Polsinelli jumps ship to Marcus & Millichap
One of the top-producing brokers at investment services firm Besen & Associates has moved over to Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services.
After a decade at Besen, Adelaide Polsinelli started at Marcus & Millichap late last month as an associate vice president of investments at the company’s Manhattan office at 270 Madison Avenue and 40th Street.
Polsinelli, 48, said the firm’s national platform and its ability to access investment capital attracted her.
“This platform, along with the firm’s commitment to providing the business development tools necessary to grow my business, were very enticing,” said Polsinelli, who has been in the business for over 20 years.
Polsinelli closed over 200 investment sales deals in her 10 years at Besen & Associates. Her client base includes pension funds, institutions and high-net worth individuals.
“Several local real estate firms were pursuing Adelaide for her many talents, including her excellent negotiating skills, her long-term relationships with many of New York City’s high-profile investors and her impressive track record of investment sales,” said Edward Jordan, regional manger of the Manhattan office. By Lauren Elkies
Swig technically defaulted, but may have broken even on UWS sale
Six months before selling his Upper West Side tenement buildings for $61 million, developer Kent Swig was sued by the lender after technically defaulting on the property’s mortgage, according to documents obtained by The Real Deal.
Swig, president of New York-based Swig Equities, had originally acquired 201 West 92nd Street and 200 West 93rd Street in 2005 for $54 million, with plans to add a total of 56 condo units atop the roofs of the two six-story buildings and convert the complex into condos. By selling the property for $7 million more than he paid for it, Swig might have been able to break even after carrying costs.
The deal was financed by a $52.49 million acquisition and development loan taken out with Fremont Investment & Loan in March 2005. The 18-month loan was based on Swig’s ability to build two nine-story structures atop the 134-unit complex.
In January, a subsidiary of New York-based iStar Financial filed suit against Swig in New York State Supreme Court seeking to foreclose on the property. Records from PropertyShark.com show a lis pendens filed against the building on the same date as the suit.
Swig, who originally put the buildings up for sale in early 2007, denied any connection between the bank proceedings and the sale price. “We sold the buildings at the highest price we could achieve,” said Swig, who said he would not discuss the building’s finances, citing a confidentiality pact with the new owners.
The suit alleged that Swig failed to make an interest payment of $392,033 on Oct. 1, 2007. When the loan came due Nov. 1, he failed to pay the principal of nearly $52.5 million, the records show. By December 2007, Swig owed the lender iStar Financial more than $61.3 million, including principal, interest and penalties.
The lender, which had acquired Fremont’s commercial real estate portfolio for $1.9 billion in 2007, reached an agreement with Swig that would extend his deadline to respond to the complaint until March 24 of this year, according to court records.
A source familiar with Swig, who asked to remain anonymous, said that all issues with iStar were resolved prior to the sale of the complex to Adorama affiliate 92nd Street Equities. The firm is led by Eugene Mendlowits, whose family owns Adorama Camera and is a veteran landlord in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
Swig, along with partners Yair Levy and Charles Dayan, had submitted an offering plan in June 2006 to then Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, to sell the 56 newly built condo units for $145.5 million. The plan called for Swig to continue renting the existing 134 units and generate revenue from 14 retail stores and restaurants. By David Jones
Columbia to acquire city Manhattanville parcel
Columbia University is poised to acquire a 15,000-square-foot, city-owned Metropolitan Transportation Authority parcel on 131st Street in the footprint of its Manhattanville expansion plan.
The $3 million transfer, worth $200 per square foot, should occur sometime in the spring of 2009, city Law Department spokeswoman Laura Postiglione said.
The university will not pay the $3 million in cash, but will be credited for work performed at a park called Hudson River Piers that is under development in West Harlem, a source said. By Adam Pincus
Gore’s daughter sells UES co-op for $6 million
Al Gore’s eldest daughter Karenna Gore Schiff and her husband sold an Upper East Side co-op apartment for $6.35 million to a top executive at the beauty company Estée Lauder.
Gore Schiff, a writer and attorney, and her husband Andrew Schiff, a biotech venture capitalist with Aisling Capital, sold the unit at 137 East 66th Street to Fabrizio Freda, Estée Lauder’s chief operating officer, according to property records. The four-bedroom, 4,000-square-foot apartment in Lennox Hill was listed on StreetEasy.com for $6.99 million.
