The Closing: Miracle on 31st for Durst Fetner; Blackstone’s Billions; Of Course Brokers Are Optimistic

Proposed Soho Business Improvement District’s budget scaled down, co-op and condo owners will have to pay a hefty $1 annual fee. [Crain’s]

The M.T.A. is also adjusting its budget. [Journal]

Durst Fetner can now move ahead with plans for a 500,000-square-feet mixed-use tower on a Herald Square site. [The Real Deal]

Fewer Manhattan parents are fleeing for the suburbs, meaning more upscale kids’ stores are popping up on Madison Avenue. [Real Estate Weekly]

A look inside Bowery House reveals rooms not fit for those with claustrophobia (but the bathrooms have heated floors!) [Curbed NY]

Blackstone Group raised an impressive $3 billion (with a “b”) for a new real estate fund. [Journal]

Thor Equities now officially owns the Scribner Building at 597 Fifth Avenue (which cost them $99 million). [The Real Deal]

Rental or condo? A Brooklyn loft building is having a bit of an identity crisis. [Curbed NY]

Realtors still optimistic about the residential market in N.Y.C. [The Real Deal]

And the Manhattan office market seems to already be faring well. [The Real Deal]

A 23,800-square-foot Tribeca retail condo is going for $9 million. Any takers? [Crain’s]

Construction is complete for 88 Morningside in Harlem and now its ready for closings and tenants to move in. [The Real Deal]