The company will be relocating a chunk of its operations from 1411 Broadway to the Fashion District building, which is owned by the Savitt Partners. 

The company's namesake

Perry Ellis will dedicate 18,500 square feet on the second floor of the building for its Rafaella division, which it acquired for $70 million in 2011.

The Savitt Partners were represented in-house by Bob Savitt, Brian Neugeboren and Marc Schoen. Robert Martin, Matt Astrachan, Alex Chudnoff, and Brad Lane of Jones Lang LaSalle represented Perry Ellis International.

The reason for the new lease was to consolidate the Rafaella division closer to Perry Ellis' other business interests, the Savitt Partners said in a press release.

“Perry Ellis International is undoubtedly one of the most respected names in the fashion business and we are very excited to have such a high-caliber company as part of our tenant family at 530 Seventh Avenue,” said Mr. Savitt, in a statement.

The 490,000-square-foot building has a roster of trendy fashion tenants like Zappos, Max Mara, Asics, Maggy London, and DC Shoes, among others.

Asking rents in the building range from $53-a-square-foot to $65-a-square-foot.

drosen@observer.com 

So sniffed one junior real estate broker last week, who was standing in a raw, white-washed space on the 29th floor of 650 Fifth Avenue. Formerly known as the Plaget Building, 650 Fifth Avenue now had an ownership group and a new leasing team that were both aggressive in their efforts to simultaneously lease space and erase any lasting impressions left by the building’s alleged ties to an Iranian bank.

Brokers congregate over food and a cash prize at 650 Fifth Avenue

The broker’s snarky critique was overheard as that person sipped from a complimentary martini glass filled with gazpacho, garnished with a singular shrimp. The marketing event was arranged in part by the new CBRE team that was hired this summer to lease out the 140,000 square feet of vacant space in the 36-story building.

CBRE veterans Molly Concannon, Zachary Freeman, Paul Haskin and Robert Stillman had sexed up the event by including a lavish lunch spread, free umbrellas and a raffle for $6,500. The raffle, and perhaps the intrigue surrounding the building’s history, was enough to attract brokers from Cushman & Wakefield, Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, CresaPartners and Transwestern into the crammed Midtown space.

“Most of people in the room will not earn commissions of $6,500 this month, so that’s pretty good,” said Mr. Stillman of the cash reward.

Indeed, brokers—and this reporter, admittedly—who were excited by the prospect of winning $6,500 exited the elevators and walked the red carpet to a table with a hostess and a glass bowl, eagerly placing their cards inside the bowl for a chance at the handsome award.
The space on the 29th floor was being presented as a flex space, which could fit anywhere from 43 to 74 people, depending on the layout.

The building’s owner, 650 Fifth Avenue Company, spent $11 million installing new elevators and renovating the entire lobby, hiring architectural firm Swanke Hayden Connell for the job. The result was a new, clean feel to a building that perhaps had been in need of an image makeover.

In 2008, the United States Justice Department claimed that 40 percent of the building had been owned by Assa Corp., a shell company believed to be run by Iran’s Bank Melli. That bank was accused of being a key backer to the Middle Eastern country’s nuclear and weapons programs. The bank also had reputed ties to Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Quds Force, both of which had been previously linked to terrorist organizations.

Two years later, Farshid Jahedi, the president of The Alavi Foundation, the non-profit that is a part-owner of 650 Fifth Avenue, was sentenced to three months in federal prison for obstruction of justice.

Since then, the building and its expenditures are overseen by a federally-appointed monitor, Kathleen Roberts, a former federal judge who works for JAMS, an alternative dispute resolution provider, said a person close to the building.

Those controversies aside, the owners of 650 Fifth Avenue and its new management team appeared eager to boast the building’s new appearance and overall freshness.

“I think people haven’t been in the building, and they know it’s reasonably priced,” said Mr. Stillman. “If you’re a young broker like that, and you have small requirements, you need to know the space.”

CBRE is replacing Jones Lang LaSalle as the building’s managers. “One of the brokers said to me ‘I made deals, but it was always difficult.’ I said ‘that’s not the deal anymore,’” he said.
The 382,500-square-foot Class A building by the Rockefeller Center was built in 1979. Tenants in the building include Citigroup, the Doris Duke Foundation, Delta National Bank, and Sterling National Bank.

After a brief presentation by Mr. Freeman, the CBRE team announced the winner of the raffle: Robert Galluci of Cushman & Wakefield won the honor. As he was presented with the kind of oversized check customarily given to lottery winners or charities, a mass of brokers quickly fled for the new elevators, grabbing a complimentary umbrella while on their way out.

drosen@observer.com 

Indeed, by the close of 2012, the George W. Bush era tax cuts will expire, President Barack Obama’s healthcare initiative will begin and capital gains taxes will shoot to 39.6 percent.