The apartment also includes two separate maids rooms, which were being used as a gym and guest room, the listing said. By Adam Pincus
Core expands beyond its core location
Core Group Marketing is slated to build out its second office at the glassy condo tower Yves Chelsea rising at 166 West 18th Street.
The permanent space on the tower’s ground floor and lower level will be “right in the heart of Chelsea, which is where we have one of our stronger markets,” said Jack Cayre, who co-founded the boutique real estate sales and marketing firm with CEO Shaun Osher.
Along with marketing new development projects in the area, Core has done plenty of buyer and seller rep business in Chelsea, including selling a handful of units in Yves. Magnum Real Estate Group is developing the 14-story luxury building, and Cantor Pecorella is its exclusive sales and marketing firm.
“We thought it would be a good way to grow our presence,” Cayre said.
Core, which has 45 agents, signed a 10-year lease for the 4,000-square-foot space in Yves, which is on Seventh Avenue. Cayre would not indicate the rent. The retail office will house around 40 agents, mostly new hires.
“We’re going to need another place for them,” Cayre said. By Lauren Elkies
Bush cousin buys Village townhouse for $14 million
George Herbert Walker IV, President Bush’s second cousin, paid $13.95 million for a townhouse at 6 East 10th Street in Greenwich Village.
Walker became a partner at Goldman Sachs at age 29. He raised enough money for his famous cousin to earn the rank of a Bush Pioneer.
“I’m very proud of my family, but I don’t talk about them,” he told the Village Voice in 2003. “That’s not something that is going to make our clients money.”
After serving as the head of Goldman’s Hedge Fund Strategies, Walker left in 2006 to become head of Lehman Brothers’ $188 billion Investment Management Division. He currently lives at 45 Greene Street in Soho.
The 7,000-square-foot, seven-bedroom townhouse at 6 East 10th Street has a swimming pool and an elevator. It had previously been divided into separate apartments.
The sellers, Anthony Oldfield and Jennifer Lister Oldfield, bought the century-old building for just $7.5 million two years ago. By Adam Pincus
Shorenstein buys at 15 Central Park West
Sales recorded recently at Robert A.M. Stern’s 15 Central Park West included one for $19.4 million and another that sold for $10.28 million to Shorenstein Properties, one of the country’s oldest owners and operators of office buildings.
Shorenstein, based in San Francisco, bought unit 29A from Stephen and Laurie Vogel. The 3,105-square-foot, three-bedroom, three-and-a half-bath apartment was purchased for corporate use, said company spokesman Andrew Neilly of Gallen, Neilly & Associates.
An entity called Cristina Partners LLC purchased penthouse 41A for $19.4 million, according to city records. Penthouse 41A is a 4,271-square-foot, three-bedroom, four-and-a-half-bath unit with 1,910 square feet of outdoor space. That deal closed June 18.
New San Francisco Investments purchased unit 23C, a two-bedroom, two-and-a half-bath unit for $4.65 million, according to city records. By Lauren Elkies
Extell abandons UWS condo plans
Extell Development has abandoned plans to convert a six-story pre-war building on the Upper West Side to condos and instead has sold the residential building for $44 million, nearly doubling its investment in four years.
Extell sold the 86-unit apartment building at 10 West 65th Street to Touro College, according to city property records. A school spokeswoman said it would be used for rental housing for students attending its Lander College for Women/the Anna Ruth and Mark Hasten School, located at 227 West 60th Street.
Gary Barnett, Extell’s president, said the company had floated two proposals for the building: either upgrading it and keeping it as a rental or converting it to condos. After receiving several offers for the building it decided to sell, he said.
“It was a simple real estate deal,” Barnett said. “You buy something for something and you get a good offer for more and you sell it. It saved us a lot of hard work.”
Extell bought the building, on Central Park and near Lincoln Center, in 2004 for $23 million. Masskey Knakal listed the property for $60 million.
Residents said the proposed condo conversion failed after not enough tenants supported the plan. Barnett, however, said the residents had nothing to do with the sale.
Tenant Fred Beckhardt, who has lived in the building for 50 years, said most tenants were rent-stabilized or rent-controlled, so he did not fear a dramatic rise in rents would come along with the high sales price.
But Beckhardt said Extell had not renewed leases over the past few years, leaving more than a third of the apartments empty.
Barnett said most of the empty apartments had been undergoing substantial renovations.
