A rendering of Seward Park

From the June issue: In this month’s roundup of government news affecting the real estate industry, TRD looks into the bid process for the Seward Park site on the Lower East Side. Some of the city’s top developers — such as Forest City Ratner and Related Companies — submitted bids for the parcel. We also check in on the Hurricane Sandy aftermath, with news of thousands of owners of damaged co-ops being denied Federal aid. The reason? The government classifies co-ops as businesses, not personal property. Click here to see these stories and more.

432 Park Avenue

1. Take a look inside 432 Park Avenue – new interior renderings revealed [Curbed]
2. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Colonial Properties Trust teaming up to form $8.6B REIT [Law360]
3. One Hanson Place penthouse in Fort Greene in contract [Curbed]
4. Novogratz clan townhouse at 400 West Street asks $18.5 million [Curbed]
5. Glencore and Blackstone consider 59 percent stake in Rio Tinto’s ore operations [WSJ]
6. The micro apartment craze sweeps the nation [Reuters via Business Insider]
7. Units at Two Trees’ rental conversion at 30 Washington Street in Dumbo now on the market [Brownstoner]
8. Parks advocacy group pitches an inaugural neighborhood improvement district for Tribeca [Crain’s]
9. Observing the progress of 1 World Trade Center from around the city [NYT]
10. Fanfare fades from Archie Bunker home in Queens despite passing of Jean Stapleton [NYT]
11. Dan Harron joins Thor Equities as senior vice president [Press Release]
12. We Are Gowanus advocacy group shows possible impact of Rock & Roll Playhouse: VIDEO [Pardon Me for Asking]
13. Despite Marcus Garvey Village, Brownsville housing struggles [NYT]
14. Five-story, 14-unit residential building headed to corner of Putnam and Bedford avenues in Bed-Stuy [Brownstoner]
15. Family sues neighbor over harassment at Park Slope co-op [NYDN]
16. Crown Heights residential project begins construction [Brownstoner]

Anderson Cooper (left inset,) Ben Maisani (right inset) and the Ninth Avenue bar

Ben Maisani, whose partner is CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, is set to open a third trendy New York City gay bar in Hell’s Kitchen, The Real Deal has learned.

Maisani, 40, took possession of a 5,000-square-foot watering hole at 753 Ninth Avenue, between 50th and 51st streets, this weekend after being approved for a liquor license at the property in April under the name Oxido Corp., sources said. The location was once home to wine bar Vintage and is opposite Boxer’s HK, a three-level, gay sports bar recently opened at 742 Ninth Avenue.

The French-born Maisani, who has been dating Cooper since 2009 but was spotted smooching another man last year, is part owner of two other bars in the city — Bedlam, a straight-friendly Victorian-themed cocktail bar at 40 Avenue C, and Eastern Bloc, a commie-themed gay haunt at 505 East 6th Street.

When contacted by The Real Deal, NYCRS’ James Famularo, the broker listing the property, declined to comment on whether Maisani was the new tenant. The owner of the building, an LLC with a registered address on First Avenue, could not be reached for comment.

The new space is comprised of 2,500 square feet of space on the street level and 2,500 feet on the lower level, according to a listing for the property on BuzzTarget.com. The term of Maisani’s lease is 15 years, sources said. Retail rents in the area range from $150 to $200 a square foot, they said.

As for Anderson and Maisani, the duo’s relationship appears to be going strong. The two were spotted at dinner at the W Times Square last month, celebrating actor pal Alan Cumming’s performance in “Macbeth.”

Tribeca Royale rendering and Ismael Levya

The condominium development at 19 Park Place has its official moniker: Tribeca Royale, Curbed reported. The project, which is designed by architect Ismael Levya, is on track for 2014 completion.

Work at the site has been going on for the past year, as previously reported. ABN Realty is developing the building, which will be 25 feet wide and 21 stories high. The building will contain 24 units — 11 of them full-floor homes on the higher levels. The units located toward the back of the building will have their own terrace spaces, and others will come as duplexes.

Building amenities include a communal terrace, a gym and residential lounges. [Curbed] –Zachary Kussin

Peter Madoff, the U.S. Marshals headquarters at the federal courthouse at 500 Pearl Street

One of the most idiosyncratic real estate portfolios in New York City is in the hands of the U.S. Marshals, the Federal agency charged with selling the assets of convicted criminals. The Marshals have sold some 28 properties worth $42.5 million in the Southern District of New York, which covers Manhattan, since January 2012, the New York Times reported.

The agency’s current listings range from Peter Madoff’s Long Island mansion, on the market for almost $4.5 million, to a two-car garage in the East Bronx — where thieves have repeatedly stolen the “for sale” sign — asking a more modest $87,900.

