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]
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]
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]
Steve Ross is the latest developer angling for a piece of One Madison Park, the skinny glass condo at 23 East 22nd Street that’s been mired in lawsuits since its owners ran out of cash in 2009. According to the Wall Street Journal, Ross’ Related Companies is working on a bid with Amalgamated Bank, one of the project’s junior lenders, to wrest control of the property through a buyout of senior lender iStar Financial’s debt. The Amalgamated plan was revealed in yet another lawsuit filed yesterday by Ziel Feldman’s HFZ Capital, which is expected to submit an official rescue plan for One Madison to federal bankruptcy court in Delaware within days. [more]
Embattled One Madison Park condominium developer Ira Shapiro has agreed to give up much of his authority at the project under a settlement with billionaire investment partner Cevdet Caner, effectively ending his $40 million rescue deal with investor Ian Bruce Eichner, The Real Deal has learned. Shapiro reached a settlement last Tuesday with Caner’s Green Bridge Partners, which helped finance One Madison Park in 2007 and filed suit in December to block the Eichner agreement, which would have financed the completion of the 23 East 22nd Street condo and leave Shapiro in charge of the property. [more]
The first rental unit at One Madison ParkThe first rental unit at One Madison Park, the new Flatiron condominium at 23 East 22nd Street that’s now under the control of a court-appointed receiver, has hit the market for $7,500 per month, according to Curbed. The listing provides a long-awaited peek, above, into what a completed apartment looks like at the critically-acclaimed, if troubled, tower. Only 13 units have closed at the 69-unit condo, which was developed by Slazer Enterprises and is being helped towards completion by developer Cary Tamarkin and workout specialist Eric Anderson, who were hired to advise on the remainder of the project earlier this year. The two-bedroom, two-bathroom unit for rent is 1,328 square feet and open park views from its floor-to-ceiling windows. Halstead Property’s Amy Herman and Nicole Suozzi have the listing. [Curbed]
While the One Madison Park condo development has faced numerous fiscal foibles in the last year, New York Times architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff has declared it a triumph. As The Real Deal reported earlier this month, the development’s creditors are aiming to force One Madison into bankruptcy over $12 million in unpaid loans. But financial troubles haven’t taken the luster off of the development, which Ouroussoff described as “a dazzling addition to [its] street.” Discount buyers at the building at 23 East 22nd Street, developed by Slazer Development, also faced legal hurdles, facing a lawsuit filed in May that included more than 80 defendants. [NYT]
While the One Madison Park condo development has faced numerous fiscal foibles in the last year, New York Times architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff has declared it a triumph. As The Real Deal reported earlier this month, the development’s creditors are aiming to force One Madison into bankruptcy over $12 million in unpaid loans. But financial troubles haven’t taken the luster off of the development, which Ouroussoff described as “a dazzling addition to [its] street.” Discount buyers at the building at 23 East 22nd Street, developed by Slazer Development, also faced legal hurdles, facing a lawsuit filed in May that included more than 80 defendants. [NYT]
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]
