CB Richard Ellis Group Inc.

In yet another indicator that the commercial real estate market is wilting -- to use what is likely a euphemism -- an analyst downgraded CB Richard Ellis shares yesteday from "buy" to "hold."

"We do not expect that the commercial real estate market can turn around until the late 2009 to 2010 timeframe," Patrick Burton, a Citi Investment Research analyst, wrote to a client, according to the Associated Press, via CNN.com.

Ouch.  read more »

Bank of New York Mellon has signed a 72,000-square-foot, five-year renewal at Beacon Capital’s 32 Old Slip (a.k.a. One Financial Square) downtown, according to a source. It's a deal that comes as the frequency of financial services leases has slowed markedly in the fiscal climate of late, with some banks giving up space.  read more »

CB Richard Ellis, one of the titans in New York City real estate brokerage, announced today that it has acquired a majority share of CB Richard Ellis South Asia Pte Ltd, according to a press release.

CBRE India currently operates in 30 cities across the India market, and has brokered over 22 million square feet of leasing transactions and 30 million square feet in project management assignments in recent years.

Full release is after the jump.  read more »

The submissions are in! The Real Estate Board of New York has announced the nominees for its Ingenious Deal of the Year awards (the Ingenies, perhaps?) in leasing, sales and finance.

Here is a breakdown for number of submissions, by firm:

Leasing Cushman & Wakefield: 6 CB Richard Ellis: 6 Jones Lang LaSalle: 1 Grubb & Ellis: 1 ABS Real Estate Partners: 1 Sales Studley: 2 Massey Knakal: 1 CB Richard Ellis: 1 Finance: The Singer & Bassuk Org: 1

All in all, CB Richard Ellis put together one more submission (7) than Cushman & Wakefield (6). But you see how much that helped Dreamgirls!

There will be three winners, one from each category, to be announced April 17.

All the deals, brokers and nominees after the jump.  read more »

- John Koblin

Bucking a recent trend for media and publishing, Simon & Schuster isn’t moving. For now.  read more »

If the CB Richard Ellis and Cushman & Wakefield commercial brokerage rivalry is the most entertaining in real estate, it's even better downtown, where the two brokerages are truly the only moving forces. C & W announced this week that their superstar team fielding the likes of Larry Tannenbaum, Frank Cento and Andy Peretz just got a little stronger: Joseph Harbert managed to pluck away Bernhard Weinstabel, the multi-lingual, bronze-faced, foreign-tenant expert and Austrian native from GVA Williams. Mr. Weinstabel, who speaks German, English, French and Japanese, also spent some time at CBRE.

Real-estate brokers tend to describe one another (privately) in one of two ways: either as a really nice guy or a major-league asshole. Mr. Weinstabel's downtown peers describe him as one of the nicest guys you'll meet.

- John Koblin

Media behemoth Viacom has a lease out for as much as 250,000 square feet at 345 Hudson Street, in th  read more »

When it comes to the relentless pursuit of prime Manhattan real estate in the last six months, Bear  read more »

It’s been a busy week for Murray Hill Properties.  read more »

It’s been a busy week for Murray Hill Properties.  read more »

A historic 14-story converted office building south of Columbus Circle is selling for at least $126  read more »

If you followed the Manhattan office market in 2006, you’ve had a long bath in a tub of overheated  read more »

If you followed the Manhattan office market in 2006, you’ve had a long bath in a tub of overhe  read more »

• Pension fund buys Staten Island marine terminal.
[Crain's]
• Bond ratings firm leases in 140 Broadway.
[Crain's]
• Trammell Crow-CB Richard Ellis merger moves forward.
[CPN]
• Reckson postpones decision on SL Green.
[BusinessWeek]
• City management firm, brokerage join forces.
[Real Deal]
• Panel to call for closing five city hospitals.
[NY Times]
• Whitney to build satellite at High Line entrance.
[NY Times]
• MTA would sacrifice beauty in downtown subway hub.
[NY Times]
• Macklowe, Icahn own 8 percent of Reckson.
[NY Times]
• Pataki administration races on Atlantic Yards.
[NY Post]
• UN in talks for temporary home at 380 Madison.
[NY Post]
• Duane Reade heads for Queens luxury condo. [2nd item]
[NY Post]
• Existing home sales up for first time since February.
[MarketWatch]
• Realtors: Home prices drop a record.
[CNN/Money]

Did we miss any New York City real estate news this morning? Please send along tips and links.

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CB Richard Ellis announced Tuesday morning that it will purchase Trammell Crow for $2.2 billion.

CBRE already has more than 200 brokers -- the most in New York -- and now picks up 24 more from Trammell Crow, which has the 15th most brokers in the city, according to October 2006 statistics from the Real Deal.

The move offers a richer caveat: the acquisition now makes the firm Fortune 500 eligible -- the first commercial real estate firm in the country that can make that claim.

CBRE officials said the acquisition was apart of a broader plan to define the firm as the elite brand in the city.

"Well targeted acquisitions have played a pivotal role in our strategy," said Brett White, the CBRE CEO.

- John Koblin

Silverstein Properties and its new joint venture partner, a pension fund named the Califronia State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS), made its first splash together on the Manhattan real estate scene, snagging 575 Lexington Avenue for $400 million.

According to Silverstein Properties, the partnership allows for "$2 billion in buying power" in Manhattan real estate. The tower on Lexington is at the corner of 51st street, has 35 stories and 600,000 square feet. The building's tenants include Cornell University, the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner and Radianz Americas, Inc., New York Sports Club and Staples.

CB Richard Ellis advised the transaction.

The full release after the jump.  read more »

• How did the New York hotel market become "a haven" for foreign investment? "All the stars are aligned," suggests an executive at CB Richard Ellis. In other news, the average nightly room rate climbed from last year's $189 to $211. (The foreign tourists can thank the foreign investors.) (The New York Times)
• Last month, Giuseppe Cipriani was this close to transforming ancient Pier 57 (at West 15th Street) into the "Leonardo--a $300 million offshore Italian mini-theme-park." It seems that past involvement with a Gambino turncoat (in which some money may have been given to quiet some labor trouble at Mr. Cipriani's Rainbow Room) muddied the deal. (New York Magazine)
• Yaakov Goldfeder continues to thrive as "the city's No. 1 property tax deadbeat," but sadly it's only over $9.75 million in unpaid bills for a bland Brooklyn apartment building. "Believe me," Mr. Goldfeder implores, "I am the victim here." (New York Daily News)
• If The Times says prime Manhattan real estate can be traded for cute art, cosmetic surgery and colon hydrotherapy, then we must all become cute artists or colon hydrotherapists. (The New York Times)
• This summer, Greenpoint's McCarren Pool will complete the glorious transformation from a long-abandoned pit into a mecca for hipster rock. But can hipster rock stir up excitement (forty million dollars of excitement) about the renovation project? (New York Post)
- Max Abelson
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The New York Life Insurance Company plans to sell Manhattan House, the storied Upper East Side luxur  read more »