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

“Manhattan’s top 75 listing agents”
The Real Deal
The Real Deal’s new list of Manhattan’s top real estate brokers ranked by property listing value includes CORE’s Tom Postilio and Vickey Barron, pictured at right.

“NYC’s new condo wave”
The Real Deal
A look at the new development pipeline in Manhattan includes a piece on Walker Tower, CORE’s new 50-unit luxury residential building in Chelsea.

“Selling New York S5E13: The Art of Persuasion”
Curbed
A witty recap of last week’s episode of “Selling New York,” which featured CORE CEO Shaun Osher educating a developer on the TriBeCa real estate market and winning the sales and marketing contract for 93 Worth Street.

“The rise of the $20 million-plus listing”
The Real Deal
CORE’s Mickey Conlon comments on the trend of sellers putting their apartments on the market with hefty price tags above $20 million. Says Conlon, “It appears as if many owners who don’t necessarily need to sell are recklessly trying their luck at unrealistic prices. Would it be unfair to call it Russian roulette?”

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

Walker Tower photos by David Dunlap for the New York Times

“Downtown Prices Are Set to Get Lift”
Wall Street Journal
Last week’s launch of sales at CORE’s Walker Tower development in Chelsea may prove that “ultrawealthy New Yorkers will pay some of the highest prices in the city for a spot in the funky neighborhood,” the Wall Street Journal reports. With 25% of Walker Tower’s 50 ultra-luxury condominiums already in contract, that certainly looks true. Read on for more about the project, including analysis from CORE CEO Shaun Osher.

“Developer in Chelsea Honors a Great Architect While Redesigning His Work”
New York Times
Veteran journalist and architecture historian David Dunlap explores a different path regarding Walker Tower’s launch, focusing on the complexities of the $200 million restoration and renovation of the pre-war Art Deco building, and explaining how new elements “were based on existing decorative motifs found in the building entrance and lobby or on archival drawings showing how Walker’s design evolved.” Also check out Dunlap’s great photos of some of Walker Tower’s original design flourishes.

“Walker Tower, 25 percent sold, gets a warm welcome from residential brokers”
The Real Deal

“Walker Tower: Historic Icon + Modern Luxury Will Cost You”
New York Observer

“See The Views From Walker Tower’s Opening Party”
Curbed
Completing a week of Walker Tower media mania, the building’s launch party and early sales success are covered online by The Real Deal, the Observer and Curbed, including some excellent photo galleries.

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After many months of buildup and intrigue, CORE is thrilled to announce that sales have officially begun at Walker Tower, a 1929 Art Deco masterpiece located at 212 West 18th Street in Chelsea that has been restored, reinvented, and reconfigured into 50 expansive luxury condominium residences. These homes feature unobstructed and protected Manhattan views, ceilings up to 14′ high, custom finishes, the largest tilt-and-turn windows in the world, state-of-the-art internal systems and a comprehensive amenities package that includes full-time doorman and concierge services, lavish residents’ lobby and lounge, children’s playroom, fully equipped fitness center and a stunning “Top of the Walker” roof deck.

Walker Tower is the biggest and most high-profile new development launch in Manhattan in some time, and that has led to an amazing amount of demand. As the Wall Street Journal reports today, already around 25% of the residences are in contract at prices that will threaten or surpass various neighborhood pricing records. There is much to discuss about Walker Tower, and we encourage a visit to the new walker-tower.com to explore what this exciting project has to offer, and its current availability. Additional details and contact information can also be found in CORE’s New Developments section. We’ll have more later this week on last night’s Walker Tower “View-ing” party in the building’s newly completed model apartment. For now, check out the great story and photo gallery at The Real Deal.

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

“Market Ready”
New York Times
CORE managing director Emily Beare offered advice to homesellers on the best way to deal with windows that open onto an air shaft. “You want the focus to be completely away from that view,” said Beare. Read on for her thoughts on how to shift that focus.

“Lady Gaga’s fave designer sells Chelsea pad”
The Real Deal
French fashion designer Thierry Mugler’s Chelsea loft was sold to a buyer represented by CORE’s Adrian Noriega, The Real Deal reported. The 4,100-square-foot duplex at 245 Seventh Avenue sold for $7.89 million. Mugler is best known as Lady Gaga’s favorite designer.

“Just sold!”
New York Post
The $1.399 million sale of a two-bedroom, two-bathroom condo at One Museum Mile was featured.

Society continues to classify achievements by category. We create hierarchies and measurements like The Biggest, The Richest, The Strongest, The Longest, and the list goes on…

The Real Deal is the only widely read trade publication for real estate in New York, and every year they publish their brokerage rankings with data they collect. This year CORE was named the top boutique firm in the city, and while I don’t pay too much attention to awards or other companies’ business models, I must admit that it is rewarding to be recognized in the industry. Especially in the category that compliments our business model.

