Real Estate | The New York Observer

Manhattan Transfers

Nouvel is College Bound: Publisher Buys at 100 11th

By Matt Chaban | February 8, 2011 | 8:37 pm

Another day, another sale at Jean Nouvel's spectacular 100 11th Avenue. Self-made man Luciano Rammairone went from studying at Pace to having college kids write about it for high school kids at College Bound magazine. Now, his CollegeBound Network rivals the likes of Kaplan and Princeton Review, and the proceeds have helped finance a move from a sleepy Staten Island cul-de-sac to one of the toniest--if troubled--properties in... MORE»

the player

The Elan of Ilan Bracha: 'We'll Be No. 1 in Five Years'

By Matt Chaban | February 8, 2011 | 7:49 pm

It was a gray January day when The Observer met Ilan Bracha at the Sony Building on Madison Avenue for lunch. But inside the Philip Johnson-designed atrium, at Solo (Zagat: the "be-all, end-all" of "gourmet" glatt kosher restaurants), it could have been a breezy summer evening in Mr. Bracha's native Tel... MORE»

lease beat

Grill vs. Grill: Smashburger Opening Near Shake Shack

By Laura Kusisto | February 8, 2011 | 4:15 pm

80 DeKalb Avenue Until recently, the most pressing question facing Brooklyn patty partisans was whether to get the pickles on the side. Then several months ago The Observer reported that Shake Shack was heading for Fulton Mall, adding some much-needed sizzle to the borough's burger options. Now comes news that New York's beloved burger chain will have to go bun-for-bun with Denver-based Smashburger, which is opening a location just blocks away at 80 DeKalb... MORE»

House Porn

It's Free to Look: Malcolm Forbes' Old Place

By Matt Coyne | February 8, 2011 | 2:59 pm

Sure, there are plenty of townhouses you can buy in the city provided you've got the cash, but few as steeped in history as this Brown Harris Stevens listing that both Malcom Forbes and Harold Macmillian called home and hosted parties with guestlists featuring Margaret Thatcher, the Reagans, David Niven, Richard Nixon, Elizabeth Taylor and Paul... MORE»

Prospective Tenants

Pret A Manger to Mange More Spots

By Laura Kusisto | February 8, 2011 | 2:00 pm

Valhalla of fine dining midtown is not, but the high-density office district has at least mastered the art of the weekday power... MORE»

From the Finance File

The New Normal in Commercial Real Estate Finance

By Scott A. Singer | February 8, 2011 | 12:20 pm

From a transactional standpoint, each of the past few years has had a palpable feel, both along the way and in hindsight. If 2007 was "the top of the world," 2008 was evenly divided between "the precipice" and "the abyss." And 2009 was "the year when nothing... MORE»

11 Times Square signed one of the year's biggest leases.

Features

The Top 20 Office Leases of 2010

By Laura Kusisto | February 8, 2011 | 12:15 pm

"Banks started to feel a lot better, businesses started to stabilize," said CB Richard Ellis' Ken Meyerson, reflecting on 2010. "There was a risk of it starting to get better and better." Mr. Meyerson, who helped broker 2010's largest lease for tenant Société Générale, was not alone in eyeing the recovery in the office-leasing market and feeling not relief, but concern. Unlike 2009, when landlords and tenants circled each other warily, shaken by the past year and not knowing what the future could hold, 2010 belonged to the... MORE»

lease beat

HuffPo Bloggers to Invade Dial-Up Daddy's 'Funhouse'

By Laura Kusisto | February 8, 2011 | 12:02 pm

The last time AOL was cool, big bookstores made money and Tom Hanks had hair, but the same cannot be said of the dial-up king's futuristic funhouse at 770... MORE»

BIG plans in the foreground (plus Extell's Riverside South rising behind).

Bizarritecture

Durst Opens New Era with BIG Apartment Pyramid [Video]

By Matt Chaban | February 8, 2011 | 11:00 am

Back when we first got a glimpse of Dutch architect Bjarke Ingel's new apartment project for Durst Fetner, it immediately became the most exciting new project in at least a generation. Though seen only in comic-book form and as a fleeting still from a flythrough video (see below), the building at 57th Street and the Hudson River became an immediate... MORE»

Elsewhere

On the Market: Hells Angels Club Bench; $3.3 M. Big-Time Original Details; No-Go for Greenpoint Shelter

By Matt Chaban | February 8, 2011 | 8:26 am

Cuozzo mocks Bagli for declaring death of Financial District [Post] First and Second Ave fast buses get B-Minus for speed, confusion... MORE»

the sit-down

Benjamin Fox Is Building a Bridge

By Jotham Sederstrom | February 8, 2011 | 8:11 am

Known for his ability to sniff out emerging neighborhoods in New York long before his competitors, the retail leasing veteran Benjamin Fox recently left Winick Realty, where he served for three years as president, and shifted to Massey Knakal, where he will now helm that firm's new Retail Leasing Services group. Mr. Fox, 61, talked about his goals for the group, his plans for a major recruitment effort and what, exactly, prompted him to leave his seat at... MORE»

Mr. Amrich got a job at Cushman & Wakefield at age 23.

power broker

Paul Amrich, the Wonky Optimist

By Jotham Sederstrom | February 8, 2011 | 8:06 am

Within minutes of sitting down in the sparsely decorated conference room of a Madison Avenue office building last week, Paul Amrich unleashed a whirlwind of real estate indicators, each more promising for leasing brokers than the last. Average asking rents slowly escalated toward the end of 2010 as some owners began to scale back the most generous of the landlord concessions that seemed to typify 2008 and 2009. Mostly, however, leases are getting inked at an admirable clip, said the affable CB Richard Ellis agency... MORE»

House Porn

It's Free to Look: The Village Townhouse That Takes Real Guts

By Matt Chaban | February 7, 2011 | 7:30 pm

Ready to cash in on 9 Commerce Street? The Citi Habitats listing calls this "a diamond in the rough," but to us it looks more like an empress in need of finery. The four-story, 20-foot-wide home has already been gutted, and that leaves a lot left to do--but that is the fun part. With two fireplaces on each floor--that's eight frickin' fireplaces!--and light streaming into each floor, it's time to bring your architect, as they... MORE»

Hood Winking

Jackson Heights Is the New... Actually, It's Still Kinda the Old Jackson Heights Around Here

By Matt Chaban | February 7, 2011 | 4:56 pm

Now that The Times has annointed that land without beer, Williamsburg, as the new Park Slope, the paper is in search of other neighborhoods to colonize in that wilderness known as the Outer Boroughs.... MORE»

Resistance is futile: Apple's Fifth Avenue store.

Prospective Tenants

Apple's Next Stop? Grand Central

By Laura Kusisto | February 7, 2011 | 4:29 pm

Apple has begun a super-secret quest for a store in historic Grand Central Terminal, potentially creating a hive of buzzing techies in the glamorous Beaux Arts landmark. Reliable sources tell The Observer that the maker of ubiquitous iGadgets--from computers to cell phones--hopes to open a store in the transportation and retail hub, though it has yet to begin the long approval process necessary for opening in a city... MORE»

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