Macklowe selling out of Midtown tower, Brooklyn lawmaker wants to rewrite federal housing rules

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Sotheby’s International Realty tapped a new chief marketing officer. A. Bradley Nelson, previously the firm’s senior vice president of marketing, was promoted to CMO. The firm also moved into its new office at 650 Madison Avenue on Monday. CEO Philip White said he’s hoping the new digs will be a draw new recruits and that Sotheby’s is looking to expand its new development business in 2020. The Realogy-owned brokerage integrated its franchise and company-owned businesses earlier this year and has been shaking up its C-suite as it combines two corporate ladders.

Aby Rosen and Lever House at 390 Park Avenue (Credit: Getty Images and Google Maps)

Aby Rosen says he was duped at Lever House. The owner of RFR Realty was struggling to make ground lease payments at the iconic building when developer Tod Waterman offered to help, according to a new suit. Now, Rosen says Waterman wedged him out of control of the property, and has accused him of fraud. [TRD]

A Brooklyn lawmaker wants to slash affordable housing rents by 30 percent. New York State Congresswoman Yvette Clarke introduced a bill that would make subsidized housing more accessible, arguing that the current rents are geared more to the middle- and upper-middle class. [Crain’s]

Harry Macklowe and 220 East 59th Street

With his eye on Tower Fifth, Harry Macklowe is still doing other deals. The developer has sold his stake in the residential condominium tower, 200 East 59th Street, to his Singapore-based partner, Alpha. Filings show his stake in the building was valued at close to $5 million. Meanwhile, Macklowe has ambitious plans for a tower on Fifth Avenue. [TRD]

Backed by SoftBank, Compass has grown exponentially. But breakneck expansion — it added more than 6,000 agents last year — has come at a cost. One Chicago based broker says her earnings plummeted once she arrived at the brokerage, and she was unable to access marketing materials for months. [NYT]

14 Wall Street has secured another tenant. Superstructures Engineers + Architects will move into the pyramid-topped building’s 25th floor. Asking rent in the landmarked building is around $55, and the engineering firm is taking more than 33,000 square feet. [NYP]

A Douglas Elliman broker is accused of calling a former colleague a “mulatto.” That’s just one of the the claims made by Natasha Page against her former boss, Jason Walker, with whom she worked with at brokerage CORE. It is the latest charge in a years-long legal fight between the two parties. [TRD]

There could be a mismatch in supply and demand for elderly-care homes. Developers bet big on the idea that Baby Boomers would flock to aged care homes, and built 21,332 new units in the last year, more than double the amount added in 2014. But occupancy is ebbing. [WSJ]

Compiled by David Jeans

FROM THE CITY’S RECORDS:

Financing: Wells Fargo provided the Moinian Group with a $52 million refinancing for the commercial unit at 117 East 57th Street. [ACRIS]

Sale: Blake Partners sold two Brooklyn apartment buildings at 157 and 159 5th Avenue for $23.25 million. The buyers were entities with Gregory Fournier as authorized signatory.

Compiled by Mary Diduch