The Feil Organization announced plans to renovate the lobby and entryway at 7 Penn Plaza in the Penn Station submarket. 

7 PENN PLAZA

Construction is slated to commence early 2012 with an estimated completion date in third quarter 2012.

The appointed architect is Goldstein, Hill & West Architects, LLP.

 7 Penn Plaza is a… Read more...

LAWRENCE RICH

Lawrence Rich, the former fashion designer who jumped from Prudential Douglas Elliman to CORE last year, has rejoined his old firm.

Prudential Douglas Elliman announced today (Wednesday) that Rich, has re-joined and will be based out of Elliman’s flagship East Side office at 575 Madison Avenue as senior vice president and associate broker.

“We… Read more...

The Singer & Bassuk Organization has arranged for $240 million in financing for the purchase of 70 Pine Street.
The former AIG headquarters building was purchased by a joint venture between developer-owner Nathan Berman’s Metro Loft and Eastbridge Sarl for $205 million.
The loan was made to an entity known as EBNB, an acronym for Eastbridge and Nathan Berman, which intends to convert the vacant, million-square-foot office tower to a luxury residential rental building with about 1,000 units.

It is the largest rental conversion in lower Manhattan since the end of the 421g tax abatement program and one of the largest conversions ever undertaken. Read more...

Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group held its annual awards celebration last week, recognizing more than $1 billion in closed new development sales in 2011.

Company President Kelly Kennedy Mack announced that the race for the coveted Sales Team of the Year award was the narrowest on record, with The Aldyn and The Rushmore ending December in a near tie.

“This is the first time in company history that two teams have been so close. With a combined sales volume of $305 million, the success of Riverside Boulevard is extraordinary,” said Mack.

The Rushmore outsold The Aldyn by $15 million. Read more...

Don’t blame the real estate appraiser if it turns out that house you’re trying to sell or buy isn’t worth what you thought it was.
That’s the message from the Appraisal Institute, the nation’s largest professional association of real estate appraisers.
Real estate agents, homebuilders and others have laid blame for the market’s distressed condition on appraisers, saying that they are at fault for producing opinions of value that don’t… Read more...

Manar, the Manhattan Association of Realtors, announced the appointment of Rick Wohlfarth as the organization’s new president for 2012.

RICK WOHLFARTH

Wohlfarth is a 10-year Manar member and most recently served as treasurer. He has run his eponymous brokerage, Wohlfarth & Associates, a specialist in New York’s Upper West Side neighborhood, since 1978.
Wohlfarth’s mandate… Read more...

Photo by Richard Lewin
The Corcoran Group’s senior vice president, Wendy J. Sarasohn, hosted a book party at her Park Avenue home for New York Times best-selling author, Michael Gross, celebrating his latest bestseller, UNREAL ESTATE: Money, Ambition, and the Lust for Land in Los Angeles and previewing his next, House of Outrageous Fortune, which focuses on 15 Central Park… Read more...

Developer Gerald Guterman, of Guterman Westwood Partners, has launched a website aimed at explaining his plan to convert Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village into co-ops.

The interactive website (www.stpcvfacts.org) encourages residents of the massive East Side complex to send in questions about the plan and offers “straightforward answers to the tough questions that community residents have been raising and talking about for years,” said the developer in a statement.

“Guterman Westwood Partners believes that no conversion of the community can or should occur without the support of the vast majority of its current residents.” Read more...

FedEx is building a new 140,000 s/f distribution center in Long Island City.

“The new facility is part of a nationwide network expansion to boost daily package volume capacity and further enhance the speed and service capabilities of the FedEx Ground network,” said David Westrick, a company spokesman.

Construction work on the facility, which will ultimately replace an existing compound at 5590 48th Street in Queens, is expected to begin in February. It is set to open in the spring of 2013 and will cost roughly $56 million, including land, construction and “material-handling equipment.” Read more...

Nearly 25 years after the redevelopment of the six-acre Admirals Row site at the corner of Flushing Avenue and Navy Street was first proposed, the federal government has transferred the property to the City of New York, which will turn it over to the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation (BNYDC) for development.

The move paves the way for the area’s first major supermarket will be built and new space for industrial tenants will be developed.

BNYDC, which manages the Brooklyn Navy Yard on behalf of the City, will now issue a request for proposals (RFP) seeking a developer to create a 74,000 s/f supermarket and 79,000 s/f of additional neighborhood retail space, as well as 127,000 s/f of industrial space on Admirals Row. Read more...