In recent years, the Marshals have sold Dutch fraudster Jan-Dirk Paarlberg’s Dakota co-op and disgraced financier Hassan Nemazee’s Tribeca condominiums, as The Real Deal has reported.

After an individual is convicted, the asset forfeiture unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office confiscates the property. Then it’s up to the Marshals to sell it, which can involve everything from hanging air fresheners to clearing out rat infestations to cleaning up Madoff’s tennis courts. Proceeds go to victims or to fund further law enforcement efforts.

“We get a lot of mail for all his alias names here, and lots of stuff from the I.R.S.,” said Ashley Elitt, who purchased a two-bedroom condominium in Manhattan through the Marshals, referring to the jailed former owner. “Hopefully when he gets out, he won’t come hunt us down and say, ‘give me back my apartment!’” [NYT] — Leigh Kamping-Carder

Joe Sitt and 440 Broadway (credit: PropertyShark)

Sport apparel retailer Foot Locker is slipping on a shiny new pair of kicks and shuffling down to Thor Equities’ 440 Broadway from 541 Broadway, Real Estate Weekly reported. The store signed a 9,000-square-foot net lease for two above-ground levels and a lower level.

ABS Partners Real Estate represented the tenant in the deal. The terms of the lease were not available. The building is located between Howard and Grand streets.

“Soho is one of the most prestigious shopping districts in the world, and we are seeing top-tier retailers compete for their dream spaces up and down lower Broadway — and 440 is making the best of the best,” said Thor CEO Joe Sitt in a statement. “Foot Locker is an ideal match.”

The reason for such activity on this stretch of Broadway has to do with pricing, according to Mark Tergesen of ABS’ retail leasing team.

“The rising rents and high demand for retail space on Broadway north of Broome has resulted in increased activity further south on Broadway towards Canal Street,” he said in a statement. [REW] –Zachary Kussin

Top stories yesterday on The Real Deal:
1. $1.3B sale of 650 Madison hinges on dramatic increase in retail value, sources say 
2. Sky garage penthouse to come on market with $23M price tag 
3. GM Building stake sells for $1.4B

San Francisco’s Bay Bridge

1. Biotech incubator signs lease in Harlem [WSJ]
2. Midwood landlord with 300 violations in one building to be hit with suit by tenants [NYDN]
3. The new global startup cities [Atlantic Cities]
4. Closure of Peter Stuyvesant Post Office in East Village is imminent [EV Grieve]
5. Mixed-use building in Harlem back in progress [Harlem Gal]
6. Horoscopes from real estate astrologers [Bond New York]
7. The curse of San Francisco’s Bay Bridge [NYDN]
8. Rufus Wainwright’s Gramercy Park [DNAinfo
9. Hoboken’s famed rocker haven Maxwell’s to shut shop in July [NYO]
10. NYPL Harlem library branch design encourages kids to “loiter” [Atlantic Cities]
11. Self-styled superheroes to patrol the Village to help prevent anti-gay attacks [DNAinfo]

Empire State Building

1. Dissidents moving to vote in favor of Empire State Building IPO for fear of missing out [NYT]
2. Fifteen cities where housing prices are coming back: PHOTOS [Forbes]
3. Mortgage applications decreased 11.5 percent nationwide from last week [Press Release]
4. A first glimpse of the World Trade Center transit hub: PHOTO [Architect’s Newspaper]
5. Hello there, alphas: New York is world’s most competitive city, study shows [NYT]
6. Neighborhood group meets to discuss impact of Lightstone’s 700-unit Gowanus project [Pardon Me For Asking]
7. McMansions make a comeback [NYT]
8. New residential building at 508 Seneca Avenue tops out [Wycoff Heights]
9. Red Hook holds first post-Sandy street parade: PHOTOS [Gothamist]
10. Adopt-A-Monument movement finding success in the Bronx [MAS NYC]
11. MTA will have to shut down R train tunnel for at least a year [NY Mag]
12. Nino’s Pizza making an East Village comeback [EV Grieve]
13. The cover-up job at the Plaza Hotel: PHOTOS [NYP]

Doug Harmon and the Time Warner Center

Bids hovering around the $1.3 billion mark came in last week for the office portion of the Time Warner Center, the New York Post reported.

The top bids for the 1.1 million-square-foot tower at Columbus Circle were in the price range of $1,180 per square foot. The building has attracted the eye of global investors, including “Japanese, Chinese, sovereign-wealth funds, pension funds, equity funds, local owners, users, pension funds and REITs,” a person familiar with the bidding process told the Post.

The next owners would lease the space back to Time Warner for roughly five years, sources told the Post, allowing the media behemoth time to transition into its next headquarters. A renaming of the iconic building could also be in the cards.

“It’s a great asset, but someone will take a big, big gamble on it as they have to get rents from $100 a square foot in the base to $140 a square foot above,” Avison Young’s Greg Kraut, who advised some bidders, told the Post.

