From left: Peter Buffett, One Madison Park and Buffett's unit
Related Companies’ takeover of One Madison Park appears to be benefiting buyers who purchased into the building. According to the New York Post, Emmy winner and composer Peter Buffett, son of billionaire investor Warren Buffett, sold the 1,962-square-foot three-bedroom condominium on the 18th floor for $4.25 million — despite listing it for $150,000 less and buying it three years earlier for $3.56 million. [more]
Citi Habitats' Clifford Finn and 247 East 28th Street
The white-hot rental market and the shifting demographic of renters has compelled more New York City landlords to invest in extensive renovations of their rental properties, according to the Wall Street Journal. Landlords of apartment buildings that are 10 to 30 years old are spending millions to gut renovate well-located buildings and raise rents 10 to 40 percent. [more]
Equity Residential Chairman Sam Zell and 400 Park Avenue South
One of unionized labor’s harshest critics, Equity Residential Chairman Sam Zell has chosen union labor to construct the $190 million Park Avenue South tower he’s developing with Toll Brothers. Crain’s reported that Zell’s construction manager on the site, recently penalized Lend Lease Construction, struck an agreement with the Building and Construction Trades Council that will reduce standard union labor costs by 20 percent. [more]
From left: Gary Barnett of Extell Development, Frank Ring of F.M. Ring Associates and 251 Park Avenue South
For the second time in four years, Gary Barnett’s Extell Development is looking to the courts to wrest control of an under-utilized Manhattan office property from brothers Michael and Frank Ring. Extell owns half of the 120,000-square-foot 251 Park Avenue South, while the other half is owned by the Ring brothers. The property is managed by Frank’s F.M. Ring Associates. [more]
The Players club at 16 Gramercy Park South
The Gramercy Park block between Irving Place and Park Avenue South is hot with building-related drama. DNAinfo reported that not only is the National Arts Club in the news over the alleged behavior of its president O. Aldon James, his twin brother John and their friend Steven Leitner, but next door at 16 Gramercy Park South, the Players actors’ society, has its own building issues. [more]
Petra CEO Andrew Stone and 114 East 32nd Street
Turkish-based hotel chain Marmara Hotels & Residences was the buyer that paid $55 million for the failed condominium conversion at 114 East 32nd Street, according to Crain’s. As The Real Deal previously reported, Petra Capital Management sold the property after taking it over from developer Harry Jeremais, who defaulted on a $95 million loan. [more]
Roger consultant Steven Kamali, a photograph of a new guest room and a rendering of the new lobby
The Hotel Roger Williams in Murray Hill, now known as the Roger, will be opening June 1, and the hotel’s publicity team released a rendering of the lobby and a photograph of a renovated hotel room to The Real Deal today.
As Crain’s reported, the hotel, at 131 Madison Avenue, at the corner 31st Street, is undergoing a $10 million renovation, including a makeover of the hotel’s 194 rooms, restaurant and lounge. A spokesperson told The Real Deal that 60 percent of the rooms are completed and available for hotel guests. [more]
From left: O. Aldon James, the exterior of the National Arts Club and two pictures of unit 6A before and after cleaning and partial renovation (credit: REW)
Two apartments that former National Arts Club President O. Aldon James once controlled are now undergoing major cleaning and renovation, Real Estate Weekly reported. According to REW sources, the spaces could soon fetch up to $100 per square foot in rent. [more]
From left: Joseph Moinian, Joseph Sitt and 245 Fifth Avenue
A $140 million loan on developers Joseph Sitt and Joseph Moinian’s 245 Fifth Avenue has been transferred into special servicing because of default concerns, according to data provided to The Real Deal by analytics firm Trepp.
While the developers are still current on their loan, a default may be imminent, the data indicates. The transfer happened March 5, according to Trepp’s records. [more]
From left: Ziel Feldman, managing principal at HFZ Capital, One Madison Park and Stephen Ross, chairman of Related
Related Companies has reached a deal to settle most of the outstanding claims — estimated to be in the tens of millions of dollars — in the ongoing legal drama at the One Madison Park condominium and expects to relaunch sales late this year, The Real Deal has learned.
The settlements, which include $6.75 million in unsecured claims and several million in additional claims, will allow Related to complete construction at the site and resolve a number of outstanding title disputes at the property, at 23 East 22nd Street, which would allow the developer to put most of the unsold inventory back on the market. [more]
