Wednesday: March 10, 2010 | |
| 4:35PM | On the Market: Languishing Chelsea Penthouse Not Shy About Dropping Names Click the image above to view the full photogallery.[First photo via Zivkovic Connolly Architects.] Celebrities just can't stop pretending to call this epic five-bedroom penthouse in Chelsea's 129 West 20th Street home! The listing doesn't shy away from blabbing, pointing... |
| 4:07PM | Brooklyn Bridge Park Watch: City Could Anchor Floating Pool at Brooklyn Bridge Park This morning brought the news that the city's getting control of Brooklyn Bridge Park. Now a press release from State Senator Daniel Squadron, who has been an outspoken opponent of using condos to finance the park, fills in more of... |
| 4:00PM | Bracing for more beds The Intercontinental Times Square is set to open in July. From the March issue: Just as New York City's painful and protracted hotel sector slump finally seems to be hitting bottom, the industry has a new problem on its hands: It's about to be... |
| 3:45PM | As the Apthorp Turns: Things have been quiet lately at... Things have been quiet lately at UWS blockbuster condo conversion the Apthorp, but New York Magazine reports that the city's Health Department will be doing a sweep of the "hilarious hellhole" this afternoon. Tenants have already brought in certified court... |
| 3:34PM | Glenn Close™s Central Park West Home Listed for $11.8 Million We're still feeling some Oscar® fever, so allow us to indulge with yet another home owned by an Academy Award nominee - Glenn Close. Yes, we still have vivid memories of her role as deranged stalker Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction and were curious... |
| 3:30PM | Hyatt completes $12M ballroom renovation The Empire Ballroom at the Grand Hyatt New York hotel at 109 East 42nd Street between Park and Lexington avenues has just completed a $12 million renovation, according to the Hyatt Hotels Corporation. The 18,000-square-foot space was redesigned by Looney and Associates. The nearly-century-old... |
| 3:21PM | On the Market: Cabana-Happy Griffin Court Launches Sales in Hell's Kitchen We said last month that recent Hell's Kitchen Development Du Jour Griffin Court would be launching sales on March 9, and a StreetEasy check reveals the building has indeed begun sales. Way to be on the ball! In fact,... |
| 3:18PM | Bank of NY acquisition unit gets antitrust OK Federal antitrust regulators on Wednesday cleared Bank of New York Mellon Corp.'s $2.3 billion purchase of PNC Financial Services Group's investment services division.The sale of the division was announced last month, the same day PNC Financial said it would pay back $7.6 billion in... |
| 3:15PM | Hat retailer to expand in Times Square Adrianne Pasquarelli - Cap retailer Lids is saying 'hats off' to Times Square. The company, a division of Nashville-based Genesco Inc., recently signed two leases in the tourist-filled neighborhood, bringing its store count in the neighborhood to four.This spring, Lids will open a 1,000-square-foot... |
| 3:09PM | MePa Getting Recycled: For the Downtowners that have begrudgingly... For the Downtowners that have begrudgingly accepted the Tower o' Garbage as fait accompli, the one upside frequently mentioned is, hey, at least the Sanitation Department will get off the Gansevoort Peninsula, freeing up the land to be absorbed into... |
| 3:09PM | Conn. AG sues Moody's, S&P over ratings Connecticut's attorney general sued Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's over ratings the pair issued on risky investments.In a civil lawsuit filed Wednesday, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal alleged Moody's and S&P knowingly assigned false ratings to complex investments that pushed the country into... |
| 3:04PM | Judge sides with city on Tavern on the Green name A federal judge ruled Wednesday that New York City owns the rights to the name of the landmark restaurant in Central Park, Tavern on the Green.Closed since Jan. 1, the restaurant will be able to keep its famous name when it reopens. It is... |
| 3:00PM | Residents booted from Flatiron building Tenants were evacuated today from 1182 Broadway at 29th Street, a former manufacturing building that had been illegally transformed into a residential rental space, according to Curbed. The building lacked several basic safety features, the Department of Buildings said, including fire sprinklers, secondary exits... |
