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You are currently browsing the archives for January, 2010.
Open House Open Thread: The weather’s getting colder, but some…
The weather's getting colder, but some have argued the market's getting hotter. If you're out and about in the New York City real estate market this weekend, let us know what you're seeing out there: crowd sizes, market conditions, great or gruesome finds, and, of course, any television personalities turned firemen. Your thoughts in the comments, if you please.
curbed marketplace: Sunday Open House Roundup
Time for this week's open house roundup from your friends at Curbed Marketplace. More where this came from in our Open House Calendars. And a reminder: sales listings are only $25 this month.
Sunday Sales
- 74 West 68th Street #1D, 1BR, 1BA, 700 sq ft, $559K [74 West 68]
- 200 Chambers Street (above), 2BR, 2.5BA, 1345 sq ft, $2.295M [Stribling]
- 17 Minetta Street, 3BR, 3.5BA, $5.75M [Stribling]
- 365 Bridge St, Studio, 1BA, 1055 sq ft, $560K [Prudential Douglas Elliman]
- 425 Fifth Ave, 2BR, 2BA, 1129 sq ft, $1.65M [Prudential Douglas Elliman]
- 340 East 80th Street, 1BR, 1BA, $510K [Stribling]
- 27 West 72nd Street, 2BR, 2BA, $1.495M [Stribling]
- 357 East 57th Street, 1BR, 1BA, 700 sq ft, $459K [Stribling]
- 251 West 19th Street, Studio, 1653 sq ft, $1.675M [NestSeekers]
- 66 Madison Avenue, 1BR, 1BA, 650 sq ft, $429K [NestSeekers]
- 155 E. 38th St., 1BR, 1BA, 800 sq ft, $625K [Owner]
- 15 Broad Street, Studio, 1BA, 940 sq ft, $895K [NestSeekers]
- 445 East 86th Street, 2BR, 1BA, 880 sq ft, $599K [Stribling]
- 440 East 79th Street, Studio, 1BA, 550 sq ft, $425K [Stribling]
- 1 Central Park West, 3BR, 3.5BA, 2165 sq ft, $7.45M [Prudential Douglas Elliman]
- 243 West 60th St, 2BR, 2BA, 1237 sq ft, $1.495M [Prudential Douglas Elliman]
- 100 Newel Street, 1BR, 1BA, 700 sq ft, $429K [Owner]
- 104 Charlton St, 3BR, 3BA, 3234 sq ft, $3.85M [Prudential Douglas Elliman]
Sunday Rentals
- 108 West 80th St, Studio, 1BA, 550 sq ft, $2195 [Prudential Douglas Elliman]
- 108 West 80th St, 1BR, 1BA, $6000 [Prudential Douglas Elliman]
- 60 East 9th St, 1BR, 1BA, $2500 [Prudential Douglas Elliman]
- 108 West 80th St, 2BR, 2BA, 1500 sq ft, $6000 [Prudential Douglas Elliman]
- 321 East 43rd St, 1BR, 1BA, $2300 [Prudential Douglas Elliman]
- 357 East 57th St, 1BR, 1BA, 720 sq ft, $3000 [Prudential Douglas Elliman]
- 1400 Fifth Ave, 2BR, 2BA, 1100 sq ft, $2400 [Prudential Douglas Elliman]
· Properties for Sale [Curbed Marketplace]
· Properties for Rent [Curbed Marketplace]
· Sales Open House Calendar [Curbed Marketplace]
· Rentals Open House Calendar [Curbed Marketplace]
Week in Review: Stuy Town Owners Surrender Property; Anderson Cooper Snaps Up Greenwich Village Fire Sale; More!
This week's top stories: Stuy Town Owners Raise the White Flag, Surrender Property, Anderson Cooper Snaps Up Greenwich Village Fire Sale, Jay-Z's Old Rental Back on the Market for $38 Million, Alicia Keys Buying Lenny Kravitz's 30 Crosby Albatross, Relive the NYC of 1924 Using Space-Age Machine of the Future!, Frank Gehry's Beekman Tower Hit With Stop Work Order, Could Stuy Town Become Trump Town? Oh God Please Yes., Billy Joel's Ex Wants Double for Perry Street Pool Party, Arbitration Panel Awards Zero Dollars to Silverstein for WTC, Report Claims Manhattan Landlord Testing Rent Increases
The Hunt: Wooed, and Finally Won Over
The seven years that Karen Dahl and Brian Reich spent in Cambridge, Mass., were formative ones, but Ms. Dahl longed for New York.
Living In | Civic Center: The Verdict: Change and Chinese Food
Civic Center has an antique feel, Chinese restaurants and all the post-9/11 security that comes with the federal courts.
