From left: Condominiums at 440 Kent Avenue in Williamsburg, 360 Furman Street in Brooklyn Heights and 1 Main Street in Dumbo

The Brooklyn residential market has exploded over the last decade, with Williamsburg condo prices increasing nearly 150 percent and the average sale price of a Brooklyn Heights townhouse jumping 152 percent, according to aptsandlofts.com’s first ever ten-year sales study.

Other Brooklyn neighborhoods have experienced similarly stratospheric leaps, with Park Slope condominium prices increasing 55 percent from an average of $471,000 in 2003 to $868,000 last year, according to the report. “BoCoCa” (Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens) experienced a 128 percent average sale price jump, from $360,000 to $820,000, while Dumbo condominium sales prices lifted 25 percent from $908,000 in 2003 to $1.14 million last year.

In Bedford-Stuyvesant, there were only 12 condominium sales in 2003 but 132 last year — a 1,000 percent increase — while the average sales price lifted from $310,000 ten years ago to $459,000 in 2013. The number of condo sales similarly lifted in Dumbo from 93 ten years ago to 130 last year, and went from 42 to 219 in so-called “BoCoCa.”

In Park Slope, condo sales were up from 39 to 190, and in Williamsburg 21 condominiums were sold in 2003, compared with 480 last year.

Even in Brooklyn Heights, where the brownstone reigns supreme, condo sales hit 175 last year — up from only 8 ten years ago. — Julie Strickland

Yankee Stadium

The financially-imperiled Yankee Stadium garage company may receive a new taxpayer subsidy of over $200 million if a financial bailout plan designed during the Bloomberg administration is approved.

Major League Soccer announced in May it would form the league’s 20th team in the city, to be jointly owned by Manchester City owner Sheik Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan and the New York Yankees. The partners have put forward a proposal to pay about $25 million for one of the garages on West 153rd Street owned by nonprofit Bronx Parking Development Company, which operates the stadium’s garage system.

But the bailout plan – which was approved on Dec. 18 by Bronx Parking’s board of directors and the holders of its debt – stipulates that the nonprofit will operate rent-free until 2056 on more than 20 acres of city-owned land where its other stadium garages are located, according to the New York Daily News.

Bronx Parking was meant to pay an annual rent of $3.2 million under a 2007 agreement in which it received $237 million in tax-exempt bonds to build the garages. But the company has been struggling to make an income from the garages, and currently owes the city more than $50 million in back rent, taxes and interest, according to the newspaper.

Under the terms of the bailout, the city will lose out on rent of about $150 million, and also forgo the $50 million currently owed, according to the Daily News.

“There is no final restructuring agreement at this point,” Benjamin Branham, a spokesperson for the city’s Economic Development Corporation, said in a statement last week to the newspaper. [NYDN] – Hiten Samtani

From left: Fellow Barber’s 5 Horatio Street location and the main concourse of the Barclays Center

Fellow Barber, a Lower East Side barber shop with outposts in Williamsburg and Lower Manhattan, has teamed up with GQ magazine to open a fourth New York City location in Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.

The new shop, located on the center’s main concourse and open during sporting events and concerts, is slated to open Jan. 10 during the Nets versus the Miami Heat basketball game.

“We are really excited to join forces with exceptional partners like GQ and Barclays Center,” Sam Buffa, a Fellow Barber co-founder, said in a statement cited by DNAinfo. “On-site we will be able to offer an entirely new audience the opportunity to experience specialty services from our talented barber team.” [DNAinfo] — Julie Strickland

2101 Broadway (Photo credit: Google)

The Midtown-based investment company Madison Capital purchased scores of unexpired leases formerly held by the bankrupt department store Loehmann’s, including a large lease on the Upper West Side, court records show.

Madison, headed by Richard Wagman and Joseph Jacobson, acquired the leases as part of a two-day auction held in Manhattan on Jan. 3 and 4, according to papers filed today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

Though the price was not disclosed, industry sources said the firm paid $7.5 million for the leases, including one with 37,157 square feet in the Ansonia at 2101 Broadway at 73rd Street. That lease was valued at $5 million of the total purchase price, insiders said, in part because it has four five-year extension options.

Madison Capital declined to comment. The sale is subject to court approval, with a hearing scheduled for tomorrow.

Madison Capital is an active retail investor. It paid $130 million last month for retail units from Westbrook Partners at 235 West 75th Street on the Upper West Side and at 301 West 53rd Street in Hell’s Kitchen. In addition, the firm is currently developing 19 East Houston Street, between Broadway and Crosby Street in Soho, where it plans to construct a six-story office and retail building.

