Las Vegas
SHORENSTEIN Co. is slicing through complicated negotiations to sign a $1.6 billion contract to purchase 388 and 390 Greenwich St. from Citigroup, sources say.
As we advised last week, Shorenstein was leading the pack of bidders for what would be one of the largest deals this year.
Citi will be leasing back a chunk of the building for the next 15 years.
Shorenstein, which has investments in 125 Park Ave. and the Starrett-Lehigh Building on West 26th Street, declined to comment, as did Cushman & Wakefield’s capital markets group, which has been leading the marketing efforts for Citi.
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The National Association of Realtors claims that 2008 will be a year of opportunities – otherwise translated as “cash is king” for those who can afford to buy and keep up with mortgages and repairs.
At its meeting at the Venetian Hotel here yesterday, NAR officials blamed the feds, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, the rating agencies, the lenders, the secondary market and the media (along with bad advice from real estate agents who aren’t accredited by the NAR and thus cannot be called Realtors with a capital “r”) for the subprime loan mess and the nationwide decline in pricing.
But NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun was finally goaded by the assembled press to admit that some of the group’s 1.35 million Realtors weren’t angels, either.
“Certainly some are guilty and if some are not following through in the Realtor Code [of Ethics] we should go after them to the fullest extent of the law,” Yun said. “[This is] not to say Realtors are clean. I can see some of the bad players entering our profession.”
He added, “I would encourage Realtors to caution buyers who are going way over [their] heads to say, ‘This doesn’t make sense.’ ”
The NAR reported that nationwide home prices have fallen 1.5 percent after a run-up of about 50 percent, and insisted all markets are local with good ones like Wichita, Kan., and some bad ones like Sarasota, Fla.
In New York City, prices are still up by double-digits, Yun observed, but he admitted the organization doesn’t get a lot of data from the Big Apple because few city brokers are actually Realtors. Most agents in New York belong to the Real Estate Board of New York instead.
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Neil Cole – shoe king Kenneth Cole’s brother – is growing his hot public company, Iconix Brand Group, through a renewal and expansion at 1450 Broadway for the next 15 years.
Iconix, which owns licenses for apparel lines like Jay Z’s and Roca Wear, will be leaving its current 15,000 feet on the fourth floor to move to 33,000 feet on the second and third floors, with an option for an additional floor.
The building’s asking rent is $62 a foot. John Monaco of the Moinian Group repped the owner.
Lance Korman and Brian Waterman of Newmark Knight Frank worked for the fashion house.
