. The Bloomberg administration is unhappy with the developer’s plan for 350 time-shares in proposed hotels, as well as Thor’s push for $100 million in subsidies. Thor’s sale of the Albee Square Mall in Downtown Brooklyn earlier this year led to fears that it might also sell on Coney Island after receiving a favorable zoning change. The city will not meet with Thor until the developer proposes a new plan, the New York Daily News reported. Talks over keeping Astroland Park open at Coney Island next year also remain stalled, with Thor seeking $3 million rent while the park wants to keep paying $170,000.

Antitrust suit against REBNY enters next round
Both sides in an antitrust suit have claimed victory after a U.S. district court judge ruled last month that he would hear conspiracy charges filed by BrokersNYC against the Real Estate Board of New York and others, but dismissed monopoly charges. The suit claims that a conspiracy prevented REBNY broker listings from being shared with an outside listing service, a possible breach of federal antitrust regulations.

City says Trump on thin ice at Central Park rink
Donald Trump let Central Park’s Lasker Rink fall into disrepair, the city comptroller says. An audit released last month by City Comptroller William Thompson says Trump failed to keep up the rink, near 107th Street, for nearly four years, allowing paint to peel, steps to crack, tiles to go missing and toilets to break. Trump says the rink was “a total disaster when we took it over, and now it’s beautiful.” The entry pavilion, stairs and a parapet were supposed to be fixed by October 2003, but were not done until after the audit was finished in April, the Daily News reported.

Bloomberg congestion pricing plan may receive $354M in federal funds
Mayor Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan will get $354 million in federal funding if it is ultimately approved by lawmakers, U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters announced last month. The funding is not connected specifically to congestion pricing, but to the performance goals Bloomberg said could be achieved from congestion pricing, the New York Observer reported.

Downtown Brooklyn to get green space modeled after Bryant Park
Downtown Brooklyn will get a park with a parking garage underneath it called Willoughby Square Park, the New York Post reported. The city’s Economic Development Corp. will accept proposals until October for the project, which would create 1.15 acres of green space on city property and 694 underground parking spaces. Modeled on Bryant Park, Willoughby Square Park is part of a $100 million revitalization plan for Downtown Brooklyn.

Ground broken for Harlem park expansion
The city broke ground last month on the Harlem River Park Greenway and Esplanade’s second phase, the Observer reported. The greenway and esplanade along the Harlem River will be extended from 139th Street to 142nd Street by next August. The first phase opened the greenway and esplanade from 135th Street to 139th Street in 2003.

Cut-off point between prime and subprime loans moves higher [more]

Demand for micro-markets bucks sales, pricing trend [more]

Credit card company will report cardholders’ credit limits [more]

Longtime efforts to revitalize a downmarket part of Market Street, San Francisco’s most important commercial corridor, are finally getting somewhere. [more]

Everything may not be coming up roses yet for the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, D.C., but the future is certainly looking brighter for this downtrodden former bastion of the African-American middle class. [more]

Commercial and residential real estate news briefs from the most active U.S. markets
[more]

Some say 22-month inventory of unsold units indicates a glut [more]

Shaking off development doldrums, builders try to catch up to demand [more]

In role reversal, city gaining on suburbs in volume of deals [more]

Buyers cast their eyes on mix of office, residential, industrial properties [more]

Second-fastest-growing city rocked by glut of homes and tightening credit [more]

The South Florida retail market is experiencing record-high rents and record-low vacancies, according to a second-quarter report by CB Richard Ellis. In Miami-Dade, the most underserved by retail of the big three South Florida counties, average rents on stores increased 41 percent in 2006, from $21.52 to $30.45 per square foot. Broward and Palm Beach counties have seen similar trends. [more]

City sees prices sag and suffers sharpest drop in building permits among U.S. metropolitan areas [more]

Mortgage fallout hurts some top U.S. markets more than others [more]

Condo development continues in Las Vegas, but at a greatly reduced pace [more]

Belize sees residential boom, spike in prices
Several large residential projects are bringing unprecedented construction to Belize, a country with a population of only 294,000. Many residents do not think the small Caribbean nation is ready for the rapid growth.

Corrupt government and poor infrastructure have deterred developers from building in Belize for years, but a rush of land purchases over the last year has caused the price of beachfront property to double from around $3,000 to around $6,000 per linear foot, the amount of frontage a piece of land has on the water. Similar parcels elsewhere in the Caribbean average closer to $12,000 per linear foot, the International Herald Tribune reported.