When Jack and I started our company in 2006, our business model and objective was clear and simple: Build the best real estate company in the city! Best by our standards meant a company with the highest ethical standards, professional conduct, creative marketing, and productive team of agents. We went about building a company that was designed for the agent (and having been a top agent for many years, I had a deep understanding of what I needed to support and grow my business, and what I felt was missing). We continue to grow CORE as a company with resources designed to build and support our agents’ business under the umbrella of our brand.

I am grateful to my incredible team of agents, and the smartest, hardest working management and support team in the city. I’m really looking forward to continuing our mission.

Shaun Osher is the founder and CEO of CORE.

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

“Big Deal: Trophy Hunting”
New York Times
CORE chief executive Shaun Osher commented on the wave of “trophy apartments” for real estate columnist Alexei Barrionuevo’s piece on the most desired high-priced apartments in town. Barrionuevo also highlighted CORE’s new Chelsea development, Walker Tower, where sales will begin this month: “Several brokers said they were waiting for new downtown developments that will provide fresh trophy penthouses to challenge uptown’s dominance. Projects like Walker Tower in Chelsea (at 212 West 18th Street), where a two-floor, 12,470-square-foot penthouse is expected to list for $94 million later this summer.”

“Patience Pays for Chelsea Flipper on West 17th”
Curbed
Tom Postilio’s and Stuart Sussman’s sale at 246 West 17th Street in Chelsea (above) was featured on Curbed, which wrote, “Market timing helps, but patience and resolve seemed to pay off in this case.”

“Billionaire discounts $21.5M Fifth Avenue spread”
The Real Deal
Michael Graves commented on the tremendous amount of interest in the luxury segment of the real estate market for The Real Deal’s story on Seagram heir Charles Bronfman, who is marketing his full-floor apartment at 810 Fifth Avenue for $21.5 million.

Go West!
The Observer’s Luxury Rentals
Elizabeth Kee was interviewed on the growth of Midtown West in the Observer’s bimonthly magazine on the luxury rental market. (Please see page 15 for the story.)

“Just sold!”
New York Post
Michael Graves’s sale of a small Upper West Side condo at 595 West End Avenue was featured.

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

“The Hunt: A Three-Bedroom; Anywhere Is Fine”
New York Times
“The Hunt” column followed along as a couple looking for a three-bedroom condominium in Manhattan decided to purchase at CORE’s One Museum Mile development on Fifth Avenue.

“Harlem’s real estate renaissance”
Metro
One Museum Mile is also featured in this look at the Harlem real estate market, which has been surging, Metro reports: “As the summer approaches and the market catches its post-recession bearings, no area in Manhattan has heated up as quickly as Harlem.”

“Former NAACP head lists Tribeca apartment”
The Real Deal
Bruce Scott Gordon, the famed executive and former head of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, listed his apartment at 166 Duane Street in Tribeca for $5.75 million through CORE’s Michael Graves. Find out more about this great loft apartment here.

“New LIC Condo One Murray Park Officially Hits the Market”
Curbed
“A happy on-sale date to One Murray Park,” Curbed wrote, “the first new condo project to hit the Long Island City sales market in more than a year.” Marketed by CORE’s Doron Zwickel, the new 45-unit condominium development hit the market with an announcement on the CORE Blog.

Where: 166 Duane Street, 7B
Size: 3 bedrooms/2.5 bathrooms (2,670 square feet)
Asking: $5,750,000
Listed by: Michael Graves

This beautiful loft in TriBeCa literally just hit the market, and already it’s making waves. Before we even had a chance to reveal the listing as our latest What’s New, The Real Deal published a story noting that the loft’s seller is Bruce Scott Gordon, the powerful corporate executive and former head of the NAACP. Said CORE’s Michael Graves to TRD, “I’m getting pounded with requests to see this apartment and it’s only been on the market for a few hours. There’s a real lack of inventory in this area.”

It’s not hard to see what makes this downtown 3-bedroom condo so intriguing. Located in the full-service Duane Park Building, the corner loft apartment is an art lover’s dream, with 11′ ceilings, open living and gallery areas, and 13 oversized windows. Other features include a top-of-the-line professional chef’s kitchen, a huge master suite with two walk-in closets and a five-fixture marble bathroom, and the building’s communal roof deck. Enjoy more photos of one of TriBeCa’s best available lofts below, and to see the full photo gallery and floorplan, click over to Michael Graves’s listing.

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Located on the border of two of downtown’s best neighborhoods, SoHo and TriBeCa, and within strolling distance to the Hudson River, Renwick Street is an anomaly: An under-developed and practically unknown block surrounded by some of the most expensive and in-demand real estate in New York City. Some big plans for 15 Renwick Street dissolved when the economy soured, but now that the high-end market is soaring again in Manhattan, a comeback is in the cards. The Real Deal reports today that New York-based residential real estate firm Izaki Group Investments has taken control of the development site, and has tapped CORE to head sales and marketing at the property. (The two are already working together on the condo conversion of TriBeCa’s 93 Worth Street.)

A boutique condominium development will break ground this fall, and CORE CEO Shaun Osher added, “We are very excited to be working on another project with IGI on one of the last remaining undeveloped lots in this exciting neighborhood.” We’ll have more details on 15 Renwick Street in the months ahead.

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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