| 2:38PM | Shitshows: Now It's Developer Against Developer at One Madison Park With a foreclosure spat leading to a halt in sales at One Madison Park, the Observer's Dana Rubinstein uses the time-out to recap the 60-story condo tower's tumultuous history up this point-including the lawsuits that now number in the double... |
| 2:30PM | Not much progress at WTC site There hasn't been much development going on at the World Trade Center site, according to an NBC tour of the site. Most significant could be the lack of progress at World Trade Center towers 2, 3 and 4, which have not been completely funded.... |
| 2:14PM | Sprawling Queens development sends SOS Related Cos. is being tapped to manage sales and leasing for Sky View Parc, the massive mixed-use complex in Flushing, Queens, being constructed by Muss Development. Sources said that Muss' financial partner, Onex, a private equity firm that has invested $66 million in the... |
| 2:00PM | Openings and closings: In Out opens, Ellis Bar closes In & Out boutique and Ellis Bar On the Upper East Side, new Swedish beauty boutique In & Out has opened on Madison Avenue between 77th and 78th streets. Today only, the Time Warner Center at 10 Columbus Circle is offering a pop-up tea party... |
| 1:56PM | Rental Reveals: Flashy New 200 West Opens Monday, Gives Preview Today Click the image above to view the full photogallery. The Upper West Side's glassy newcomer at Broadway and 72nd Street, a luxury rental building dubbed 200 West, has dropped its construction shed and fully launched its website, showing off all... |
| 1:46PM | New science project for book publisher Matthew Flamm - Penguin Group USA is making another bet on niche publishing. At a time when most houses are looking to cut back on titles, the publisher is launching a new imprint dedicated to science books for the general reader, the company announced... |
| 1:30PM | Groundbreaking on the new Nets arena at Atlantic Yards will start tomorrow. What will major development at the site mean for local residents? The Real Deal is looking for your feedback on market-related issues. Please comment below. If you have questions you'd like posted, please e-mail news@therealdeal.com. |
| 1:05PM | Flatbush vs. Park Slope: For every preservation opponent, there is... For every preservation opponent, there is an equally ardent preservation defender-in Victorian Flatbush. The Daily News reports that Victorian Flatbush residents are feeling a little left out after a recent Landmarks Preservation Commission emphasis on expanding historic districts in brownstone... |
| 1:00PM | W'burg's Rose Plaza gets City Planning nod Down the road from the fledgling Domino Sugar factory development site on the Williamsburg waterfront, another large-scale residential complex is having better luck in getting off the ground. The Department of City Planning has approved a rezoning proposal for the three-building, 801-unit complex that... |
| 12:58PM | Helmsley Carlton House sold for $170M James Comtois - The estate of the late billionaire real-estate investor Leona Helmsley is selling one of its prime Manhattan hotels, the Helmsley Carlton House on 60 Madison Ave., for $170 million. The deal marks the start of selling off properties accumulated over four... |
| 12:53PM | Atlantic Yards unveils arena renderings James Comtois - Forest City Ratner Cos. says it plans to open the Barclays arena at some point in 2012. Here are some newly-unveiled renderings of what the arena will look like. [ |
| 12:52PM | The Big Shake New York hasn’t had a big earthquake in 126 years, and history suggests that we’re likely to have one every century or two. That said, we’re in little danger of a Chile-level megaquake—but it’s also true that the city’s buildings are vulnerable during even... |
| 12:52PM | Vornado eyeing 510 Fifth Ave. James Comtois - Vornado Realty Trust is considering buying the landmark 510 Fifth Avenue. The real estate investment trust is trying to work out a deal for the 61,159 square-foot, five-story jewel box on the southwest corner of W. 43rd St., which has a... |
| 12:47PM | Star architect Frank Williams dies at 73 James Comtois - Renowned New York architect Frank Williams, who designed such buildings as Trump Palace at 69th Street and Third Avenue, 515 Park Avenue, and the W hotel in Times Square, died on Feb. 25 in Manhattan. He was 73. [ ... |
