One Mad. developers losing control of building

One Madison Park, Ira Shapiro (top) and Jonathan Newman (bottom)

A state Supreme Court judge handed a victory to iStar Financial today by granting full authority to the interim receiver at the One Madison Park condominium, which is going through foreclosure proceedings. Judge James Yates ordered that attorney Jonathan Newman, who was appointed interim receiver earlier this month, be granted the authority to oversee the completion of One Madison Park. The move represents a significant setback to lead developer Ira Shapiro, who urged the judge to allow him to remain in control over the project, which descended into a bitter split with his development partner Marc Jacobs, and an investigation by the Rockland County District Attorney. “They’re no longer in control of the process,” said Matthew Parrott, attorney for iStar. “The custody and control of the building is in possession of Mr. Newman.” A written order is expected to be issued Monday, Parrott said. Burton Dorfman, the attorney for Shapiro, praised the judge’s ruling, and noted that the developer will still be involved with marketing and completing the 69-unit building in consultation with the receiver. Lawyers said that sales will not resume until Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office lifts the ban he imposed more than a month ago. On March 12, Cuomo ordered the developers to refund money to buyers after iStar filed to foreclose and dozens of lawsuits were filed claiming that the developers defaulted on tens of millions of dollars in personal loans used to fund overhead costs at the condo. [more]

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No 11th hour tax credit rush, brokers say

While industry experts have reported a nationwide boost from the first-time homebuyer tax credit recently, Manhattan agents have been more negative, and some brokers outside of the city say that they didn’t see many last minute deals today as the tax credit expired, according to Inman News. One Long Island broker, Jedd Stone, said that while the tax credit encouraged some buyers, many more felt that the credit wasn’t reason enough to rush. [more]

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Top sales agents of the week

The Real Deal has ranked the top listing agents of the week based on the highest priced residential deals filed with the city.

Some of the top agents of the week, from left: John Glass, Dennis Stillwell, Linda Stillwell, Carrie Chiang, Janet Wang, and Yolanda Johnson Vogelzang

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This Week in Comments

Bidding wars now run-of-the-mill
B.S. from brokers!

Palm Beach brokerage opening in Manhattan
Keep your sandals in Palm Beach. You need steel toes here in Manhattan.
[more]

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Long-vacant 147 First Avenue slated for demolition … and more

1. Long-vacant 147 First Avenue slated for demolition [EV Grieve]
2. Retailer Brooklyn Industries moving its headquarters to Dumbo [Crain's]
3. Actor Gabriel Byrne buys $3.36M condo at 211 Elizabeth Street [NYT]
4. St. Vincent’s is officially closed [AP via Post]
5. Secret gardens in former Hell’s Kitchen railroad trench helping seal real estate deals [WSJ]
6. NYC real estate fantasies come alive on Broadway stages [NYT]
7. Oyster Bar coming to the Ace Hotel [WSJ]
8. Hamptons summer share house market heats up… via Facebook [Guest of a Guest]
9. Brooklyn, Central Park and Empire State Building declared no-fly zones [NYT]
10. Proof owner looks to open high-end Murray Hill sports bar in former Allen & Delancey space [Guest of a Guest]
11. Seven tips on finding a decent real estate agent [US News]
12. Boosting appraisal values by going green [Bigger Pockets]

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Real estate in brief

New Harlem condominium Metropolis has been approved by the Federal Housing Administration’s mortgage program. Also, a new Real Estate Board of New York report says residential real estate agents feel better about the market, and rehabilitation has been completed on a century-old Lower East Side building. Click here for more. TRD

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Despite restrictions, appraisal frauds boom

For anyone who assumed that the toughened real estate appraisal rules imposed on the mortgage market last year would mean less monkey business in home valuations, here’s a shocker: Fraudulent appraisals actually soared in 2009, according to a lending industry study released April 26, and they now represent the fastest-growing form of home loan fraud. The Mortgage Asset Research Institute found that while overall loan frauds rose last year by 7 percent, the incidence of frauds involving property valuations increased by 50 percent. MARI, a service of data company LexisNexis, collects information from 600 plus wholesale mortgage lenders who account for the vast bulk of all loans originated in the country. Once a year, it reports its findings on fraud trends to the Mortgage Bankers Association. [more]

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Building database aims to be “early warning”

While city documents and records can be a pain to browse through, a new database covering 57,857 buildings in four boroughs (Staten Island isn’t included) hopes to alert the public to physically- and financially-stressed properties with less hassle, according to Crain’s. The Building Indicator Project, a database developed by non-profit group University Neighborhood Housing Program, will allow subscribers beginning in June. It will offer up information about buildings’ outstanding home code violations, liens and other shady indicators. [more]