Then there’s the presidential election itself, with each nominee providing a different tax scenario should he be elected into office. To be sure, the terrain for accountants is murky at best.

“The tax situation is very unsettled,” said Jerry Glassman, a partner at Holtz Rubenstein Reminick. “It’s very hard for a tax professional to do tax planning next year for a client. We don’t know what the law is going to be.”

If President Obama is reelected, the tax cuts enacted by President Bush more than a decade ago—both the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 and the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003—will expire, many tax professionals believe.
“I think if Obama is reelected, I think the tax cuts will expire,” said Mr. Glassman “If Romney is elected, I think it’s going to expire for sure, but he won’t be able to take it up until next year, and may try to make any changes [to the code] retroactively,” he added.

The cuts were given a two-year extension in 2010 as part of the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act. With that extension set to expire in 2012, accountants are advising real estate owners and professionals to take advantage of more favorable tax rates. That may include expediting a sale of a building before 2012 rolls around.
“If your building closed on Jan. 5 [2013] versus Dec. 25 [2012], you may pay 10 percent more in taxes on that same building just because there was a 10-day difference,” said Robert Gilman, a partner and a co-chair of the real estate practice at Anchin, Block & Anchin LLP.

A client of Mr. Gilman’s, a building owner in New Jersey, worked quickly to sell a residential property before the end of 2012. It was a tricky scenario that had to be played out given the uncertain tax picture in 2012. “You have to make decisions knowing there is an uncertainty: so are you going to rush out a sale of a building, maybe get a little bit less money, to save a significant amount of money next year?” Mr. Gilman asked.

The gift tax limitation is another benefit that will become a looming issue once it expires on Dec. 31. Until now, an individual could make a $5 million gift tax free (otherwise known as the “Lifetime Gift Tax Exemption”). As that is set to end by 2012, accountants are pushing their clients to give cash, or in some instances property, before the close of the year.

“Gifting property would somehow be taking advantage of the higher exemption this year that may not be available next year or ever again,” said Mr. Glassman.

One new tax development that will prove to be unavoidable is President Obama’s healthcare initiative, which will put forth a 3.8 percent Medicare tax that will affect everyone.

“It’s 3.8 [percent] on unearned income, which means it’s going to hit you on your dividends, your capital gains, your interest income,” said Marc Wieder, a partner and a co-chair of the real estate services group at Anchin, Block & Anchin LLP.

“There can be significant changes next year,” he added, “and it’s just not so easy to plan for it.”

drosen@observer.com

The firm, which labels itself as a global consulting firm that works in all aspects of planning and construction of "critical infrastructure projects around the world," will be moving 146 members of its administrative staff to Pennsylvania. The company, as "PB Americas, Inc." has 207,193 square feet leased out at One Penn Plaza, according to CoStar data.

One Penn Plaza is owned by Vornado Realty Trust. The building recently brought in Holtz Rubenstein Reminick, an accounting firm, to a 29,271-square-foot office at the building.

drosen@observer.com 

By moving into 4 Times Square, the fashion chain becomes the latest in a line of affordable clothing retailers that are willing to brave high rents for a Times Square storefront, The Wall Street Journal reports.

H&M was represented by Bob Gibson of Cushman & Wakefield. Amira Yunis, Gary Trock, and Matthew Krell, all of CBRE, represented the Durst Organization, the owners of 4 Times Square.

Asking rent for the 20-year deal was rumored to be around $2,500-a-square-foot.

The ESPN Zone, which offered bar grub and a variety of flat screen TVs showing the latest sports games and an endless loop of Sportscenter (basically like every other bar in New York City nowadays), closed in 2010 after parent company Walt Disney shuttered five ESPN Zones across the country.

The Durst Organization struggled to find a replacement for the space. A deal with Express, Inc. was in place until the clothing chain decided to sign a deal for the old T.G.I. Friday's space at 46th and Broadway.

H&M will also receive four large signs near the top of the building and two street-level signs, The WSJ reports.

drosen@observer.com 

Mr. Stettinius, 49, who previously served as president at the firm, will be replacing Mark Burkhart in Cassidy Turley's top role, effective immediately.

Joseph Stettinius Jr.

In a statement, Cassidy Turley Chairman Wally Pinkard said the promotion of Mr. Stettinius will "enhance our firm's ability to capitalize on the significant opportunity ahead."