| 12:30PM | Brooklyn residents claim bias by Landmarks A group of residents from two Brooklyn neighborhoods, Ditmas Park West and Beverly Square West, are crying foul against the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission, claiming that the agency has favored the establishment of historic districts in brownstone-heavy areas and snubed those neighborhoods with Victorian-style... |
| 12:28PM | Ariz. brokerage joins Keller Williams Realty Executives says it will retain presence in marketread more |
| 12:26PM | Revenge of the Megaprojects: Architecture Dream Team Being Assembled for Atlantic Yards? [David Childs and an Atlantic Yards site plan circa '07.] The Nets are hopeless, so developer Bruce Ratner is reportedly looking at other ways to infuse his controversial Brooklyn megaproject with talent. Bring on the starchitects! There are 16... |
| 12:03PM | Another never-ending day Letters From the Home Frontread more |
| 12:00PM | Closing Bell: Break Out The Boat Shoes! Eater spotted an exciting annual rite of spring getting underway yesterday: The ritualistic airing out of the furniture at the seasonal Carroll Gardens favorite the Gowanus Yacht Club. Who's excited? GMAP |
| 12:00PM | Industrial occupancy rates stabilize in region According to new research from Colliers International that examines the global shipping trade™s varied impact on industrial property fundamentals in the nation™s ten largest seaports, industrial occupancy rates for commercial space in and around the New York City and New Jersey property markets appear... |
| 11:30AM | Childs in talks with Ratner to design at AY David Childs and the planned Barclays Center at Atlantic YardsWhile Frank Gehry is long gone from the Atlantic Yards development, developer Bruce Ratner may be bringing another architecture heavyweight to the project, according to the Brooklyn Paper. Starchitect David Childs, who served as head... |
| 11:30AM | Building of the Day: 92 Herkimer Street The BOTD is a no-frills look at interesting structures of all types and from all neighborhoods. There will be old, new, important, forgotten, public, private, good and bad. Whatever strikes our fancy. We hope you enjoy. Address: 92 Herkimer Street, between Bedford and Nostrand Avenues Name:... |
| 10:41AM | Development Watch: Rooftop Addition at 386 Wythe Ave We used to live a block from this old brick manufacturing building at the corner of Wythe and South 4th Street in Williamsburg and used to love going to the Roebling Hall art gallery that used to be in the ground floor. We hadn't... |
| 10:01AM | Inside Story: My doorman, my spy About three years ago, we had a very unfortunate incident happen with a careless nanny in front of the doorman in which my then-three-year-old son™s safety was at stake. As a thank-you to my doorman for basically rescuing my son from the situation and filling... |
| 10:01AM | Streetlevel: Brick Oven Pizza for Atlantic Ave. Another update for the stretch of Atlantic between Henry and Clinton: La Pizzetta, which opened in the fall of '08, is out and Casa Tua is in. We spotted the owners posting the new signage last week, and the brick oven pizza spot... |
| 9:27AM | Demand for purchase loans up Mortgage rates expected to hit 6% this yearread more |
| 9:12AM | House of the Day: 142 Dean Street This brick townhouse at 142 Dean Street just hit the market. It's got lots of original charm and is 25 feet wide, which give it a shot at achieving the asking price of $2,750,000, we guess, but this really seems like boom-time pricing to... |
| 9:03AM | US Economy Seen Having Slow Growth in Months Ahead |
| 9:02AM | Home loan demand nudge higher in latest week |
| 8:41AM | Co-op of the Day: 101 Lafayette Avenue, #9F Corcoran usually does an excellent job with its photos, but the ones on this new listing at 101 Lafayette in Fort Greene are the pits! You particularly need good pics to made a small place like this pop. The studio, which is asking $289,000,... |
| 8:36AM | Prudential plans 'immersive' virtual tours CEO: 'This is actually "Avatar" meets real estate'read more |
| 7:31AM | Brooklyn Food & Drink Round-Up Coming Soon to Bed-Stuy and Red Hook "The space at 1047 Bedford Avenue (on the corner of Greene), once the home of So Beautiful Salon and Spa, is becoming an Indian restaurant," Bed-Stuy Blog reports. And Grub Street has good news for Red Hook:... |
