With warm weather and the distractions of summer in New York City in full swing, you have to get creative when it comes to marketing. And creative was just what the CORE events team was all week, coordinating a pair of events that showed off exclusive CORE properties in unique ways. First up on Wednesday, just ahead of National Bourbon Day — a real day, we swear! — was a whiskey tasting hosted by CORE’s Jarrod Guy Randolph in the amazing $4.995 million penthouse of the new Isis building on the Upper East Side. An evening of high-quality cocktails in a beautiful brand-new penthouse with four terraces? If that’s not enough to snap you out of a summer haze, what is?

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Thursday is typically “Selling New York” day on the CORE Blog, but you may have noticed that we’ve been quiet about the show in recent weeks. That’s because reruns have been airing on HGTV (including tonight’s re-airing of Parul Brahmbhatt’s “Steampunk apartment” launch) while new episodes are being filmed — new episodes that will be featuring CORE agents, of course. During this brief “SNY” pause, the topic of the real estate industry embracing reality television remains a hot topic. The current issue of The Real Deal magazine examines the connection, and wonders whether small screen exposure leads to big property sales. The jury is still out on that verdict, but shows like “Selling New York” do help drive interest and shape opinions. The Real Deal’s Katherine Clarke details one interesting example involving CORE’s Tom Postilio:

At the Urban Glass House condo in Soho, for example, sales had virtually stalled because of a much-publicized odor problem from a sanitation facility next door. An agent with two listings in the building, Core’s Tom Postilio, decided to spread the word about newly unveiled city plans for a new building to house the odorous garbage trucks.

“I spearheaded an effort, through ‘Selling New York,’ to show how fabulous the building is, factoring in the city’s plans,” said Postilio, who arranged an on-camera meeting with other brokers to strategize about how to reinvent the building’s image.

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A sampling of last week’s press coverage of CORE and CORE properties.

Photo: Nico Arellano

“House of the Day”
Wall Street Journal
At 72 Reade Street, an “airy, 3,360-square-foot apartment in Tribeca [that] still bears remnants of its industrial past,” listed by Michael Graves, was a Wall Street Journal House of the Day. Photo above, and check out the complete photo slideshow on the WSJ website.

“A tale of two markets”
The Real Deal
“In a still-difficult economy, developers are increasingly tailoring buildings to suit the needs of serious buyers,” The Real Deal reports, and that includes building “supersized” apartments into new developments. The list of supersized new buildings includes Walker Tower, where apartments average 3,000 square feet, and where CORE will launch sales next month.

“Best place of the week: 55 White St.”
New York Daily News
Ryan Fitzpatrick’s spectacular triplex listing at 55 White Street in Tribeca “has the kind of grandeur that evokes library scenes from movies like ‘The Music Man’ and ‘Beauty and the Beast.’”

“Houses of the Week”
New York Post
A turn-key condo loft at the crossroads of Chelsea and the West Village, listed by CORE Managing Director Vickey Barron, was highlighted by the Post.

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HGTV’s “Selling New York” follows CORE agents as they navigate the country’s most competitive—and compelling—real estate market. Here’s our behind-the-scenes look at Episode #509, which first aired on March 22, 2012. For more SNY recaps, click here.

In “Strategic Marketing,” CORE Managing Director Vickey Barron was faced with the challenge of listing a Fifth Avenue penthouse that two brokers had previously failed to sell. With her seller stressing the importance of getting the $6.995 million penthouse into contract quickly to facilitate his move to Florida, and with a fairly strict building policy of no public or broker open houses, Vickey had to get her creative juices flowing. In order to come up with new ideas on how to market and sell her new listing at The Brevoort in Greenwich Village, Vickey decided to enlist the help of her fellow CORE brokers by hosting a friendly marketing competition. The two teams of two toured the penthouse and partnered up with architects and designers to create a new marketing strategy.

After a few weeks, both teams regrouped and presented their marketing strategies to a group of colleagues, potential buyers and the competition’s judges – Vickey, CORE CEO Shaun Osher and The Brevoort’s board President, Diane Nardone. Each team presented a variety of marketing strategies that ranged from architectural renderings of possible renovations to historic information on the building and surrounding neighborhood. After much debate the judges picked a winning team, and just three weeks later, Vickey had an accepted offer on the penthouse and a very happy seller. Keep on reading for some exclusive behind-the-scenes information about what didn’t make it into last night’s episode of “Selling New York” and what happened after the cameras stopped rolling!