"The company has met its growth and development goals ahead of schedule and we are well poised to meet our next set of strategic objectives," added Mr. Pinkard.

After serving as the company's CEO for over 20 years, Mr. Burkhart decided to step down to give way to Mr. Stettinius.

"Mark's initiatives set in motion our current growth plan," Mr. Pinkard added in his statement.

Mr. Stettinius was elected to the role of CEO by the board of directors on October 2, he told The Commercial Observer. 

In his new leadership role, Mr. Stettinius said Cassidy Turley will continue to build on its presence across the Northeast.

"I think there is a tremendous opportunity for us to continue to leverage our current strengths in Boston, New York, and [Washington] D.C., along with the entire Northeast corridor," he said. "We're focused on how we connect those cities and how we leverage off of our legacy strengths elsewhere to take advantage of relationships in other markets to succeed in those three very important markets."

New York City will continue being a "key priority" with Cassidy Turley, he said, although would not say outright if the firm was going to add more staff to the New York City Tri-State office.

"We're going to continue to support our momentum in New York under Peter Hennesy's leadership, and continue to grow our presence in the Tri-State region," he added.

"We will grow organically, but we're also prepared to make acquisitions that are accretive to our capabilities," he said.

Mr. Stettinius will continue to work out of the firm's Washington, D.C. office. He previously served as the CEO of Cassidy & Pinkard Colliers from March 2007 to February 2010. He has also worked as area director of mid-Atlantic services business at Trammell Crow, which was acquired by CBRE Group, and had worked in an executive capacity at Equity Office Properties Trust and Jones Lang Wootton.

drosen@observer.com 

Hip hop impresario Jay-Z kicked off the opening of Forest City Ratner’s Barclays Center with a series of eight sold-out concerts last week. And while thousands of rap and pop music fans descended on Brooklyn to welcome Hova back to his native borough, more surprising, perhaps, were the boldface real estate titans who lined up as guests of Bruce Ratner to witness the spectacle. Besides Dan Tishman of Tishman Construction and Vornado Realty Trust's Michael Fascitelli and Steven Roth, Mary Ann Tighe of CBRE described the evening as electric. "The only Jay-Z song I recognized is his New York song, which he performed early in the show," wrote Ms. Tighe, who added in an email to

Perhaps the one attendee who was most impressed with the Barclays Center and its booming sound system, however, was Larry Silverstein, the iconic developer behind the ongoing redevelopment of the World Trade Center. Mr. Silverstein revealed his first impressions of the Barclays Center with The Commercial Observer and shared his opinions on Jay-Z and the venue’s body-shaking bass system.

The Commercial Observer: So a tipster told us they saw you at the Jay-Z show last Friday.
Mr. Silverstein: We attended the concert Friday night, and it was a transformational experience.

Really? How so?
Well, first of all, I have never experienced anything like this before in my life, and I have only been around for 81 years. In fairness, I am not used to going to these concerts. These rap concerts or this type of music, I am [not] an ardent fan. I am on the board of the New York Philharmonic, and classical music is my thing, so this was extraordinarily different by way of an experience for me.

Why did you go?
The only reason why I went is... well, two reasons, really. Number one is Bruce Ratner extended the invitation to my wife and to myself to go out there. As it turns out, my wife said, 'why don’t you take one your granddaughters?' I wanted to take both of them. As it turns out, one of them could make it and the other one couldn't.

I called [his granddaughter Arielle] and I said, 'sweetheart, would you like to go?' She said, 'I would love it! That would be fantastic!' But she said, 'would you be able to handle this?' I said, 'what’s the big deal?' She said, 'well, the music is very loud.' I said, 'so I’ll bring an earplug or two, it’s no big deal.'

She said, 'the other thing is the vibration is going to go right through your body. Do you think you can handle it?' I said 'how bad can that be?'
Little did I appreciate the experience that was before me.

Before we get into that, did you manage to see Bruce Ratner while there?
Once we went and got in there-- of course we saw Bruce Ratner and so forth, and I congratulated him because he’s done an incredible job. All of New York blesses this man, or should bless him, because what the impact that this will have on the borough of Brooklyn and therefore the city of New York as a whole, is just hugely beneficial. It is so positive. The fact that he’s only been at it for 10-or-11 years of his life under extremely difficult circumstances, so I came by and I saw Bruce and I said, 'Bruce, you’re crazy!' He said, 'yeah, not as crazy as you are.'