| 7:00AM | Strong Place Church Conversion Gets Its Windows Last month we noted that the Strong Place Church, which has slowly been undergoing a conversion into a 24-unit condo since 2006, was looking ready to have its windows installed. Sure enough, yesterday morning the delivery truck and crane arrived and, presto, in no... |
| 6:26AM | More Bagels For 7th Avenue Close to a year ago, Park Slope Farm opened up at 106 7th Avenue, much to the glee of nearby residents who were in need of a convenient and well-stocked bodega. Seems like things didn't go as planned though: It's already closed and boarded... |
| 6:00AM | Victorians Accuse LPC of Brownstone Bias Since the Landmarks Preservation Commission announced in its January newsletter that it was postponing plans to create historic districts in Beverly Square West and Ditmas Park West, preservationists in Victorian Flatbush have been accusing the group of unfairly favoring Brooklyn's brownstone neighborhoods. (The LPC... |
| 5:37AM | Bright Idea: Springtime wine & cheese, lobbyside Too often, neighbors communicate only in elevator soundbites or through bared teeth when something™s wrong. That™s not exactly the stuff strong social bonds are made of. A little lobby-side vino is, we think, a better cultivator of neighborliness. It doesn™t have to cost a fortune,... |
| 5:01AM | [Manhattan Absorption] Bounty of Sales via Pent-up Demand Release Absorption defined for the purposes of this chart as: Number of months to sell all listing inventory at the annualized pace of sales activity. The release of pent-up demand in late 2009 greatly improved the absorption picture for re-sale property in Manhattan. Not much... |
| 4:51AM | Square Feet: New Airport, Northwest Florida Beaches International, to Open Backers said Northwest Florida Beaches International would bring new businesses and residents to the Florida Panhandle; critics said it would also bring environmental problems. |
| 4:40AM | Square Feet: Landlords Show Tepid Response to Hourly Electricity Rates Only about 100 of 790 buildings that are eligible for hourly prices have opted for the Con Ed service. |
| 4:22AM | On Location: Bringing a Taste of New York to Johannesburg Adam Levy lives in a 10-story building that he converted into seven spacious floor-through apartments, including his own duplex penthouse that he finally completed last fall. |
| 4:16AM | Property Values: What You Get for ... $175,000 A cabin in Heber City, Utah, a Gothic revival in Seneca Falls, N.Y., and a condo in Milwaukee. |
| 4:16AM | International Real Estate: House Hunting in ... England Surrey, a county to the southwest of London, suffered a real estate setback in 2008, after years of steady price increases. |
| 4:03AM | Green homes face a red light Lots of people, especially those trying to battle high utility bills, believe in energy-efficient homebuilding. |
| 1:33AM | Vornado wants 510 Fifth Vornado Realty Trust is swooping in to buy the landmarked 510 Fifth Avenue. Sources say the real estate investment trust led by Steven Roth and Michael Fascitelli is trying to work out a deal for the five-story jewel box on the southwest... |
| 1:00AM | 3 tips to get the most out of Twitter From Future of Real Estate Marketingread more |
| 1:00AM | DocuSign offers 'Realtor Edition' E-signature firm announces branded app, Realtor discountsread more |
| 1:00AM | ZipRealty posts $2.1M Q4 loss Company projects up to 20% revenue growth in 2010read more |
| 1:00AM | A case study in cost competition Company caps commission contributionsread more |
Tuesday: March 9, 2010 | |
| 11:27PM | What to Watch for: Technology “ Spring 2010 There are a lot of exciting things coming out in the next few weeks - here are my top 3: 1. Like it? Hate it? The iPad which drew a ton of rumors and speculation is ready to make it's debut. The 1st commercial aired... |
| 10:52PM | Local Ads testimonial - Chris Keller, agent in San Diego, CA Last week, one of our Trulia team members received a great testimonial from Chris Keller, agent in San Diego, CA. Here are some neat things Chris had to say about our NEW! Local Ads product: 'I started using [a competitor's advertisement] about 1 month ago. I... |
| 10:05PM | Seattle real estate pros - Zillow A to Z Thursday or Friday Attention Seattle-area real estate professionals: We're hosting two Zillow education events this week, one on Thursday in Bellevue and one on Friday in Seattle. Thursday, March 11, 8:30 am - 10 am, Hyatt Regency Bellevue. Friday, March 12, 8:30 am - 10 am, Seattle Public Library. Come... |
