The men are keeping busy on this week’s episode of “Million Dollar Listing New York,” as Ryan deals with the effects of a controversial marketing campaign and makes an unexpected trip to the West Coast. Luis tries to flip the script on an in-contract unit at 1045 Park Avenue, and Fredrik quickly learns that mixing business and friendship could leave him without one or the other — or possibly both.
Luis
Luis — or should we say “fedora boy” — gets a blast from the past when he receives a call from Natasha, whom he did his first deal with when he was just a rental broker. Natasha is not into the nostalgia, unless it’s to poke fun at the awful hat/hair combo Luis used to don. Her client is looking to sell his penthouse at 1045 Park Avenue, which is asking $10 million. Somehow he manages to convince her that his social media presence, which consists of more than “a million people all over the world,” is enough to sell the 4,000-square-foot spread. While we’re not convinced people buying in that price range seek out their next multimillion-dollar apartment on Instagram, Natasha digs his “wider lens” and the fact that he’s “well connected.”
But Luis soon discovers that he doesn’t have to look that far to find someone who may be interested in the pad. Another apartment a few floors down just entered contract, and he wants to lure the buyer to his unit. Despite needing an upgrade, the apartment is slightly less expensive and has better views of Park Avenue. This is all very … questionable, considering it’s close to a done deal. When Luis meets with the buyer’s representative, Joe, he learns his plan is in jeopardy.
Not only is the seller on the co-op board, which may blackball the move, but also the buyers have put down a $1 million deposit on the apartment — and it’s non-refundable. Contrary to popular belief, rich people have boundaries with their money, and the buyers don’t want to stray from their original plans. This puts Luis in a big, big pickle. To show how hard he was “pushing” to get the apartment sold, he told Natasha about his big idea — who then blabbed to her buyers, who happened to get verrrry excited about it. Maybe one of his followers will save the day?
Fredrik
Fredrik’s time of reckoning has come at 11 North Moore, an Adjmi & Andreoli-designed condominium building in Tribeca. Despite selling 18 of the building’s 19 apartments at “record-breaking” prices, he’s having trouble moving the $30 million penthouse. Initially listed at $40 million, the 7,000-square-foot unit has lingered on the market for two years. Steve, one of the building’s investors, isn’t having it anymore.
“We want it sold. We want it sold tomorrow,” Steve says.
After ambushing Fredrik at the penthouse, Steve agrees to at least clean up and furnish the apartment in order to get it sold.
The encounter with Steve leaves him with a funny feeling, so Fredrik confronts Zach Vella, his BFF who happens to be developing the project. In a show of tough love, Zach decided not to join Steve on the ambush. He didn’t want to serve as a buffer to Fredrik, so he can finally feel a bit of the pressure.
“I need to keep business separate from friendship,” Zach says. “That apartment needs to get sold. People don’t care about our friendship.”
Following this little pep talk, Fredrik hosts a broker’s open house so he can finally show off his Calvin Klein-furnished penthouse. It’s apparent, however, that some brokers aren’t there to simply see the apartment. Blood is in the water, and the sharks are out for this penthouse. One broker in particular, Nick, thinks it’s time to “pass the torch a little bit,” because of how long the apartment has sat on the market.
“Yeah, but it doesn’t matter because that’s the past and I love the future, and in the future it’s already sold,” Fredrik says. This oddly poetic delivery doesn’t deter Nick, who marches right up to Zach upon the developer’s entry, and sends Steve a “very compelling sales pitch” via text after the open house. All’s fair in love, war and real estate?
Ryan
After a steady stream of social media shame (see: last week’s episode) and some lip service from the developer Josh, Ryan attempts to hide in his glass box of an office, to no avail. His assistant Jordan alerts Ryan that he has indeed broke the Internet — but not in a bad way. Interest for 100 Avenue A is off the charts, which makes the developer perk up a bit.
“I knew I hired you for a reason,” Josh says. Hindsight really is 20/20!
Ryan doesn’t have much time to celebrate, however. Because of the interest 100 Avenue A received from the West Coast, he heads to Los Angeles so he can be “face to face” with as many buyers as possible. His team is also launching sales at the 201 Ocean Towers condo complex in Santa Monica, the biggest project he’s ever marketed in the city. It seems like perfect timing, but Ryan forgets that he’s promised Emilia they’d select a wedding venue. Instead of staying home, he brings her to L.A. so he can pretend they’re actually going to talk about the wedding.
Despite the “sun, ocean, driving in a convertible” and all the other nice things Ryan hates, he strikes gold during his brief trip to the West Coast. Not only does he nab the highest price per square foot ever recorded in Santa Monica, but he’s sold 14 out of the 32 units at 100 Avenue A — meaning he’s nearly at the 50 percent sold mark — before the building officially launches. Omar, the developer of the towers, wants a unit in the building so he can start to diversify his portfolio in New York. None of the units are big enough, however, so two will have to do! The three-bedroom combination unit puts Ryan right at 16 units.
“I’m awesome, and I’m okay with admitting that.” We know that’s for sure, Ryan.