The truth of the matter is the only way something like this gets done is if you simply close your eyes to everything else and decide to focus exclusively on this project. I got to tell you, that’s what I had to do, and it’s the only reason that we’re able to get through this goddamn thing for the last 11 years, and Bruce had to go through the same thing. It was a pulverizing experience.

Back to the concert itself. How was the "experience" for you?
Friday night I thought it was quite spectacular. The sound level, I mean, I didn't appreciate it until some disc jockey came on and oh my God...

I started popping [in] the ear plugs as fast as I could pop them in. I popped them in and one on the top of another on top of another. But nothing helped! It was the damnedest thing. Nothing helped, right?

So I realized, jeez, another few minutes of this [and] I’ll be deaf for the rest of my life. Then the music started, and oh my God, the vibration! This was unlike any experience I've ever had. It was powerful, really powerful stuff.  So there we were in this great location, we had the best seats in the house. I said, 'I got to find a place where it’s not so loud.' So we ended up in a box and guess what, the vibration was just as loud, and the sound level was just as loud. I couldn't get away from it! I thought 'it’s gotta be better in the Men’s room, it’s gotta be.' I went to the Men’s room and guess what? No better. How do you last? How do you last? Then of course Jay-Z comes on and oh jeez.

How did you last?
The concert was supposed to start at 8:00 p.m. 9:45 p.m. is when it started. By 10:00, 10:30, I’m usually getting ready to go to bed. My granddaughter is sitting there with me and she said, 'Poppy, are you going to be all right with this?' I said, 'I may be deaf when I walk out of here, but I want to stay for a little bit, so let’s see what it’s like.' As it turns out, we watched Jay-Z perform and  I thought it was fascinating. First of all, he’s a superb performer, really a first-class performer, and he controlled that audience so beautifully. But he worked them up into a frenzy, because first he talked about the fact that he was born, what, three blocks away from the stadium, and the area was nothing like what it is today. He said, 'frankly, I am so fortunate to be here, I am so fortunate to make it out of that, and to be able to come through all this and to be here today and to be able to do this, and to recognize that we are doing this in Brooklyn, in the city of New York...' The place went wild! I mean, 20,000 screaming fans went absolutely wild. I watched him control this, and I thought 'good God, this guy is really superb.' He’s a superb performer, and it was all by himself. I saw the video of the Monster Ball, Lady GaGa’s Monster Ball, and she’s got a cast of thousands. She has a whole entourage, dancers and musicians and the singers and you name it, all kinds of stuff. He was there by himself, and he handled it spectacularly well.

What didn't you like about the concert?
Of course what I couldn't appreciate was the language. Why does he have to use this? I couldn't understand that. It doesn't make any sense to me. Why this language? It was horrendous language. Look, I’m 81 years of age, so I can’t relate to that. It’s impossible. But I did appreciate him enormously as a performer, as an eminently successful businessman, and as someone who had enough humility to understand where he came from and the long road from where he started to where he is today. I really thought it was a uniquely wonderful experience, and I came away just hugely appreciative to Bruce for what he’s accomplished there, for all of us, all of New York.

Did you end up meeting Jay-Z?
We were invited to the party afterwards. The concert started at 9:45, so my hunch was that it will probably go to 11:45.

Then I said 'by the time he gets downstairs and so forth, and probably gets to the 40/40 club by, what, 12:30?' I asked [Arielle] 'would you like to go?' She said “Poppy, I don’t want to put you in this spot. It’s late enough. If you want to leave now, I am happy to leave.” This is [at] 10:45 p.m.

What was your impression of the Barclays Center itself?
I think it’s a beautifully-done arena. I think it’s going to be a concert hall that many will enjoy. Look at the bookings that he already has out there. I mean, the Barbra Streisand concert, for example. There’s all kind of good stuff coming. Let’s face it, until now, there’s been one venue, and that was Madison Square Garden. Now you have a second venue that is really spectacular and powerful and good, with first-class transportation right to the door. It’s a new opportunity here in New York, and a positive one.

You are a Brooklyn native yourself. Does that mean you will now start rooting for the Brooklyn Nets?
Well, honestly, I haven’t thought that far ahead [laughs]. Listen, this has such a great story to it, it’s hard not to appreciate it become a part [of the city].

Did you recognize any of Jay-Z’s songs?
No, not at all, or could I understand any of the lyrics. I couldn’t possibly understand the lyrics. The one thing that I could hear was the horrible language. I said to myself 'why? Why is that necessary?' I could never understand that.

