Sheridan Wall

The developers are planning a three-unit project at 32 East 22nd Street & more in this week’s notes from a resi reporter

New dev shortage, influx of wealthy tenants and looming pied-à-terre tax drive rents higher

Federal prosecutors charged David Motovich, a convicted fraudster and former owner of a lumberyard in Midwood, with possessing an illegal phone in a complaint unveiled earlier this week. The document includes a selfie of Motovich with another man, who the New York Times identified as Oren, though his face is redacted.

The 113th floor of the Billionaires’ Row supertall was the priciest of 15 homes asking $4M+ to find buyers last week, per Olshan Realty.

The home at 192 Columbia Heights traded in an off-market deal for $24.5 million, according to public records. The closing price surpassed the year's previous top sale, a penthouse at Fortis Property Group's Olympia Dumbo, which sold for $16.3 million in March.

Michael Shabsels, who, with his brother, David Shabsels, built a now-bankrupt empire of summer camps that stretches up the East Coast, put his home at 275 Main Street on the market for rent at the end of June, according to a Zillow listing. Among the camps owned by the Shabsels are the popular Mohawk Day Camp in New York state and Camp Blue Star in North Carolina.

While activity in the Hamptons and the North Fork ticked down in the second quarter, homes above the market's entry level but short of its upper echelons accounted for the largest share of transactions, according to data by Miller Samuel and Streetmatrix.

The home at 48-50 West 69th Street sold for $45 million, a significant markdown from its last asking price of $85 million, according to public records. Despite the hefty discount, the sprawling abode eclipsed the Upper West Side's previous priciest townhouse deal, set in 2022 when a deal for the home at 248 Central Park West closed for $26 million.

Earlier this week, Douglas Elliman announced it was overhauling its technology , including launching a new company powered by Google Cloud AI. Along with the announcement, CEO Michael Liebowitz said the tech upgrade would lead to layoffs at the firm and that he ultimately expected AI to reduce the need for so many agents in the industry.

Lone deal inked last week despite busy period for borough's lux market Manhattan's luxury market revved up last week, but had a hard stop at eight digits.