| 8:59PM | It Takes A Village? Checking In On Slate's Collective-Intelligence Home Efficiency Experiment For awhile, Slate was satisfied just to be one of the more consistently engaging/occasionally enraging sites on the Internet -- well, satisfied to be that and to run dazzling features from one of the finest young writers of his generation. But in recent years,... |
| 8:12PM | Rate for 30-year Fixed Mortgage Fell This Week to 4.76% Mortgage rates for 30-year fixed mortgages declined this week, with the current rate borrowers were quoted on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace at 4.76%, down from 4.80% at this time last week. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate fluctuated between 4.76 and 4.82 during the past week. Additionally,... |
| 7:03PM | [The Housing Helix Podcast] Debra Taylor Blair, Owner, LINK Boston I recently had the good fortune of getting to know the founder and owner of LINK Boston, Debra Taylor Blair. Her firm built and operates the MLS system in Boston. She also provides invaluable information to the public and the real estate... |
| 6:36PM | [Trulia] Price Reduction Report – March 2010 [click to open report] Trulia released its Price Reduction Report for March 2010 and press release The report suggests that sellers are being more realistic when pricing their homes. Over the past year, the rate of price decline began to ease and actually stabilize in... |
| 5:06PM | A Month That Makes Us Miss Last Summer - January Real Estate Performance Consistent with trends that materialized in December, home value change continued to weaken in many markets around the country during January. Nationally, while the annualized appreciation rate continued to improve -“ increasing from -5.5% in December to -4.8% in January “- home values declined... |
| 4:45PM | [Graphing Stimulus] Edward Tufte Presidential Appointment [click to expand] President Obama announced his intent to appoint several individuals to serve on the Recovery Independent Advisory Panel. One of them is Edward Tufte who has been my inspiration to look at the housing market with data in different ways. He's... |
| 3:34PM | Trulia™s March Price Reduction Report - Home Sellers cut $21.6 Billion off Asking Prices photo credit: jackenhack Today Trulia announced a new all-time low for national home price reduction levels since the company started tracking in April 2009, with 19 percent of listings currently on the market in the United States as of March 1, 2010 experiencing at least one price cut. This represents a... |
| 2:54PM | Jennifer Capriati™s Florida Home Listed for $2.1 Million The Florida home of former professional tennis sensation Jennifer Capriati is on the market for $2.1 million; it was first listed in 2008 for $2.35 million. Located in Wesley Chapel, about 40 minutes outside of Tampa, Capriati's home is part of the Saddlebrook Resort community,... |
| 11:57AM | Short-sale risk: 'property flopping' Appraisers: BPOs raise risk of fraud in short salesread more |
| 8:56AM | Trulia: Price reductions reach new low California cities discounted the leastread more |
| 7:09AM | What's two cents worth? Call it the 2-cent turn around. According to Ken McCarthy, Cushman & Wakefield's New York-area research chief, the average Manhattan office building asking rent increased in February by 2 cents per square foot over the month before. Before you laugh, know that... |
| 5:45AM | NYC vs Left Coast apartment-dweller Zeitgeist revealed online All vertical villages are not alike--just look at what residents are saying on their buildings™ online bulletin boards. On the West Coast you™ll find more people writing recommendations about restaurants or other lifestyle things. In New York you find more ˜Type A™ postings”more evidence of... |
| 5:35AM | Do kids' charity drives belong in the lobby? Q.   A co-op board member authorized his children to place a huge charity collection can for Haiti on the doorman's desk in the lobby. I think it's a nice gesture but totally inappropriate especially in a family building--pretty soon we're going to end up... |
| 5:16AM | Smoking bans in co-ops & condos, earthquakes, & when two kids is too many Expiration date for 2 kids in a 2 bedroom apartment (UrbanBaby forum) Your building's earthquake risk factor (NY Mag) Resale-wise, it may be better to renovate a small apt than a large one (The Apple, Peeled) Smoking bans in co-ops and condos (UrbanBaby forum) Urban strategies for living... |
