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Jan 07, 2009 07:30 AM

Metro Theater to become Urban Outfitters
Jan 06, 2009 05:25 PM
Metro_theater_frontbox Metro Theater Philadelphia-based apparel store Urban Outfitters has signed a 20-year lease for a 15,000-square-foot space in the Metro movie theater building at 2626 Broadway and West 99th Street. The Post first reported the deal this morning. Urban Outfitters is paying $1 million in rent per year to start, with a 12 percent rent increase every five years. The building, erected in 1932, will be renovated before Urban Outfitters occupies the space, which the company expects to do within a year. Construction will include infrastructure work like plumbing and electricity, Winick said. The interior had previously been gutted. Winick Realty Group represented the landlord, and Robert K. Futterman & Associates represented Urban Outfitters. Urban Outfitter's Web site shows the retailer has six stores in Manhattan and one in Brooklyn. TRD

Bellmarc sheds corporate HQ
Jan 06, 2009 05:00 PM
Bellmarc_hq_frontbox 352 Park Avenue South Hoping to cut costs in the recession, Bellmarc Realty has closed its corporate headquarters at 352 Park Avenue South, between 25th and 26th streets, according to Neil Binder, the company's co-founder. Binder and other corporate personnel have moved from the Park Avenue South office into a branch office at 936 Broadway at 22nd Street, Binder said. The lease on the Park Avenue South space was up, he said, and the company decided to give it up in order to save money on overhead costs. There was extra space at the company's Broadway office, he said. In the current climate, "it's prudent to think about what you can do to preserve your financial integrity," Binder said. more
By Candace Taylor

Work resumes at Finger building, city to lease pier to beer distributor ... and more
Jan 06, 2009 04:30 PM
  • 1. Work set to resume at the Finger building [Curbed]
  • 2. MTA plans for $150 million renovation of 370 Jay Street building [Brownstoner]
  • 3. Pending home sales nationwide fall in November [AP via Sun-Sentinel]
  • 4. Real estate market takes hits in the new year [NY1]
  • 5. Commercial real estate faces trouble in 2009 [Washington Post]
  • 6. Fed records indicate recession worries [WSJ]
  • 7. Tax cuts likely to help homebuilders [WSJ]
  • 8. Retailers in trouble in 2009 [The Street]
  • 9. Miller Samuel's Jonathan Miller discusses Elliman report [CNBC]
  • 10. Two Apthorp owners in arbitration, one could throw project into default if dispute isn't resolved by Friday [Crain's]
  • 11. Toll Brothers and Hovnanian Enterprises face city's real estate market slump [Seeking Alpha]
  • 12. Nationwide, foreclosure sales tripled during the first 10 months of 2008 [Bloomberg]
  • 13. Office rents fall with decline in demand [WSJ]
  • 14. Construction at Metropolitan Cinema and Condos on schedule [GL]
  • 15. High population increase expected because of large construction projects [Metro]
  • 16. City's Economic Development Corp. plans to lease Pier 11 to beer distribution trucking facility [Brooklyn Paper]
  • 17. In letter, Deb Howard of Pratt Area Community Council said predatory equity will be next mortgage crisis [Brooklyn Eagle]
  • 18. Shared office space coming to President Street [Brownstoner]

Co-op seller keeps dead buyer's down payment
Jan 06, 2009 04:15 PM
1150_park_ave_frontbox 1150 Park Avenue In a recently settled lawsuit, the seller of an Upper East Side cooperative unit got to keep a down payment from a buyer who died before the closing. Glen Altman was in contract to buy a co-op for $2.3 million at 1150 Park Avenue, between 91st and 92nd streets, and paid a $230,000 down payment. She was approved by the board, but before closing on the unit, she passed away. Altman's estate wanted the down payment to be returned, but the Manhattan Supreme Court ruled that the seller could keep the money. Ira Matetsky, an attorney at the law firm Gafner & Shore, who was not involved with the lawsuit but wrote about it in his firm's newsletter, said the seller won the suit because there was no provision in the contract stating that if the buyer died, the contract could be broken. more
By Jovana Rizzo

Cushman & Wakefield signs first real estate environmental agreement
Jan 06, 2009 03:30 PM
Cushman & Wakefield today announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding regarding environmental commitments with the federal Environmental Protection Agency, becoming the first real estate services firm in the U.S. to do so. The memorandum sets out practices designed to improve energy efficiency and water conservation and to minimize waste and carbon footprint in Cushman & Wakefield offices and managed properties. TRD

Mortgage rates keep dropping
Jan 06, 2009 03:00 PM
The national average for 30-year mortgages fell to a record low for the third straight week. Homeowners and buyers sent mortgage application numbers soaring. Freddie Mac reported last week that average rates on 30-year fixed mortgages dropped to 5.1 percent, down from the record of 5.14 percent set the previous week. It was the ninth straight weekly drop.

Blake Avenue residents say landlord's repairs are shoddy
Jan 06, 2009 02:28 PM
Blake_ave_frontbox Blake Avenue Homes Residents of the East New York affordable housing project Blake Avenue Homes say their landlord's repairs are shoddy, and they are still stuck with leaky roofs, failing boilers and no insulation. In 2005, the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development ordered developer Alex Arker to make drastically needed repairs to the project, which consists of 36 two-family homes. The city said that it inspected the homes after the repairs were made in 2005 and didn't find "particularly shoddy workmanship or substandard materials," adding that the agency has not received complaints from residents in Arker's other developments. The residents say nothing has changed in the building, and some have put their own money into repairing their homes.

