BY ROBERT KNAKAL

It is hard to believe that the summer is over, but here we are, getting ready to finish off what has been, thus far, a fantastic year in New York’s commercial real estate sales market. There are several issues we are going to watch as the year concludes, and today’s column will review a few of them.

One thing to be sure of, many of the city’s top investment sales brokers will likely see the most productive year yet in their careers in 2012. This may seem counterintuitive as the total sales volume will likely top out at $30 billion to $34 billion this year, a far cry from the $63 billion at the peak of the market in 2007.

However, the dollar volume of sales was a mere $6.2 billion in 2009, so this year’s volume is very uplifting to those brokers who are still around. Many sales brokers left the industry after the recession turned the market downright ugly in 2009 and 2010, leaving seasoned pros and a few others left to handle the 3,000 or so sales that will close this year (there were over 5,000 sales in 2007). The relative increase in activity and the reduced competition is creating a windfall for those competing in our market.

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BY ADELAIDE POLSINELLI

With the intense competition today for “good deals,” choosing the right buyer can become increasingly more difficult. A new breed of suspiciously sketchy buyers has entered the market.

Traditionally, a prospective purchaser would make an offer, secured by a certain confidence that she would be able to obtain enough financing from a lender and had enough equity to cover the cost of the property and closing costs and enough reserves to get through a period of stabilization of the asset. That buyer would then enter into a contract of sale, put up the customary 5 to 10 percent deposit in escrow and proceed to secure all the elements necessary to get through the typical 60- to 90-day closing. At which point, clean title would transfer and the new buyer would take ownership of the property while the seller left the table with the proceeds. Both sides then went their separate ways.

More recently, the playing field has changed. A new buyer profile has digitized, throwing a curveball of mayhem into what was normally a predictable course of transaction events. These buyers have the unrealistic expectation that they can jockey for position in a deal with no money down and no skin in the game. It takes the art of flipping to a very different level.

This behavior could be the result of greed and envy. No matter the cause, it must be anticipated, understood and eradicated.

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BY DANIEL GEIGER

645 Madison Avenue has reeled in another high priced lease despite a flat rental market in the city that has left most landlords with little leeway to bump up rates.

Marble Arch Investments has taken the building’s entire 17th floor, a nearly 7,000 square foot space for seven years. The building’s landlord TF Cornerstone was asking for rents north of $100 per square foot for the space and just about got them in the lease negotiation, which, as is typical for such talks, usually sees rates drop as tenants and their leasing reps work to finagle a better deal.

The company, a small investment firm, will receive a build out constructed by TF Cornerstone as part of the deal meshing an open layout that has become popular in the modern workplace with a more traditional line of perimeter offices.

The lease is one of the first full-floor deals to get signed in the 150,000-square-foot, 22-story building in recent years. About five years ago, TF Cornerstone made a number of capital improvements to the property, such as a new lobby and elevator systems and leased the entire property. Now, as some of those deals expire, space is opening again.

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BY DANIEL EDWARD ROSEN

Republican vice presidential candidate and P90X fanatic Paul Ryan owes a bit of his net worth--valued between $927,000 to $3.2 million--to a mix of trusts and inheritances, along with investments that include real estate, according to a recent report.

Mr. Ryan paid upwards of $250,000 for three rental properties in his native home of Janesville, Wisconsin in 1998, for which he collected up to $50,000 a year from tenants, according to Business Insider. The purchase was financed with a mortgage from Anchorbank SSB.

Mr. Ryan sold the properties in 2001, when they were valued close to $500,000.

The three rental units were owned by the Ryan-Hutter Investment Partnership, according to public documents. Hutter is the maiden name of his mother, Elizabeth.

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BY JOTHAM SEDERSTROM

CBRE, the Los Angeles-based commercial real estate services firm, has hired Elaine Kleinberg as a managing director in the firm’s Manhattan office, it was announced.

Ms. Kleinberg, a senior attorney with 20 years experience who most recently served as general counsel for Newmark Knight Frank–and, briefly, Newmark Grubb Knight Frank–will be responsible for management and development of mid-level sales professionals and oversight of the legal agreement process, according to a release.

“CBRE continually strives to provide the best platform of services and support for our clients and brokerage professionals,” said Matt Van Buren, president, new York tristate region, CBRE. “And the addition of Elaine Kleinberg to our Manhattan operations is the latest exampel of providing them the best talent.”

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