Madison
The Round-Up: Tuesday
- Costs of 2nd Avenue Subway grow. [NY Times]
- 76,000-square-foot lease at 88 Pine Street. [NY Post]
- Moinian drops condos at 60 Madison. [2nd item] [NY Post]
- More on subprime mortgage problems. [Daily News]
- Parks Department tries again in Coney Island. [Daily News]
- Bill would close southern Brooklyn zoning loophole. [Daily News]
- Construction starts on Upper East Side condo. [GlobeSt]
Did we miss any New York City real estate news this morning? Please send along tips and links.
Ravenous Broadway Partners Gobbles Two More Monsters
Quietly, Midtown Asserts Its Dominance
SL Green Dreams Grand Central With $76 Million Madison Ave. Buy
The Sheriff of Landmarks
$1,739,370,834
That's the official amount the Macklowes paid for Worldwide Plaza, the second most-expensive office-building sale in U.S. history.
Here are the official price tags on three other buildings they bought:
1540 Broadway: $967,555,811 527 Madison: $234,641,309 Tower 56: $178,521,008
The Real Estate is still waiting on the records for the other four buildings the Macklowes bought last week from Blackstone; 1301 Avenue of the Americas should come close to breaking more records.
- John KoblinLandmarks Leaves Door Slightly Ajar for Foster
The Real Estate called the principal actors for comment, having been unable to attend in person.
"Nine out of 10 commissioners strongly opposed the current project because of the height, the scale, and the materials were inapporpiate for the district," said commission spokeswoman Lisi de Bourbon. "They felt the building did not relate well with the Parke-Bernet building."
One commissioner, the Rev. Thomas Pike, even called it a "bad marriage."
But the developer, Aby Rosen, was ready for a lot worse.
"From our perspective, it went quite well," said Rosen's spokeswoman. "Nobody was closing the door and saying, 'Absolutely not. You can't build something on top of the Parke-Bernet building.'"
At least the commission did not take a vote, permitting the Foster-Rosen team to come back in a few months with a revised plan.
- Matthew SchuermanApparel Giant Dons Fresh Lease in Murray Hill
Cushman & Wakefield's Matthew Astrachan, Mitchell Konsker and Steven Bauer represented the tenant. read more »
Release after the jump.
- John KoblinThe Round-Up: Wednesday
- Quinn introduces 421-a compromise. [NY Times]
- Rising rates ratchet up costs of subprime mortgages. [NY Times]
- Forget the stats. Northeastern home values falling. [NY Times]
- Toll Brothers reports 44 percent earnings drop. [NY Times]
- Automated garages may rise in New York area. [NY Times]
- City eatery owners respond to trans-fat ban. [NY Post]
- 980 Madison opponents submit petition to Landmarks. [NY Post]
- 366 Madison sells for $116 million. [3rd item] [NY Post]
- UN to renovate secretary-general's Sutton Place mansion. [Daily News]
- Can French cuisine change Port Authority's reputation? [NY Sun]
Did we miss any New York City real estate news this morning? Please send along tips and links.
Aby Loves Tom - Not!
Wolfe "works with the insult factor."
In a conversation on Tuesday with The Real Estate, the developer Aby Rosen did his best to besmirch the knight in a white suit who tried to rescue 980 Madison in the Times this weekend:
Tom Wolfe loves to rant and he's been ranting against the city and the Landmarks [Preservation] Commission and the commissioners left and right. I think the commissioners are doing a fantastic job. They do not need Tom Wolfe telling them what to do. The landmarking issue is worldwide. There is an issue, but he works with the insult factor. I always felt insults were a sign of weakness, not strength. He should stick to writing books. His facts were not great, either. It's easy to write an op-ed piece. You can pick and choose your facts.
Rosen, whom Wolfe described standing outside last month's commission hearing with his "chin up, tummy out," went on to extol all the great parts of 980 Madison Avenue that Charlotte Simmons' alter ego overlooked: the museum, sculpture garden, green technology and a very nice building to boot. read more »
"I am a respected developer. I would do things right."
- Matthew SchuermanEverybody Loves Eliot
He was jogging out of Central Park and onto Madison Avenue at six in the morning when he ran into some journalists. He joked to a CBS reporter that the closer he came to being governor, the more people told him what to do.
He showed up at the school on 81st and Madison at 7:00 to shake hands and vote with Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Then he attended to some last-minute campaigning.
At a subway station on 72nd and Broadway, Spitzer joined Andrew Cuomo around 8:00 to pass out palm cards and shake hands. Soon after, more local politicians, like City Councilwoman Gail Brewer and Assembly candidate Linda Rosenthal, showed up and slipped into line behind the two men.There were so many photographers opposite the candidates, eventually including Congressman Jerry Nadler, that reporters and candidates formed a narrow sidewalk gauntlet which most of the morning commuters opted to avoid on their way to the station.
