Less than half of attempts to sell a home in 2009 panned out … and more

1. Less than half of all attempts to sell a house in 2009 were successful: Redfin [WSJ]
2. Rockpoint Group has contract to buy shuttered Milford Plaza Hotel on Eighth Avenue [Post, 2nd item]
3. Reports that Muslim leaders were abandoning plans for Ground Zero mosque were false [Post]
4. Housing starts in U.S. probably rose in July from depressed levels:
economists [Bloomberg]

5. Luzzo’s pizzeria to open third location at 275 Church Street at 17 percent under asking rent [Crain’s]
6. Condé Nast and Port Authority sign letter of intent for lease at One World Trade Center [Post, 3rd item]
7. Bethpage mosque closed over
building code violations set to re-open in October [Newsday]

8. Walgreens branch shut down on Kings Highway in Midwood, Brooklyn [Sheepshead
Bites]