About 750,000 square feet of pricey retail space is hitting the market in the next few weeks, as the Related Companies formally starts its search for tenants at its Hudson Yards project.
A year after construction started on Manhattan’s Far West Side, and with two major office tenants signed on to the gargantuan project — purse purveyor Coach and cosmetics giant L’Oreal — Related declined to say whether any retail tenants are signed on other than the already-touted Fairway Market.
by Riccardo Ravasini New York
December was a robust month for office leasing in Manhattan, with high-profile deals signed in all three major markets of Midtown, Midtown South and Downtown.
As of Dec. 27, a total of 9.1 million square feet of office space was leased in Manhattan in 2013’s fourth quarter, according to data from commercial brokerage Colliers International. That’s up sharply from 6.31 million square feet in the previous quarter and 4.97 million square feet in 2012’s fourth quarter. Colliers chief …
by Riccardo Ravasini Increased availability of debt and an uptick in office rents drove demand for large Manhattan office towers in 2013. The top 10 priciest building sales of the year included nine office buildings — a threefold increase over the three office towers that cracked the top 10 list in 2012.
Those sales were driven in part by the recovery of the Manhattan office leasing market, which rebounded in 2013 after a 2012 drop-off. Last year at this time major office tenants …
by Riccardo Ravasini The inventory crunch shows little sign of letting up. In the fourth quarter of 2013, inventory dropped to 4,164 co-op and condominium units, a 12.3% dip from the fourth quarter of 2012, according to Miller Samuel. That’s the lowest inventory level since the firm began tracking the data in 2000. The drop was even more pronounced for new development units, whose availability fell 19.6 percent year-over-year. The situation, however, was much better on the luxury end of the market — …
by Riccardo Ravasini 
Michael Lewis, the London-based head of commodities research at Deutsche Bank, recently listed his condominium at 15 Central Park West (the most luxurious condo in NYC) for a hefty mark-up over the price he paid for the property in 2008. Lewis wants $30 million for the pad according to the listing. That’s nearly three times the $10.1 million he paid six years ago, records show. Recent sales in the building indicate that Lewis’ ask may not be as far-fetched as …
by Riccardo Ravasini 
Vornado Realty Trust unveiled renderings for the Robert A.M. Stern-designed condominium tower at 220 Central Park South, presenting a second, smaller 14-story structure on the site. The limestone tower at the center of a now-resolved dispute between Vornado and Extell Development is slated to rise 920 feet near Seventh Avenue. The units will feature floor-to-ceiling windows, herringbone floors, fireplaces, and ceilings with sunken panels. In October, Vornado and Extell officially settled litigation over side-by-side development lots, paving the way for …
by Riccardo Ravasini