Mary Ann Tighe thought the food at the Barclays Center was the best stadium food she’s ever had. Did you eat anything while there?
She’s in my conference room right now. So I came out to just chat with you. She said she was amazed, and the truth of the matter was I was concerned about that. I made sure we had dinner beforehand and then came [to the concert]. But then I was amazed, because the food looked lovely. It was wholesome, it was plentiful, well-presented, and obviously well-prepared and very tasteful.

What kind of food was it?
Oh, it was burgers and shrimps, you name it. It was a potpourri of things. You know, fingerfood that’s easy to eat. Pizza, it was really very well done. I take my hat off to him, because I think Jay-Z is going to have a very successful food venue here. It’s going to be first class, he’s going to do very well here.

drosen@observer.com

Mr. Sinon, 48, will be specializing in design center leasing for Cohen Brothers-owned buildings located across the country. Among those buildings in the Cohen Brothers' portfolio include the Decoration & Design Building at 979 Third Avenue, the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, CA, and the Decorative Center of Houston.

During his time at Newmark Knight Frank, Mr. Sinon worked as the director of leasing for the Lincoln Building at 60 E. 42nd Street.

"We're confident that John will prove a valuable resource for our company as we continue to lease up and expand our portfolio," said Charles Cohen, president and CEO of Cohen Brothers

Mr. Sinon holds both a B.S. and M.A. from St. John's University.

drosen@observer.com 

The company will be taking a 22,000-square-foot office on a portion of the 9th floor in the 11-story building.

417 Fifth Avenue (photo courtesy of CoStar)

Cushman & Wakefield's David Stockel, Peter Van Duyne, John Picco and Andrew Weisz represented Temco Service Industries.

Roxana Girand of Murray Hill Properties represented 417 Fifth Avenue, the building's landlord.

Mr. Stockel said that Temco Service Industries was occupying 29,000 square feet at One Park Avenue and was looking to shrink its footprint.

"The client [Temco] thought that they had too much space," said Mr. Stockel. The company wanted to go from occupying several floors to just a single floor.

"They wanted to reduce their footprint and reduce their overhead, their real estate overhead," he added.

The availability on the 9th floor of 417 Fifth Avenue was a built space that had "a lot of residual value as far as the installation was concerned."

"By the time we got ready to move, we were more focused on built opportunities than raw spaces to kind of limit the capital expenditure," said Mr. Stockel.

Temco, which services nearly 200 million square feet of facilities every day in the United States and Europe, also had a training space requirement. The built space on the 9th floor at 417 Fifth Avenue had a board room that was of an equivalent size to the company's old board room at One Park Avenue.

Asking rents were not disclosed. Temco's lease is for 7 years.

drosen@observer.com 

Fairfield County saw 34 fewer lease deals in the 3rd quarter from the 2nd quarter, tallying a total of 563,074 square feet as opposed to 604,790 square feet from the quarter before, according to market statistics. 

Westchester County, meanwhile, saw six fewer lease deals in the 3rd quarter, notching a total of 236,392 square feet this quarter versus the 327,740 square feet leased out in the second quarter. Westchester did see a slight bump in the number of square feet leased in the year to date, going to 9.8 million square feet from 9 million square feet leased by the third quarter of 2011.

Fairfield County saw a drop in square feet leased in the year to date, going to 1.5 million square feet this year from 1.9 million square feet leased by the 3rd quarter of 2011.

Average asking rents dropped in both counties. Westchester County's average asking rent is $26.38-a-square foot, down from $26.70-a-square-foot at the 3rd quarter of 2011, while Fairfield County dropped to $33.66-a-square-foot from, $33.99-a-square-foot.

"Overall, the statistics are bleak," said Paul Jacobs, an executive vice president at CBRE. "That doesn't mean that the market is reacting in a bleak manner. There is still activity, but these stats don't necessarily show that," he added.

Fairfield County's most notable deal was its most recent: Charter Communications deal for 70,000 square feet at 400 Atlantic Avenue in Stamford, CT.

drosen@observer.com 

Tower 52 (photo courtesy of CoStar)

The company, which serves as the overseas division of Fuji Media Holdings, will continue to occupy the top three floors (33, 34, and 35) of 150-156 E 52nd Street in its lease renewal. Terms of the lease renewal, including the length of lease and the asking rent, were not disclosed. 

According to CoStar data, the new lease is set to expire in 2018 and is a 5-year renewal from when the current lease expires in 2013.

Cushman & Wakefield's Fred Smith and Omar Farooq represented Fujisankei Communications International in the lease deal. Building owner Princeton International Properties were represented in-house by David Tawfik and Robert Benedetto. 