| 5:00AM | Construction Unions to Rally for Building at Ground Zero Building is stalled as the Port Authority and the developer, Larry A. Silverstein, debated how much government should invest in private development. |
| 1:00AM | Ten cities managing to weather the recession Jobs in Washington D.C. are growing quickly, and in 2008 the city produced more in goods and services than almost anywhere in the country. Washington DC - Weather - Recession - United States - Washington |
| 12:11AM | Tip Tuesday: 3 Tips to Get the Most Out of Twitter I have nothing to say. I have heard this over and over again, not just by real estate agents “ but by many people who are trepidacious about getting involved in Twitter. To many, Twitter has become more useful as a way to tap into... |
Monday: March 8, 2010 | |
| 11:06PM | Former ˜OC Housewife™ Jeana Keough Ducks Foreclosure, Does a Loan Mod Lots of real estate news lately, surrounding some 'Real Housewives,' including Tamra Barney who appears to have sold her home in a short sale and now, Jeana Keough, who avoided foreclosure and got a loan mod. We reported last June that Keough admittedly had a... |
| 8:41PM | NYT: Plan to pay homeowners to sell at loss NYT: The Obama administration has been trying to keep defaulting owners in their homes. Now it will take a new approach: paying some of them to leave. Presidency of Barack Obama - New York Times - President - United States - Barack Obama |
| 7:46PM | New Program to Offer Short Sale Incentives to Homeowners and Lenders Since President Obama took office last year, housing has been one of his administration's top priorities. Programs have aimed to stem foreclosures by encouraging loan modifications and stimulate demand for housing with tax credits. Now, the administration is taking a slightly different tack. The New... |
| 6:52PM | Influence of word of mouth on customer perception of service This research paper focuses on the influence of word of mouth (WOM) on customers' perception of service. It's axiomatic that negative WOM can significantly impact brand reputation. Studying the effect of WOM on such perceptions, though, is another matter. And the research article delves... |
| 4:37PM | Can't make your mortgage? Get an emergency loan Erin and Robert Smith had no problem handling the $2,000 monthly payment on their home ... until they lost their jobs. |
| 3:40PM | [New Mortgage Program] Getting Paid To Sell Short The Obama administration has come up with a radically aggressive plan to reduce foreclosure activity which has remained alarmingly high. The key ingredient is to encourage lenders/services to allow more short sales - selling the home for less than the amount of the... |
| 3:39PM | Modern Montauk Beauty Gets Price BUMP of $15 Million Yes - you read that right - a price hike of $15 million. According to Curbed Hamptons, a modern Montauk Zen masterpiece was listed for $35 million, but just got a price hike of $15 million. Located oceanfront at 42 Old Montauk Highway, Montauk, NY,... |
| 2:52PM | Cashing in on the condo bust Great bargains abound, but you have to shop carefully. |
| 1:08PM | Following The Bids - Mental Math A: When I was in elementary school I knew that math was my strongest subject. I recall one teacher that would challenge our class in an exercise she called 'Mental Math', a contest me and a few of my close friends at the time... |
| 12:22PM | Word of the Week: appitease app i tease - v. To have one's appetite involuntarily stimulated by a neighbor's cooking aromas. Ann's neighbors appitease her several times a week with their Italian cooking--usually after her own dinner, causing her to grow resentful and large. Previous Words of the Week: Neighbot Doorducken Apartmental... |
| 6:07AM | The creep show inside your trash chute, and why you should care Back in the early 70s, concerns over air quality caused New York City buildings to shift from garbage incinerators to trash chutes and compactors. This was excellent news for roaches, rodents, flies and beetles, which scurried aboard the all-you-can-eat autobahns snaking through many of... |
Saturday: March 6, 2010 | |
| 6:43PM | Customer loyalty CRM and customer satisfaction This research paper on CRM strategies used by RBC Royal Bank of Canada (Bahamas), analyzes whether the bank successfully applied the four P's of CRM (planning, people, process, and platform). It's well established that financial success is tied to a well executed CRM strategy... |