The recently announced Smuggler’s Run Plantation is a 1,000-acre, 1,440-home project expected to begin construction in January. Its townhouses and condominiums will be priced from $160,000 to $1.2 million. High-end real estate in Belize is often priced in dollars.

Another large development is the 582-acre, 1,000-home project called Ara Macao. The community, developed by Chicago-based ioVest, is being marketed to second-home buyers from the United States, Canada and England.

Belize is known as one of the friendliest countries in Central America for foreign buyers: It has no restrictions on non-citizens owning property, property taxes are low and there are no capital gains taxes. It also passed a retirement measure in 1999 that allows foreigners older than 45 to import their possessions duty-free.

Indian developers target masses with $25K homes
Developers in India predict burgeoning demand for “mass-housing,” or inexpensive homes for the poor, the International Herald
Tribune reported.

Developer Unitech now builds luxury homes in India that cost as much as $1.5 million apiece, but it is looking into building homes that will sell for around $25,000. Both Unitech and DLF — the country’s biggest developers by market value of their projects — are still wary of the great decrease in profit margin they can expect as they enter the bottom end of the market. But with mounting fears that the supply of homes for the middle and upper classes may soon exceed demand, Unitech continues to research the mass-housing market.

The country will need as many as 10 million new housing units by the year 2030, according to an estimate by the Asian Development Bank. The bulk of these potential new homeowners are just rising above the poverty line, with 291 million citizens expected to increase their annual household incomes to above $2,200 by 2025.

Home staging comes to U.K.; French not impressed
The American phenomenon of home staging — quickly and temporarily beautifying a house prior to putting it on the market — seems to be spreading across the Atlantic Ocean to the United Kingdom, although some Europeans have been slower to adopt the practice.

Businesses have sprung up in Ireland and England around the idea of cleaning, repainting and even refurnishing a home so that it will sell faster and/or at a higher price. A Dublin-based staging company, House and Garden Presentation Services, charges from $2,500 for a simple refurnishing to $25,000 for new furniture, painting, cleaning and recarpeting.

Several house makeover shows such as “House Doctor” that have aired on British television likely influenced the trend. “House Doctor” host Ann Maurice, an American, launched the show during the housing slump of the late 1990s. She argues that home staging can add 10 to 15 percent to the sale price of a home.

Continental Europeans, especially the French, Italians, Spanish and Portuguese, have historically thought of houses as places to live and not as investments. They continue to shy away from staging, often eschewing even minimal repairs and touchups before selling. The owner of a real estate agency in Provence said that French sellers would likely see a house makeover as “disloyal to the property.”

Even as the city’s residential market slows, some agents who stick it out through a projected downturn can console themselves with the fact that they won’t have to split their commissions with their brokerage.

Charles Rutenberg Realty, a firm that lets agents keep all of their commission in exchange for fixed fees, boosted the number of agents it employs in New York City by 50 percent over the last several months.

The company had just under 60 agents before the summer began, according to general sales manager Michael Barbolla, but that number ballooned to 90 by the start of last month.

“Our business model, quite frankly, is attractive to agents,” said Kathy Braddock, co-founder of the local division of Rutenberg, which is headquartered in Chicago. “It’s a win-win business model.”

Braddock says she isn’t worried about fallout from the subprime debacle. “The co-op market has always protected us from what has gone on in the rest of the country,” she said.

Rutenberg offers its agents 100 percent of their earned commission on sales. In return, the firm’s employees are required to pay a $99 monthly fee as well as transaction fees commensurate with the size of the deal: $1,000 for each sale up to $1.5 million and $2,000 for a sale greater than $1.5 million.

Rutenberg agents use the company’s offices, which feature desks equipped with fax machines and phones, but do not have permanent workstations. They pay for their business cards. A company manager is available in-house, and Web-based resources may be accessed remotely for a service fee.

Still, some real estate executives believe that more traditional firms, where agents split their commissions with the brokerage, have a better support system in place for agents as a slowdown looms.

“Overheads in Manhattan are a whole different ball game. At regular firms, the company provides an advertising budget, a desk, a computer and business cards,” said Nest Seekers CEO and owner Eddie Shapiro. “They really take that risk for you.”

First Meridian Mortgage, a Brooklyn-based residential lender, is taking on a new moniker, Trump Financial, in hopes of recruiting top talent and gaining greater exposure nationwide.

