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
The Rolling Stone article is inaccurate and sensationalistic. I have yet to meet a Goldman hater who is able to demonstrate any understanding of the GS organization beyond the half-truths that are all over the press and the Internet these days. Maxine Waters is a pretty good example of the extremely low quality of most of the anti-Goldman thinking out there.
FSRG;
A tough call.
On your first point: I don’t think comps for neighboring condo sales are relevant in this situation, simply because such a market no longer exists for this building. Given current financing rules, the only individual owner who can now buy a place in this building is someone who can pay all cash, and, in my opinion, someone with that type of money is not going to purchase their home in this building.
Perhaps I’m being too pessimistic on the rental side. I guess it comes down to how the economy is going to fare in NYC in the next 5 years, and I’m not so optimisitc on that point.
Only time will tell.
IronBalls, If I liked Miami I would be VERY tempted now. Friend’s parents picked up a 2 bedroom condo in Sunny Isles right across the street from the beach for 120K a couple of months ago. Not sure if they have Waterfront views but the apartment looked amazing from the pics.
Benson I think you are talking apples and oranges – the selling price of individual units (to presumably non-speculators) is not based on GRM, its based on comps. And you’d be hard pressed to find similar comps in the area for as low as $350 a sq ft.
Now if you are talking about selling ALL the remaining units to a operator for rentals, then the GRM is relevant, but again I think you $25 a sq ft number is too pessimistic and even so, while you’d likely have trouble on the financing end – 14x isnt really so outrageous for a building in Downtown Brooklyn.
NO. IB, he’s right. it was a big story about a week or two ago wrt some concrete company.
That’s crazy, What. You off the meds again?
” Is there something wrong with the cement? Or is that “weathered” look on purpose?”
New York Faces Huge Backlog in Concrete Retests
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/03/nyregion/03concrete.html?em
Nearly a year after New York City said it had a plan to retest the concrete in an untold number of buildings because a testing company was suspected of failing to perform required tests or falsifying results on scores of projects, only a handful of buildings have been retested.
I’ll bet some pieces fell off the Forte, ROTFLMMFAO!
The What
Someday this war is gonna end…
Yeah, you can get some real deals right now in Miami Beach (especially North Miami Beach aka Sunny Isles), but for once I agree with you, DBS. I wouldn’t want to live there either, and incredibly the market may still fall further.
For a $100/ft on the beach itself, I’d be tempted, but the views would have to be the bomb.
What, you missed the big red bat at Ellis. See, if you had come out you could have hit me with it all night long in between your Karaoke renditions of The Beatles and Eminem.