Loehmann’s had approximately 40 leases nationwide, including three in New York City. The most expensive annual rent payment in the city was the Ansonia lease, with an annual rent of $2.35 million. The other city leases were at 5740 Broadway in the Bronx, which had an annual rent of about $750,000 for 30,000 square feet, and 2807 East 21st Street in Sheepshead Bay, with 27,789 square feet with an annual rent of about $733,750. Loehmann’s had another lease at 101 Seventh Avenue, but Barneys has now snapped up that site.

Loehmann’s filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Dec. 15.

Bitcoin

Bond New York is not only accepting Bitcoin as payment for real state transactions, it may soon pay its agents with the burgeoning online currency. But as Bitcoin is increasingly used in lieu of cash for real-world transactions, questions about regulation and transparency are swirling.

The value of the web currency is determined by its users and was conceived in an effort to separate monetary transactions from government control. Most real estate companies accepting Bitcoin will likely use the online currency as a peer-to-peer platform rather than accept the currency directly, William Norton of law firm Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz told Law360.

“As long as they can quickly and efficiently accept payments and exchange them back for dollars, [companies] are willing to do it,” Baker said. “It’s a way for them to reduce their transaction cost.”

But using the currency in this way, he said, may open brokers up to state money transfer business laws or even the Patriot Act, which requires banks to monitor the identity of their customers and how they move money around. The use of Bitcoin is supposed to provide anonymity, a feature that clashes with such laws.

In New York, the state Department of Financial Services has an inquiry underway to examine whether the new currency merits the formation of new and different rules, while Washington lawmakers are in the midst of hearings to determine how to regulate Bitcoin.

“The theory is, you can’t have it both ways,” James Jalil, a partner with Thompson Hine who specalizes in cybercurrency and securities, told Law360. “The Bitcoin community can’t say it’s money and should be accepted as currency, and at the same time say it’s not money when it comes to money transfer situations.” [Law360] — Julie Strickland

Images of 41 West 11th Street and Adam Neumann

Adam Neumann, the founder of collaborative workspace provider WeWork, has a new transaction to add to his repertoire, but this time it’s not for office space. Neumann, along with his actress and filmmaker wife Rebekah Paltrow Neumann (a cousin of Gwyneth), bought a townhouse at 41 West 11th Street for $10.5 million, according to city records filed today.

The home is located between Fifth and Sixth avenues in the Greenwich Village. Sara Gelbard, Paul Kolbuzs and Christopher Infante of the Corcoran Group had the listing for the nearly 23-foot-wide property. The home first hit the market in December 2012 for $11.995 million and underwent some price cuts until reaching its final ask of $10.9 million this past July, according to StreetEasy.

The sale entered contract in early August and transferred in late November, according to the deed.

The home was built in 1847 in the Greek Revival style, according to the listing. It boasts seven wood-burning fireplaces and original hardwood flooring. The parlor alone has full-height windows and plaster rosettes. There are six bedrooms, 5.5 bathrooms, and the home is configured as an owners’ triplex topped with a guest suite.

“It’s a beautiful house with lots of details,” Kolbuzs told The Real Deal.

Infante declined comment. Gelbard did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A representative for Neumann did not immediately respond to a request seeking confirmation and comment.

Israel native Neumann has had quite the year with WeWork. The company’s on track to become the city’s fifth-largest office tenant, as previously reported.

His company is also looking to add a 500,000-square-foot space at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and, as of November, was in advanced talks to take all 300,000 square feet of Rudin Management’s 110 Wall Street. In September, the company inked an 86,000-square-foot lease at 25 Broadway, as The Real Deal reported. In March, WeWork took over 120,000 square feet at 222 Broadway in a deal that was valued at roughly $75.7 million, as The Real Deal also reported.

And in 2012, Neumann acquired the rights to buy the top 25 floors of the iconic Woolworth Building for $68 million.

The seller is listed as Rick Bierman, a real estate attorney, who bought the townhouse in September of 1987 and raised his family there. With his kids grown, he said it’s time for he and his wife Kathy to downsize.

“I’m very happy that the Neumanns are buying and let me tell you why: They’re a family,” he said.

Aby Rosen and 610 Lexington Avenue (Credit: SLCE)

RFR Realty’s planned hotel and condominium tower at 610 Lexington Avenue appears to be hanging onto design plans from SLCE Architects, despite the Midtown East rezoning flop that will ultimately limit the structure’s height and width.

The ultimate tower will now be a total of 303,000 square feet, according to new building permits cited by New York Yimby. The total height is to be 65 floors, or 712 feet, according to the documents — a slight jump over the previously-planned 60 stories. The top two floors will be used as a mechanical space, and the residential units will sit between floors 52 and 63, above a hotel.

