The Week in Review

1. Thousands of City Apartments May Violate Law

Developers across the city could be required to undertake expensive renovations after the U.S. attorney's office for the Southern District of New York filed a lawsuit against developer AvalonBay, saying it is discriminating against disabled people. The suit alleges that the developer failed to provide sufficient handicapped access at Avalon Chrystie Place, a 361-unit building on the Lower East Side, The New York Sun reported. Previously, the U.S. attorney, Michael Garcia, sent letters to about a dozen city landlords and their architects indicating that their buildings were "not accessible to persons with disabilities," which would constitute discrimination under the Fair Housing Act. Recipients included the Related Companies, the Durst Organization, Rose Associates, Rockrose Development Corp., and Silverstein Properties. The New York Times estimated that more than 100,000 units built since 1991 may require renovations.

2. Halstead Launches New Web Site

Halstead Property Development Marketing announced this week that it has launched a new real estate development Web site, Halsteadpdm.com. The site allows visitors to search development properties for available units by location, price, or amenity. The site was designed by John Marshall of Inoventiv Corp., which also has provided web services for Thrifty Rent-A-Car, Renault, and the United Nations World Food Programme. Halsteadpdm.com includes overviews of each building, square footage, photos, and floor plans.

According to Halstead's recent Quarterly Real Estate Market Report, more than one-third of real estate closings in the second quarter were in new or converted developments, where prices averaged $1,421 a square foot.

3. Ex-Football Player Joins GVA Williams

A former tight end for the New York Giants, Howard Cross, has joined GVA Williams as a tenant representative after three years with CB Richard Ellis, the New York Post reported. Mr. Cross told the Post he needed "elbow room" to grow and that GVA Williams is "a firm on the rise and is trying to gain market share." Mr. Cross played on the 1991 Super Bowl championship team.

4. Rent Stabilization Association Sues

An organization that represents landlords, the Rent Stabilization Association, filed a lawsuit in state Supreme Court challenging the legal underpinnings of the Tenant Protection Act, a four-month-old law that was championed by the City Council speaker, Christine Quinn, the Sun reported. In response, Ms. Quinn and Council Member Melissa Mark Viverito organized a rally at City Hall in support of the law. The lawsuit comes amid a push by the City Council to wrest more control from the Rent Guidelines Board, which oversees the city's rent-stabilized apartments.

5. DMX's Townhouse Sells for $120,000

A partially renovated Harlem townhouse owned by Earl Simmons, better known as the rapper DMX, was sold at a sheriff's auction for $120,000, Curbed.com reported. The sale is subject to all prior encumbrances, including a mortgage and other liens. Simmons purchased the 18-foot-wide townhouse at 2007 Fifth Ave. in 2001, for $750,000. He is currently out on bail in Arizona and unable to leave the state after being arrested in May on drug and animal-cruelty charges, and again in July on theft and identity-theft charges. Proceeds from the sale will go to settle a judgment against Simmons by Amusing Diversions Inc., a company that signed a contract with him in 2003 to promote a line of dog clothing.

cataylor@nysun.com