News

Massey Knakal Realty Services is pleased to announce the sixth installment of a new initiative called the Knakal News Network (KNN). In this episode, Mr. Knakal will discuss the rent regulation system in New York. This episode is hosted by Jonathan Hageman, Sales Team Manager at Massey Knakal. In subsequent episodes, there will be a rotating selection of guest hosts each of whom will host a block of episodes.  To access KNN, go to: http://www.masseyknakal.com/people/knn.aspx

Agents: Robert Knakal

Massey Knakal Realty Services is pleased to announce the fifth installment of a new initiative called the Knakal News Network (KNN). In this episode, Mr. Knakal will discuss the economy and commercial real estate. This episode is hosted by Jonathan Hageman, Sales Team Manager at Massey Knakal. In subsequent episodes, there will be a rotating selection of guest hosts each of whom will host a block of episodes. 

To access KNN, go to: http://www.masseyknakal.com/people/knn.aspx

Agents: Robert Knakal

By: James Nelson, Partner

Although the 421a negotiable certificate program expired, there is still a small supply of grandfathered certificates that exist. There is also Inclusionary Housing Certificates, which can also benefit market rate developers.

Recently I had the pleasure of moderating a panel with Sol Arker of the Arker Companies, an affordable developer of over 5,000 housing units; Paul Korngold of Tuchman, Korngold, Weiss, Lippman and Gelles, LLP; and Alvin Schein of Seiden & Schein, P.C. Both Korngold and Schein are partners in firms specializing in the fields of the Inclusionary Housing Program and real estate tax incentive programs.

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Agents: James Nelson

Massey Knakal Realty Services is pleased to announce the fourth installment of a new initiative called the Knakal News Network (KNN). In this episode, Mr. Knakal will discuss ICSC and retail’s booming comeback. This episode is hosted by Jonathan Hageman, Sales Team Manager at Massey Knakal. In subsequent episodes, there will be a rotating selection of guest hosts each of whom will host a block of episodes.  To access KNN, go to: http://www.masseyknakal.com/people/knn.aspx

Agents: Robert Knakal

Massey Knakal Realty Services is pleased to announce the third installment of a new initiative called the Knakal News Network (KNN). In this episode, Mr. Knakal will discuss the very dynamic land market in New York City.  The first three installments will be presented in interview format with host Dan Geiger, reporter, Crain’s New York Business. In subsequent episodes, there will be a rotating selection of guest hosts each of whom will host a block of episodes.
 
Mr. Knakal has been the Chairman of Massey Knakal since founding the firm with Paul Massey in 1988. Since that time, he has been personally responsible for the sale of over 1,300 properties, having a market value in excess of $9 billion.

To access KNN, go to: http://www.masseyknakal.com/people/knn.aspx.

Agents: Robert Knakal

By: Massey Knakal Partner James Nelson

Boutique or independent hotels are not a novel concept for New York City. Ian Schrager popularized this concept when he opened the Morgans Hotel, in 1984, and started a company named after it. According to Oysterblog, Schrager introduced exclusivity, superstar designers and chefs, destination lobby-cum-lounges, and above all, celebrity.

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Agents: James Nelson

Massey Knakal representatives are currently in Las Vegas for the Global Retail Real Estate Convention.
 
RECon is the global convention for the shopping center industry and provides networking, deal making and educational opportunities for retail real estate professionals from around the world. With over 30,000 attendees and 1,000 exhibitors it is the largest industry convention, making it an unparalleled opportunity to do a year's worth of business in just four days.

Visit Massey Knakal's booth located at C (central hall) 160 F Street

Click here for more information on RECon

By: Brendan Gotch, Director of Retail Leasing, Massey Knakal Realty Services

Low vacancy and relative optimism about the economy as well as several major construction projects characterized the first quarter retail market in Greenwich Village, the East Village, the Meatpacking District, and NoHo, according to the most recent quarterly market study by Massey Knakal’s Director of Retail Leasing Brendan Gotch. Having developed a consistent and rigorous method to determine these statistics, the report was released last week and is the only study focusing specifically on the neighborhood in such depth.

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Neighborhoods: Greenwich Village, NoHo, East Village

Massey Knakal Partner James Nelson will serve as a speaker at The Forum for Great New York Hotel Real Estate.  The event, which will take place on May 3, will explore the rapidly changing landscape of hotel and lodging investment, development, management and financing in and around New York City. It will offer the opportunity for attendees to hear from over 40 industry leaders and experts, and discover opportunities that may not yet be on their radar.

