Normandy Real Estate Partners and real estate service provider Cassidy Turley today announced that Normandy is naming Cassidy Turley as the leasing agent for a significant portion of its New Jersey office portfolio totaling approximately 1.1 million square feet.
Raymond Trevisan, a Normandy Principal, and William O’Keefe, a Normandy Senior Vice president, have joined Cassidy Turley, where Ray will lead the firm’s New Jersey operations.
Finn Wentworth, a founder and Managing Principal, commented, “We have benefited from a very productive and longstanding relationship with Cassidy Turley and this alliance …

The Connecticut estate where legendary actress Katharine Hepburn resided with her family for many decades until her 2003 death has been expanded to a compound by present owners Frank and Barbara Sciame.

The Sciames have listed the compound, which includes the 8,300-square-foot Hepburn estate home, a 2,750-square-foot gate house residence currently being built, a pond, a private boat dock, and an additional deeded lot with its own sandy beach for which the Sciames are pursuing a permit to build a third home (a 2,300-square-foot guest house) at $30 million.

By Howard Rubin
Most contractors are aware of the need to obtain a home improvement license to do work on residences in New York City or they may be barred by public policy from obtaining payment for the work done and can be held liable for up to treble damages to the homeowner.
See New York City Administrative Code § 20-385 et seq., hereinafter referred to as the “Code”.
This law has resulted in many contractors facing significant financial losses caused by their failure to comply. There is virtually no defense …

The Best Buy store in the East River Plaza in Harlem will be among 50 outlets the troubled electronics retailer will close, the company has announced.

Retail rivals are already in the wings eying the nearly 50,000 s/f foot store space, according to owner Blumenfeld Development Group.

But Best Buy has its mind on ironing out the details of a roll-out for hundreds of smaller format stores in a bid to level the playing field with online and discount retailers.

Prudential Douglas Elliman announce that the boutique real estate firm Stratus Realty Group has joined the company as the Nickolai Group.

The team, led by Irene Nickolai, will be based out of Elliman’s 1995 Broadway Office.

“The Nickolai Group has a powerful international reach,” says Prudential Douglas Elliman President and CEO Dottie Herman. “They are highly marketable, modern and tech savvy. The group will be great asset to the company and we are so pleased that they are joining Elliman.”

In a transaction that will result in one of the largest urban-style, mixed-use development sites in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the sale of the Bedford Portfolio comprised of several contiguous parcels spanning nearly the entire city block on Bedford Avenue, has just closed for a price in excess of $66 million.

Eastern Consolidated Directors Gabe Saffioti and Benjamin Tapper introduced Waterbridge Capital to RedSky Capital, arranging a joint venture partnership between the two, for the purposes of financing the acquisition. RedSky will act as the manager of the joint venture.

Kalmon Dolgin Affiliates, Inc. (KDA) has arranged a 33,000 s/f, long-term lease at 140 58th Street in the Bay Ridge area of Brooklyn, NY for a new Ford Motors service facility.
Kalmon and Neil Dolgin, co-presidents of Kalmon Dolgin Affiliates, made the announcement.
Robert Klein of Kalmon Dolgin Affiliates represented the tenant Ford Motors/Bay Ridge Automotive Corporation LLC., and the owner, the New York City Economic Development Corporation.
Ford Motors will occupy 33,000 s/f in the former Federal Laundry Building at the Brooklyn Army Terminal (BAT), and enjoy the use of a 55,000 …

By Liana GreyReade57, a condo building being marketed by Brown Harris Stevens in TriBeCa’s southern historic district, hasn’t had a formal grand opening since sales began last fall. But already, 40% of the building’s 84 one- through three-bedroom units are off the market.

“We’ll have an event in the spring,” said sales director Shlomi Reuveni of Brown Harris Stevens. “We’ve been so busy. The absorption has been so great; we’re accommodating deals and buyers.” 

CBRE has arranged a 42,000 s/f lease for one of the world’s most recognizable brands, Red Bull, at 218 West 18th Street.
Atlas Capital Group  a real estate investment and management firm,  and GreenOak Real Estate, purchased the redeveloped 166,000 s/f, 13-story Chelsea office building for $62.5 million in February after the previous owner, developer Harry Jeremias  filed for bankruptcy.
Located on the south side of 18th Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, the building is at the center of the bustling tech scene, within a few blocks …

A Lower East Side portfolio where rents in some apartments are less than neighboring parking garages, has sold for $9.82 million.
Josh Goldflam, managing principal of investment sales firm Highcap Group, brokered the sale of the portfolio of three buildings at 72, 74, 104 Forsyth Street.
It is the first sale of the buildings in 34 years of ownership by the seller, according to Goldflam. who said the buyer — repped by Jonathan Aziz — has plenty of room for upside.
“These properties offer an excellent opportunity for the new buyer to increase …