HFZ near deal for 350K square foot NoMad project

Developer Ziel Feldman’s HFZ Capital Group is negotiating with the centuries old Collegiate Church to form a joint venture to develop a 350,000-square-foot mixed-use tower in NoMad, half a block from the popular Ace Hotel, sources familiar with the deal told The Real Deal.

The Collegiate Church “is in conversations with Ziel Feldman,” one source with knowledge of the process, said.

If finalized, the partnership would demolish the existing buildings that the church owns at 3 West 29th Street, 11 West 29th Street and 8-16 West 30th Street, and construct a new one on the site, which lies just west of Fifth Avenue. The source expected the deal to close within the next 60 days, although no price was available.

The developers were looking at various possibilities, including a hotel or residential units, the source said. The site has been in play at least as far back as 2006, when the church began acquiring the buildings.

Feldman, founder and managing partner of HFZ, declined to comment. Casey Kemper, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Collegiate Asset Management, which handles the real estate for the church, also declined to comment.

Other sources in the development industry said Feldman and Collegiate had not completed a deal, and that competing firms were still vying for the site.

Indeed, Fisher Brothers was one firm that had sought to strike a deal with Collegiate, insiders said. Fisher Brothers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The religious organization was founded in Manhattan in 1628 as the Dutch Reformed Church. It has four churches in Manhattan, including the Marble Church at 1 West 29th Street, adjacent to the development site.