Aby Rosen’s RFR borrowed $144.2 million from Lehman Brothers Holdings for a 64-story hotel, the original plan for the site, in 2007. The project then stalled during the credit crisis, with Lehman transferring the loans to ING Real Estate in 2008. Shangri-La Hotel then withdrew from the project in 2009, and ING filed to foreclose on the loan two months later. To keep the property, RFR made a deal with ING to buy a $144 million loan against the site. [New York Yimby] — Julie Strickland

Melissa Mark-Viverito

East Harlem City Council member Melissa Mark-Viverito’s handling of a 2007 rezoning bid is, for her constituents, representative of both the likely council speaker’s persistence and tendency to polarize.

The debate, which centered on nonprofit Jewish Home Lifecare’s bid to demolish its 106th Street buildings and replace them with two new structures, was an amalgamation of real estate issues a council speaker confronts regularly, including land use proposals, community anger and campaign contributions that come along following a government action. Directly following a two-year wrangle over new Upper West Side building height restrictions, residents were surprised to find Mark-Viverito strongly supporting the Jewish Home project.

“I was blindsided,” Sheldon Fine, then the chairman of Community Board 7, told the New York Times. “Her focus was not a conciliatory one.”

Mark-Viverito, for her part, defends her role in the proposal, saying her interest is always “to bring people to the table, make sure all sides are being listened to and arrive at some level of midpoint.”

The affair left some of her constituents frustrated, while her supporters say she worked tirelessly and fairly.

“After the deal came down, we wanted to be part of the process, and without her we would have been shut out,” Haydee Rosario, president of the 145-147th West 105th Street Housing Development Corporation board of directors, which neighbored the nursing home, told the Times. Mark-Viverito, she added, worked to maintain a connection between the community and the nursing home. [NYT] — Julie Strickland

From left: Gary Barnett, the Belnord at 201 West 86th Street

Extell Development has asked an appeals court to reargue a decision in favor of a tenant at the Belnord, a rent-stabilized building on the Upper West Side, which invalidated an unusual agreement between the owner and dozens of residents.

A five-judge panel in the state Appellate Division ruled in November that the defendant, Jonathan Vincent, was protected from Extell’s bid to evict him by existing rent control laws. But the decision went a step further, tossing an agreement between the Belnord tenants’ association and the building’s previous owner in which the residents gave up some of their rights under rent-stabilization rules, including those related to succession rights, in exchange for vastly extended leases.

Extell filed papers to reargue the case, which will be reviewed starting on Jan. 10. If the Court of Appeals grants Extell’s request, the tenants association, which was not initially involved in the case, may be allowed to intervene.

Vincent, who lived at the 201 West 86th Street building since 2007, is the grandson of a long-time tenant who moved to a nursing home in 2009. Extell filed to evict them in 2011, saying the apartment was no longer her primary residence and that he was not the “tenant of record.”

Extell cited a 2006 agreement it signed with the Belnord Landmark Conservancy, which represents tenants at the building. The agreement gave existing tenants 49-year leases in return for a single increase in base rent, plus annual increases of 5 percent. The agreement also limited succession rights, and was approved by the state Division of Housing and Community Renewal, which regulates rental apartments.

In its appeal, Extell claimed that throwing out the agreement would actually hurt existing tenants. They noted that Vincent’s grandmother signed the 2006 agreement, and he never challenged the deal; moreover, the court did not hear testimony from the DHCR.

“We’re asking the court to reconsider its decision,” said Magda Cruz, an attorney with Belkin Burden Wenig & Goldman, which represents Extell.

Robert Levy, attorney for the Belnord Landmark Conservancy, which was not a party to the original case, noted that the November ruling was made without direct input from the tenants or the DHCR.

“The primary issue raised in the litigation — whether the defendant did or did not have succession rights — could have been resolved without implicating the agreement and certainly without the abrogation of the agreement or the order,” Levy wrote in court documents filed to intervene in the case.

However, lawyers for Vincent and his grandmother argued that a private agreement cannot be used to get around the law.

“Somebody thought that if they could get the DHCR to rubber stamp an otherwise void agreement to waive rent regulation, that the public policy considerations enunciated by this and other courts could be circumvented,“ wrote Robert Grimble, an attorney at Grimble & LoGuidice, which represents Vincent and his grandmother.

A spokesperson for DHCR did not return calls.

The Washington Post’s headquarters

From the January issue: In this month’s roundup of real estate news from across the nation, TRD first heads to Washington, D.C., where the Washington Post’s longtime headquarters is being sold to Carr Properties for $159 million. We then turn to news on Starwood Capital Group’s Barry Sternlicht, who picked up a $1.6 billion majority interest in seven shopping malls located in Ohio, Indiana, California and Washington State. Click here to read these items and more.

15 Central Park West and unit 27C

Bunker Hill Properties is selling a three-bedroom condominium at the Zeckendorfs-developed 15 Central Park West for $25 million, an asking price that would yield an $11 million profit if purchased for that amount.

The former owner acquired it for $7.86 million in 2007, then flipped it for $14 million the next year. Bunker Hill has been the 2,761-square-foot unit’s owner since then. Susan Barkin of Barkin & Associates has the listing.

