Clarett, Goldman Lose Control of Forte
Not everything Goldman Sachs touches turns to gold. A multi-million-dollar bet on the Fort Greene condo market appears to have backfired, with the Crain’s report yesterday that control of the Forté Condos at 230 Ashland Place would shift from Goldman, the 75 percent equity holder, and The Clarett Group, the developer, to the lender, Eurohypo…
Not everything Goldman Sachs touches turns to gold. A multi-million-dollar bet on the Fort Greene condo market appears to have backfired, with the Crain’s report yesterday that control of the Forté Condos at 230 Ashland Place would shift from Goldman, the 75 percent equity holder, and The Clarett Group, the developer, to the lender, Eurohypo Bank, which is into the project for $41 million. (Prudential Real Estate Investors also has a small equity stake.) Clarett is proud to have delivered such a beautiful, high quality property—on time and on budget—to enhance the skyline and contribute to the renaissance of downtown Brooklyn, the developer said, in a statement. Unfortunately, the sales market in Brooklyn has not been as strong as Forté itself. A last-ditch marketing makeover by The Developers Group in recent months as well as behind-the-scenes efforts to sell blocks of apartments apparently weren’t enough to save the equity investors, as the project was less than 40 percent sold after two years on the market. Clarett’s nearby project on Lawrence Street, the 51-story Brooklyner, is still expected to begin renting early next year.
Goldman Sachs’ Brooklyn Condo Bet Sours [Crain’s] GMAP
Pete….any idea how much debt they have and what the maturity schedule is???
Hey Assnuts I’m going back on vacation! The Forte Condo Melt-up got be out but when I return it’s going to be very bad. Thanks for the laughs Jackoff’s!
The What
Someday this war is gonna end…
DIBS: how dare you suggest worth shorting GE…it is only stock I own. And also after claiming economy improving.
THe nerve. I take back the nice things I said about your house.
Talking stocks tips in a bar? Maybe I’ll hang around and see if the topic changes.
On a RE blog. Nah.
See you on the next thread; hope your hot tips work out for y’all.
ESPECIALLY real estate stocks.
Dave pull up a chart of historical PE’s on the REITs. They are trading at a 25 percent premium here. This is a slam dunk!
Posted by: brickoven at August 14, 2009 1:06 PM
If you base your analysis on P/Es to begin with and historical ones at that, you really shouldn’t be investing in stocks.
Miami on Fulton isn’t going anywhere for the next century so we might as well figure out how to fix this sh*tshow of clueless achitecture (thankfully it’s not in my portfolio).
The Fix:
1) Gut the entire second floor and put in a resident’s gym, children’s playroom, game room. At this price point these amenities are a basic, the existing gym is a cruel joke of an interior closet. “Join Crunch next door” is NOT a good sales approach, it’s an excuse for being empty handed.
2) Gut the lobby and ask a real decorator (Victoria Hagan or Bill Sofeild would be amazing choices and bring cache to this looser of a project) to redo it, drunk drag queens aren’t always the right answer when it comes to lobby design.
3)Rip up the plaza (it looks like a bus stop) and make it look more like a garden with seating (see anything in the West Village or along the Hudson for a clue).
4) Drop the prices enough that the new owners can easily rip out the Ikea kitchens, bathrooms and door hardware.
Did FoxFowler even take a look at the building’s direct rivals? One Handon has way better finishes and amenities, Northside Piers has more outdoor space, amenities and finishes.
> ditmas = snark = no idea what’s going on
Well, you got the first two right, and as the song goes, two outta three ain’t bad.
As long as the concrete doesn’t actually start crumbling or leaking, I still think it’s not a bad building. I like the weird layouts of the u-shaped living room. And the location is much better than Toren or Oro. I think.