From left: 511 West 25th Street, One Madison Park and 225 Rector Place
Related Companies has closed the distressed asset fund that purchased debt on Manhattan properties including One Madison Park and 225 Rector Place (also known as Rector Square), BusinessWeek reported.
The Related Real Estate Recovery Fund garnered $825 million of commitments, $75 million more than it targeted, to invest mostly in distressed debt with an eye on taking ownership of the properties. [more]
One Madison Park
Judge Kevin Gross, in an opinion released yesterday, said the case involving the luxury tower at 23 East 22nd Street, is placing an untold burden on his courtroom and cited an inability and unwillingness of the various parties to resolve several key disputes in the bankruptcy. The decision forces part of the case to start from scratch in New York state court after 1.5 years in bankruptcy court in Delaware.
“These adversary proceedings are extremely contentious and there is minimal cooperation among the parties,” Gross wrote in his opinion. “It’s fair to say the parties won’t agree on what day it is.” [more]
New York real estate faced a whirlwind year in 2011, and numerous contenders surfaced when The Real Deal sat down to pick our favorite stories of the year.
There was the limping recovery of the residential sales market, coupled with several standout deals and the runaway revival of the rental market. Developers snapped up distressed properties, such as One Madison Park, while other stalled projects like the Azure cond-op tower came back to life. [more]
From left: Bradley Mendelson of Cushman & Wakefield, Faith Hope Consolo of Prudential Douglas Elliman and Laura Pomerantz of PBS Real EstateCompiled by Adam Pincus
This year retail pricing improved broadly, including reaching a record $3,000 per foot asking rent on Upper Fifth Avenue. At the same time, landlords and their agents ramped up leasing at large mall-like sites in Lower Manhattan. Yet weak areas such as stretches of the Upper East Side were a drag on the market. As the year comes to a close, The Real Deal asked some of Manhattan’s leading retail leasing brokers what they expect for 2012. See what they had to say after the jump. [more]
Related and HFZ Capital Group cleared a key hurdle in their effort to take over the beleaguered One Madison Park condominium tower on Thursday, after the deadline for parties to file competing bids passed with no additional offers.
Related, through an entity known as One Madison FM, had initially been HFZ’s rival to become the sponsor of the 50-story tower at 23 East 22nd Street, which creditors pushed into bankruptcy in June 2010. But in September, Related and HFZ joined forces to bid for control of the property through a bankruptcy auction, which had been scheduled for Dec. 13.
The lack of competing bids allows the entity that controls One Madison, FKF Madison Group Owner LLC, to move ahead with Related and HFZ’s proposal to pull the 69-unit property out of bankruptcy. [more]
Construction at One Madison Park may be stalled, but that hasn’t stopped a pair of unit owners at the condominium tower from seeking tenants for their investment property.
One of two rentals available at the development, unit #10A is getting its second tenant Dec. 1, and he’ll pay $9,000, or $1,100 more per month than the previous occupant, according to the individual’s agent, Todd Lewin, managing director of real estate services firm Good Property.
Buyers Angela and Thomas Chen paid $2.04 million for the 1,328-square-foot two-bedroom apartment in September 2009, according to property records, shortly before the 50-story tower went into foreclosure and its developers, Ira Shapiro and Marc Jacobs, saw the property slide into bankruptcy. [more]
The new holders of the senior debt at One Madison Park issued subpoenas yesterday to force investor Green Bridge Capital to disclose its relationship with Ziel Feldman’s HFZ Capital and why the firm is refusing a June 30 offer to accept a new plan backed by Related Cos.
The new proposal, by an entity called One Madison FM, is designed to bring in new bidders through an open auction and substantially raise the value of the property. Sources say the new entity is backed by Related Cos. Chairman Steve Ross, who is pursuing a plan to become the new sponsor of One Madison Park.
Related, one of the largest and most respected real estate developers in the city, is working with Amalgamated Bank on a financial plan to help pay off creditors of the bankrupt condominium at 23 East 22nd Street, and complete construction.
“He wants to develop it,” according to a source familiar with Ross’ plans for the property. [more]
Ziel Feldman and One Madison Park
Amalgamated Bank has acquired the senior piece of the One Madison Park condominium mortgage loan from iStar Financial, according to federal bankruptcy records obtained by The Real Deal, jeopardizing a rescue plan submitted earlier this month by HFZ Capital.
Manhattan-based Amalgamated already held the $78.5 million junior piece of the mortgage loan, and a New York state Supreme Court judge refused to block the deal despite a $75 million lawsuit from HFZ, a distressed real estate firm led by investor Ziel Feldman.
HFZ asked the judge to block the deal on the grounds that Amalgamated, after initially promising to sell the junior piece to HFZ in November 2010, reneged on that deal and swooped in on the senior note after HFZ filed a rescue plan in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. [more]
A long-awaited reorganization plan was submitted in the One
Madison Park bankruptcy case late yesterday evening giving
an outline that could finally lead to the troubled condominium
settling millions of dollars in claims and resuming sales.
The plan, submitted to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware,
calls for senior lender iStar Financial to get $162 million in the
form of a secured note.
In addition, $12.5 million in mechanics liens would be recovered
in the form of cash, $15 million to $20 million in “unclassified
claims” would be recovered in immediate cash, deferred cash
and other payments and another $160 million to $180 million in
unsecured claims would be recovered at the rate of 3 to 5 percent. [more]
Barry Slotnick and One Madison ParkThe developers of One Madison Park have been hit by a potentially serious new legal maneuver, as three creditors, including a Queens-contractor, filed a petition to throw the building into involuntary bankrupt [more]