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HGTV’s “Selling New York” follows CORE agents as they navigate the country’s most competitive—and compelling—real estate market. Here’s our behind-the-scenes look at Episode #508, which first aired on March 15, 2012. For more SNY recaps, click here.

In this week’s episode of “Selling New York,” titled “Deal or No Deal,” CORE Managing Director Tom Postilio had to breathe new life into a listing at the Chelsea House, a condominium development at 130 West 19th Street in Manhattan, in order to entice potential buyers to visit. When Tom originally put his listing on the market he thought it would be an easy sell because of its great Chelsea location and the building’s great amenities. However, after multiple showings, Tom realized that visitors found the apartment to be dark and cluttered, not to mention the brick wall views.

Luckily, Tom had a plan and convinced his seller to take out everything and stage the apartment. After a quick meeting with Susan Goldstein from Studio D, they agreed to use furnishings and lighting that would brighten up the space. The staging was successful and the apartment immediately got interest. Keep on reading for some exclusive behind-the-scenes information about what didn’t make it into last night’s episode of “Selling New York” and what happened after the cameras stopped rolling!

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HGTV’s “Selling New York” follows CORE agents as they navigate the country’s most competitive—and compelling—real estate market. Here’s our behind-the-scenes look at Episode #507, which first aired on March 8, 2012. For more SNY recaps, click here.

In “Creative Tactics,” CORE Managing Director Emily Beare was forced to think outside the box to market a unique waterfront listing at 220 Riverside Boulevard, aka Trump Place. Naturally, Emily’s first instinct was to plan a fabulous open house for her fellow brokers, but the seller, Rebecca Clemente, informed Emily that Trump Place has a “no open houses” policy. Emily had to come up with another plan to get people in the door and decided to act fast.

To create a buzz around this 2,962-square foot beauty, Emily enlisted the help of event planner to the stars, Colin Cowie. After a quick trip to Colin’s office, they decided to throw an invite-only cocktail party to show off the apartment’s perfect entertaining layout. Emily knew that getting people to visit 220 Riverside wouldn’t be a problem if a signature Colin Cowie party was being held there. Colin and his team put together a one-of-a-kind event, perfectly tailored to the luxurious property. The party, complete with an electric rock violinist, was flawless, and had brokers pulling Emily in all directions to tour the apartment. After a successful party, it was no surprise that potential buyers were interested and that an offer was soon on the horizon.

Keep on reading for some exclusive behind-the-scenes information about what didn’t make it into last night’s episode of “Selling New York” and what happened after the cameras stopped rolling!

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CORE's Kristina Helb, Elizabeth Kee and Lindsee Silverstein in front of the famed slide.

A penthouse that can double as a playground? We knew a property as unique as our “slide listing” at 425 East 13th Street in the East Village (also known as the A Building) had to be marketed in an innovative way, and innovation is what we sought out. Last Thursday night, CORE held an influencers’ event in the much-talked-about penthouse, bringing together many of New York’s most creative minds in the unique space for a night of networking and wine tasting. The guest list was kept small, and the goal was to get the city’s tastemakers buzzing about the stunning property, which features a very sleek and custom design headlined by a Carsten Höller-eque steel slide connecting the two levels.

Among the attendees were fashion and marketing executives, start-up CEOs, interior designers and architects, magazine publishers and even a VP for the New York Knicks, who probably knows a few guys who appreciate high ceilings. A handful of prospective buyers also toured 2,400-square-foot, $3.99 million condominium throughout the night, which was captured by the “Selling New York” cameras for an upcoming episode. For a gallery of photos from the event, check out CORE’s Facebook page.

HGTV’s “Selling New York” follows CORE agents as they navigate the country’s most competitive—and compelling—real estate market. Here’s our behind-the-scenes look at Episode #505, which first aired on February 23, 2012. For more SNY recaps, click here.