With a year left on Fujisankei's lease, the company decided to look around for a new space as it mulled re-signing another lease for its top three floors at Tower 52.

"We looked up and down Madison Avenue, Lexington Avenue, and Third Avenue, but this building was head and shoulders above every other building we looked at," said Mr. Smith.

The top three floors also offered Fujisankei a feeling of "exclusivity."

"The ownership of the building is extremely tenant-friendly and easy to work with," added Mr. Smith.

Established in 1986, Fujisankei produces news and entertainment segments for both the Fuji Television Network and the Sankei Shimbun newspaper. It also produces popular American shows like Spike TV's MANswers and The Sci Fi Channel's CHA$E. Fujisankei has seven offices across the world.

drosen@observer.com 

This afternoon, inside the court room of Judge Jill Konviser, Mr. Arntsen, the Staten Island kid who grew to become an accomplished corporate barrister at Crowell & Moring LLP, was ready to admit his guilt. Through his own attorney Alan Lewis, and after an initial not guilty plea and months of negotiations with Manhattan prosecutors, Mr. Arntsen agreed to plead guilty to three counts of grand larceny in the first degree and one count of scheming to defraud in the first degree. He is expected to face 4-12 years in state prison. He will be sentenced on October 17.

In doing so, the 34-year-old attorney admitted to an unusual crime spree in which he stole $10,781,185 from his unwitting clients, using the money to pay for several cookie distributorships for relatives and trips to strip clubs for himself, among other illicit expenditures.

The two companies he stole millions from, Doina Capital and Regal Real Estate, were both headed by septuagenarians who had hired Mr. Arntsen for legal counsel.

Doina Capital, an investment fund, was headed by Dr. Adrian Alexandru, a Romanian immigrant and practicing veterinarian who had hired Mr. Arntsen to help incorporate Doina Capital as an LLC, according to court documents. In a cheeky stroke, Mr. Arntsen "wrote himself into the LLC agreement," prosecutors said, and even gave himself the titles "Vice President" and "Secretary."

In the agreement, Mr. Arntsen included language that gave the attorney "active management of the operations of the Company," according to court documents. After the agreement, Doina transferred $22 million to an escrow account set up by Crowell & Moring. Mr. Arntsen went about setting up several corporate accounts in Doina's name, using his client's millions "as his own personal ATM, casting aside his ethical, moral, and legal obligations in favor of his own greed," prosecutors said in court documents.

Regal Real Estate, headed by 74-year-old Maurice Laboz, had worked with Mr. Arntsen when he was at Buchanan Ingersol and again when at Crowell & Moring. Mr. Arntsen stole from the infirm Mr. Laboz (he had suffered a stroke and was dealing with cardiac troubles) twice: the first in 2010, when he stole $3 million from Regal Real Estate's 1031 account (those funds were the proceeds of a building condemnation award). Mr. Arntsen had used that money to help Doina purchase an office building in Philadelphia, prosecutors said.

He stole from Regal again by stealing the deposits, valued at $4.385 million, from the sale of six buildings in the company's portfolio and transferring the funds to accounts controlled by Mr. Arntsen. 

The attorney spent $2.73 million of the pilfered funds on himself, his family, and his mistress Annalia Gonzalez. He spent $1.6 million to purchase a variety of businesses for his family, including a Pepperidge Farm distributorship and a laundromat. The naughty attorney even splurged on lap dances, spending $41,000 on trips to strip clubs like Rick's Cabaret and Larry Flynt's Hustler Club.

Douglas Arntsen

In the most daring moment of Mr. Arntsen's strange tale, as his clients wised up to his criminal ways, the attorney arranged to meet with an employee of Regal Real Estate, William Punch, to divulge the whereabouts of the firm's stolen funds. Mr. Arntsen invited Mr. Punch to join him to a trip to Hong Kong to recover the money, asking the man to meet him at Chambers Street in Manhattan on September 14, 2011, where they would then drive to Newark Airport together.

Unbeknownst to Mr. Punch, Mr. Arntsen arranged to have James Coleman, a gentleman who had "invested" some of Doina's stolen monies, drive him to Philadelphia, where Mr. Arntsen would fly through Chicago to Hong Kong the night before their scheduled meeting. Mr. Arntsen then instructed his getaway driver to drive to Chambers Street to meet with Mr. Punch the next day. When he arrived to the meeting point, Mr. Coleman was surrounded by law enforcement officials who believed Mr. Arntsen's decoy to be the real McCoy. Alas, the clever thief had already absconded to Hong Kong. He would later be apprehended and returned to New York City.

