last updated Yesterday at 06:18PM
Property record scammer sentenced
Nov 19, 2008 06:18 PM
The Russian leader of an identity theft ring that used home equity loan accounts and online property records to steal or attempt to steal $12.22 million from wealthy victims was sentenced today, according to the office of Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau. Igor Klopov, 25, used his Internet savvy and a Forbes 400 list to target rich Americans, by finding data on their properties, mortgages and lines of credit, the prosecutor's office said. He conned some victims out of $1.5 million, and attempted to con the others out of $10.7 million. more
By Adam Pincus

German lender takes 7 World Trade Center space HSBC abandoned
Nov 19, 2008 05:32 PM
7_wtc_frontbox 7 World Trade Center Less than two months after HSBC backed out of a massive lease agreement at 7 World Trade Center, Silverstein Properties has reached a tentative agreement on a new lease with German lender WestLB, sources familiar with the discussions said. WestLB, a leading financial institution, has agreed to relocate to the Lower Manhattan building with a 129,000-square-foot lease on the 50th to 52nd floors. Asking rents at the 1.7 million-square-foot tower range from $75 to $85 a square foot for the top two floors. more
By David Jones

East Harlem's first affordable LEED building breaks ground
Nov 19, 2008 05:20 PM
Leed_frontbox Tapestry rendering Jonathan Rose Companies broke ground yesterday on the first affordable housing and mixed-income apartment building in East Harlem developed to environmentally friendly LEED Silver standards. The 12-story, 185-unit rental building is called Tapestry, and will rise at 124th Street and Second Avenue. The development will also have ground-floor retail space.

Investor buys Gravesend mixed-use building
Nov 19, 2008 04:40 PM
Massey Knakal Realty Services sold a mixed-use building at 478 Kings Highway in the Gravesend neighborhood of Brooklyn to an investor for $1.3 million. Above three retail spaces on the ground level, the two-story building has one three-bedroom apartment. The property contains about 3,400 square feet, with an additional 2,450 square feet of air rights, and the property's zoning also allows for commercial development.

Fifth Avenue is pricey for retailers, Barbara Corcoran buys in Brooklyn ... and more
Nov 19, 2008 04:30 PM
  • 1. Fifth Avenue is one of the priciest streets for retailers worldwide [NYO]
  • 2. Barbara Corcoran buys multifamily brownstones in Brooklyn [Brownstoner]
  • 3. New source of geothermal heating found [NYT]
  • 4. New home construction plunged in October [MSNBC]
  • 5. Public hearing for Toll Brothers' Gowanus Canal project tonight [GL]
  • 6. Dow Jones falls below 8,000 for the first time since 2003 [ABC News]
  • 7. A look at the Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital, soon to become a hotel [NY Mag via Curbed]
  • 8. To solve the housing crisis, reward the prudent [Seeking Alpha]
  • 9. Hotel trades council becomes political [NYO]

New board game teaches real estate skills
Nov 19, 2008 04:00 PM
Mogul_small_frontbox New Mogul game Joel Harden developed Mogul: the Game of Real Estate Acquisition, Finance, & Management, to help one of his children understand his job as a real estate developer. The Philadelphia developer hopes the $199.99 board game -- which just hit the market -- will teach financial confidence, making real life financial transactions easier. As in Monopoly, one Mogul player acts as a banker, and each player starts with cash. Players move along an intricate board by rolling dice, which leads them through "operations," such as collecting rent," "events," such as going to a casino, and "life choices," such as buying a house or getting married. Cards require players to pay money for things like pet surgery or having children. The player with the highest total net worth -- each player receives a financial worksheet to fill out, and players have bills and credit ratings -- wins the game. TRD

Elliman cancels annual holiday bash
Nov 19, 2008 03:10 PM
Dottie_herman_frontbox Dottie Herman The party's over at residential giant Prudential Douglas Elliman. The company has canceled its annual holiday soiree. Instead, the firm will donate funds to a charity while individual offices will still hold parties, said company President and CEO Dottie Herman. Elliman joins the city's two top commercial brokerages, CB Richard Ellis and Cushman & Wakefield, in pulling the plug on company-wide seasonal events. "This is the first time in the 23 years I've worked for the company that there hasn't been a holiday party," said Helene Luchnick, who helms Elliman's downtown office. more
By Marc Ferris

Rezoning proposed for Windsor Terrace
Nov 19, 2008 02:03 PM
Windsor_terrace_frontbox Windsor Terrace The City Planning Commission has begun the public review process for rezoning five blocks in Brooklyn's Windsor Terrace neighborhood, to prevent development of high-rise buildings in the area. The rezoning would also add a commercial overlay to a portion of Caton Avenue. Community Board 7 is holding a public hearing on the rezoning December 10.

