Halstead joins firms on Atlantic Avenue
Halstead Property is opening its third office in Brooklyn, on Atlantic Avenue’s “Antique Row” in Boerum Hill. The firm’s new storefront space will be at 495 Atlantic Avenue, down the block from real estate brokerages Fillmore Real Estate, Nancy McKiernan Realty and Boerum Hill Realty. Nancy McKiernan said she sold the building to Halstead. The building sold in July for $1.6 million, public records show. Halstead will be moving 25 agents and staff into the 1,300-square-foot space, after renovations are completed by the end of the year.
GFI gets into retail game
As commercial real estate company GFI Capital Resources Group celebrates its 25th anniversary, the firm is diversifying with a new retail group. GFI brought on Lon Rubackin, a former senior vice president at Forest City Ratner, to run the division, called GFI Retail Group, out of the company’s Manhattan office at 50 Broadway. Rubackin said his group, which only consists of him right now, will acquire properties for GFI’s portfolio, lease the company’s space, and represent tenants and landlords in retail deals. Also part of the GFI Capital Resources Group is GFI Mortgage Bankers, GFI Property Management, GFI Insurance Services, GFI Development and GFI Hotels.
Rose bids Bellmarc goodbye
Rose Associates has dissolved its longstanding relationship with Bellmarc Realty, which has handled apartment sales for the family-run company for nearly two decades. Bob Scaglion, managing director of residential marketing at Rose, said the company is now beefing up its own sales division and handling its transactions in-house. Scaglion said the companies had been working together for 16 years. He said the two companies had a good relationship, but that Rose now has sales expertise internally and doesn’t need to farm out the services.
Shaq partnership to develop $90 million condo project in Newark
A partnership backed by basketball superstar Shaquille O’Neal will develop a proposed $90 million luxury condominium in downtown Newark, following the city council’s approval of the deal last month. Boraie O’Neal Urban Development agreed to pay the city $2.7 million to acquire a half-acre site that previously housed Newark’s Science High School at 36-54 Rector Place. It plans to convert the property into a 25-story residential tower. The project would be the first of several urban projects planned by the partnership, which includes the Miami-based O’Neal Group and New Brunswick-based Boraie Development.
Jersey brokerage aims for Brooklyn buyers
A leading New Jersey brokerage has teamed up with Fillmore Real Estate, the largest independent brokerage in Brooklyn, to attract buyers across the river to new single- and two-family homes in Newark’s South Ward. West Orange, N.J.-based Jordan Baris, under a co-brokerage deal with Fillmore, is offering single-family homes starting at $239,000, which it says are 20 percent below normal prices in the area and well below Brooklyn’s high prices. “You’re getting the buyer who either can’t afford to buy in Brooklyn or can afford to buy, but decided that the space they would get is too small for the price,” said John Reinhardt, president and CEO of Fillmore.
Arby’s plans 41 locations in metro New York
Fast-food chain Arby’s has signed an agreement with a local developer to launch 41 new restaurants throughout the New York City area over the next decade. The expansion will be handled by the newly formed RCNY Restaurants venture, led by Charles Chera of RC Chera Realty Group. His sons Raymond and Ralph will serve as president and vice president, respectively. Freestanding locations with drive-thrus will average about 3,000 square feet, in-line locations will be around 2,500 square feet and food court branches will average 800 square feet. The Atlanta-based Arby’s Restaurant Group has about 3,700 locations worldwide but currently does not have any restaurants in Manhattan.
Gosling, Dunst to star in Durst movie
Ryan Gosling will reportedly star as Robert Durst, the older brother of developer Douglas Durst, in a movie called “All Good Things” that will hit theaters next year. Kirsten Dunst will play Kathleen Durst, Robert Durst’s first wife, a 29-year-old medical student who disappeared in 1982, according to published reports. Her disappearance was never solved. Robert Durst’s cross-dressing exploits thrilled New York City throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Durst was acquitted of murdering his neighbor who was found dismembered in Galveston, Texas.
Compiled by Linden Lim