AUGUST 11, 2017
The Jewish Voice
Hotel Developer Sam Domb Lists UWS Townhouse for $14.25M
NEW YORK
Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick Buys Pierre Hotel Penthouse for $44M
By Charles Bernstein
By: Asher Schlesinger
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otel developer Sam Domb has recently placed his gorgeous Upper West Side townhouse on the market with an asking price of $14.25 million. Empire Hotel Group, which was founded by Domb and now is run by his children, manages many boutique hotels including the Belvedere and the Pearl. In 2002, using an LLC that is registered in his name, Domb purchased the home located at 318 West 81st Street in Manhattan’s Upper West Side. He had previously run the property as a rental building, but it has now been converted into a single-family home, according to the listing with Leslie Garfield’s Richard Pretsfelder. According to LLNYC, “The 8,200-square-foot mansion was designed by architect Clarence True and built in 1898. It has five bedrooms, six bathrooms, views of the river, gardens, a finished basement, an 18-person dining room and a butler’s pantry.” Earlier this year, the property was listed with Dean Jacob Realty LLC’s Dean Segal and Yuval Siri for just under $16 million. However, the previous listing had few photos, and
The townhouse at 318 West 81st Street on the Upper West Side. (Photo credit: Leslie J. Garfield)
This townhouse is now on the market for $14.25 million. (Photo credit: Leslie J. Garfield)
By: Max Rozwaski
“In Manhattan, commercial properties have a property tax and a commercial rent tax that gets paid by tenants and such,”
Luxurious penthouse at the Pierre Hotel bought by Cantor Fitzgerald's Howard Lutnick for $44M
“'These families are part of us, and we're gonna give them 25% of our profits, and we're going to rebuild this company in order to take care of them,” Lutnick said in a 2011 CBS News interview. “And we're gonna pay for the health care for ten years straight, so that they don't have to worry about that. We'll be there for them. And that's what we did.” In its report this month, Page Six said the 12,000-square-foot penthouse Lutnick and his wife have just purchased comes replete with 16 rooms, a library, five working fireplaces, and a
In a report this month, the NY Times noted that Manhattan has lost many iconic restaurants, including Greenwich Village café French Roast, Republic, and Blue Water Grill. The restaurants, many of which were neighborhood fixtures, have been forced to close down or relocate due to skyrocketing rent.
also noted that the tax was originally created in 1963 to generate revenue when NYC was nearing the constitutional limit allowed for property taxes. Unfortunately, Mayor Bill de Blasio failed to include the proposed measure, which would cost NYC in the ballpark $55 million, in his most recent budget. In an interview published this month on Globest.com, Martha Stark, the policy director for Tax Equity Now NY, weighed in on the background of the commercial rent tax which many businesses are finding oppressive in the current climate. “In Manhattan, commercial properties have a property tax and a commercial rent tax that gets paid by tenants and such,” Stark explained, “The commer-
cial rent tax was implemented when the city bumped up against its property tax limit. There is a cap on how much tax revenue the city can raise from the property tax.” “Manhattan rents, especially in Midtown, were at $100 dollars which is also two and a half to three times what the average was around the rest of the country,” she added. “But Manhattan is the place to be.” Commenting on the closure of French Roast, which brought a bohemian ambience to the area, the Times Gina Bellafante wrote that “we are at the point now that we mourn the loss of even those places, which years ago may have spurred debates about inauthenticity and fears of dull professional-class invasion.”
private elevator, all at the cost of $51,840 a month in terms of maintenance. Though initially priced at $125 million, the asking price of the luxury penthouse was reduced to $95 million in 2013, and down to $63 million when there appeared to be a lack of prospective buyers. According to Daily Mail, Lutnick purchased the property from Barbara Zweig, the widow of Martin Zweig, a stock investor and financier who died in 2013 at the age of 70. Zweig himself had purchased the property in 1999 for $21.5 million.