L-R: Michael Feinstein, David Hyde Pierce, Tom Postilio, Christine Ebersole, and Cheyenne Jackson at Tom's opening night at Feinstein’s

This week’s episode of “Selling New York”, titled “High Expectations,” featured CORE’s Tom Postilio scouring the Manhattan market for his friend and fellow musician, Michael Feinstein. With a massive budget of up to $50 million, Mr. Great American Songbook and his partner, Terrence Flannery, knew exactly what they wanted, and they weren’t going to settle for less. In fact, they weren’t going to put their own $20+ million house on the market (a stunning 8 bedroom, 9 bathroom, 9,000-square-foot behemoth on the Upper East Side) until finding the perfect place to move. Tom was up for the challenge, but he knew there was a lot at stake: a huge commission, his longtime friendship with Michael and ultimately his reputation in NYC’s tight-knit real estate community.

Tom showed Michael and Terrence several stunning properties that caught their attention, from the $3.5 million historic Steinway Mansion in Queens, to a $39 million multi-penthouse combination at the I.M. Pei-designed Centurion building in Midtown, but in the end Michael’s hectic touring schedule got in the way, and the couple was forced to put off finding their dream house for a bit longer. Keep on reading for some exclusive behind-the-scenes information about what didn’t make it into last night’s episode of “Selling New York” and what happened after the cameras stopped rolling!

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HGTV’s “Selling New York” follows CORE agents as they navigate the country’s most competitive—and compelling—real estate market. Here’s our behind-the-scenes look at Episode #504, which first aired on February 16, 2012. For more SNY recaps, click here.

In “NYC Newbies,” CORE agent Kirk Rundhaug races against the clock to find his clients — Oakland Athletics manager Bob Melvin and his wife, Kelley — their downtown dream home. After trying to find a home through another NYC broker after selling their Flatiron District apartment, Melvin and his wife decide that their previous unpleasant experience isn’t going to derail their search. Kelley finds her broker match with Kirk and explains that time is of the essence since she’s currently staying with her daughter while trying to find a place prior to the end of baseball season. Always up for a challenge, Kirk agrees to be the Melvins’ broker and takes Kelley to a variety of downtown properties.

First stop is a TriBeCa loft at 68 Thomas Street (which has since sold) with a great outdoor deck priced just under $2 million. Kelley prefers the neighborhoods to the north — Greenwich Village and SoHo — so it’s on to a beautiful open 2BR/2BA loft with exposed brick walls on West Broadway in SoHo. It’s love at first sight for Kelley and her daughter Alexi, but Kelley can’t commit since Bob is in California. Kirk decides to show Kelley another property, this time in the classic Chelsea Mercantile building (another apartment that has since sold), to show her a different neighborhood. After touring the Chelsea property, Kelley quickly realizes that she must have the SoHo loft.

Kelley and Kirk hop on Skype with Bob to discuss making an offer on the loft. Following Kirk’s suggestion, the Melvins agree to make a competitive offer at $2.3 million, and they successfully become the new owners of a classic SoHo loft. The episode ends with Kirk and the Melvins sitting down to dinner in the Melvins’ new home. Keep on reading for some exclusive behind-the-scenes information about what didn’t make it into last night’s episode of “Selling New York” and what happened after the cameras stopped rolling!

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HGTV’s “Selling New York” follows CORE agents as they navigate the country’s most competitive—and compelling—real estate market. Here’s our behind-the-scenes look at Episode #503, which first aired on February 9, 2012. For more SNY recaps, click here.

In “The Best Laid Plans,” CORE Managing Director Vickey Barron was thrown a curve ball: Her client found the perfect Manhattan apartment, but it just so happened to be Vickey’s. The episode began with Vickey meeting her client, Irasema Alonso, for a showing at 280 Park Avenue South, where Vickey was listing a stunning 861-square foot apartment that had been renovated from top to bottom. Vickey explained to Irasema that purchasing a move-in ready home was her best bet since renovating after the fact takes time, effort, money and a whole lot of patience. Irasea wasn’t convinced, so to prove her point Vickey offered to bring Irasema to her own apartment nearby, which was in the middle of a $250,000 renovation.

To Vickey’s surprise, instead of recognizing the value of a completed renovation, Irasema made an interesting proposition. She made an offer of $1.215 million for the home at 280 Park Ave. South, and an offer of $1.3 million for Vickey’s apartment. In the end, Irasema’s offer for the Park Avenue home wasn’t high enough and the sellers chose to go with another buyer. As far as Vickey’s apartment went, although flattered, Vickey’s priority was finding a buyer for 280 Park Avenue. Keep on reading for some exclusive behind-the-scenes information about what didn’t make it into last night’s episode of “Selling New York” and what happened after the cameras stopped rolling!

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