The Real Deal New York

587 Fifth Avenue at center

A New York state judge is scheduled to hear arguments from an investor in 587 Fifth Avenue — a 10-story office and retail building on a prime stretch of the shopping strip — who is trying to block developer Asher Zamir from selling the property’s leasehold to Crown Acquisitions.

Elyass “Elliott” Eshaghian, president of Manhattan-based Evvan Importers, filed a derivative suit June 12 in New York State Supreme Court on behalf of investors in the property, alleging that Zamir made decisions about its future without his permission. [more]

From left: Douglas Elliman Chairman Howard Lorber and the Witkoff Group’s Steve Witkoff (Credit: Katherine Clarke)

Douglas Elliman heavyweights, including Chairman Howard Lorber, CEO Dottie Herman and an array of the firm’s top producing brokers, gathered last night to celebrate the launch of 10 Madison Square West in style. More than 100 guests flocked to a cordoned-off section of Madison Square Park — which developer the Witkoff Group had rented out for the event — to sip lemonade- thyme cocktails and nibble on tiny lobster rolls and salted caramel tartlets.Click here to see the photos and more.

Jupiter 21 rendering (Credit: David E. Gross)

Jupiter 21, a new 78,000-square-foot mixed-use building located at 21 East 1st Street, has started leasing its rental units, according to a release from its developer, BFC Partners. [more]

From left: David Bistricer and 752 West End Avenue

David Bistricer’s Clipper Equity and the family-owned Rieder Holdings are switching tactics at a nearly 200-unit Upper West Side rental building which they were in the midst of converting to condominiums. The partnership sold 752 West End Avenue for $120 million, according to records filed yesterday.

The buyer appears to be the Miami-based developer Crescent Heights, according to property records. [more]

From left: Peter Von Der Ahe and Joe Koicim of Marcus & Millichap, Martin Nussbaum of Silverstone Property and 78 Irving Place

Silverstone Property, a Manhattan-based real estate investment company, has acquired a seven-story residential rental building in Gramercy for $17.9 million, The Real Deal has learned. [more]

One Hudson Square

New York Media, which publishes New York magazine, inked a 10-year direct lease for 80,500 square feet at One Hudson Square, the New York Observer reported.

Asking rents are $65 per square foot at the Trinity Real Estate-owned building, at Church Street and West Broadway in the increasingly popular area, which is set to be rezoned if all goes as planned. The company will continue to operate on the entire fourth floor. New York Media’s sublease recently expired, the Observer said. One Hudson Square is now fully leased, with Getty Images, Metropolitan College and the Jackie Robinson Foundation among its tenants. [more]

Applications to build single-family homes reached a five-year high nationally last month, according to Department of Commerce data cited by Bloomberg News.

The number of applications to build single-family homes rose 1.3 percent to a 622,000 per month annualized rate, the most dramatic month-over-month rise since May 2008. Construction starts on U.S. homes also saw an increase of 6.8 percent to an annual rate of 914,000, the Commerce Department announced. [more]

Ken Horn

From the June issue: Ken Horn is president of Alchemy Properties. Founded by Horn in 1990, the company has since developed or purchased almost 2 million square feet of real estate — worth some $1 billion — in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Horn and his partners Joel Breitkopf and Gerald Davis acquired the upper portions of the iconic Woolworth Building for $68 million last year, and are now transforming the top 30 floors of the tower into 40 luxury condos. Alchemy, which has completed projects such as the Isis condominium at 303 East 77th Street, is now also marketing the 35XV condo at 35 West 15th Street. [more]

A rendering of the Forest Hills project (Photo credit Morali Architects via DNAinfo)

A new Art Deco condominium complex is rising in Queens’ Forest Hills neighborhood, DNAinfo reported. The 16-story building is being developed by Cord Meyer and designed by Morali Architects, and will have 100 units. [more]

Lewis Ranieri

Mortgage-bond pioneer Lewis Ranieri’s Shellpoint Partners is looking to sell at least a quarter billion worth of home loan-backed securities, signifying the return of the market for nonagency mortgage bonds, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The bonds are backed by large loans sans a government guarantee, as opposed to the majority of housing loans that are sold through government-connected agencies such as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae. Growth of the “nonagency” market is seen as an essential mode of reducing the housing market’s reliance on taxpayers, who shelled out billions to support Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the financial crisis and recession. [more]