10 Biggest Brooklyn Real Estate Sales for 2nd Quarter 2017 By: Benyamin Davidsons
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he mass closure of Manhattan restaurants and stores has prompted protests from business owners over a commercial rent tax on business tenants with a rent of over $250,000 a year. In a report this month, the NY Times noted that Manhattan has lost many iconic restaurants, including Greenwich Village café French Roast, Republic, and Blue Water Grill. The restaurants, many of which were neighborhood fixtures, have been forced to close down or relocate due to skyrocketing rent. A 2016 Food Republic report cited Andrew Rigie, the executive director of the NYC Hospitality Alliance, who said the closings were, at least partly, a result of “intense competition and the challenging regulatory environment.” Steps to alleviate the commercial rent tax were taken this year when the New York City Council, in a move led by NYC Council Member Dan Garodnick and others, suggested raising the tax on business tenants to those with a rent of $500,000 a year, rather than $250,000, as the NY Times noted in its report. The report
oward Lutnick, the CEO of financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, has purchased a triplex penthouse at the Pierre Hotel for only $44 million. The price represents a significant, $81 million discount since the penthouse was formerly one of New York City’s most expensive listings at $125 million, according to a Page Six report last week. Out of all the finance firms in New York, Cantor Fitzgerald suffered the most from the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, losing 658 of its 960 employees. The victims of the attack included Lutnick’s brother, Gary, while Lutnick himself survived because the day of the attacks was his five-year-old son’s first day of Kindergarten, and Lutnick had to be there to take him to school. Despite the tragedy, which Lutnick has said still haunts his dreams, the 56-year-old CEO has been determined to keep the firm going, successfully rebuilding the company and compensating the victim’s families with 25% of the firm’s profits for five years, along with 10 years of health insurance, according to a 2011 Business Insider report.
when dealing with such a mag- some nice photos will go a long nificently beautiful residence, way.
Manhattan Businesses Owners Protest Tax Amid Rising Rents
PAGE 7
he highly anticipated list of Brooklyn’s top real estate sales for the second quarter of 2017 is ready. In the first quarter of 2017, there was $1 billion worth of real estate deals traded in Brooklyn. The second quarter was not quite as impressive, but a bulk of the variance was due to last quarter’s hefty $600 million purchase of a Dumbo Heights portfolio. Further, the sale of 109 Montgomery street on this quarter’s list has no price listed. Overall, residential sales dominate the list, accounting for the top 5 spots. The total value of the second quarter’s top 10 sales was approximately $468.3 million. The top 10 spots from April 1 to June 30, was compiled by The Real Deal with data from Real Capital Analytics. The biggest Brooklyn sale is CitiStorage for $160 million, purchased by the City of NY. This Williamsburg 258,400-square-foot storage facility was badly damaged in a 2015 fire. The city spent months haggling down the price before purchasing. Second on the list is an 11-story Brooklyn Heights building at 107 Columbia
The biggest Brooklyn sale is CitiStorage for $160 million, purchased by the City of NY. This Williamsburg 258,400-square-foot storage facility was badly damaged in a 2015 fire. The city spent months haggling down the price before purchasing.
Heights. Clipper Equity purchased the building for $87.5 million from a Jehovah’s witness. Plans have been made to renovate the rental building and convert its public spaces into additional apartments. The third largest deal is downtown at 633 Fulton Street . Rabsky Group purchased the 36,000-square-foot property for $68 million adjacent to another of their properties, with plans to combine the lots to build a colossal skyscraper. The next spot is the 12-story Crown Heights building on Montgomery street with 173 units. CIM Group purchased
it from LIVWRK but the price has not been published. The fifth top ranking sale is the $35.5 million sale of the industrial property on 61 North 11th Street. Buyer CW Realty will demolish the building and plans to develop up to 575,000 square feet of housing units. Sixth is DiMaggio Realty’s purchase of 70 Dahill Road for $33 million. The six-story, 122-unit Kensington property is rent-stabilized. Next is the $23.3 million purchase of 722 Metropolitan Avenue in Williamsburg. Purchaser SL Development plans to convert and expand this warehouse into a 69 residential condominiums, with retail space on the street level. Eighth is Millennium Venture Capital’s purchase of 218 South 3rd Street for $23 million. The Williamsburg building is six stories and contains 41 units. The ninth most notable purchase is the $20 million purchase of 380 Lefferts Avenue by Joseph Weiss. The seven-story building has 46 units and was built in 2009. Last to make the second quarter’s top 10 list is the $18 million purchase of 148 Green Street by Green Art Holdings. This two-story warehouse spans 17,200 square feet.
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