Good Manhattan rental deals to be had
Jan 06, 2009 02:00 PM
Stoler_picture_for_column_frontbox Amid a weakening New York City real estate market, Manhattan renters are gaining the upper hand as market-rate rents drop and the vacancy rate rises. For the first time in recent history, landlords are no longer in denial about current conditions, and are trying to entice renters by reducing asking rents from record highs, as well as providing incentives. Deals for market-rate apartments are available from the brokerage community and individual owners, and others can be found by visiting the Web sites of landlords and managers of residential buildings. more
By Michael Stoler

John Galt Corp. purchasing agent indicted
Jan 06, 2009 01:20 PM
Deutsche_bank_building_frontbox Deutsche Bank building The Manhattan District Attorney's office has indicted Robert Chiarappa, a former purchasing agent for John Galt Corp., for allegedly stealing $1.2 million from the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. and Arch Insurance Group during the deconstruction of the Deutsche Bank building. As the purchasing agent, Chiarappa was responsible for ordering and approving payment for all abatement supplies and materials delivered to the Deutsche Bank building. Between September 2006 and October 2007, Chiarappa allegedly instructed vendors to submit false invoices for goods that were never delivered to the project, and Chiarappa approved the invoices in exchange for money, jewelry, trips, cars and construction materials. TRD more

REBNY residential brokerage division announces election winners
Jan 06, 2009 01:00 PM
Reba_miller_frontbox Reba Miller of RP Miller and Associates The Real Estate Board of New York today announced the winners of its residential brokerage division election. Shaun Osher, CEO and founder of Core Group Marketing, and Reba Miller, president of RP Miller and Associates, were elected to the division's board of directors for the first time. Frederick Peters, president of Warburg Realty Partnership, and Michele Kleier, president and chairman of Gumley Haft Kleier, were re-elected. Elaine Dean, senior managing director at the Corcoran Group, and Peter Marra, executive vice president of Brown Harris Stevens, were elected to the ethics committee. TRD

Current Issue
Cover

From The January Issue

A year to forget

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Most regard 2008's records, which The Real Deal details as part of a series, as footnotes, rather than the main stories of the year. That's because, as our year in review recounts, after Wall Street collapsed in September, the key question became: how low will the city's commercial and housing markets go? In our Q & A, residential and commercial players say they are bracing for a brutal year. On the commercial side, the consensus is the already elevated vacancy rate will increase further as the financial industry suffers and office space is dumped. More

Buyers getting bolder

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One of the most profound impacts of the Wall Street crisis on New York's real estate market is the sudden emergence of the new buyer's market, a shift in the balance of power between buyers and sellers we explore in a package of stories this month. More

What's a developer to do?

This month, The Real Deal goes behind the scenes at Downtown Brooklyn's BellTel Lofts, the Dover condominium in West Harlem and Tempo in Gramercy, to find out how developers who started their buildings in the pre-crash financial markets are tackling the downturn.
More

Extell plows ahead

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While the credit crisis halted the $6 billion Atlantic Yards project rival Forest City Ratner snatched from it three years ago, Extell Development Company has emerged as the most active developer in the rehab of Manhattan's West Side. If Extell's head Gary Barnett has made the right bet on the area, he may emerge as one of the last men standing in New York City real estate. More

Toning down luxe pitches

After a year of tumultuous financial events, buyers have gone from "more is more" to being wary of ostentation. More

Not too proud for rentals

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With residential sales slowing, more brokers who once worked exclusively in sales are now taking deals that they never would have touched in the past: rentals. Daniel Baum, COO of the Real Estate Group New York, said brokers who once looked down on the rental side are changing gears.
More

Prices plummet dramatically

December brought proof that real estate prices are plummeting dramatically as New York City anticipates months of recession and job losses ahead. More

Lowballing turns predatory

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Potential buyers are now putting very low offers -- often 20 to 40 percent less than the asking price -- on multiple properties at the same time, a strategy that was virtually unheard of only a few months ago. Sellers, increasingly desperate to unload their property, are countering offers they once would have considered insulting. More

More developers joining forces for mortgages

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Developers are increasingly relying on their preferred lenders and mortgage brokers to help their buyers navigate the complex world of mortgages and increase their chances of closing deals. More

More quick eats, less upscale fare

As 2009 starts, restaurant industry brokers expect inexpensive eateries to continue adding locations to capitalize on demand for lower-priced fare in the economic crisis. Any restaurant company looking for space will have many choices and greater negotiating power, after a wave of closures last year that is only expected to intensify in 2009. More

Manhattan office market: Thankful holidays are over

Commercial leasing activity was thin in the typically slow month of December, as landlords held off listings until the New Year and potential renters waited for better deals. The industry was further spooked last month by the alleged $50 billion fraud by fund manager Bernard Madoff and the arrest of Marc Dreier, law firm Dreier's founding partner, who was accused of swindling investors out of $380 million or more. More


Special Reports

Who got crunched -- and who didn't
A look at where players landed one year after the credit market debacle
Hailing other holiday spots
While Hamptons hurting, other locales draw interest
The biggest problems in New York City real estate
Experts weigh in on how to fix industry crises
Developers falling into a Catch-22
Residential developers in bind with slow sales
In Hamptons, it's no vacation
Building permits drop, spec homes sit and restaurateurs grow wary amid slowdown
Condos on the chopping block
Prices come down to help move new projects
Adding it all up
A tally of numbers that matter: construction costs, the high-end market, and foreign buyer migration
Manhattan's biggest firms
Our annual survey of the top Manhattan firms



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