Most of the people who did walk the line went right for Spitzer, who wore a dark suit and a pilling red-striped tie.
"I'm a taxi driver and I'm going to cast my vote for you," said one man.
"We are all with you brother," said another.
One woman, Erin Oates, a 48-year-old who works in communications for a medial research center, told Mr. Sptizer that she voted for him despite being a Republican.
"He takes action -- he's not a talker like the others, and I'm tired of politicians who just talk," said Oates. "I'm sure he is ambitious and wants to be president, but he's doing s a great job in the meantime. So why vote for the Republican?"
--Jason HorowitzEvents for September 9-10, 2006
Unite Here representatives endorse Hillary Clinton at 45th Street between Madison and Fifth avenues.
Eric Gioia unveils a memorial plaque honoring 34 Woodside residents lost on September 11 at Doughboy Park in Woodside.
Ray Kelly will be awarded France's "Legion of Honor" medal at the French Consulate.
Peter King keynotes the Long Island 9/11 Memorial Ceremony at Farmingdale State's Little Theatre in Roosevelt Hall.
On Sunday, a candidates forum will be held for the 74th Assembly district.
Karol's throwing a blogger party at Mica Bar.
We don't have much for Sunday, so if we forgot anything please drop it in the comments section.
—Nicole BrydsonThe Times on Ralph Lauren on Madison
Ralph likes Madison
Who knew things had gotten so bad "in the last couple of years"? Who knew the Episcopalians were resisitng? Who knew Joan Didion cared? read more »
- Max AbelsonCafé Infidélité
Upper East Side Getting Green (and Leafy)
Both greenmarkets, if approved, will operate from the beginning of July through mid-November. P.S. 6's will be held every Saturday, and St. Stephen's will be held every Sunday. Leftover food from the St. Stephen greenmarket will be donated to the church's soup kitchen, according to a greenmarket official. read more »
-Matthew GraceA Dress Appears, As If In A Dream....
Coping with high-end retail staff: Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman
So I did my usual routine: Enter on Madison, cut a sharp left to the elevators, avoid eye contact with everyone and head right up to 8. On the way back down, I like to take the escalators and peek in on every floor. I usually stop and check out the lingerie on 6; sometimes an $80 bra gets marked down to $20. One summer evening several years ago, I was so rattled by the uppity saleswoman sizing up my Old Navy tank top and grubby sandals that I put a gorgeous, delicate, full-price, dry-clean-only set of bra and undies by Prada on my beleaguered Visa card. Two balance transfers, an accidental and devastating trip to the laundromat and a debt-reduction program later, I'm sure that I'm still paying that shit off. read more »
But this time, on a mixed-brand rack in the center of the sales floor, I found a simple, casual white cotton dress, strapless, knee-length, and priced at just over a hundred bucks. I tried it on: it fit, and it would fit if I shaved off a few pounds, put on a few pounds, or stayed exactly the same. It was the very first potential wedding dress I tried on, and I bought it without even soliciting a second opinion.
Showhouse Flipper Strikes Again
Flip this!
Last month (yes, now that we've moved down to the Flatiron District we don't get up there as often as we should), The Real Estate strolled the tony block and found four townhouses currently on the market, with the least expensive located at No. 9. Since November, that limestone mansion had been listed for $29 million, with Shel Joblin and C.B. Whyte at Stribling and Associates.
But now the 12,400-square-foot residence has been temporarily taken off the market, according to a source with knowledge of the listing.
At the center of it all (isn't she always?) is the Upper East Side's notorious Showhouse Flipper. read more »
The Revolution Begins— On the Upper East Side!
Enlightened Self-Interest
everybody,
i am happy to announce that ben wasserstein will soon be joining our staff. as many of you know, ben is now an associate editor of vitals, where he helps edit/assign all the text (there's more of it than you think). he's been a frequent contributor to slate (among other things writing for their "summary judgment" column, like the other bens around here) and to the new kinsleyfied opinion pages of the la times. in various capacities, he's also worked at brill's content, caa, miramax, cbs and time warner -- and on the fabulous, if short-lived, new york magazine convention daily.
for obvious reasons, i have had the opportunity to get to know ben over the last year. he has impressed me as a smart and lovely guy, a talented editor who wants to work hard and to learn. i have remarked to some of you that he'd be a perfect candidate for a job here if he weren't a wasserstein -- and then recently, it began to seem like his last name was a pretty dumb reason not to hire him. so, in the past few weeks, we began to talk about a job. ben will be an associate editor, working principally for intel with jared and carl. he will also take on assorted projects for the strategist (exploiting some of the skills he's learned at vitals), and where necessary, pitch in on the culture pages. read more »
so that's the new configuration. ben will be joining us after labor day. many thanks.