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Mosler named “Man of the Year”

Bruce Mosler has been named “Man of the Year” by the Realty Foundation of New York. The Cushman & Wakefield co-chairman has been part of the Realty Foundation’s board for 16 years and is also an Urban Land Institute Trustee and a board member of the Real Estate Board of New York and Partnership of the City of New York. “It’s about time,” developer Larry Silverstein, who is the Realty Foundation’s chairman emeritus, said of Mosler’s honor. [more]

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Walgreen values Duane Reade leases at $73M

Walgreen valued Duane Reade leases, including 230 Park Avenue (left) and 250 Broadway (right), at $73 million

New York City leases for the hundreds of Duane Reade stores that dot the five boroughs and give the chain a local dominance were valued at $73 million, tax recording documents filed with the city Department of Finance this week show. The filings were made April 9, the same day Illinois-based Walgreen announced the completion of the $1 billion purchase of Duane Reade from private equity firm Oak Hill Capital Partners, but the tax records were not published until Wednesday. The valuation for each individual lease covering the approximately 250 properties was not included in the filings. Also, at least a half-dozen of the properties were not currently occupied by Duane Reade stores. [more]

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Walgreen values Duane Reade leases at $73M

Walgreen valued Duane Reade leases, including 230 Park Avenue (left) and 250 Broadway (right), at $73 million

New York City leases for the hundreds of Duane Reade stores that dot the five boroughs and give the chain a local dominance were valued at $73 million, tax recording documents filed with the city Department of Finance this week show. The filings were made April 9, the same day Illinois-based Walgreen announced the completion of the $1 billion purchase of Duane Reade from private equity firm Oak Hill Capital Partners, but the tax records were not published until Wednesday. The valuation for each individual lease covering the approximately 250 properties was not included in the filings. Also, at least a half-dozen of the properties were not currently occupied by Duane Reade stores. [more]

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U.S. hotel pipeline falls below 400K rooms

Hotels performed better than expected in the first quarter, registering gains in both demand and occupancy rates, according to a national market report from research firm Lodging Econometrics (see the full report after the jump). But while operations data showed improvement, sales transactions involving U.S. hotels were fewer and further between than in the first quarter of 2009, and the number of hotels in the construction pipeline fell to 3,394 projects, or 396,797 rooms. It is the first time in four years that the construction pipeline is below 400,000 rooms. Lodging Econometrics has predicted that 80,830 new hotel rooms will come online this year, down 55 percent from 2009. [more]

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TRD tours TF Cornerstone’s rental 505W37

The Real Deal got a first look inside TF Cornerstone’s new rental project in Hudson Yards, 505W37, at an opening party last night (see slide show above). The project’s two glass towers are located at 505 West 37th Street between 10th and 11th avenues, kitty corner to the company’s other Hudson Yards rental, 455W37. Nearly 200 market-rate units have been leased, according to Robert Schmidt, a leasing agent for the building, who led tours of the building for press and brokers at the event. The project has a total of 835 units, though a number of them are earmarked for affordable housing through the 80-20 program. [more]

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Strategic defaults now account for 12 percent of all mortgage delinquencies

Strategic defaults are on the rise, accounting for 12 percent of all mortgage defaults in February, according to a new report from Morgan Stanley. That’s up 4 percent over the strategic default rate in mid-2007 and is considered by some analysts to be one of the housing market’s largest looming threats. The probability that borrowers with high credit scores walk away from their mortgages increases with negative equity, the report found. [more]

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Homebuyers spend more time shopping for a computer than a mortgage: report

Despite the recent mortgage crisis, homebuyers are now spending even less time shopping for a home loan than they did two years ago, according to a report from Zillow.com. Borrowers also solicit fewer quotes today than they did in 2008, obtaining an average of four quotes on a home loan, compared to five quotes two years ago. One third of the respondents to Zillow.com’s survey said they spent less than two hours shopping for a mortgage, less than the four hours the average buyer spends researching a computer purchase. [more]

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Priciest, cheapest units to hit the market

From left: 173 Perry Street and 103 East 84th Street

The priciest Manhattan home to hit the market this week is a 3,200-square-foot penthouse unit in the West Village at 173 Perry Street, according to Streeteasy.com. The three-bedroom, one-bathroom duplex is on the market for $15.9 million and is listed by Suzun Bennet and Rosa Murphy of Halstead Property. The condominium includes four balconies and keyed elevator access on both floors. The cheapest Manhattan unit to come online this week is a studio at 103 East 84th Street. The $149,000 co-op unit is being marketed by Ying Jiang, Ilsa Vasquez, Charles Hawkins and Mikhail Gurfinkel of Prudential Douglas Elliman. Click here for more.

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