Warburg Blog

Warburg Realty® is proud of its long-standing reputation for providing the highest level of service to its customers, and it maintains this high-standard through the agents it hires. We’re pleased to welcome six new agents to the ranks of our company.

Warburg Realty is thrilled to welcome Michelle Berman and Jill Steinberg to the firm’s 969 Madison Avenue office; Eugene Kopman, Alex Mendik and Miles Olson to the 30 East 76th Street office; and Karen Kemp to Warburg  TriBeCa’s 100 Hudson Street location.

In welcoming these new, talented agent, Warburg CEO Frederick W. Peters said it best: “We pride ourselves on the tradition of extraordinary service, and that starts with having the best agents in our offices. Each of these agents brings a special background and point of view to their role at Warburg. From sales to rentals, these agents are market experts in both property types and neighborhoods in order to be a full-service provider for their customers.”

Their skill sets are further complemented by the firm’s cutting-edge technology in marketing and media, designed to guarantee every client and every agent the quickest and most complete access to the city’s finest properties, and neighborhood information.

·         Michelle Berman: Michelle Berman joins Warburg from the consumer magazine field where she began her career as an advertising salesperson at Harper’s Bazaar and rose through the ranks to publisher at New Woman and Seventeen among others. Michelle credits her years in the magazine industry for the marketing, sales and negotiating skills she now brings to the real estate industry. http://www.warburgrealty.com/agent/MSB

·         Jill Steinberg: Jill Steinberg holds a Masters in Education from NYU and previously taught elementary school in New York City before moving into real estate. She works closely as a member of Richard Steinberg’s team at Warburg and is focused on large apartments throughout the city. http://www.warburgrealty.com/agent/JCS

·         Eugene Kopman: Eugene Kopman joins Warburg as a seasoned veteran of rentals as well as co-op and condo sales in New York City. He is considered the “go-to” source among his clients and friends for Manhattan market trend information through his monthly newsletters, Facebook Page or Twitter posts. http://www.warburgrealty.com/agent/EK3

·         Alex Mendik: Alex Mendik has a broad knowledge of New York City real estate and is known for utilizing his extensive access to local market data, research and property analysis in helping his clients at Warburg make the right decision. http://www.warburgrealty.com/agent/AMM

·         Miles Olson: Previously a licensed realtor in California working in residential real estate in Santa Barbara, Miles Olson moved to NYC and spent the last five years working at NextStopNY Real Estate prior to joining Warburg. He is recognized for his real estate market knowledge throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn, with a particular focus on the Downtown area. http://www.warburgrealty.com/agent/MBO

·         Karen Kemp: Karen Kemp grew up in San Diego, California and graduated from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo with a degree in Architecture and a minor in Real Property Development. She is now bringing her architectural background and strong work ethic to the New York City real estate profession at Warburg. http://www.warburgrealty.com/agent/KDK

Warburg agents benefit from the firm’s ongoing branding efforts and role as a thought leader through the integration of social media to market real estate. As the first firm to implement an iPhone app, through the widely popular AroundMe platform, it regularly incorporates Facebook, Twitter and blogging as part of its daily business. The brokerage has also garnered national notoriety for its starring role on the hit HGTV show, Selling New York, where the firm’s agents and exclusive listings are regularly featured in the storylines.

Welcome to Warburg Michelle, Jill, Eugene, Alex, Miles and Karen! We look forward to working with you!

We are pleased to recognize four Warburg agents – Leslie Modell Rosenthal, Karen Gastiaburo, Robert Doernberg and Steve Goldschmidt – who recently obtained the coveted NYRS® designation from the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY). The NYRS designation recognizes the business and educational achievements of highly qualified residential brokers. In order to qualify to take this course, candidates must meet special criteria established by REBNY including the following:

- Be an Associate Broker
- Have negotiated at least 50 transactions in NYC
- Closed at least $50 million in sales or $17 million (based on 12 x monthly rent) in rental transactions in NYC
- Completed a minimum of five year tenure in NYC real estate 

The NYRS course consists of eight sessions of advanced real estate topics including Ethics, Negotiating, Marketing, Real Estate Economics, Commercial Real Estate, and Real Estate Law.  