The $9,054-per-square-foot ask makes the condo the fifth most expensive apartment on the market in the city, Curbed reported, citing StreetEasy data.

There are several restrictions for residents at the 202-unit building, including no bicycles transported through the the main entrance, nothing to be hung from windowsills, no playing or lounging in the entrances, and no barbecuing in the units. [Curbed] — Mark Maurer

Jolly Rancher on 5Pointz

1. Plan proposes protecting Manhattan with garbage-filled shipping containers [Curbed]
2. Jolly Rancher tweets “5 Pointz untamed” for some reason, then takes it back [Gothamist]
3. Chef Agency restaurant consultant spends $23 million to revive Paramount Hotel nightclub [NYP]
4. Jackson Heights rezoning proposed to relieve overcrowded middle schools [DNAinfo]
5. Real estate disrupters are 2014′s hot investment tickets [Forbes]
6. Google lawyer picks up $1.75 million Park Slope condo [NYO] – Julie Strickland

Mayor Bill de Blasio (center) and his family

New York City real estate can sometimes feel like a blood sport, with a host of rivals vying to get the upper hand. Luckily, here at The Real Deal, we have a ringside seat. And in 2013, the industry did not disappoint. Office towers traded for more than $1 billion, retail rents cracked $3,000 per square foot, and $100 million became the new $50 million in residential listings. The Midtown East rezoning came and went, as did more than one commercial brokerage CEO. And let’s not forget that little matter of the mayoral election. Read on for the editorial staff’s picks of the biggest stories of the year.

New York City elections
The New York City mayoral election was bound to be the biggest story of the year, regardless of who emerged as the victor. But when a progressive politician from Park Slope jumped to the head of the pack — buoyed by a TV spot featuring his Afro’d son — suddenly the voters’ Bloomberg fatigue found an outlet. Bill de Blasio won just about 40 percent of the primary votes (Bill Thompson eventually conceded the primary) and went on to trounce former Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Joe Lhota. But de Blasio, formerly the city public advocate, sets the teeth of some developers and landlords on edge — and they did not go down without a fight. As a host of candidates volleyed to sway voters (remember Anthony Weiner?), real estate bigwigs poured millions of dollars into the race and developers rushed to tie up city approvals before a new man (or woman) arrived at City Hall. When it came to the City Council races, the Real Estate Board of New York lost no time in getting involved, funneling money for attacks ads through its political action committee, Jobs for New York, even if the would-be electeds themselves rejected REBNY’s support. Looking ahead, de Blasio wants to create 50,000 units of affordable housing in eight years; appointed Alicia Glen, head of urban investment for Goldman Sachs, as deputy mayor for housing and economic development; and signaled concerns about a plan to build a $380 million soccer stadium in the Bronx. No matter whether you support de Blasio or label him a Commie (as many TRD commenters have), there’s no question change is afoot for the industry.

Nine-figure residential listings
In 2012, New York City got its first $100 million residential listing when Stephen Klar put his octagonal triplex at the CitySpire building at 150 West 56th Street on the market.

The living room of 12 East 69th Street

While brokers scoffed at the asking price, the nine-figure listing heralded a sea change for the luxury market, or at least inspired sellers to get gutsy. As inventory continued to plummet — it reached record lows at the end of 2012, and dropped still further in 2013 — homeowners pushed the boundaries at the tippy top of the market. In April, hedge funder Steven Cohen listed his penthouse at One Beacon Court for $115 million (he’s since cut the price to $98 million); Barbara Digan Zweig, the wife of the late stockbroker Martin Zweig, put the triplex penthouse at the Pierre hotel on the market for $125 million (now available for $95 million); the River House offered a planned, 62,000-square-foot conversion of its clubhouse as a $130 million private residence; and just last month, a pair of Upper East Side homeowners listed their mansion at 12 East 69th Street for $114 million. While none of these units has sold, the blockbuster asks have trickled down to the rest of the luxury market: listings at One57, 432 Park Avenue,15 Central Park West and the Sherry Netherland have all asked more than $90 million, and price tags for trophy units at new developments like Walker Tower, One Madison, Baccarat Hotel & Residences and the Carlton House — and even some older developments like the Plaza, the Time Warner Center and Trump Soho — commonly top $50 million.

Billion-dollar office tower deals
The Manhattan office market is no stranger to billion-dollar trades, but after a relatively quiet period following the economic downturn, they roared back to life in 2013. First, Sony revealed that it would sell its U.S. headquarters at 550 Madison Avenue for $1.1 billion to the Chetrit Group.