“The tenants would have gotten a really beautiful building if we had completed our plans, but that is the way it goes,” he said. By Adam Pincus
Amy Sedaris buys Village co-op
Actress and writer Amy Sedaris bought a 900-square-foot Greenwich Village co-op for $1.3 million. The one-bedroom apartment, in a pre-war doorman building at 50 West 9th Street, includes a wood-burning fireplace.
Sedaris, the author of “I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence,” also starred in the Comedy Central program “Strangers with Candy.” She is the sister of humorist David Sedaris.
Her previous apartment was a rental on Christopher Street.
The co-op in the six-story building was listed on Corcoran’s Web site for $1.25 million as recently as February. By Adam Pincus
NYC demolition review gains support in City Council
A preservationist group’s proposal for a 90-day review period for demolitions of historically significant buildings that are more than 50 years old might have a new friend on the City Council.
City Council Member Tony Avella, an outspoken critic of big development who is planning a bid for mayor, said he likes the idea but still needs to review it thoroughly.
“Clearly something needs to be done,” said Avella, a Queens Democrat. “A slight delay before a building is demolished and the investigation of an alternative use can only be in the public interest.”
Meanwhile, the Real Estate Board of New York is on the other side of the debate and is sharply criticizing the idea, which was first reported on Curbed.com.
The proposal was drafted by the 93rd Street Beautification Association, which is behind a drive to extend the Carnegie Hill Historic District and preserve the Marx Brothers’ home at 179 East 93rd Street between Lexington and Third avenues.
Susan Hefti, the group’s co-chair, said the proposal — which would need to be approved by the City Council and signed by the mayor to become law — is modeled on a Boston ordinance that helps preserve historic homes.
“There is nothing radical here. It has been done before,” she said. “I can’t understand why anyone would oppose this.”
Similar legislation has been enacted in Chicago, San Antonio, Boulder, Colo., and a handful of smaller cities, according to the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Michael Slattery, a REBNY senior vice president, said the proposal was blatantly anti-development.
“The [demolition] permits are public information available on the city Web site,” he said, adding that he saw the proposal as “an attempt to stop development.”
Slattery said other attempts over the years to place reviews on demolitions have all failed.
“If the City Council thinks about it carefully, they would see the proposal really doesn’t have merit,” he said.
Under the Beautification Association’s plan, the Landmarks Preservation Commission could declare a property historically significant, which would trigger a 90-day review before a demolition could happen. By Adam Pincus
Knitting Factory building sells
The 27,000-square-foot Tribeca building that has been home to the famed Knitting Factory music venue since 1994 has sold for $12 million to members of the Laboz family.
The building, which also has 18 apartments, was expected to sell for more than $15 million when it went on the market in April 2007.
The Knitting Factory first opened in 1987 at a different location, 48 Houston Street.
Gothamist.com reported in February that the club might be looking at 504-508 East 14th Street as a possible new location.
The New York Sun reported that the club could be moving to Brooklyn, to the former Luna Lounge site on Grand Street in Williamsburg. By Adam Pincus
Alexico buys half of Brack’s UWS condo conversion
Alexico Group, developer of the Laurel on the East Side, has purchased about half of a condo conversion at 230 Riverside Drive on the Upper West Side.
Alexico bought about 123 apartments in the 261-unit building from Brack Capital, paying prices ranging from $137,000 to $555,000 for each home, according to city property records.
The deal, worth a total of $41.14 million, was brokered by Massey Knakal. By James Kelly
Ralph Fiennes buys in Village
Actor Ralph Fiennes paid $2 million for a 1,220-square-foot condo unit in the Gansevoort building in Greenwich Village.
The actor, nominated for an Academy Award for “Schindler’s List” and “The English Patient,” bought unit 6B at 321 West 13th Street from interior designer Joseph Lembo. The loft-style building was constructed about a century ago.
Although Fiennes listed his address in London, he used the Queens-based Ridgewood Savings Bank for his $1.5 million mortgage. By Adam Pincus
The top 10 most commented-on stories from The Real Deal’s daily blog:
1. Swig technically defaulted, but may have broken even on UWS sale
2. Swig sells UWS rental buildings
3. Craigslist rental ‘agency’ charged with fraud
4. Shvo sends interns to the moon
5. Halstead awards top brokers
6. Broker lashes out at blog
7. Banker buys on Upper East Side
8. Bush cousin buys Village townhouse for $14M
9. Real World could be moving
10. Report shows Manhattan rents still rising
Compiled on July 25, 2008. Visit therealdeal.com to post comments on any story.