Q How did you come up with the name MNS?
A We wanted a shorter, more catchy name. And in talking to the branding company we were working with, we started thinking of all these different names — putting last names together of partners, and focusing on the things we do. Should we call it this? Should we call it that? And then we started exploring the option of having the URL, our Web site, being a three-letter domain name. We were able to purchase the domain name mns.com.
Q Was the URL expensive?
A Yes. We have an agreement not to mention the exact price.
Q Are TDG and Tregny full integrated now?
A Oh, absolutely. Tregny did resales and rentals — that was their focus — primarily in Manhattan. The Developers Group was primarily a Brooklyn-based new development firm. So it was a natural fit: Tregny had an interest in going into the Brooklyn market; the Developers Group wanted a Manhattan presence.
Q You started with Tregny. What are your responsibilities now as C.E.O. of the merged company?
A I wear a lot of hats at different times. We have a resale division, a new-development division, a rental division, and we have in-house marketing and advertising. I’m overseeing all of them.
Q How is business?
A Exceptionally well. I don’t think that anybody could have predicted the success that we’re having right now. Take a building like the Edge, for instance. We sold 175 apartments there in the first six months of this year. The building is 50 percent closed and 70 percent sold. There are a lot of units in contract waiting to close. It’s a 565-unit building.
Q How many developments is MNS representing?
A We have about 20 projects that we’re currently working on. We have One Brooklyn Bridge, a 438-unit condo conversion on the waterfront. It’s about 65 percent sold. We just finished up sales at 420 West 25th Street, which is Loft25. For the last 10 units, 4 of them had bidding wars on them. That was interesting to see, because these apartments had been on the market for some time. It was a good indicator of what was happening in the market.
Q I guess it’s safe to say few concessions are being offered.
A No, you’re seeing that kind of dry up. We’re seeing a demand and a shortage of inventory of both rentals and sales.
I represent a lot of landlords in Manhattan in smaller buildings, and we can’t keep the apartments on the market long enough. We also work with a lot of new hires from Fortune 100 companies, and what I’m seeing is classes coming in that are the same size as when the market was at a peak. At JPMorgan, their class this year is 700-plus new hires, and we work with all of them in finding apartments.
Q How much of an increase are you seeing in rental rates?
A Depending on the area and the size, it could be as much as 10 percent over last year, or more.
Q And sales?
A What we’re seeing a lot more now is that the absorption rate is getting shorter — the time on the market. We don’t see things for longer than 90 days now.
Q You handle marketing and advertising in-house.
A Our ad campaigns are very interactive, where it gets people involved. And by looking at analytics and watching where people go on Web sites, we’ve been able to adjust. We know that 80-something percent of people go to floor plans first, as opposed to going to see pictures.
Q Do you recall your first deal?
A The first deal I did was at 300 East 34th Street. My brother, in real estate, sent me there with a client — I was working for Citi Habitats. He said just show him these five places, and I showed him 27J. Right away the client said, “I’ll take it.”
I walked into the bedroom and called my brother and I said, “He wants it.” He said, “Andrew, it just doesn’t work like that, you have to show him the other properties.” I said, “Why would I show him other stuff if he says he wants it?” He said, “I’ll call you back.” I said, “Don’t call me back. What the hell do I do?”
He said, “All right, just throw him in a cab and bring him back.” I looked in my pocket and I didn’t have enough money for a cab, so we started walking. The client asked how long I had been doing this. And I said to him, “about 15 minutes.” We laughed all the way back to the office.