550 Madison Avenue

Zhang Xin, CEO of Beijing-based real estate developer Soho China, and M. Safra & Company slapped down $1.4 billion for a 40 percent stake in the GM Building at 767 Fifth Avenue, valuing the office tower at $3.4 billion — the highest in the country. As part of its acquisition of NBC, the media giant Comcast paid $1.3 billion for 51 condos at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Crown Acquisitions and Highgate Holdings bought 650 Madison Avenue, between 59th and 60th streets, from private equity giant the Carlyle Gourp in a deal valued at $1.29 billion. The Related Companies agreed to pay $1.3 billion to Time Warner to acquire its headquarters in the Columbus Circle complex that Related developed. And in November, American Realty Capital acquired 48.9 percent of 1 Worldwide Plaza from a partnership of George Comfort & Sons, DRA Advisors, RCG Longview and Ramius Capital for $1.45 billion. While none of the deals has quite topped Google’s $1.8 billion acquisition of 111 Eighth Avenue at the end of 2010, the spate of deals marks a turnaround for the market.

The Empire State Building

Empire State Building IPO
Malkin Holdings’ bid to wrap up the Empire State Building in a newly formed real estate investment trust was bound to be controversial. But rather than upsetting the millions of visitors who ascend to the historic structure’s observation deck every year, the plan lit a fire under some of the roughly 2,800 investors who control the building. A handful sued to block the initial public offering, later settling with Malkin Holdings for $55 million. Then, after the firm ginned up the necessary shareholder votes in May, several would-be investors made unsolicited offers for the tower. Joe Sitt, Rubin Schron, a partnership of Joseph Tabak and Philip Pilevsky, and even a little-known player from San Francisco, made various bids, some of which topped $2 billion. Regardless, on Oct. 2, Malkin Holdings went ahead with the IPO, debuting shares of the Empire State Realty Trust at $13 per share on the New York Stock Exchange. Not only did the IPO affect one of the city’s most recognizable structures and create a new REIT, it also provided some of the most exciting real estate drama of the year. And despite a lackluster start, the stock price rose in recent weeks, closing at $14.86 per share on Friday. Meanwhile, some shareholders continue to wage battle against the IPO, filing another suit claiming they lost hundreds of millions of dollars through the offering.

Executive upheaval
The upper echelons of commercial real estate brokerages and real estate investment trusts don’t often see the kind of shuffling of leadership that they did in 2013. Michael Fascitelli abruptly stepped down as the CEO of Vornado Realty Trust, handing over the reins to Chairman Steven Roth.

Michael Fascitelli

Meanwhile, Mort Zuckerman took the opposite route at Boston Properties, handing off the chief executive job to Owen Thomas, formerly of Lehman Brothers Holdings, and assuming the role of executive chairman. Likewise, Bruce Ratner moved over to chair Forest City Ratner, promoting MaryAnne Gilmartin to CEO from executive vice-president of commercial and residential development. And Glenn Rufrano vacated the corner office of Cushman & Wakefield in June, surprising many in the industry. His replacement, announced last month, is Edward Forst, formerly the global co-head of Goldman Sachs’ investment management division. Rufrano since resumed a position as chairman and CEO of Manhattan-based real estate investment firm O’Connor Capital Partners. Though their reasons for leaving varied, the changing of the guard will no doubt have reverberating effects in 2014 and beyond.

Zillow acquired StreetEasy in August

Zillow buys StreetEasy
Zillow’s acquisition of StreetEasy for $50 million in August was more than just one real estate listings provider buying a competitor: With no comprehensive multiple-listing service in New York City, StreetEasy became a go-to database for brokers and consumers alike. For the Seattle-based Zillow, the purchase represented a way to crack the tough New York City market. But some industry observers here eyed the national listings site as an interloper that would defang StreetEasy’s local usefulness. Immediately, StreetEasy replaced CEO and co-founder Michael Smith with Susan Daimler, the general manager of Zillow New York, and closed its offshoots in Miami, Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia. In the following months, executives such as Sofia Song, the vice president of research, departed, and several employees were laid off shortly after the firm’s holiday party. Whether the move proves detrimental for StreetEasy in the long run remains to be seen, but the deal will no doubt have a lasting impact on the landscape for real estate data in 2014.

Dolly Lenz leaves Elliman
It’s rare that a New York City real estate broker makes a name for herself across the country, but such as the sustained success of Dolly Lenz that when she left Douglas Elliman in June, national news outlets picked up the story.

Dolly Lenz

(Of course, her appearances on CNBC don’t hurt.) The reasons for the split are still murky, as is the impact on Elliman’s bottom line. While Lenz was the brokerages’ top producer for years — she eventually bowed out of the firm’s annual awards — some speculated that her commission split was so high that she didn’t generate all that much revenue for Elliman. Nevertheless, she set up shop as Dolly Lenz Real Estate, taking some of her listings and 10 other brokers with her, including her husband, Aaron. While it remains to be seen exactly how she will fare independently, by November she had some $384 million in listings — and her performance is likely to continue to set tongues wagging in 2014.

