Former Elad boss Miki Naftali has announced a new deal to build a Brooklyn apartment building.

Naftali has formed a joint venture with AEW Capital Management to buy a 90,000 s/f development site in Brooklyn where he plans to build a luxury rental building.

“316 Bergen Street will be one of the premier buildings in the neighborhood,” said Naftali, who left Elad earlier this month.

Forget reality television’s Pawn Stars, real estate now has its own pawnbrokers who’ll swap your family silver for cold, hard cash.

Less than two months after its launch in the US, borro has established itself in the new and emerging category of personal asset lending.

In March, borro, headquartered at 767 Third Avenue, took a Picasso pencil sketch off the hands of a cash-strapped New Yorker who used the money to pay and overdue loan.

Real estate appraisers are facing their biggest conundrum – shrinking ranks.

The total number of appraisers in the US has dropped from a high of almost 100,000 in 2007 to 86,000 at the end of last year.

Of those, the majority are men in their 60’s and 70’s who are retiring at a faster rate than the trade is attracting new practitioners.

“It’s an interesting question. What happens in a profession when there are no newcomers?” said Dan Aarons, chief executive of appraisal and consulting firm, Aarons & Associates.

Earl Webb, President, U.S. Operations, for Avison Young, Canada’s largest independently-owned commercial real estate services company, announced today the hiring of a leading investment sales team to join the company’s rapidly growing New York City office.