In a late September planning conference at N.Y.U., Vishaan Chakrabarti strode into the college's Kimmell Center a healthy hour after the event began.Taking his place onstage, the former city planning official and development executive began to speak about his favorite project: the redevelopment of Pennsylvania Station-in the planning stages... READ MORE»
In a late September planning conference at N.Y.U., Vishaan Chakrabarti strode into the college's Kimmell Center a healthy hour after the event began. Taking his place onstage, the former city planning official and development executive began to speak about his favorite project: the redevelopment of Pennsylvania Station-in the planning stages for nearly two decades-an effort he led for developers Related Companies and Vornado Realty... READ MORE»
Earlier this year, the investor Christopher H. Browne put his 515 Park Avenue duplex on the market for $32.5 million, even though the place was basically a one-bedroom apartment. There was a guest room, to be fair, but it was smaller than the master suite’s walk-in closet. The duplex was taken off the market in September, leaving a gaping hole in New York’s inventory of wildly expensive one-bedrooms. The house-hunter who wanted to spend an... READ MORE»
The 104-year-old, 36-foot-wide, 17-bathroom, 15-bedroom, 11-fireplace mansion at 18 East 68th Street was the most expensive house in New York when it was listed last year for $64 million. Even when that tag came down in January to $54 million, the price was still higher than any Manhattan mansion had ever sold... READ MORE»
It was Oct. 13, and inside the wood-paneled lobby of the Newport Office Center, which rises like a glass punctuation mark from the Jersey City shore of the Hudson River, Governor Jon Corzine was gleefully announcing a huge score in the Garden State's long-simmering battle with Manhattan for office tenants. The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation had signed a long-term lease to relocate 1,600 of its employees from 55 Water Street in Lower Manhattan to... READ MORE»
The city's Landmarks Preservation Commission backed off its effort to landmark a B.F. Goodrich Company building on West 57th Street, a rare retreat by the commission and one that follows aggressive pushback from development giant Extell, which plans a mixed-use skyscraper on the property. The LPC on Tuesday voted 6-3 to remove the building, 225 West 57th Street, from consideration as a landmark, just four months after the same board voted to consider... READ MORE»
Crown Acquisitions chairman Stanley Chera, owner of 15 million square feet of real estate, may have recently added a few of New York's most valuable retail properties to his portfolio: three exclusive Fifth Avenue storefronts occupied by Bottega Veneta, Pucci and De Beers. But that hasn't stopped him from accusing his onetime business associates of a Machiavellian "civil conspiracy" to cut him out of the group that was initially vying for ownership of the... READ MORE»
By | November 10, 2009 | 10:45 am
You're Invited! Please join us for the New York Observer's Observer Living: Top Deals in NYC and Beyond, powered by... READ MORE»
A software development company is in contract to buy two commercial condominiums in a Time Equities building, and it’s able to do so thanks largely to a bit of lexicographical acrobatics buried deep within the 2009 stimulus plan.In short, the verb “to manufacture” no longer means what you think it does, at least within the context of the “Nimble: Small Issuance Bond Program,” and that, oddly enough, has bearing on the commercial condominium market... READ MORE»
By Emily Geminder | November 10, 2009 | 7:49 am
The Brooklyn Bridge really is for sale—or, at least, its renovation was recently up for bid. Named by Popular Mechanics as one of the country’s top 10 pieces of infrastructure in need of serious repair, the historic suspension bridge flunked the federal rating system’s test for structural efficiency. Last year, the city decided a makeover was long overdue. In addition to a reinforced structure, the new and improved bridge will sport wider lanes and... READ MORE»
By Jotham Sederstrom | November 9, 2009 | 5:58 pm
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Scotiabank may trace its origins to Halifax—a city synonymous with harbors and boundless horizons—and it may have chosen One Liberty Plaza, on the Hudson River, as its longtime New York home, but that doesn’t mean the bank is water-bound. The Canadian institution has hired CB Richard Ellis broker Bruce Surry to find new offices of about 120,000 square feet, according to industry... READ MORE»
By Jotham Sederstrom | November 9, 2009 | 2:49 pm
The Commercial Observer: How did Grubb & Ellis brace for the recession when it first came on the... READ MORE»
Extell Development's skyscraper planned for 57th Street and Broadway will face a big test Tuesday, as the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission is set to decide the fate of two connected buildings built by the B.F. Goodrich Company in 1909. Just what that fate will be is unclear to many involved, a rare twist with a commission where decisions almost always seem... READ MORE»
The Stuy Town mortgage has been transferred to a special servicer, according to the rating agency Fitch (by way of Eliot Brown) this morning. A special servicer appears to be the first step in the sprawling complex's inevitable... READ MORE»
SoHo Properties has invested in Chelsea. Sharif El-Gamal, chairman and CEO of the real estate investment group, has dropped $45.7 million on the property at 31 West 27th Street, which PropertyShark describes as a 12-story, 108,594-square-foot office building. "We just bought it for the income," Mr. El-Gamal told The Observer. "It's got great long-term leases, and the financing was really attractive. We have five years at a very attractive interest rate, and it's probably the best B... READ MORE»
The main $3 billion mortgage for Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village has been transferred to a "special servicer," according to the rating agency Fitch, a significant step taken when loans are in default or on the verge of... READ MORE»
Developer Maurice Mann, who partnered with the billionaire Lev Leviev to buy the Apthorp in 2007, is being sued by Blue Rock Properties, a brokerage firm that helped arrange the deal's... READ MORE»
The Dia Art Foundation has announced that it will be returning to its old neighborhood, constructing a new building on West 22nd Street in Chelsea. Director Philippe Vergne said in a press release that the foundation wants "to build a 'dream house' for... READ MORE»
Back in April 2008, Abigail Disney, the mogul's grandniece, put her two 300 West End Avenue apartments on the market for a combined $13,445,000. It was an ambitious thing to do, considering that a year and a half earlier she'd paid the singer Harry Belafonte just $10.75 million for... READ MORE»
