By Al Barbarino
Development company VE Equities has vowed to build the city’s ‘next 15 Central Park West’ on a Tribeca parking lot.

The New York City-based company, which specializes in the development of high-end residential condominiums and rental apartment buildings, just purchased a parking lot at 24 Varick Street (11-13 North Moore Street) in Tribeca for $47.7 million, city records show.

By Sarah Trefethen

When Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced last week that the city will sponsor a competition for developers to build a development of 300 s/f “micro-apartments” on city-owned land, some people wondered if anyone would ever want to live in such cramped quarters.

But brokers familiar with the wants and needs of Manhattan’s house-hunting singles are adamant the mayor has it right, and — with a little attention to design — tiny apartments could help fill a huge demand.

“If they build it, we can sell it or rent it,” said William Moye, a sales and leasing broker at Bond New York.

By Al Barbarino

A citywide property sales rebound is being led by spectacular performance in Northern Manhattan.

But the real opportunity for investors lies in the boroughs, executives at Massey Knakal said during the firm’s 2012 Mid-Year Property Sales Meeting this week (Tuesday).

Citi Habitats announced that agents are moving into the firm’s newly renovated Union Square office, located on the 5th floor of 250 Park Avenue South.
The office renovation is part of what the company has labeled a process of “building the Citi Habitats of tomorrow.”
As well as new branding, the strategic plan involves the consolidation of some offices. “The pattern of business has changed,” said Gary Malin, president of the firm.
“Citi recognizes that the needs of consumers has shifted from being able to walk into a storefront to working online with technologically savvy agents..”

Trophy office building sales tend to dominate the headlines. Rightfully so, as large sums of money are changing hands. These transactions usually trade from one institutional buyer to another and involve complex capital structures fueled by private equity funds and the CMBS market.

Unless an individual invests in a REIT or a real estate centric private equity fund, he or she has little or no exposure to these transactions. Even if they do, they might not be achieving the diversification that they seek, as REITs often follow the stock market. In fact from 1978 to 2011, the correlation between REITs and small stocks was .75, whereas real estate owned was .08, according to UBS.

Commercial mortgage brokerage Eastern Union Commercial is planning further strategic expansion as its pipline of new loans outpaces the rate of closed transactions.
“Thanks to our investments in new personnel and in a stronger corporate infrastructure, Eastern Union is closing deals more efficiently and more rapidly than ever before,” said Ira Zlotowitz, president of the firm.
“As our next strategic initiative, we will be launching new, tailored divisions to meet the market’s diverse needs, further leveraging the relationships we have with key banks nationwide.”
Eastern Union , one of the country’s largest commercial …

Brick Realty Capital LLC, stepped in to save a local Harlem landmark.
Through an affiliate entity, Brick provided a construction loan of $750,000 for the renovation of the one story property at Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard and West 126th Street.
Tenants had been forced out because of extensive damage of the building’s roof and parapet walls. When the local investor who had owned the property for 32 years was turned down for “traditional financing,” Brick managing partner Eric C. Roth, said: “We viewed this as a fantastic opportunity to fill the void and …

Buildings Commissioner Robert LiMandri today announced a rotation of the Department’s Borough Commissioners in an effort to increase the efficiency and productivity of the agency’s operations.
For the second time in four years, the Borough Commissioners have been rotated to further standardize plan review operations and streamline the construction project approval process citywide.
Each Borough Commissioner oversees the review of construction-related applications and plans in their respective boroughs, and in 2011, Department plan examiners reviewed more than 450,000 sets of construction plans.
Effective immediately, this latest rotation shifts experienced professionals into new leadership …

By Liana Grey
The clothing chain Tommy Bahama will be opening a 13,000 s/f flagship at the Fred French Building on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 45th Street this fall, following over a year and a half of renovations on the space. Last January, Amira Yunis of CBRE helped the firm secure a 12-year lease for the building’s ground floor, mezzanine and basement space, which will feature a 5,000 s/f storefront as well as an 8,000 s/f restaurant and bar. Of 90 Tommy Bahama outposts across the country, only 13 offer food and drinks. The retail portion of the flagship, which was formerly occupied by the clothing chain New York Look, will carry a collection of sportswear, swimwear, accessories and home décor.

SL Green Realty Corp. announced that Yext, Inc., named 10th fastest growing company by Inc Magazine last year, has signed a seven-year lease covering 36,823 s/f at One Madison Avenue.
Yext, Inc. is a leading Internet search engine that helps businesses appear in the most possible local searches.
“Yext joins many other firms who have chosen to relocate their businesses in Midtown South, which is the hottest market in the country with a vacancy rate of less than 5%,” said Steven Durels, executive vice president, director of leasing and real property for …