‘Million Dollar Listing New York’ recap: big deals lead to big problems

Difficult clients and huge deals are the name of the game this week

It's season six of Million Dollar Listing New York, where three brokers—Fredrik Eklund, Ryan Serhant, and new guy Steve Gold—show the world what it takes to sell high-priced New York City apartments. Check in each week for recaps.

Another week, another round of real estate antics—and on this episode, we get a peek inside a new downtown skyscraper. To the recap!

Fredrik

Fredrik gets a new property this week, and it's a doozy: he's meeting with Ian Bruce Eichner, the developer behind 45 East 22nd Street, now known as Madison Square Park Tower. Apparently, Douglas Elliman head Howard Lorber has instructed Fredrik to do whatever it takes to seal this deal—Corcoran was the original brokerage for this building—so the stakes are pretty high for Freddy.

He's meeting with Eichner on the tower's not-yet-built 56th floor, and admittedly, the building has ridiculously gorgeous views. "I'm speechless," says Fredrik, which regular viewers of the show know is a rare occurrence. Eichner tells him that he's got "the assignment of your life," which is selling the last $400 million worth of apartments in the building. But first, Fredrik has to agree to the pricing that Eichner wants: there are eight full-floor units, which will start $20 million and increase by $1 million per floor; the two penthouses, meanwhile, will be priced at $38 million and $48 million.

Max Touhey

The view from Madison Square Park Tower

Even Fredrik seems a bit aghast at this request—how many buyers are there for real estate priced that high?—but he has his orders. "Howard Lorber called me and said whatever he asks you, say yes, and do it well," Fredrik tells Eichner, so the deal is on.

Except Lorber isn't happy about the plan, because it's a really ridiculous ask! So Fredrik decides, in typical Fredrik fashion, to do something outlandish: He hires a helicopter crew and videographers to film the views around the building, to the tune of $35,000. He also throws a huge ass party, with a model of the building, but he's nervous about trying to sell so much pricey real estate in one building—and even more so when Lorber shows up. "We were after this building for years," says Lorber. "Make sure you get it sold."

Gulp.

Ryan

Ryan is back on the Upper West Side for a slightly stilted meeting with Joseph, the rep for the larger, cheaper 87th Street townhouse from last week. Ryan's got a buyer who wants the home for less than its $9.999 million asking price; Joseph asks him to split the difference and go for $9.5 million. Ryan's going to try it! They sit in awkward silence, and Ryan attempts some small-talk—and becomes visibly uncomfortable by Joseph's hipster lifestyle (he lives in East Williamsburg! he plays the electric bass!)—before the potential buyer comes back with a counteroffer: $9.475 million. The deal is done! Now all Ryan has to do is sell the other 87th Street house.

64 West 87th Street, which Ryan loses this week.

About that: he's meeting with its developer, David, who isn't pleased that the place hasn't sold yet. Ryan is trying to get him to drop the price, using his other 87th Street listing as an example of a realistic price for the neighborhood. But that, obviously, backfires. "This is exactly what i was concerned about when i called you," David says. "I don't want to hear about the price reduction, because it's not going to happen," David says.

Instead, he suggests taking the house off the market, and he doesn't care how long it takes to sell. "This is going to be a patience game," he tells Ryan—who is, you guessed it, pissed. "I want to be the king of the fucking block!" he shouts, before texting Emilia about having a cuddle party later.

But he's not down for too long, because he has a new client: One of Ryan's brothers sends over a friend from Boston, who's looking to spend $2-3 million on a two-bedroom in Chelsea, Tribeca, or Soho. Ryan is skeptical—it's hard to find a nice place in those neighborhoods for that price, because New York real estate is ridiculous—but his client, Nick, says that "Manhattan is the dream," so Ryan decides to give it a shot.

They set up some showings, and when Nick finally shows up—a half hour late, pissing Ryan off—he's brought a friend along: Josh Ostrovsky, otherwise known as the Internet personality/rosé peddler the Fat Jew. "I hope these showings don't get too crazy," says Ryan, which means things will definitely get weird on next week's episode.

Steve

Steve, clad in a cozy-looking sweater vest, is at the 11th Street property for another private showing with Dana and Paul from last week. But their client wants changes, and lots of them—a ventless fireplace, bronze appliances, new lighting, reconfigured closets, and the like. Poor Steve is confused, because people never ask for changes on new developments.

But wait, there's more! They also want to knock nearly $1.5 million off the asking price. "Don't hold your breath," says an exasperated Steve. So he heads to the gym, which is coincidentally the same one where Ian, the go-between for the 11th Street property, works out. Steve presents the deal from Dana: Her buyer will pay $7.5 million, all cash, but they want the battery of changes.

Want to be neighbors with Leo and Deepak? Come by my Open House today at 66 East 11th Street, 3rd Fl. Brand new, never lived in, and just reduced in price from $10,600,000 to $8,950,000! #nycrealestate #luxuryrealestate #thegoldgroup

A post shared by Steve Gold (@stevexgold) on Feb 7, 2016 at 8:02am PST

Did you guess that Ian would be unhappy? Give yourself a pat on the back. "I can't even mess with that," he says. Steve is adamant that they should counter, but Ian is done—he walks out, with little more than a casual "have a good workout, bro" to end things. Drama!

Steve tries another tactic to try and make this deal work: he books a few private showings, and has his assistant take photos and tag Dana in them to show how many people are interested in the place. He even gets one of the folks he's showing the apartment to to do the same, proving that Steve is very thirsty.

Apparently, it works: Dana says the client can take the price up to $8 million and drop all the changes—except the fireplace. Steve is feeling a little more optimistic. And then he gets knocked down: Ian says he "feels insulted" by the $8 million offer. Steve reminds him of the fact that they didn't stage it, saving about $100,000, and that eventually, if the developer doesn't sell the place, they'll begin to lose money on it. That's enough to convince Ian, and after a call to the developer, they have a deal. (Spoiler: it closed for $8 million in August.)