Dan Gardonick, who ultimately decided not to support the Midtown East rezoning, and Midtown East

Midtown East rezoning
Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plan to rezone a 73-block swath of Midtown East — first proposed in July 2012 and approved by the City Planning Commission last September — was intended to correct aging office stock in the city’s core by allowing for taller skyscrapers. The proposal also called for more flexible air rights transfers and a fund that would go toward infrastructure improvements in the district. And yet, despite a year of concessions to critics, including allowing for 20 percent residential use in new buildings and a different spending structure for neighborhood improvements, a lack of City Council support nixed the the plan at the eleventh hour. Not only did the apparent demise of the rezoning put building owners in limbo (quashing SL Green Realty’s plans to build a 65-story office tower near Grand Central Terminal, called One Vanderbilt, for example), it also seemed to underscore Bloomberg’s waning influence. Mayor Bill de Blasio has vowed to revisit the proposal, but it will surely not exist in the same form, if it ever does pass the new crop of council members.

National retailers flock to Brooklyn
The fact that Brooklyn real estate is booming is now so widely acknowledged, it’s almost a cliché. Brooklyn rents, seemingly unaffected by a typical winter slowdown, are rising faster than those in Manhattan. And that is in no small part thanks to the national retailers that have blown into the borough, picking up speed in 2013. Perhaps the biggest indicator of change came last month, when Whole Foods opened in Gowanus, an industrial area best known for its heavily polluted canal.

J. Crew

The move, obsessively chronicled on real estate blogs, followed H&M and Sephora opening in Downtown Brooklyn, while Nordstrom Rack confirmed a location in the area. J. Crew and Splendid opened in Cobble Hill. And, much to the chagrin of locals, Dunkin Donuts opened in Williamsburg. The trend shows no signs of slowing down: rumors that Apple will launch in the borough have surfaced once again.

Retail rents crack the “crystal” ceiling
New York City’s retail properties have been on fire for some time now, but 2013 was the year that store rents took off. Indeed, along the tony stretch of Fifth Avenue, they cracked the so-called crystal ceiling of $3,000 per square foot. Between 49th and 59th streets, retail asking rents reached $3,170 per square foot in the fall, an 18 percent jump over the previous year, according to the most recent report from the Real Estate Board of New York. Meanwhile, Madison Avenue rents (between 57th and 72nd streets) spiked 42 percent over the previous fall, hitting $1,380 per square foot. The hot retail market in 2013 was enough to sway office building buyers — Haim Chera of Crown Acquisitions, for example, cited the lucrative retail in 650 Madison Avenue as a main reason to buy the mixed-use tower — and to persuade retailers to look farther afield of typical shopping districts, such as farther north on Madison Avenue.

Michael Shvo

Honorable mentions: Michael Shvo buys a gas station in West Chelsea to build art-focused luxury condominiums — and some worry that a bubble is back. Brothers Frank and Michael Ring finally sell their coveted but dilapidated portfolio of office buildings. Mayor Bloomberg plans a micro-unit building in Kips Bay. Housing inventory in New York falls to record lows, and then falls again. The state passes new rules for broker titles, leaving some senior vice presidents wondering how they’ll stand out. A stampede of residential skyscrapers comes to 57th Street, making over a formerly lackluster stretch of Midtown. Jared Kushner goes on a buying spree in the East Village and Dumbo. JPMorgan Chase reaches a record-setting $13 billion deal with the feds, putting to bed claims over faulty mortgages. Luis D. Ortiz is fired from Keller Williams NYC amid a reality television backlash among some of the city’s brokerages. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman cracks down on Airbnb’s short-term rental business; Airbnb fights back with a PR campaign.

Adrian Gore and 737 Park Avenue

South African multimillionaire Adrian Gore, founder of global health insurance provider Discovery Limited, picked up a new condominium at Macklowe Properties’ 737 Park Avenue for $11.45 million, according to property records filed with the city today.

The three-bedroom, three-bathroom unit on the 15th floor was asking $12.5 million. It has been in contract since April, according to StreetEasy. The apartment has 2,915 square feet and is a combination of two units. There is also a powder room, heated flooring in the master bedroom, and a Varenna eat-in kitchen.

Gore’s attorney Peter Rosenberg and Jarrett White, marketing director for Macklowe, respectively declined to comment.

Macklowe bought the prewar Upper East Side site with Los Angeles-based private equity firm CIM Group in August 2011 for $360 million, then converted the property into high-end condos. The 21-story, 108-unit property at East 71st Street features a fitness center, bicycle storage and a live-in superintendent.

The building secured more than $250 million in sales as of November. It has been in the thick of several lawsuits involving long-term rental tenants in the building, including one who allegedly ran a bed and breakfast from her apartment and another who Macklowe aimed to evict for allegedly limiting construction.

