From left: Adam Leitman Bailey, Julius Schwarz, executive vice president of the Bayrock Group, Sapir Organization CEO Alex Sapir and the Trump Soho

Ten Trump Soho buyers are getting a 90 percent refund on their deposits
after filing a suit against the Bayrock Group and the Sapir Organization
alleging they misrepresented sales figures (note: corrections appended). The New York Post reported that a federal lawsuit filed by the buyers against the building’s sponsors was settled yesterday, and they will get 90 percent of the $3.16 million in deposits they combined to have put down on $16.914 million worth of apartments. The buyers claim to have been told as many as 60 percent of the units were sold, when at the time just 16 percent of the hotel-condo units in the building, at 246 Spring Street, were actually sold. Adam Leitman Bailey represented the buyers. [more]

From left: Gary Barnett, president of Extell Development, a rendering of One57, Michael Chen, director of Asian market development at Bond New York and Patricia Cliff, the Corcoran Group’s director of international sales

Sales have unofficially kicked off at One57, Extell Development’s 90-story condominium tower in Midtown, with some prices hitting $6,000 per square foot, according to a source with inside information about the asking prices. The 1,000-foot tall property, at 157 West 57th Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues, is slated to replace New York by Gehry at 8 Spruce Street as the city’s tallest residential building when construction is completed within two years. Extell plans to officially open a sales office at the end of this month, but foreign buyers — primarily from China — have already snapped up some of the units since the developer began shopping them privately last month, according to the source, who asked for anonymity because the information is confidential. [more]

From left: Elliman’s Fredrik Eklund and Raphael De Niro, Prodigy Network’s Rodrigo Nino and Trump Soho

After months of speculation, Prudential Douglas Elliman officially got in on the marketing act at Trump Soho, according to Real Estate Weekly. The Real Deal previously reported the hotel-condominium’s developers and lenders were considering replacing the current Prodigy Network-led team with Elliman brokers. According to Real Estate Weekly, Elliman’s Raphael De Niro and Fredrik Eklund will “spearhead” the domestic sales effort for the unaccounted for apartments in the 346-unit tower, while keeping Prodigy in tow. According to Prodigy President Rodrigo Nino, 21 units have entered contract and 19 units have closed since the team unveiled lower prices in the Sapir Organization and Bayrock Group-developed building in late February. [more]

About 100 real estate professionals filed in to the Trump Soho’s lone duplex penthouse last week, to preview the building’s 11 new-to-the-market, two-bedroom, two-and-a-half bathroom penthouses, which range from $2.5 million to $8.7 million (see photo gallery above). Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres were provided by the Quattro Gastronomia Italiana, a restaurant located inside Trump Soho. The 46-story building at 246 Spring Street, which was developed by the Sapir Organization and Bayrock Group, has 391 hotel-condo units. TRD [more]

From left: David Rockwell, Julius Schwarz, Alex Sapir and Trump Soho at 246 Spring Street

The developers of Trump Soho have entered a legal imbroglio against the
Rockwell Group, alleging in a new lawsuit that the interior design firm failed
to meet building codes and cost the property more than $1.5 million in
damages for delays and replacement costs to complete their work.

The complaint, filed this past Friday in New York state Supreme Court,
came just two days after Rockwell sued the Bayrock Group and Sapir
Organization, alleging the Trump Soho developers failed to pay for $1.5
million in interior design work at the building.

Bayrock/Sapir, which developed the 391-unit hotel-condominium at 246
Spring Street, contends the design firm placed furnishings too close to
light fixtures and provided interior construction documents that were out of
compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act requirements. [more]

When the developers of Trump Soho built the 46-story hotel-condo in Hudson Square, they were allowed to build 20 percent bigger than zoning would typically allow by vowing to build an 8,161-square-foot plaza. According to the Villager, one year after the building opened, the developers now want to take back some of that space for outdoor seating for the Quatro restaurant on the hotel’s ground floor. Trump Soho representatives presented the plan before Community Board 2, which plays an advisory role in the City Planning Commission’s decision, arguing that the plaza attracts little public use and the cafe would invite people into the public space. Comments

• Tweet

[Updated 1:15 p.m., April 15, 2011 from a previous version of the story] Trump Soho hotel-condo recently entered discussions with a number of brokers, including Prudential Douglas Elliman, on a potential deal to replace Prodigy International, according to sources familiar with the discussions.

Developers and lenders have been in furious discussion about how to revive sales at the luxury tower, located at 246 Spring Street, following a 2010 deal with Los Angeles-based CIM Group to recapitalize more than $295 million in debt.

When asked about this last week, Elliman declined to comment, while a spokesperson for Trump Soho denied the move. “There has been no change in the sales and marketing team,” the spokesperson said.
[more]

From left: One Madison Park (source: Eden Pictures via Flickr), Trump Soho and William Beaver House

Fitch Ratings upgraded the issuer default ratings of iStar Financial, citing the lender’s
recently announced $2.95 billion credit agreement, which
lowered the amount of debt coming due in June.
The funds are comprised of two credit lines that will help iStar extend its debt payments
until 2013 and 2014. The Manhattan-based lender had warned of a potential collapse
unless it was able to extend the deadline on its payments. [more]

Trump Soho and Prodigy Network’s Rodrigo Nino, who is heading up sales at the building

The developers of the Trump Soho hotel-condominium at 246 Spring Street are relaunching sales at the controversy-prone property, with units listed at an average of 21 percent below their original asking prices, according to Crain’s. Having recently reached a deal to restructure their $275 million loan at the project, Bayrock Group and the Sapir Organization are hoping that bargain buyers will emerge from the sidelines to take advantage of their new pricing schedule. As of last week, 279 of Trump Soho’s 391 units were still unsold. Since the project launched in 2007, only 45 units have closed for a total of around $55 million, while another 67 are in contract. [more]

Donald Trump, Alex Sapir and Trump Soho

Trump Soho, the recently opened condominium-hotel in Lower Manhattan,
has received another $20 million in financing after restructuring its
mortgage loan with iStar Financial, according to newl [more]