Warehouse 11 races against clock
David Maundrell, founder and president of Aptsandlofts.com, and Warehouse 11 at 214 North 11th Street
CurbedWire: Queens Casino Revealed (Maybe!); Saving an East Village Temple
JAMAICA—The three men in a room have finally decided on a development team to turn the forlorn Aqueduct Racetrack into a "racino" with video betting machines and a dash of Vegas glitz and glamour. Will their decision stick this time? According to a press release, Aqueduct Entertainment Group (AEG)—comprised of the Navegante Group and a whole bunch of others—are the winners, but there are conditions. Lots of conditions! Like the group ponying up (heh!) a $300 million upfront licensing fee, instead of the $200 million that already chased Steve Wynn away. AEG's proposal for the multi-phase racino/resort is the one with "seven sections designed to mirror city neighborhoods" like the Lower East Side. The group's website gives a glimpse into their plans, seen in the gallery above. Remember folks, it's just 21 A-train stops from Manhattan! [CurbedWire Inbox]
EAST VILLAGE—The 1910 Congregation Mezritch Synagogue at 415 East 6th Street was on death's door when a developer aimed to replace the building with condos and the Landmarks Preservation Commission decided not to landmark the building. But the plans got shelved, buying the building some time. Now the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation reports that after a bit of lobbying, the "tenement temple" has qualified for the State and National Register of Historic Places. This would not prevent the building's demolition, but it would give the owner tax breaks and other incentives for preserving the structure. For now: L'chaim! [CurbedWire Inbox]
Linkage: Stuy Town Rent Agreement Expiring; Atlantic Yards Seizure Delayed
[Taking the long view of Williamsburg, via Curbed Photo Pool/Several seconds]
· Stuy Town rent agreement expiring, could send everyone back to court [Crain's]
· Atlantic Yards property seizure delayed after hearing [NYT]
·: Upper East Side rent-regulated building joins Stuy Town copycat parade [Crain's]
· Landlord suing over electric bills in rent-stabilized building [Real Deal]
· A look at J.D. Salinger's childhood home in Harlem [Harlem Bespoke]
· Crown Heights brownstone covered in white panels, turned into funeral home [Lost City]
· Still zero progress at Gowanus Whole Foods site ['Stoner]
· Naming rights up for grabs for Cyclones' Keyspan Park [BK Paper]
· How many Finnish films on architecture are there? Three! [AIANY]
· Sloan-Kettering Spends $83.1M on Cabrini buildings [NYO]
· Squatters receive deed to LES pad [NYT]
Another city landlord hit with rent deregulation suit
The latest in a string of tenant-led lawsuits charging landlords with illegal rent-deregulation has hit 444 East 82nd Street. Half of the 415 units in Clermont York Associates' building are market rate, despite the fact that the owners raised rents on those units while receiving tax breaks from the city for renovations, said law firm Himmelstein McConnell Gribben Donoghue & Joseph, which filed the suit today. The suit is among a growing number of battles over rent deregulation that have been sprouting up in the wake of an October ruling handed down to owners of the massive Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village complex by the New York State Court of Appeals. The court's decision said that landlord Tishman Speyer should not have destabilized rents in thousands of apartments while receiving the city's J-51 tax benefits for building upgrades. Tishman Speyer, which has since handed the debt-laden property over to its creditors, was estimated to owe $200 million in back rent to tenants following the case. Last week, tenants at Lenox Terrace in Harlem filed a similar suit against their landlord, who could owe between $400,000 and $6 million, their lawyers said. [Crain's]
Comment of the Day: “Get all trumped up at the…
"Get all trumped up at the new StuyVeTrump & Donald Cooper Village Towers. We'll bring new meaning to the word GLITZ at the worlds first 11,000 unit real estate theme park. Pools in the shape of my head. Putting greens like dollar signs. Bronze, gold, silver, beads, mirrors, sequins, feathers."—anon [Could Stuy Town Become Trump Town? Oh God Please Yes.]
Lawsuits: Low Sales Numbers Lead Harlem Developer to Court Victory
The hopes of boom-price-paying buyers and condo developers both have been hanging on a rarely applied 1968 law, and the early results are in. Things aren't looking good for the buyers. In one of the first decisions to be handed down in New York involving the Interstate Land Disclosure Act (ILSA), Brick Underground reports that a U.S. District Court Judge has rejected two buyers' attempts to get out of their contracts at Harlem's Fifth on the Park. The decision was filed this morning and shot down the efforts of two buyers, one who wanted to cancel a contract on a $999,999 unit and get a $49,999 deposit refunded, and another who wanted to get back a $143,000 deposit and cancel a contract for a $1.4 million unit. On what did the judges' decision hang? The building's lack of sales.
The buyers argued that the developer had not filed the ILSA-required property report before contract signing. But the court found that the developer needed to have sold at least 100 units for the report to be necessary. And only about 90 units at Fifth on the Park have sold. A number of local ILSA cases are still pending -- including a few at Fifth on the Park and at the 505 -- but it looks like down in the dumps developers finally have a reason to smile.