Time Warner tapped Eastdil Secured’s Doug Harmon to market the building in April, while Studley CEO Mitchell Steir is overseeing the company’s 4-million-square—foot relocation and consolidation, according to the Post.

The media behemoth is preparing to leave the Time Warner Center, and is leaning toward moving to the Hudson Yards project on Manhattan’s far West Side.  [NYP]  – Hiten Samtani

Richard Wallgren and 15 Central Park West

A top sales executive at Macklowe Properties has had his own little windfall after selling his 15 Central Park West apartment for nearly double what he paid in 2008, the New York Observer reported.

Richard Wallgren, who was sales director of 15 Central Park West while at Brown Harris Stevens, paid $1.8 million for the 1,079-square-foot one-bedroom sponsor unit in April 2008, a hefty discount off the $2.5 million asking price. And now, he sold the apartment to Second 40 Holdings LLC for $3.48 million, according to city records seen by the Observer.

The apartment was not publicly listed, and Wallgren pleaded with the Observer for the sale to remain discreet.

Earlier this week, metal titan Leroy Schecter put his combination condominium at the white-glove apartment building on the rental block for $125,000 per month, after initially trying to sell it for $95 million. [NYO]  – Hiten Samtani

From left: Gary Barnett, a rendering of One Hudson Yards, and Stephen Ross

A property swap deal between the Related Companies and Extell Development on Manhattan’s West Side is now in contract, the New York Post reported.

As part of the deal, Related will give Extell a site it owns with Boston Properties on Eighth Avenue and West 45th Street and some cash on top in exchange for Gary Barnett’s 56-story, 1.7 million-square-foot office tower 1 Hudson Yards, located on 11th Avenue at 34th Street. The deal will allow Related to move forward on construction of its towers and retail podium at the Hudson Yards megaproject .

Representatives from Related and Extell did not respond to the Post’s requests for comment. [NYP]–Hiten Samtani

Jeff Rosenblatt and 770 8th Avenue

St. Luke’s Hospital Center has elected for a ten-year extension at its Times Square offices, Crain’s reported. The deal will see the hospital retain its 5,300-square-foot space at 770 Eighth Avenue between West 47th and West 48th streets, and comes in light of Times Square’s burgeoning residential population.

The hospital was among the earliest tenants of the 53-story residential rental building owned by the Jack Parker Corporation.

Asking rents are in the $40s per square foot.

“There has been a tremendous amount of residential development in the Times Square area in the past 10 years, which has brought in a whole new clientele for the office,” Newmark Grubb Knight Frank’s Jeff Rosenblatt, who represented St. Luke’s in the deal, told Crain’s. “For a lot of patients, this is a very accessible location.”

Jack Parker was represented by in-house leasing executives. The Times Square area has also attracted a slew of technology tenants, as The Real Deal reported.  [Crain’s] – Hiten Samtani

Manhattan vs. Brooklyn

From the June issue: Manhattan estate brokers Ari Harkov and Warner Lewis recently started searching for apartments in the West Village on behalf of a client, who wanted to pay around $650,000 for a one-bedroom. Not satisfied by the inventory they found in that price range, they expanded the search to Brooklyn Heights, thinking that would yield much more space for the money. [more]

Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai and 666 Fifth Avenue

Sony is shopping around for a new office, with an eye on 666 Fifth Avenue, between 52nd and 53rd streets, the New York Post reported.

The Chetrit Group acquired the Sony Building with a three-year leaseback for $1.1 billion earlier this year, as previously reported. CBRE’s Mary Ann Tighe and Gregory Tosko signed on in March to assist the electronics titan in finding a 550,000-square-foot space.

Its current space is 850,000 square feet.

Citibank, whose name adorns the top of the 41-story Fifth Avenue tower, has 300,000 square feet available through mid-2014. Vornado Realty Trust and Kushner Companies co-own the Class A building.

Sony is also looking at 225 and 233 Park Avenue South, 1 and 11 Madison avenues and One and Four World Trade Centers, the newspaper said. [NYP, 3rd item] –Mark Maurer

The Federal Housing Administration’s projected losses over 30 years could hit $115 billion, according to a Congressional committee’s documents reported by the Wall Street Journal.

The forecast is significantly more negative than an independent actuarial review of the agency released in November. Maryland-based Integrated Financial Engineering, which conducted the actuarial review, had projected a shortfall of $65.4 billion, or a “protracted” economic “slump.” The $115 billion figure was determined from an undisclosed stress test last year but Integrated Financial Engineering analysts omitted the figure when the FHA’s report was being finalized in October.

“In Congressional hearings, it is quite possible that we will be required to present this information on-the-record, but that will be well after the actuarial review is released and the initial media coverage takes place,” a senior FHA official wrote in an email to an analyst, as reported by the Journal.

