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Building Expectations

By Matt Chaban 1/17/12 5:20pm

Building Expectations

6 Photos

757 Third

Aby Rosen's Hidden Jewel

From the moment you walk through the doors of 757 Third Avenue, you know the building is different from the average, anonymous East Side office tower.

One of the lesser works of the monolithic Emery Roth & Sons—they of GM and Look and Pan Am buildings fame—757 Third is the typical wedding-cake office building. A banded obsidian glass curtain wall with those I-beam mullions, it is the sentinel we’ve seen before, cast ever so slightly anew in a thousand business districts the world over. Seagrams lite with a splash of Chase Manhattan.

That is why walking into, or really out of, 757 Third is such a dramatic experience. The 28-story building may have the nicest revolving doors in the entire city. Set into two curving, scythelike glass panels, the building’s egress does not really have an edge, and so when stepping out onto the street through those spinning doors, it is as though the building suddenly disappears. You have left the warm confines of this sleek building and are back on the cold New York City street. You might even stop to gasp at the trick if the door were not coming up behind you, about to deliver a smack in the toosh. Read More

8/02/11 12:13pm

Building Expectations

This way!

More on That Harlem Mini-Development Boom

Harlem might seeing another renaissance if reports by Ariel Property Advisors efforts are any indication; the residential and retail markets appear to be on the upswing.

We’ve noticed a few new condo developments in Harlem cropping up that are aiming at those who want the feel of a luxury building without the hefty cost, and the city’s Economic Development Corporation recently announced the revamping of two run-down commercial properties on West 125th Street. And this renewed developer interest could help alleviate the “housing supply contraints” in the area and boost residential rents and sales.

Other indicators of a strengthening market, per a new report from Ariel Property, are: Read More

By Jotham Sederstrom 7/13/11 1:25pm

Building Expectations

116john

How 116 John Street Became an Apartment Building

Since 2002, Stuart Gross has served as executive managing director at Eastern Consolidated, where he has specialized in complicated restructuring deals and investment sales transactions. Mr. Gross, 58, spoke to The Observer about 116 John Street, until recently one of few remaining office building on a street once teeming with commercial assets. Now, the building is being converted to rental apartments and leasing is expected to begin early next year.

What was the motivation behind converting 116 John Street into a residential building?

Mr. Gross: That was a complicated form of ownership that required some sort of financial engineering. But, as always, that tail should not wag the dog. The real issue had been, what’s the property worth and what’s its highest and best use, and who’s the best person to exploit that use. Read More

By Tom Acitelli 7/05/11 7:04pm

Building Expectations

The Chelsea.

Joseph Chetrit, the Most Mysterious Big Shot in New York Real Estate

One summer Friday in 1994, Ron Cohen, one of the top commercial brokers in New York City, picked up the phone in his office at the old Insignia/ESG, a precursor to today’s mega-brokerage CB Richard Ellis. A man named Joseph Chetrit was cold-calling him about a 16-story office building at 19 West 44th Street that Mr. Cohen’s client was selling.

“Sorry,” Mr. Cohen said. “We don’t work with people we don’t know.”

He hung up and went back to work.

Minutes later, three men walked into Mr. Cohen’s office. They were Joseph Chetrit, his father Simon, and his brother Jacques.

“Well, now you know us,” Joseph said matter-of-factly. Read More

6/29/11 3:33pm

Building Expectations

1633broadwaypropertyshark

Never Mind the Trophies—What About the Other Office Sales?

Eastern Consolidated recently released a report noting that New York office property trades have more than doubled during the second quarter to $4.3 billion, leading us to wonder if the investment-sales market, at least for office properties, really has come back.

But then we noticed something: Major firms with major deals on massive office towers dominate the list, with individual buys valued at hundreds of millions of dollars (which would contribute heftily to that $4.3 billion total). Not surprising, but it makes us wonder how the rest of the market is doing. Read More

By Matt Chaban 6/29/11 1:44pm

Building Expectations

World Financial Center.

At Least a Nomura-Less Brookfield Has the Winter Garden

Nomura has shaken off its tremor-induded indecisiveness and decided it will be moving to Worldwide Plaza from the World Financial Center.

As recently as the middle of May, the major Japanese bank was still waffling between Worldwide Plaza and re-upping at Brookfield’s WFC, and there were even talks about splitting between the two spaces, as The Observer reported at the time. Nomura had been one of the most sought after tenants in the city.

So much for everybody going downtown.

Still, there is promise at the World Financial Center.  Read More

By Tom Acitelli 6/28/11 9:51am

Building Expectations

hardhatarea

The Good News About the Bad Construction News

The Building Congress yesterday came out with an understandably bleak construction report showing sluggish growth during the Great Recession in new office space, among other things, and not holding out too much hope for the rest of 2011. This year, in fact, will mark the first since 2000 with no new office tower opening.

But is that the worst thing in the world for commercial real estate here and for New York City in general? Read More

By Tom Acitelli 6/27/11 9:01am

Building Expectations

How the Lehman-ade gets made.

Lehman Brothers Unloads 200 Fifth to JPMorgan in $700 M. Deal

As expected (we noted last week this would likely happen and soon), Lehman Brothers has agreed to unload its majority stake in the old Toy Building at 200 Fifth Avenue in a deal that values it at about $700 million. It is one of the biggest building sales of 2011 so far, and one of the most significant moves by the croaked investment bank’s holding company in its campaign to liquidate its real estate. The buyer is a wing of JPMorgan. Read More

By Laura Kusisto 6/21/11 10:27am

Building Expectations

drake hotel1

The 10 Most Valuable Development Sites in New York City

Back in February the ground on this island was frozen solid, and not only because we were experiencing a winter worthy of a 19th-century Russian novel. Not counting the World Trade Center site, there was nary a shovel in sight as financing remained sluggish and office leasing was just beginning to pick up.

At that time we wrote: “While the sight of New York City’s 600 stalled construction projects is difficult to ignore, those deep inside the industry say signs of a new boom are beginning to appear.”

That turned out to be true. Read More

By Laura Kusisto 6/15/11 5:49pm

Building Expectations

83 Walker rendering.

A Condo Grows at 83 Walker Street: A Peek

Way under the radar, a lovely new Tribeca condo is growing at 83 Walker Street and The Observer has caught an initial peek.

The new nine-story building by Brooklyn developer Abra has just received a unanimous go-ahead from the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

“It’s a beautiful Tribeca building with a twist,” said architect Morris Read More