As of 2011, Gore was named the 34th wealthiest person in Africa with a net worth of $280 million, according to Forbes magazine’s annual list. Discovery is best known for its incentive-based Vitality healthcare program, which rewards members with inexpensive flights and discounts for those who regularly visit the gym and eat vegetables.

Also in 2011, Gore purchased a penthouse condo at the Related Companies’ 22-story tower the Brompton, at 205 East 85th Street, for $6.1 million, property records show.

Menachem Stark (right) with his wife and son

The family and tenants of slain Williamsburg developer Menachem Stark hosted a press conference today demanding justice for his brutal murder and pledged a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of his killers. But as the search continues, members of the real estate community are speaking out, illuminating a complex image of the late businessman.

The death sent shockwaves through the ultra-Orthodox Satmar Hasidic community, whose leaders described Stark as equal parts gregarious and generous. But a look at Stark’s track record over his roughly 1,000-apartment portfolio – the majority of which he owned with partner Israel Perlmutter — certainly suggests mixed results as a landlord and real estate player.

“He has been a person that couldn’t say no — that was his problem,” said Rabbi David Niederman, the executive director of United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg. “I’m so heartbroken I couldn’t face myself.”

Stark was abducted late Thursday night from outside his office at 333 Rutledge Street by two suspects, according to police reports, and his charred corpse was found in a dumpster in Great Neck the following afternoon. Once the victim was positively identified as Stark, police informed his wife of the murder on Saturday afternoon. Stark is survived by his wife and seven children.

Menachem Stark (seated with infant) and his family

“I was actually at his house when they were notified,” Abraham Buxbaum, Stark’s brother-in-law and his partner on seven of his buildings in the Williamsburg-Bushwick-Greenpoint area, told The Real Deal. “It was a terrible scene. [The family] was hysterical beyond description. You can imagine how a child and wife would react.”

Buxbaum was among the more than 1,000 people who attended the funeral Saturday evening at Lodiner Bais Medrash synagogue in Williamsburg. “I don’t remember ever being at a funeral like that,” Buxbaum said. “It was jam-packed for blocks.”

But the city’s tabloids have had a field day with the dramatic murder, most notably the New York Post, which opted to go with a front-page story with the headline, “Who didn’t want him dead?” The story chronicled a long list of Stark’s alleged enemies – from disgruntled tenants to partners on real estate deals that went sour.

Indeed, some tenants might paint a dark picture of Stark. In 2006, for example, he bought the seedy single-room-occupancy Greenpoint Hotel at 1109 Manhattan Avenue, but despite hiking the rents by up to $200 per unit, failed to improve living conditions, according to a New York Times story published at the time.

And some tenants described Stark’s seven-story, 74-unit rental building at 100 South 4th Street, between Berry Street and Bedford Avenue, as a “nightmare,” according to landlord reviews on the website Yelp.

“Think of every terrible stereotype and characterization you can possibly imagine when the phrase ‘New York City slumlords’ enters your head,” wrote Jay F. on Yelp. “Be comfortable in the fact that Southside Associates embodies every single one of these attributes,” he continued, referring to Southside Associates LLC, a company owned by Stark and Perlmutter.

But other tenants at 100 South 4th Street, such as three-year resident Jordan Brown, told The Real Deal that his experience with Stark as a landlord was “overwhelmingly positive.” The building was well maintained, he added, and Stark was known as a jovial and kindly character throughout the neighborhood. “He saw me walking on the street and drove me home once — that’s just the kind of guy he was.”

Melissa Manning, a commercial tenant at a Stark-owned building at 467 Troutman Street, said that Stark was a friendly landlord who gave her a good deal on her roughly 6,000-square-foot space. “In Brooklyn, people know the value of their properties, but he was really flexible and not at all money-hungry.”

A broker who foreclosed on four of Stark’s properties said that he was a hardball negotiator, but seemed like a straightforward person.

Perlmutter, whom sources told The Real Deal was helping the detectives with their investigation from shortly after the kidnapping until Sunday, was unavailable for comment.

“I don’t think he is mentally prepared to speak yet,” Buxbaum said.

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams called a press conference on Sunday to take the Post to task for its story and demand an apology from the newspaper. And an op-ed article titled “Death of a ‘Slumlord’ a Teaching Moment” that chronicled Stark’s numerous failings as a landlord was published on the website the Jewish Press this morning, but was removed shortly after publication.

To be sure, Stark had more than his fair share of legal troubles related to his property holdings, the most notable of which was a June 2011 suit filed by CWCapital Asset Management to recover $29 million lent on 100 South 4th Street in 2007, as The Real Deal reported.

Buxbaum conceded that Stark had several business and financial problems over the years, but always stayed within the legal system to resolve his issues.