Spanning a full day, the conference includes a networking breakfast, lunch, and cocktail reception to increase the opportunities to mingle with fellow attendees and meet potential clients and joint venture partners. Over 300 high-level attendees are expected.

Click here for event information

Agents: James Nelson

Massey Knakal Realty Services is pleased to announce their #1 ranking for the eleventh consecutive year on CoStar’s list of Top Brokerage Firms for NYC Commercial Property Sales. According to CoStar data, in 2012, Massey Knakal handled 377 transactions totaling over $2.6 billion dollars.

“CoStar results show that Massey Knakal is ranked the #1 New York brokerage firm by transaction volume for the 11th consecutive year.  We are also proud to announce that for the past decade we have ranked within the top five NYC brokerages by dollar volume, and in 2012, we ranked third with over $2.6 billion in sales,” said Massey Knakal’s CEO Paul J. Massey, Jr.

Click here for press release

Agents: Paul Massey Jr.

Massey Knakal Realty Services is pleased to announce the release of their exclusive First Quarter 2013 Property Sales Reports. These unique, industry-leading, reports provide a comprehensive study of the investment sales market by product type in the New York City marketplace (Manhattan, Northern Manhattan/Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens).

“As we anticipated at the end of 2012, the spike in sales activity caused by capital gains tax policy last year has led to a slowdown in activity thus far in 2013.” stated Bob Knakal, Massey Knakal Chairman. “The good news, however, is that the dollar volume of sales and number of buildings sold were ahead of expectations. We view this as a positive sign for the marketing the balance of 2013,” added Knakal.

During the first quarter of 2013, there was $6.5 billion in New York City sales, a 36% decrease from 2012 and down 7% from 2011.

The New York City investment sales market saw 559 properties sold in 1Q13. Indeed, the hyper-activity from 4Q12 stole activity from this quarter with 4Q12 setting an all-time record in number of properties sold and second best quarter in dollar output. NYC dollar volumes exceed $6.5B for the quarter with 1Q13 marking the return of the “billion dollar deal.”

The purchase of 30 Rockefeller Plaza and 550 Madison Avenue were the first billion dollar sales since the Google purchase in 2010, and the first time since the downturn multiple properties exceeding $1B sold in the same year. These two sales accounted for 44% of total dollar volume in Manhattan.

Within the different market segments Massey Knakal tracts, Northern Manhattan outpaced the Bronx for the first time in properties sold due to several multi-property transactions taking place.

Brooklyn led all markets with 214 buildings sold in 1Q13, while Queens had the lowest annualized turnover with 0.93% of the total stock of property.


Click here of highlights from each report
 

Agents: Robert Knakal

The Commercial Observer is asking for your help in selecting the real estate professionals for the upcoming Power 100 issue. Between today and Friday, you can visit The Power 100 Reader's Poll and ensure Massey Knakal gets the recognition it’s due by voting for Paul Massey and Bob Knakal.

Since 2008, when The New York Observer launched its annual Power 100 rankings of real estate professionals, the responsibility of selecting, promoting and demoting the city’s top brokers and developers laid solely on its editorial staff. But in a twist this year, they're asking their online readers, to make the tough calls.

Click here to vote in The Power 100 Reader's Poll

Agents: Paul Massey Jr., Robert Knakal

On Wednesday, April 24th, Massey Knakal will participate in the Staten Island Economic Development Corporation's 15th Annual Conference.  The event will feature prominent figures, speakers and businesses from a variety of sectors.

The all-day event includes seminars, business-to-business vending, networking events, and keynote speaking sessions which provide unparalled opportunity for interaction among on- and off-island businesses.  The conference is the only economic and business conference held on Staten Island each year and expects to draw over 2,500 attendees.

Click here for more information

Neighborhoods: Staten Island/ Agents: Michael Schneider

Massey Knakal Realty Services is pleased to announce that five of their agents have been presented with the CoStar Powerbroker award.  Robert Knakal, Thomas Donovan, Mark Lively, Michael Amirkhanian, Stephen Palmese and Brian Sarath were among those honored with this prestigious award.

Mr. Knakal has been personally responsible for the sale of more 1,300 buildings worth over $9.0 billion. He is a two time winner of the Real Estate Board of New York’s Robert T. Lawrence Award in the Most Ingenious Deal of the Year Contest. Mr. Knakal writes a weekly article on the NYC Real Estate Market called Concrete Thoughts for The Commercial Observer.

