By Al Barbarino

Massey Knakal has sold a three-story building, located at 991 Third Avenue (aka 201 East 59th Street) on the northeast corner of East 59th Street and Third Avenue in the Midtown East section of Manhattan.  The transaction valued at $18,420,000 and the price per square foot was approximately $4,039

A New York Building Congress analysis found that the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) issued residential permits for 8,936 units in 997 buildings in 2011, a 33 percent increase from 2010.

The number is still 74 percent below the 2008 peak of 33,911 units in 2,434 buildings, but the Congress said it is a good sign of progress.

“While it is far too early to pop the bubbly, recent data point to a very gradual yet nonetheless encouraging rebound in residential construction,” said NYBC president Richard T. Anderson.

“Our optimism must be tempered, however, by the recognition that we still have a long way to go.”

By Al Barbarino

Real estate developer and manager Related Companies has closed on the purchase of a 195,000 s/f building located at 511 West 25th Street for $93 million, city records show.

The building currently houses creative companies that are commonplace in the neighborhood, including Tesla Motors, maker of high-end electric cars; McKenzie Fine Art and Amsterdam Whitney Fine Art.

Related is already putting its stamp on the area as developer of the Hudson Yards project, which is located several blocks north of this latest acquisition.

By Al Barbarino
Astoria based owner and manager Alma Realty continued to bulk up its multifamily portfolio with the purchase of a seven-building package in the Hamilton and Washington Heights sections of Northern Manhattan for $62 million.

The buildings — sold by Vantage Properties — consist of seven elevator apartment properties with 362 residential and 28 commercial units.

Vantage brought the portfolio to market through Massey Knakal Realty Services last year, pitching its potential to produce $7 million of gross revenue in the first year, which would translate into net operating income of about $5 million.

By Al Barbarino
Atlas Capital Group, a real estate investment and management firm, has purchased a redeveloped 166,000 s/f, 13-story Chelsea office building at 218 West 18th Street for $62.5 million, city records show.

Located on the south side of 18th Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, the building is at the center of the city’s bustling tech scene, within a few blocks of Google’s gargantuan offices at 111 Eighth Avenue.

Atlas has tapped a CBRE team to lease up the building, which is 65% vacant.

Newmark Knight Frank is looking to make some more headlines.

The brokerage firm — whose parent last week announced a plan to buy Grubb & Ellis — is marketing 480,000 s/f of office space in the building that was, for most of the last century, home to the New York Times.

“We think it’s a phenomenal product and we think we’re going to find a tenant that will make it the flagship building of their enterprise,” said Lance Korman, executive managing director at Newmark and a member of the building’s leasing team.