It certainly isn’t the first company to license the Trump brand. Real estate mogul Donald Trump has lent his name to skyscrapers, casinos, steaks, cologne, menswear, vodka, even bottled water. But here’s the twist: The name Trump Financial is remarkably similar to — and in the same business as — the short-lived Trump Mortgage, which folded about four months ago as management problems sank the company less than two years after its 2005 launch.

Some might see the name choice as a bad omen, but David Brecher, CEO of First Meridian Mortgage, sees it as an extraordinary opportunity.

“We feel it’s a very powerful name, with a tremendous amount of name recognition,” said Brecher, who acknowledged getting calls confusing his firm with the defunct company. “We’ve done very good in New York as far as establishing our reputation through real estate developers, marketing firms, lending institutions and clients. What the Trump name affords us is the ability to go outside our reach.”

Trump, in a phone interview, described the arrangement as “just a licensing deal” and said he will not be involved in operating Trump Financial. He is licensing his name to First Meridian because of its solid reputation and his positive dealings with the firm in the past, he said.

The company is well established, he said, unlike the defunct Trump Mortgage, which opened for business in November 2005 and gained fanfare following a launch party in April 2006 at the Trump Tower. (At the time, Donald Trump emphasized that Trump Mortgage, like the newly formed Trump Financial, was “merely a licensing arrangement.”)

The failed firm, headquartered in a Trump property on Wall Street, offered commercial and residential mortgages and was licensed in 15 states. It was run by E.J. Ridings, a Trump family acquaintance. Last December, Money magazine revealed that Ridings had exaggerated his credentials in a professional biography. Ridings’ bio claimed he had 15 years of financial industry experience, a claim later proved false.

“Trump Mortgage is different [from Trump Financial] in that the people were inexperienced,” Trump said. “We weren’t happy with them, and we terminated them based on the fact they were not doing what they said they were going to do.”

Brecher fielded a few calls from people thinking his firm is Trump Mortgage. The negative association concerns him, he said, but it’s only temporary.

“I could not think of another branding name that has as much clout as the Trump name,” Brecher said.

Brecher said he pitched the Trump Financial idea to the Trump Organization earlier this year after learning that Trump Mortgage was about to close because of poor performance. Brecher would not disclose how much his firm is paying to use the name.

Brecher said Trump Financial will be the preferred lender for Trump residential development projects, although Trump said he prefers to offer people several financing options. He cited Trump Soho, a 45-story hotel-condo building under construction on Spring Street. The sales office has received 2,800 applications for 500 units, Trump said.

“We’ll offer them First Meridian, which is Trump, or we’ll offer others,” he said. “I like to give a choice of three or four companies.”

First Meridian Mortgage, a spin-off of the commercial brokerage Meridian Capital, was founded in 1996 and today has 125 employees. It is the lender and broker for 110 Livingston and BellTel Lofts in Brooklyn and One Hudson Park in Edgewater, N.J.

The company will retain the First Meridian Mortgage name in areas where it is well known, such as Brooklyn, but will assume its new identity where its foothold is weaker.

Beyond New York, Brecher said his firm is licensed in New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Florida, California, Minnesota and Washington, D.C. It also has a license pending in Arizona.

Brecher expects the new name will help the firm attract high-caliber loan officers and will elevate its status among lending institutions and developers. Trump’s image likely will be used in advertisements and marketing materials.

“When people hear the Trump name, they immediately think of real estate, business, success and that it’s a winner,” he said. “We really feel it will help us unlock a lot of doors.”

Residential

Barak Realty
Alexei Krapivka, Edil Lacayo and Benjamin Morales were promoted to the level of vice president. Sharon Chinn, Robert Kravath, Sophia Pagan and Vicki Sutton joined the firm.

Century 21 NY Metro
Robert Suh and David Rabinowitz were appointed co-directors of the Rental Relocation program in both New York City offices. They were previously rental agents with the firm.

City Connections Realty
Jeff Krantz joined as vice president of new development, sales and marketing. He was previously a sales manager at Cantor Pecorella.

The Corcoran Group
G. Scott Segler joined as senior vice president and chief financial officer. Andrew Fesen joined as regional human resources director.

Warburg Realty
Eugenia Foxworth joined the firm.

Commercial

Cushman & Wakefield
Beth Greenwald joined the firm as director. She was previously director for Newmark Knight Frank Retail.

Grubb & Ellis
Geraldine Walsh joined as vice president and regional director of operations for management services. She was previously a property manager at Tishman Speyer.

