REBNY rewards the best in the business.

Woody Heller and Stephen B. Siegel have won the Real Estate Board of New York's (REBNY's) 2003 Henry Hart Rice Most Ingenious Deal of the Year Award.

The award, which was presented for its 60th year, recognized Heller, now at Studley, and Siegel, of CB Richard Ellis, for the sale of The McGraw-Hill Companies' interest in 1221 Avenue of the Americas.

The duo, both at CB Richard Ellis when the deal was negotiated, sold the company's stake for $450 million to SL Green Realty Corporation.

Robert A. Knakal, of Massey Knakal Realty Services, took home the Robert T. Lawrence Memorial Award for the sale of the Gotham Book Mart at 41 West 47th St.

Although neighborhood residents and other real estate executives valued the property at roughly $5 million, Knakal conceived and implemented an innovative strategy that enabled him to sell the property for $7.2 million.

Simon Ziff and Russell Schildkraut, of The Ackman-Ziff Real Estate Group LLC, won the Mortgage Brokerage Most Ingenious Deal of the Year Award for closing a $32.1-million first mortgage, covering 60% of the cost of acquisition and renovation of the Doral Park Avenue Hotel, located at Park Avenue and 38th Street. This is the fourth time in the award's six-year history that Ackman-Ziff has taken the prize in this category.

The prizes were awarded at REBNY's 60th Annual Sales Brokers/Finance Committee Cocktail Party on April 15th at the 101 Club.

Peter Hauspurg, of Eastern Consolidated and selection committee chair, presented the Henry Hart Rice and Robert T. Lawrence prizes. Marc Haves, of Haves, Pine & Seligman and program chair of the real estate finance committee, awarded that group's prize. There were 20 total submitted deals considered for the three prizes.

"These award-winning executives are at the top of their respective fields, crafting some of the most inventive transactions New York's real estate industry has ever seen," said Steven Spinola, REBNY President.

"These transactions exemplify the skill and dedication that not only sets these professionals above the rest, but also ensures that New York remains one of the top business centers in the world."

Woody Heller, now at Studley, and Stephen Siegel, of CB Richard Ellis, were awarded the assignment to represent McGraw-Hill in the sale of the company's interest in 1221 Avenue of the Americas in August 2002.

Despite the building's investor-friendly assets, the building's ownership, structured as a C Corporation, made negotiations extremely prohibitive for potential investors. The client owned a non-controlling 45percent minority interest in the building, worth $450 million, with controlling interest being owned by Japanese company, Rockefeller Group International (RGI). Despite the challenges--including the fact that German investors, who might be particularly interested in the building, were restricted from investing due to existing German tax laws, and that the buyer would have to come up with the sale price entirely in cash--the team was able to locate a prospective buyer.

However, after seven months of faltering negotiations, Heller and Siegel, knowing that the potential buyer and RGI, the majority owner, were not likely to strike an agreement, decided to stick with their instincts and find another investor.

The brokers then brought SL Green Realty Corporation, an existing REIT and one of Manhattan's major Class B property owners, to the table.

The brokers crafted an attractive deal for the client and convinced the buyer that as a result of this sale, SL Green could escape its image as only a Class B owner and elevate itself to Class A status. The deal was officially consummated on December 29, 2003.

The Ackman-Ziff Real Estate Group was hired by Kennedy Associates, managing member of the Multi-Employer Hotel Partners, to arrange an acquisition and renovation loan for 60% of the estimated total project costs for the redevelopment of the Doral Park Avenue Hotel.

The 188-room hotel will be converted to a 205-boutique room hotel, managed by Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants. A number of factors, including a lack of available capital for the hospitality industry, a 45-day time of the essence closing requirement, limited documentation, and the fact that the existing hotel was operating at a significant loss before debt service, among others, presented significant roadblocks. In addition, the client was prohibited from providing a repayment guarantee, which precluded a majority of lenders typically willing to make a hotel acquisition and renovation loan from doing so.

In one of the most exhaustive searches for capital in Ackman-Ziff's history, the team approached 130 lenders and successfully arranged a $32.1 million non-recourse acquisition and renovation loan that closed in July 2003. By stressing the location of the property and comparable land values, and by focusing on the quality and track record of the hotel manager and credit-worthiness of the borrower, Ackman-Ziff was able to mitigate concerns about both the hotel industry and the project.

Robert A. Knakal, of Massey Knakal Realty Services, was named exclusive sales agent for the Gotham Bookmart, a five-story, 9,000 ss/f property located at 41 West 47th Street. While neighborhood residents and other brokers valued the property at $5 million due to its poor condition, Knakal believed it was worth more than $7 million. Due to the indiscrete nature of the prospects bidding on the transaction, Knakal conceived and implemented a negotiating strategy that established leverage for the seller and brought a sale price from a "highest, best and final" high bid of $5.5 million to $7.2 million, marking a 31% increase.

The panel deciding the winner of the sales prize consisted of Sheri Chromow of Katten Muchin Zavis Rosenman; Sam Giarrusso, M&T Bank; David Greenbaum, Vornado Realty Trust; Peter Hauspurg, Eastern Consolidated Companies, Inc.; and Jim Houlihan, Houlihan & Parnes Realtors.

The judges for the finance awards were Carmen Bowser, TIAA; Veronica Hackett, The Clarett Group; Robert Ivanhoe Esq., Greenberg Traurig, LLP; Terence Tener, KTR Newmark Real Estate Services, LLC; and Robert Verrone, Wachovia Securities.

The event was sponsored by The Durst Organization Inc., Fremont Investment & Loan, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and The New York Times.