In court today, he sat in his chair and gave a solemn "yes, your honor" to each one of Judge Konviser's questions.

"Are you pleading guilty because you are, in fact, guilty?" asked Judge Konviser.

"Yes, your honor," Mr. Arntsen replied.

When his court appearance was finished, he was handcuffed yet again and lead out by two bailiffs. He glanced at the empty courtroom, where his father and a handful of reporters were in attendance, as he was being lead out.

drosen@observer.com 

Leasing in the Manhattan market improved overall, with law firms, financial services firms, and media companies contributing to a modest 6 million square feet leased in the third quarter. The result was still 1.4 million square feet fewer than the 7.4 million square feet that was leased in the second quarter of 2012.

Asking rents dropped to $56.44-a-square-foot from $56.99 square feet in the second quarter of 2012. The overall availability rate dropped to 11.5 percent from 11.8 percent in the second quarter.

The lease deal of note was Microsoft's 400,000-square-foot lease at 11 Times Square. 

80 percent of all third-quarter leasing were direct deals. This was an encouraging figure, given that 49 percent of all lease deals were renewals in the second quarter of 2012 (and 32 percent in the first quarter 2012).

"The overall Manhattan office market has seen a change that even just a few short years ago would have seemed implausible," said Joseph Harbert, president of Colliers International.

Asking rents in Midtown North dropped to $67.89-a-square-foot from $69.18-a-square-foot in the previous quarter. In the struggling Plaza district, asking rents dropped 3.2 percent to $79.27-a-square-foot.

Midtown South had a market-low 4.0 percent vacancy rate, while only having an 8 percent availability rate. Average asking rents jumped 7.6 percent to $47.19-a-square-foot.

The Downtown market remained flat, with a slight drop in asking rents and availability rates. Average asking rents dropped to $45.74-a-square-foot from $45.97-a-square-foot in the previous quarter. The availability rate was 16.1 percent, down from 16.6 percent from the second quarter of 2012.

In The Commercial Observer's cover story, overall leasing in Manhattan during 2012 was sluggish due to the approaching presidential election and a disintegrating European economy, among other factors.

drosen@observer.com 

The 31-year-old entrepreneur had seen five of his deals—a mix of office buildings and development sites that, if closed, would have been valued in the millions—go from near-closure to sudden death.

Slow business had already forced him to live off of a family loan that would allow him to stay in his Upper East Side apartment and eat for another six months. But that loan was running out quickly.

The outlook was bleak enough for him to try to drum up new business while simultaneously interviewing at Cushman & Wakefield, Jones Lang LaSalle, and Eastdil Secured for possible jobs as a broker. As each deal collapsed, so too did his hopes for his company’s future.

“I’m a positive guy in general, but when you go through what I went through, it’s not so easy to be positive,” said Mr. Ash.

David Ash.

At his lowest moment, he reached out to Richard Baxter, a vice chairman at Jones Lang LaSalle and a mentor of his, to tell the industry veteran that he was thinking of quitting the firm he had worked so tirelessly to create.

Richard Baxter told Mr. Ash to reconsider. He went on to say that the young man had the mettle to turn Prince Realty Advisors into a thriving new business. His parents told him likewise.

“They understood what I was doing; they also understood that the market was a tough place to be in,” Mr. Ash recalled.
On Jan. 20, he gave himself an ultimatum: he had six months to close a deal. Not bring a deal to contract or continue negotiations. A deal had to be closed, and he had to be paid. If not, he would fold the business and never look back.
“I said, ‘It’s either going to happen or it’s not, and no matter what deals are pending, I am out in six months,’” Mr. Ash recalled.

He was sitting inside a conference room at the offices of the Kaufman Organization, the firm where he launched his real estate career and from which he now subleases office space. Dressed in a sharp gray suit and designer glasses, the boyishly handsome Brooklyn native seemed downright boisterous as he recalled the most despairing moments of his career.

Unexpectedly, right after his self-imposed deadline was set, his business quickly picked up. He had been introduced through a contact of his to Rockie Gajwani, the chief executive of Trevi Retail, a new firm that had the money and the eagerness to start acquiring retail properties. The owner of 106-110 Seventh Avenue, whom Mr. Ash knew, had intimated in the past that the building could eventually be sold. Mr. Ash put the two parties together before the property went onto the open market.
“We fell into a deal together ... they were quick, aggressive, and the right [company] to buy the deal,” said Mr. Ash of Trevi Retail.

The deal was sealed: Trevi Retail purchased 106-110 Seventh Avenue for $30 million.
“I was like, ‘Holy shit!” recalled Mr. Ash.