Nine people arrested for mortgage scam
Nov 19, 2008 01:25 PM
Nine people, including a Brooklyn court official, were indicted yesterday in a $1.4 million mortgage fraud scheme. The con artists allegedly used fake identification to buy and sell two Queens properties and one Brooklyn property, and take out mortgages on the homes, authorities said. The victims, whose identities were stolen, are now facing foreclosure and are fighting off banks over the mortgages taken out in their names.

Justin Timberlake buys in Tribeca
Nov 19, 2008 12:40 PM
Justin_timberlake_frontbox Justin Timberlake Actor and musician Justin Timberlake has closed on a three-bedroom condo unit at the condo conversion Pearline Soap Factory in Tribeca, at 414 Washington Street, between Laight and Vestry streets. The unit's original asking price was $5.25 million, but Timberlake paid $4.689 million for it, according to property records. The 3,000-square-foot loft has a 52-foot-long living room and 14 floor-to-ceiling windows, according to Prudential Douglas Elliman, who had the listing.

Current Issue
Cover

From The November Issue

The downward plunge

Cover_art_magbox
This month, in a series of stories, The Real Deal examines the next chapter in New York City real estate. Wall Street's wild volatility last month froze the city's residential market. Brokers said the economic seesawing is paralyzing buyers and sellers. Mortgage lenders have also clamped down further on buyers, though more buyers are heading to all-cash deals. Many are wondering: Could the dark days of the late 1980s and early 1990s return? More

Ominous signs for new condos

Ominous-signs-from-new-cond_magbox
Despite buyers' desire to purchase, banks are increasingly unwilling to write mortgages for some new buildings, especially those that have sold only a small percentage of their units. More

High-end U.S. markets show cracks in the foundation

Highend_us_magbox
This month, The Real Deal looks at the nation's most exclusive zip codes to see how high-end markets besides Manhattan are faring. While these areas are more insulated than their less affluent counterparts, many markets are beginning to see big cracks in their foundations with prices and sales volume declining. More

Will Tishman Speyer buckle?

Tishman_magbox
Few companies have looked down from as lofty a perch as Tishman Speyer, the venerable blue-chip firm that holds stakes in several New York landmarks such as Rockefeller Center and the Chrysler Building. Tishman expanded its empire even wider during the boom, but now it appears that even this company is paying a price for success. More

Fourth Avenue on slippery Slope

Fourth_ave_magbox
Park Slope's Fourth Avenue has been billed as the next frontier of gentrification in Brooklyn. However, because of the credit crunch, a number of buildings that were initially planned as condos will now come to market as rentals. The frenzied pace of construction of new projects should also slow. More

Holding up funds for construction

Holding_up_funds_for_construction_magbox
A growing number of developers with projects under way in Manhattan are being confronted by lenders who are either unwilling or unable to continue funding. The Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, which was filed in mid-September, has -- not surprisingly -- put several construction projects in the city on hold. But other lenders are also putting pressure on developers to provide more equity in projects as a way to improve the financial profile of their struggling banks, real estate attorneys said. More

Residential market halts in its tracks

Residential_market_magbox
Wall Street's recent wild volatility has caused the New York City real estate market to freeze in its tracks, with sales volume screeching to a halt and deals falling apart as potential buyers have watched their net worth evaporate. More

Chelsea Enclave makes a deal with soul

Chelsea_envlave_magbox
The Chelsea Enclave, a luxury apartment building under construction on the edge of property owned by the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church in West Chelsea negotiated long and hard to make sure the new construction on their land would be something it could live with. More

City coffers shrink as deals slow

The slump in commercial building sales is threatening to take a sizable bite out of New York City tax revenues this year, which could force Mayor Michael Bloomberg to make even more drastic choices than he already has to keep the city budget balanced. More

Crisis may spawn building sales rise

Real estate analysts believe developer Harry Macklowe won't be the last to lose a Manhattan trophy tower purchased in the heady days of 2006 and 2007. More

Brokers advise tenants to sit tight as rents drop

Lease valuations were unpredictable and deals were few last month while brokers cautioned tenants to hold off on signing any unnecessary rental contracts as prices continued to drop, real estate experts said.
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



A d v e r t i s e m e n t s