NEW YORK CITY-During a Counselors of Real Estate event held here yesterday, panelists representing all five segments of the industry agreed that business is still bad and probably won't get better until the end of the next year.

NEW YORK CITY-In two separate transactions, Newmark & Co. Real Estate Inc. completes the purchase of the 20,600-sf 12 East 52nd St. and wins the leasing assignment for the office portion of 52 Vanderbilt Ave., a 186,000-sf property adjacent to Grand Central Station.

NEW YORK CITY-Two surveys conducted by the Alliance of Downtown New York show that major employers in Lower Manhattan see the proposed transit hub at the former WTC site, along with improved airport transportation, as major drivers for sticking in the neighborhood.

NEW YORK CITY-Henry W. Haunss Jr. joins Apollo Real Estate Advisors LP from UBS Realty Investors LLC, where he spent the past 20 years of his career.

NEW YORK CITY-Miss Sixty has expanded its lease at 435 Hudson St. to 14,000 sf and Morgenthal Frederics has claimed one of the last parcels at the AOL Time Warner Center--a 400-sf ground floor shop.

NEW YORK CITY-After 22 years with Merrill Lynch & Co., Richard Saltzman is leaving his position as managing director and vice chairman of investment banking to serve as the new president of Colony Capital LLC.

NEW YORK CITY-Partnered with Cushman & Wakefield, nine nationwide minority and woman-owned businesses have joined together to form Concordis Real Estate--an industry first. The alliance officially launched April 16 during an event held here.

NEW YORK CITY-While vacancy rates in US downtown office markets increased from 14.8% in the fourth quarter of 2002 to 15.2% in the first quarter of 2003, Cushman & Wakefield's industry forecast is still calling for a recovery later this year.