The budget office did an analysis in April that showed FHA would need $943 million this year due to losses in its reverse-mortgage program. The program allowed homeowners 62 and up to take cash out of their homes, the newspaper said.

The FHA is the largest source of low down-payment mortgage money in the country. [WSJ] –Mark Maurer

Aaron Sirulnick

Fourth-generation property owner Aaron Sirulnick has been tapped as the new chairman of the Rent Stabilization Association, the statewide landlord trade group, Crain’s reported.

His predecessor, Arnold Goldstein, had served in the role for 28 years, having built the landlord entity from a quasi-public body into a private industry group. Sirulnick of P. Sirulnick & Son/Ditmas Management Corporation, which has offices in Long Island and Midtown, warned that the affordable housing stock in the city is deteriorating “without a meaningful plan and genuine partnership” between owners and political leaders, the newspaper said.

To remedy this, he proposed working with City Hall and the state legislature to develop more opportunities for housing development, the report said. [Crain’s] –Mark Maurer

1211 Park Avenue and Elana and Sagi Genger

The son of an aide to former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon has switched listing brokers after just five months of trying to sell his Park Avenue townhouse, StreetEasy shows.

Gilad Azaria of Douglas Elliman took over the listing of Sagi and Elana Genger’s townhouse yesterday from Beth Benalloul of the Corcoran Group. The six-bedroom, seven-bathroom, 5,160-square-foot townhouse at 1211 Park Avenue is located between East 94th and East 95th streets and is asking almost $13.5 million.

Benalloul’s exclusive was terminated after she was unable to “generate any buyers” for the home, Azaria said.

“They couldn’t make a deal,” he added.

Benalloul declined to comment on the listing.

The Gengers initially listed the home in early January for $14.7 million, as TRD previously reported. Several weeks later, they dropped the price to about $13.5 million, StreetEasy shows.

Azaria said they lowered the price because the home wasn’t selling.

The restored 20-foot-wide, five-story townhouse includes a rooftop terrace, four fireplaces with original mantels and a security system throughout the home, the most recent listing shows.

Sagi Genger’s father is Arie Genger, a close political aide of Sharon who was eventually appointed White House Emissary in 2001. Sagi Genger, meanwhile, is the chief operating officer of a medical devices company and the general manager of Riverside Advisory, a private consulting group in New York.

The couple lives in California but has investments in several countries and industry sectors, according to Sagi Genger’s website. Azaria declined to comment on the couple’s other real estate assets, but said they are selling this home to relocate elsewhere.

The Gengers purchased the Park Avenue townhouse in September 2004 for $4.28 million, city records show.

Judge Judy and the Sherry-Netherland hotel

Judith Sheindlin, known to the television-watching public as Judge Judy, has unloaded a pied-à-terre co-op at the Midtown East’s Sherry-Netherland hotel for $8.5 million, the New York Observer reported.

The unit is spread on two floors of the hotel, at 781 Fifth Avenue at 59th Street. Two bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms are on the 11th floor, and a 6.75-foot-by-15-foot accessory room is on the 10th floor.

Deborah Grubman and David Dubin of the Corcoran Group brokered the sale, which closed for slightly less than the $9 million asking price, the Observer noting, citing city records.

The buyers are Bernard and Joan Spain, who bought one of the first condominiums at the Plaza Hotel after its 2007 conversion. According to PropertyShark, the couple sold it in December.

Scheindlin bought the Sherry-Netherland co-op in 2009 for $6.75 million. In 2008, the co-op was listing for $15 million, and then $8 million when Scheindlin nabbed it, the newspaper said. [NYO] –Mark Maurer

Z NYC Hotel in Long Island City

Ten hotels have opened in Queens since 2006, and there are five more on the way through 2016, the TimesLedger reported.

“There’s a huge hotel boom in Long Island City, Flushing and around the two airports, and they go after completely different markets,” Rob McKay of the Queens Economic Development Corp. told the newspaper.

In Jamaica, the site of a hotel at 138-10 135th Street that has been closed for five years is being renovated into a 330-room Crowne Plaza to be ready later this year. Also, a 150-room, Marshall Hotels and Resorts-managed Four Points by Sheraton is expected to open in Jamaica early next year, the newspaper said.

Two hotels will be cropping up near Belmont Park, as part of a stadium plan for the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League.

Some recent arrivals to the borough include the 173-room Springhill Suites in Corona near LaGuardia Airport, the 128-room Wyndham Garden in Long Island City and the 114-room Hotel De Point in Flushing. Long Island City has 17 hotels, largely a mix of chains and boutique hotels such as the 100-room Z NYC Hotel, the report said. [TimesLedger] – Mark Maurer