“Yes, Menachem was a shrewd and tough businessman, and tried do everything legally possible to hold on to whatever he was able to,” Buxbaum said. “If you don’t like what someone did, you take them to court. You don’t kill them.”

140 East 51st Street

A fire broke out in a Midtown office building Monday, causing several top floors to be evacuated.

Firefighters responded to a call from 140 East 51st Street at 2:11 p.m., officials told the New York Daily News. No injuries were reported, and fire officials told the Daily News that evacuations were taken as a cautionary procedure in case of carbon monoxide. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, but was likely either a blown transformer or came from a nearby manhole, an FDNY spokesperson told Gothamist.

As of 3:16 p.m., West 51st Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues was closed while firefighters battled the flames.

The 23-story tower, constructed in 1963, is owned by a Hartford, Conn.-based LLC called 135 West 50th Street Investors. The entity purchased the property from 14 East 60th Street Associates in 2012 for $279 million, according to city records. [NYDN] and [Gothamist] — Julie Strickland

From left: 195 Broadway, 1 World Trade Center

New York City’s technology firms are moving to Lower Manhattan in favor of cheaper rents and other perks, according to data from brokerage Jones Lang LaSalle that shows the office space they leased doubled in 2013.

In total, tech companies leased about 234,000 square feet of Downtown space last year, up from about 93,000 square feet in 2012, according to the data.

Among those relocating, so-called “creative” companies, like Conde Nast (1 World Trade Center) and Harper Collins (195 Broadway), stand out — more of them have moved Downtown than any other industry, according to Crain’s.

“These creative companies and tech companies are working together more and more and they employ the same talent pool,” said Sean Black, a JLL broker who compiled the data in their report. “You’re seeing companies go downtown because that’s where the talent is that they want to hire.”

Tech tenants are specifically looking for a far-from-corporate atmosphere, as The Real Deal reported, and smooth public transportation. Downtown Brooklyn, another neighborhood that fits the bill, tried enticing tech firms to set up shop by repurposing space for them last summer.  [Crain’s] – Angela Hunt

CoreLogic house prices (Credit: Capital Economics via Business Insider)

Home prices, including distressed sale, climbed 11.8% year-over-year in November 2013, marking the 21st straight month of year-over-year increases, according to CoreLogic’s latest home price report.

Excluding distressed sales, home prices edged up 0.3% month-over-month in November compared to October.

From left: Kent Swig and 740 Park Avenue

UPDATED, 12:53 p.m., January 7: Developer Kent Swig’s ex-wife Elizabeth has listed the co-op the couple once shared at the ultra-exclusive 740 Park Avenue for $32.5 million.

Brown Harris Stevens’ John Burger has the listing for the 16-room duplex, located at Park Avenue between East 71st and East 72nd streets. The five-bedroom unit boasts hardwood flooring, high ceilings, a private elevator and a wood-burning fireplace.

The unit is currently owned by Elizabeth Swig, a source familiar with the listing told The Real Deal, with which the couple had previously been associated  since at least 1997, according to city records. It was not immediately clear how much they paid for the pad, or whether either of them still live there.

In a state court suit filed last year, Swig’s ex alleged that he used $12.5 million that he borrowed against the apartment to settle business debts, rather than paying off an earlier $5 million and “tid[ing] them over through the bad market,” as he supposedly promised. The alleged deception and misuse of the funds put the couple’s 740 Park home – valued at $26 million at the time – at risk, Elizabeth said in court papers.

Elizabeth, the daughter of mega-developer Harry Macklowe, who was Swig’s boss for a time following their 1987 marriage, had to turn to her famous father in order to salvage the home. The Macklowes have also sued Swig, alleging that he defaulted on a $200,000 personal loan they made to him back in 2009.

Swig has also been engaged recently in a lawsuit with JPMorgan Chase to block the sale of 90 Broad Street, though he settled that last month.

Swig did not immediately responded to requests for comment, and John Burger declined to comment on the listing.

The buyer will have plenty of high-profile company at 740 Park Avenue, including billionaire David Koch, Blackstone chairman and CEO Stephen Schwarzman and bridal designer extraordinaire Vera Wang.

Menachem Stark

The investigation into the grisly murder of Williamsburg developer Menachem Stark has taken a dramatic turn, with his business partner Israel Perlmutter reportedly now considered a possible suspect in the case.

Police investigators are watching Perlmutter’s activities closely, a police source told the New York Daily News, because they are convinced he has been lying to them about Stark and has been using a Russian businessman as a scapegoat.

Detectives told the News that they believe Stark was squashed to death. “It might be that they sat on him to get him under control and that they wound up killing him that way,” a police source told the newspaper.

As the search for Stark’s killers continues, members of the real estate community are speaking out, illuminating a complex image of the late developer, as The Real Deal reported. [NYDN] – Hiten Samtani