Williamsburg developer holds out for buyers

The Northside Piers condominium is slashing prices to bring in buyers and clear
out excess inventory
, but another Williamsburg waterfront developer is holding
out.

“You don’t bid against yourself,” developer Jeff Levine told The
Real Deal
after the Brooklyn Real Estate Roundtable today, saying that even though he has not sold that many units at the
Edge
since Lehman Brothers collapsed, he has no intention of lowering prices or
adding incentives like rent-to-own, as the Northside Piers has done. Prices
at the 575-unit Edge, which is made up of two buildings at 34 North 7th Street and 22 North 6th Street,
are about $900 per square foot.

Levine said earlier today at the roundtable, held at the Brooklyn
Historical Society, that he expects the market to turn up by the time the Edge
is completed in the fourth quarter of this year, and that is when people will
start buying again.

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Not all roundtable attendees were so optimistic, however. Michael O’Brien,
CEO and director of industrial sales and leasing at M.C. O’Brien, said he
thinks it will take four years for the market to improve.

Both Levine and Don Capoccia, developer of the Toren in Downtown Brooklyn,
said that while people are more hesitant about buying, the important thing is
that potential buyers are still out looking. Both developers said they had
strong showings at open houses last weekend with between 20 and 30 people, and both
have partnered with lenders Wells Fargo and Chase Home Mortgages to assist
potential buyers with financing.