· Breaking news: Ambivalent condo buyers suffer serious legal blow [Brick Underground]
· State o' the Market Report: Will Buyer Backouts Succeed? [Curbed]
· Fifth on the Park coverage [Curbed]
Stuy Town rent agreement set to expire Sunday … and more
1. A “Catcher in the Rye”-themed walking tour, unveiled [NYT]
2. Environmental groups claim Battery Park City doesn’t follow through on its green claims [Downtown Express]
3. Once-troubled Downtown Brooklyn retail nabe sees rebirth [Post]
4. Potential Whole Foods site in Gowanus showing little activity [Brownstoner]
5. Brooklyn Cyclones and KeySpan end naming arrangement [Crain’s]
6. Brand Z For Less discount store shuttering in Sheepshead Bay [Sheepshead Bites]
7. Trial-mod applicants may be required to submit more paperwork under new guidelines proposed [CNNMoney]
8. Stuy Town rent agreement between rent-stabilized tenants and landlords set to expire Sunday [Crain's]
9. Harry Macklowe close to selling Rivertower rental building to Sam Zell [Post]
10. Art show chronicles experience of squatting at East 3rd Street building and a building history [NYT]
Brooklyn Bridge Park Watch: Why hasn’t the completed—or so it…
Why hasn't the completed—or so it looks—Pier 1 section of Brooklyn Bridge Park opened yet? (The opening date was pushed back from the end of last year to January.) The Post's Rich Calder reports that the fight between the city and state over control of the park and Governors Island is causing the delay, and there's no ribbon-cutting date set. "Its bureaucratic BS at its finest," one official said. Hey, Brooklyn Bridge Park has been delayed for years, what's another few decades? [NYP]
Posting: A Nightclub to Call Home
Douglaston Development is marking Ohm, a 288-unit tower at 312 11th Avenue and 30th Street, using the neighborhood’s nightclubs.
Funky Friday Listing: ‘Fully Original Soho Loft’ … on Avenue D
Austin Powers hasn't made a movie in eight years, and that's probably because he's enjoying living in this shagadelic Alphabet City one-bedroom condo too much. The listing brokerbabble, which we advise you to pop a couple of Tylenols before reading, calls this 975-square-foot third-floor apartment at 754 East 6th Street an "original Soho loft" that's been "white washed for a tasteful but artful look." The asking price is $699,000 and there's an open house on Sunday. "In keeping with the space theme," EV Grieve remarks, "Tang and freeze-dried premium ice creams will be served to visitors."
· Listing: 754 East 6th Street [Elliman]
· Space-age love pad on the block...a "fully original Soho loft" on Avenue D [EV Grieve]
In the Region | Long Island: Warming Up to Modern
On an Island awash with traditional colonials and Capes, Thomas Mojo and Mark Stumer, partners in a design firm, build architecturally unusual contemporary homes
Mortgages: F.H.A. Lending Standards Tightened
With F.H.A. mortgage defaults increasing, the government has tightened lending standards for those with the worst credit and increased fees across the board.
Toren approved for FHA financing
The Toren condominium and a rendering of its just-completed pool
UWS Market Vital Stats Look Good: Following up on chatter that the…
Following up on chatter that the market's unexpectedly heating up, broker-blogger Malcolm Carter dug into the broker database for some Upper West Side stats. And what did he find? An apparent surge in contract signings and transactions: "The biggest rise in closed sales during the last year was 625 between six and four months ago. But that number grew by 242 in just the last seven days." Theories include the bonus bounce or just general pent-up demand. [malcolmcarter.wordpress.com]
Square Feet | The 30-Minute Interview: Daniel R. Tishman
Mr. Tishman is the chairman and chief executive of the Tishman Construction Corporation and vice chairman of Tishman Hotel & Realty.
Habitats | St. Nicholas Avenue: Tea and Uncertainty for a Busy Family
Paul Kogan and his wife, Deborah Copaken Kogan, and their family ended up in Sugar Hill after a few wrongheaded real estate decisions.
Goldman offering mortgages as perks to bonus-less bankers
With cash bonuses still in -- relatively -- short supply in the aftermath of the recession, Goldman Sachs seems to be doing its part to limit the cutbacks' impact on luxury real estate. Gawker took a look at New York City property records this week and found that Goldman started lending to individual residential property owners in mid-2008, just as the financial system was beginning to collapse. There were 17 instances in total where Goldman is listed as the secured party on residential property transactions in the city; half of those involved employees of the firm. In late October 2008, managing director Oliver Frankel took out one such "hassle-free" mortgage from his employer for a co-op in Tribeca's 34 Leonard Street, where units were selling between $2 million and $8 million earlier that year. Goldman has also granted loans to managing director T. Clark Munnell for his $6.6 million Park Avenue apartment, to banking technology manager Lancelot Braunstein, who bought a $2.1 million co-op in September, and to vice president Justin Lee for his $1.9 million Chelsea apartment, among others. Terms of the mortgages are not public, but the company recently told the Wall Street Journal that it has allowed "a small number of employees" to take out mortgages, that they carry normal interest rates and that they must be paid back. Gawker did uncover the terms of one particularly high-profile mortgage, though. Rodney Martin, the chief operating office of AIG's life insurance unit was lent $4 million in April 2008 for a $4 million apartment at 15 Central Park West, courtesy of new neighbor and Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein's company. The 30-year mortgage had a 4.8 percent interest rate and was interest-only for the first 10 years. [Gawker]
In the Region | New Jersey: Builders Reassess the Market
Despite the recession, several builders of multifamily projects have forged ahead — some actually building, others planning on it as soon as weather permits.