In addition to the newly designated agents, other Warburg NYRS® agents include Harriet Kaufman, Shirley Hackel, Andrea Daniels and Linda Reiner.

A sunny Sunday! The weather is frigid, but we dodged a blizzard and the City is getting ready for a New York-less Super Bowl. We held a 2 hour open house today for a new exclusive, a smartly priced 2 bedroom/1 bath on the Upper West Side. Walking briskly to the apartment, I was wondering what kind of turnout we would have! I got there early, moved the kitty litter out of sight, connected my netbook to the owner’s speakers and tuned in some appropriate background music (Sirius/XM Radio’s Coffee House – a good choice) and waited.

After 25 minutes, some despair set it as no one came — and then, a few at a time, the crowds arrived. By the time the open house ended, we have over 25 parties and 45 people come through the apartment! A few came and went quickly, but a surprising number of buyers spent quite a bit of time looking at the apartment, asking well prepared questions (how long has the apartment been on the market, what the Board was looking for in terms of income and assets, etc). One couple knew about the building – they had been interested in another apartment and just lost out to another buyer whose offer had been accepted.

I took the opportunity to ask most of our shoppers about their impressions of the market. Several had just started their search. Quite a few have been looking at apartments for a while. Most of the buyers were well prepared and knew their market – they knew what was on the market, what comparable sales were like, and they asked very intelligent questions. Some buyers commented that the price for the apartment “seemed right” – an indication that we had done our homework and priced the apartment correctly.

The common sentiment, however, was the seriousness these buyers displayed. These weren’t “tire kickers” out for a Sunday stroll, or window shoppers just looking around. Quite a few felt that the time to buy was now – there was a general feeling on the part of the most serious shoppers that the market had started to show signs of life and that the time to buy just might be now!

Within an hour after the open house, a few calls came in from people who had been to the apartment, asking for more information. And just a few hours ago, our first offer came in. While the offer was below the asking price, it was a strong offer by a pre-approved buyer! Not bad after just one day on the market. Reports from other Warburg brokers tell of strong turnout at other open houses. Several of our new developments have also had good turnout and offers.

We’ll see how things work out – our sellers are considering the offer and planning a counter offer. It’s often difficult to advise sellers when an offer is received so early in the selling process, especially when the market’s recent revival is met with skepticism by some in the press!

All in all, it was a good day for real estate and for Saints’ fans!

Just another day in NYC real estate where, on any given day, brokers show their creativity and ability to handle all sorts of problems!

There we were, on the first day back at work in the New Year, taking an interested couple out to see some apartments at the wonderful Crillon Court Condominium on Riverside Drive. Sarah Smith and I, accompanied by our customer and Warburg agent Joel Moss (representing the Developer) entered a large unit that needed a full renovation – and found ourselves locked in and unable to get out! Not to worry – we all immediately reached for our Blackberry’s! But no one had the phone number for the Super or Doorman handy. One of us contacted the developer and emailed a message for someone to call the Super to come and rescue us, and while waiting, a few of us also took the time to post a “status update” on Facebook alerting our friends regarding our plight!

Sure enough, my Facebook status update was noticed by a friend who immediately picked up the phone, called the website for this new development, and left a message to have someone rescue us! Other friends, in due course, read the message and provided a running commentary!

Within 10 minutes, help was on the way – the Super appeared, opened the door and freed us to continue our real estate travels.

Just another day in the real estate wars! Ain’t technology grand??