Jones Lang LaSalle
Raymond Quartararo and Bart Steinfeld were promoted to the position of international director. Quartararo had been northeast regional manager with the project and development services group; Steinfeld had been managing director of the real estate investment banking division.

Massey Knakal
Sean Barnes was promoted to director of sales from associate in the Queens office. Elysa Berlin joined as an associate in the Manhattan office. Sean Freeman joined as associate in the Queens office. Valentina Cucuzza was promoted to associate from intern in the Bronx division. Laura Marbury joined as executive assistant in the Brooklyn office.

Park Hill Real Estate Group
Michael Stark joined as senior managing principal of the real estate placement group. He was previously director and founding member of the real estate private fund group for Credit Suisse.

A second life as an online real estate wheeler-dealer takes off [more]

It’s axiomatic that the subtext of golf is business. The game is a social lubricant that seals deals — including New York City real estate deals.

With real estate golfers getting closer to the time of year when they pack away their putters, here is what they had to say about how business etiquette on the course has evolved.

“I conduct a lot of business on the course and woo clients all summer long,” said Pam Liebman, CEO of the Corcoran Group, who boasts a 14 handicap. “Golf is really 19 holes. It helps you get beyond the superficial and see if you bond and build trust. The way someone behaves on the course is a good barometer of how they act all the time.”

Abraham Hidary, president of Hidrock Realty, said, “It’s really a time to get to know people and see them in a different light. With everyone text messaging and e-mailing and getting down to business quickly, golf provides a way to build relationships the old-fashioned way,” he said.

Not content to excel at doing real estate deals, there are some industry honchos who lead the pack when it comes to golf, too.

Among the top golfers in the city’s real estate industry, the names that come up often are Tod Waterman, formerly of Reckson Associates Realty Corp., who founded commercial real estate investment and operating company Waterman Interests earlier this year; Steve Witkoff, building owner and developer; and Anthony Westreich, president of building owner Monday Properties.

“There are a lot of excellent golfers in the industry, plenty of ones and twos [handicaps],” said Michael Fascitelli, president of Vornado Realty Trust, himself a seven handicap.

Birdies of a feather, of course, flock together.

“The good golfers in the industry tend to gravitate toward each other,” said William Adamski at NY Credit Advisors.

There are many high-powered rounds played by pro-class golfers at neatly manicured private clubs, like Old Oaks in Westchester, where a lot of real estate professionals play, said Robert Ivanhoe, a lawyer at Greenberg Traurig.

But there are also more laid-back events where prowess on the course isn’t particularly prized, including REBNY’s annual networking events — the fall outing will be held Sept. 10 at the Metropolis Country Club in White Plains — or a charity function like the one sponsored by Liebman to fight leukemia, held July 30 at the famed Winged Foot Golf Club in Westchester.

Then there are the gatherings hosted by Hidary and his cohorts at public courses in Brooklyn and New Jersey.

“It’s never been a problem because most people aren’t that good, so we just try to have fun and not take it too seriously,” he said. Hidary said he doesn’t really have a handicap, but he shoots around 100.

Some other people don’t play well — on purpose. “In some circumstances, depending on the situation, it can be impolite to go all out, so you have to use discretion,” said Liebman. Still, it’s good to be good when playing with the testosterone set.

“I never hold back,” said Adamski, who said he is a four to six handicap. “When people think you’re a good golfer, they expect you to play well.”

Ivanhoe agrees. “People expect you to be ‘on’ all the time, like you can’t have a bad day, so when you shoot an 85, it’s a little embarrassing,” he said.

He discovered early that success on the course can translate into success in the board room, smoothing the way to a higher standing in the pecking order.

“I was a second-year associate, and my boss was George Ross, a stern man who worked for [Donald] Trump and was a judge on ‘The Apprentice,’” Ivanhoe said. “He invited three clients to a round, and one couldn’t make it, so I got a call late Sunday night: ‘Get your clubs and meet me at the Quaker Ridge club [in Westchester] at 10 tomorrow.’ Click. Well, I had one for the ages. Shot a 72, won everything — longest drive, closest to par — and from that day on, he treated me totally differently and gave me a lot of respect.”

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

A story in the August issue, “Biggest rental firms keyed into market,” incorrectly ranked brokerage Citi Habitats in the “Most rental listings on Web site” category. With more than 5,700 Manhattan listings posted on its Web site, the firm should have been ranked first.