Mr. Amirkhanian has been involved in the sale of over 70 properties with an aggregate consideration over $110 million. In one notable assignment, in North Crown Heights, he represented Time Moving in the sale of 1000 Dean Street for $11 million to a partnership between Goldman Sach’s Urban Real Estate Investment Group and BFC Partners. This transaction produced a neighborhood changing, 140,000 square foot artist and tech oriented office conversion which will be anchored on the ground floor with an entertainment space by the Brooklyn Flea.

Mr. Donovan joined Massey Knakal in 1998 to head up the firm's first full-service outer borough office. In 2012, Mr. Donovan was named Massey Knakal’s Top Salesperson of the Year in Queens for the fifth consecutive year.  This is the fifth year in a row that CoStar named Mr. Donovan a Top Sales Broker for Queens/Long Island. To date, Mr. Donovan has handled over 184 transactions (254 buildings) with a total aggregate sales value of over $920 million.

Mr. Lively, who focuses on Brooklyn’s Williamsburg and Greenpoint areas, has been involved in the sale of approximately 150 properties with a total aggregate value of over $300,000,000.

Mr. Palmese focuses on Boerum Hill, Brooklyn Heights, Clinton Hill, Downtown Brooklyn, DUMBO, Fort Greene and Prospect Heights. Since joining the firm, Stephen has sold over 100 properties with an aggregate consideration of nearly $700 million.  In 2012, he was named a Top Investment Sales Broker in New York by Real Estate Forum and was profiled on the front cover of The Commercial Observer for having sold 8% of all Brooklyn sales in 1H12. 

Mr. Sarath originally handled investment sales in the Jamaica section of Queens and its surrounding areas but his territory has since expanded to cover areas such as Howard Beach, Kew Gardens, Richmond Hill and Ozone Park. This is the fourth time Mr. Sarath has been named a Top Sales Broker for Queens/Long Island by CoStar. Mr. Sarath has sold more than 125 buildings and loans with an aggregate value of $450 million.

Click here for press release

Agents: Brian Sarath, Mark Lively, Michael Amirkhanian, Robert Knakal, Stephen Palmese, Thomas Donovan

Massey Knakal Director of Sales Evan Daniel will be a speaker at Bisnow's Future of Long Island City Summit on May 2nd.  The event will bring together the top real estate figures in one of the region's hottest growing markets. With it's booming residential market, incredible access to Manhattan-Brooklyn-Queens, and retail growth on the rise, there is a lot to be excited about in Long Island City.

Click here for event information

Neighborhoods: Long Island City/ Agents: Evan Daniel

Headlined by Jeff Sutton, Founder and President of Wharton Properties - The prestigious CRE conference saw a 50% increase in attendance in last year's event, indicating strong recovery in CRE markets.  This year, the conference is set to be larger than ever, giving an ample opportunity to discuss the bull market.


Click here for press release

Massey Knakal took part in the the event, which consisted of the top real estate agents and firms networking and giving advice to newcomers to the field. 

Chairman Bob Knakal addressed the attendees on the state of the economy and job market as the keynote speaker.  Vice President of Human Resources and Recruiting Gia LaMarca, Manhattan Executive Managaing Director Todd Korren and Brooklyn and Queens Executive Managing Director Rob DiBiase represented MK at the event as well.

Click here to check out a video from NTD TV on the event

Agents: Gia LaMarca, Robert DiBiase, Robert Knakal, Todd Korren

Several MK employees recently participated in a team building event at Cooking By The Book, where they created a gourmet meal together.  The event was deigned to teach, challenge, and reward the team in the kitchen, a familiar, yet powerful, environment for stimulating real world challenges.

Bob Knakal will serve as the keynote speaker at the 1st Annual NYC Real Estate Career Expo on March 14th.  He will address the attendees on the state of the economy and job market.  The event is the only show of its kind designed to help all real estate professionals and companies from the many diverse professions of the industry. RECE is designed primarily to meet the needs of real estate professionals who are looking to enter the real estate industry, progress in their current niche of the market or help you effectively transition into another sector of the industry by providing snapshot analysis of 2013 job markets by leading economists.

Agents: Robert Knakal

By: Brian J. Sarath, Director of Sales

Jamaica Avenue has always been synonymous with retail. Even in its earliest beginnings, the thoroughfare was known for fur trading and then in the 1700s as a farmers’ trading post. The early to mid 1900s brought Macy’s, Gertz department store, May’s and King Kullen. Although the neighborhood experienced hardship in the 1970s and ‘80s, losing many of its commercial tenants due to crime, inadequate infrastructure and overall deterioration of the neighborhood, the new millennium has sparked a phenomenal rebirth of Jamaica Center.

Click here for full article

Neighborhoods: Jamaica/ Agents: Brian Sarath