All of us at Warburg are pleased and proud that Twenty9th Park Madison Condominium, has been recognized as the Best High-Rise in New York by the esteemed Americas Property Awards. The annual awards recognize excellence in property-related fields and aim to encourage and promote an international standard in the real estate industry. Representatives from Espais Promocions Immobiliáries (Espais), the condominium’s developer, accepted the award on Nov.12 at the gala presentation dinner in San Diego. Americas Property Awards, presented in association with CNBC Arabia, The New York Times and Kohler, distinguishes the highest levels of achievement in a broad range of residential and commercial property-related fields. Entries for the competition are judged by a panel of real estate executives representing influential organizations such as the National House Building Council and International Real Estate Federation FIABCI. Two four-star winners were chosen from each of the 36 entry categories, which range from best architecture and interior design to top Web site and public relations company. Twenty9th Park Madison won the coveted four-star award in the category of Best High-Rise Development in the Americas. 

Located at 39 E. 29th St. in Midtown Manhattan and designed by H. Thomas O’Hara Architects, the elegant 34-story Twenty9th Park Madison features 142 residences ranging from studios to two-bedroom plus office penthouses. It was completed in September 2008 and to date over 70% of the units have been sold.  Many of the remaining homes feature open gourmet kitchens with top-of-the-line appliances by Sub-Zero, Sharp, Thermador and Fisher-Paykel. Sleek master bathrooms include wenge wood vanities, limestone tiling and soaking tubs with separate glass-enclosed showers. All homes feature high ceilings ranging from 9 feet to 13 feet, floor-to-ceiling windows, Italian teak hardwood flooring and outstanding Manhattan skyline views. A collection of ten luxurious penthouses offer kitchens featuring Viking ovens and cook tops, Statuary Carrara marble countertops, stainless steel backsplash and Marvel wine coolers, as well as bathrooms featuring Zuma whirlpool tubs and modern vanities and fixtures. 

The spacious roof deck includes four outdoor barbeque grilling areas, two custom pergolas, a sunbathing deck with an outdoor shower, and panoramic Manhattan views. Additional amenities include 24-hour concierge service, doorman, live-in superintendent, WiFi lobby with European-style cappuccino machine, fitness center with state of the art equipment and a yoga room, refrigerated storage for grocery deliveries, an on-site parking facility, complimentary bike racks and optional storage units.

Warburg Marketing Group and Senior Managing Director Richard Steinberg are the exclusive marketing and sales agents for Twenty9th Park Madison Condominium. To schedule an appointment at the on-site Sales Center, please call 212-488-5329 or visit www.Twenty9th.com. 

The commercial real estate industry will gather in New York City on Thursday, December 3rd for GreenPearl’s inaugural all-day “MULTIFAMILY INVESTMENT SUMMIT”, a conference for multifamily investors, owners, developers, brokers, lenders, architects, loan workout specialists and others in the field.

MULTIFAMILY INVESTMENT SUMMIT will bring together a diverse group of investors, ranging from high-net worth to institutional fund managers who will discuss the outlook for 2010 and the opportunities likely to unfold in terms of distressed and alternative buying opportunities.

Steven Goldschmidt, Senior Vice President of Warburg Marketing Group, will participate as a panelist for a discussion of Multifamily Development & Construction Outlook in the Face of Recession and Debt-Starved Environment.  Many construction and development deals are at risk in today’s tight lending environment. In this panel, a group of developers and investors will address, specifically, the challenges they face in an illiquid debt market which is forcing them to find alternative sources of capital. What are the challenges developers face today when attempting to secure financing? Other panels include:

During the recent REBNY Residential Deal of the Year Awards and Charity Gala, the Award for Outstanding Service was presented to the Founders of the NYRS designation of the residential brokerage community for their four and a half years of hard work and dedication in creating a post graduate designation course designed to attract top industry brokers to help “raise the bar” in NYC by demonstrating ethics, professionalism and leadership. We are very proud that our own Steve Goldschmidt was among the recipients.

 The NYRS “Board Certified” designation distinguishes the graduate from their peers and is intended to provide the graduating broker with a distinct advantage when competing for exclusives and soliciting clients and customers, since the course is limited to brokers that achieve an advanced level of education, experience and established record of sales achievement.