While Trevi and the seller celebrated the closing over dinner at Crown Restaurant on the Upper East Side, Mr. Ash sat back and marveled at the two parties enjoying a friendly meal.

“My first deal for Prince Realty, it was exactly what I was hoping for,” he said. “They had substantiated to me that what I was doing was worthwhile,” he remembered.

Then came Wednesday, June 20. In that one day, Mr. Ash did $342 million in deals: Equity Residential’s purchase of The Beatrice in Chelsea at 105 West 29th Street for $280 million and HFZ Capital’s $62 million deal for 11 Beach Street, a commercial property the new owner will redevelop.

What was stranger—and sweeter—about the deal was not just the dollar amount, but the timing of it.

“It was at the six-month mark! And really everything came together the right way,” said Mr. Ash.

Things have always had a habit of coming together in the right way for Mr. Ash. The Brooklyn native went to Yeshiva Flatbush, where he excelled as a point guard in basketball. He went to NYU to take business classes while paying most of his way through school by throwing club parties and working odd jobs for jewelry and paper companies.

Considering a career in real estate after finishing college, he reached out to Alicia Popper, then a broker at Murray Hill Properties, and asked for an interview. While it didn’t lead to a paying job at the firm, he eventually found one at the Kaufman Organization. Within the first five months, he found success working alongside Grant Greenspan and others. For the three years he was at Kaufman, Mr. Ash said he was the top producer among the firm’s 25 brokers.

He eventually narrowed his focus from office leasing to retail leasing, bagging True Religion Jeans as a client and bringing it to 132 Prince Street (Mr. Ash named his firm after the Soho street).

Mr. Ash was intrigued by the prospect of working on the sales side. He had come to know owners through his experience working as a retail broker, and while his career at Kaufman was going strong, he saw a bigger long-term opportunity in sales. He decamped Kaufman for a job at Eastern Consolidated at the very end of 2007.

“I left at the worst possible time you can ever leave anywhere,” he said with a laugh. He was at the firm at 2008 for nine months, but the disastrous sales market forced him to strike out on his own and start his firm.

“Part of what I was doing while I was at Eastern was building relationships,” he said. Working as a matchmaker, pairing seller and buyer in a seamless manner, was more intriguing to him than representing a building exclusively.

“For me personally, I just like working in that kind of framework,” he said. “I’m not pitching you on ‘Hey, let me put it out there and try to get you the best price,’” he said. “I created this business model that worked well within what I do well and plays to my strengths, and it also allows me to bring value to both the buyer and seller.”

When launching Prince Realty Advisors, he knew he was going to compete against two tiers of firms, from the Massey Knakals and the Eastern Consoldateds to the CBREs and Eastdil Secureds.

“I’m more of a matchmaker, where I put people together, and it’s a tough road,” he said.

Being a yenta for investors and sellers did not come easily at first. But now with his monster June behind him, Mr. Ash is looking for another round of good deals and good fortune.

He has three more “substantial” deals in the pipeline that are in the contract stage. He has an eye on expanding the size of his company from just himself, his phone and a computer to an associate or two.

While his mind is on finishing deals and future growth, the lesson from the fallow years of his firm has not been lost on him.
“In this business, you’re only good as your last deal,” said Mr. Ash. “I’m trying to do the best I can to use these deals as leverage to substantiate a business model that I truly believe in.”

drosen@observer.com

550 Madison Avenue (photo courtesy of CoStar)

The real estate banking investment firm, which handled Google's $1.8 billion purchase of 111 Eighth Avenue, beat out CBRE, Cushman & Wakefield, and Newmark Grubb Knight Frank for the right to sell 550 Madison Avenue, The New York Post reported. 

Last month, Sony Corp. of America President Nicole Seligman sent an internal email to employees saying that the company would be exploring a potential sale of 550 Madison Avenue, which had "considerable value locked in it."

“Combine that with the current real estate market conditions in New York and interest rates, and it’s wise to at least explore our options in the coming weeks and months,” Ms. Seligman added in her email.

If sold, the 716,660-square-foot building could fetch upwards of $1 billion in the market. Designed by Philip Johnson for AT&T, 550 Madison is famous for its top, which is said to look like a coin slot from a payphone but was just as often compared to a Chippendale dresser. It was the height of postmodern design, landing Johnson on the cover of Time, and it still holds a prominent place in the city's skyline, even if few buildings now follow in its footsteps.

A call to Doug Harmon, senior managing director of Eastdil Secured, was not returned.

drosen@observer.com