 The curriculum consists of twenty-four hours of course work broken down, in most instances to eight separate three hour modules (several of which can be applied to a student’s NYS CE requirement). The criteria for attaining NYRS Status is: being an Associate Broker; having negotiated at least 50 transactions in NYC; closing at least $50M in sales or $17M (based on 12 x monthly rent) in rental transactions in NYC; completing a minimum of five year tenure in NYC real estate; all transactional criteria must be verified by the Broker of Record or Manager of each firm upon recommendation of a candidate; having completed 24 hours of NYRS coursework within a 1.5 year period.

For more details, visit the REBNY website http://rebny.com/ed_nyrs_courses.jsp

Warburg Marketing’s newest offering – the last 2 units at the hugely successful HIT FACTORY CONDOMINIUM – has a distinct place in our popular culture. Before its reincarnation as a luxury condominium development, the Hit Factory was, for more than 30 years, a legendary New York recording studio and witness to some of rock, hip-hop and R&B’s greatest highs (and lows).

For example, John Lennon recorded his Double Fantasy album there – and a little more than a month after the album’s release, he would be shot to death returning home to the Dakota from the studio. Whitney Houston’s smash “I Will Always Love You” from “The Bodyguard” was recorded at the Hit Factory. And who can forget Steve Wonder’s “Sir Duke” from his wonderful album Songs in the Key of Life?  Bruce Springsteen recorded tracks from Born in the USA there – and substantial portions of Bloodbrothers, a documentary filmed when Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band reunited to record several new trakcs for their 1995 compilation album, were filmed during long recording sessions at the Hit Factory.

The owners of the Hit Factory had reputation for doing anything and everything to make visiting musicians happy (they would rip up carpeting if it bothered the eye, or fill a studio with hay to make a country musician feel more at home) — it made the Hit Factory the place to record. One of its best known “amenities” was a freight elevator large enough for a stretch limousine to enter and transport a secretive celebrity to his, or her, recording session. The 100,000 square-foot facility featured seven recording studios and five rehearsal suites. In addition to Bruce Springsteen, John Lennon, Stevie Wonder and Whitney Houston,  Michael Jackson, Madonna, U2, Paul Simon, Run-DMC, Jay-Z and Beyoncé also laid down tracks at the studio. In 1994 the studio made history when its output collected 41 Grammy nominations.

All those wonderful songs and melodies faded into the past when the Hit Factory shut its doors for good in 2005 — the victim of technological advances that made home recording cheaper and easier than the big-studio experience. The other Hit Factory, in Miami, remains open and serves as the new base of operations for Hit Factory Inc.

Check out our exciting new listings at this iconic New York landmark!

http://warburgrealty.com/property/722140

- Penthouse D 

http://warburgrealty.com/property/722153 - Unit 4D

Yesterday evening, more than 40 brokers attended an invitation-only reception at Harlem’s popular COVO Restaurant to celebrate the launching of sales of 23 premiere apartments at Ellington on the Park Condominium, located at 130 Bradhurst Avenue.

Set alongside Jackie Robinson Park, Ellington on the Park brings affordable luxury to one of the city’s most architecturally distinguished and culturally significant neighborhoods. With homes starting at just $375,000, Ellington on the Park offers a rare opportunity to own a one, two or three-bedroom home, many with a private outdoor terrace and glorious views. Residents can enjoy a healthier lifestyle, neighborhood amenities, and one of the city’s finest parks just steps from their front door. For details please go to our New Development section at http://www.ellingtononthepark.com/

As it happens, the location of last night’s reception is another WARBURG MARKETING success story. COVO Restaurant is located at 701 West 135th Street, in a new Harlem neighborhood that was nicknamed “ViVa” (for Viaduct Valley) by Warburg’s Marlene Hartstein and Dhia Barnes, who successfully marketed the restored 1926 freight house for retail and commercial use in 2005.

It’s nice to know that one Warburg success – ViVA and 701 West 135th Street – served as the site of the launching party for another successful Warburg Marketing project – ELLINGTON ON THE PARK!