The developers of the Rushmore condominium at 80 Riverside Boulevard — a partnership between Extell Development and Carlyle Realty — are refusing to give up the fight for $16 million in security deposits, blocking the return of the money to 41 condo buyers at the West Side building, despite a Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling last week, the Wall Street Journal reported. Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, the law firm holding the disputed deposits in an escrow account, isn’t allowing the money to be returned. An attorney for the Rushmore’s developers sent Stroock a letter arguing that there is “no basis at this time” to release the down payments, a standard procedure that allowed the developers to decide if they want to pursue the case further, sources said. The office of Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, however, also sent Stroock a letter, instructing them to release the funds to the buyers. Richard Cohen, an attorney for a group of buyers, said that his clients will continue to pursue the case, which has been closely followed in the industry at a time when many condo buyers have been trying to escape from contracts that committed them to purchases made near the market’s peak. [WSJ]

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The Rushmore and Extell’s Gary Barnett

It’s more legal trouble for the developers of the Upper West Side Rushmore condominium, who’ve just been hit with a lawsuit by a former broker with the Corcoran Group who claims he’s owed $132,900 in unpaid commissions, Crain’s reported. John Nelson, who was a referral director at the brokerage, said he brought buyers to the table for 28 apartments in the building by Extell Development and the Carlyle Group. But while he was paid half the commission promised for signed contracts in the building at 80 Riverside Boulevard, he claims the developers stiffed him for the remaining half once his buyers closed on their new units. And according to the suit, it’s not the first time this has happened: Nelson also sold apartments Extell’s the Avery, at 100 Riverside Boulevard, for which he had to “chase” the developer for “the payments owed to him,” his attorney said. The Corcoran Group is not involved in the suit, but CEO Pamela Liebman said Extell is always “diligent in paying brokers.” A spokesperson for Extell and an attorney for the defendants said the suit has no merit. [Crain's]

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From left: Alon Chadad and Moshe Balalo

The
two top-producing brokers at Nest Seekers International are splitting
to join the Bracha Group at Prudential Douglas Elliman, the group’s
president, Ilan Bracha, announced yesterday. The pair, Alon Chadad and
Moshe Balalo, closed more than $50 million in sales last year alone,
including deals at high-profile developments like the Rushmore
condominium at 80 Riverside Boulevard and One Beacon Court at 151 East
58th Street. They were ranked 48th on The Real Deal’s
June list of the top 75 New York City residential agents with the most
exclusives by dollar value: 16 listings worth a combined $51.39
million. Chadad and Balalo, who spent four years at Nest Seekers, will
each become senior vice presidents at Elliman. Their addition comes on
the heels of the departure of Ali Jafri, formerly one of Bracha’s top-producing brokers, who split from the group in May to start his own team within Elliman. TRD

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The Rushmore and Gary Barnett

A Manhattan federal judge today ordered the immediate release of $16 million in escrow deposits at the Upper West Side’s Rushmore condominium at 80 Riverside Boulevard, after rejecting a temporary restraining or [more]

From left: Corcoran Sunshine’s Kelly Kennedy Mack, Lynne Brown, Melissa Ziweslin, Graham Spearman and the Rushmore

Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group today announced the winners of its annual awards, with $1.6 billion in closed residential development sales in 2009. “In one of the toughest years in real estate history, $1.6 billion is a significant number,” Corcoran Sunshine President Kelly Kennedy Mack told The Real Deal. The award for sales team of the year was presented to Rushmore sales agents Lynne Brown, Jill Preschel, Graham Spearman, and Melissa Ziweslin, who closed over 100 unit sales at the project in 2009 and signed some $50 million in contracts during the fourth quarter alone. More inventory was sold and closed at Extell Development’s Rushmore condominium in 2009 than at any other development in the Corcoran Sunshine portfolio, Mack said, adding that the team demonstrated “a Herculean effort.” [more]

Kuwaiti conglomerate National Industries Group is suing the Carlyle Group, a building sponsor at Extell Development’s Rushmore towers at 80 Riverside Boulevard, for allegedly misrepresenting the financial health of its affiliate group, Carlyle Capital Corp, which collapsed in March of last year. National Industries Group had invested $50 million in Carlyle Capital, a public debt fund, allegedly under the impression that the fund was going to be invested in triple-A mortgage-backed securities, as was allegedly advertised. The debt fund’s collapse, one of the earliest bucklings in the financial downturn, was seen as a major blow to the Carlyle Group’s reputation in the Middle East, the Financial Times reported, and a cautionary tale regarding the range of diversity within private equity portfolios. The Carlyle Capital Group reportedly culled $600 million in private investments and another $340 million when it was publicly listed.

Already battling at least 34 buyers trying to back out of their sales contracts, Extell Development is facing a lawsuit from a Wall Street executive claiming that the Rushmore condominium tried to defraud her of her $1 million-plus deposit refund, and failed to obtain key city approvals. Kelly Coffey, a managing director at JPMorgan Chase, filed suit in New York State Supreme Court Sept. 29, alleging the Upper West Side building’s sponsor missed the Sept. 1, 2008 closing deadline by five months, and then illegally amended the offering plan to deny buyers the right to get a refund. “Instead of offering the plaintiff the right to rescind the agreement, as required by the offering plan, the defendant sponsor’s 16th amendment to the offering plan states that purchasers have no right of rescission related to the first closing,” attorneys Philip Hines and Marc Held wrote in the complaint. [more]

The home to see the biggest price cut today is an eight-bedroom,
eight-bath condo at the Rushmore, according to Streeteasy.com. The price
of the 7,200-square-foot Upper West Side apartment, unit 32/33CD, was
cut by $1 million, and is now on the market for $13.25 million. The 80 Riverside Boulevard apartment
is listed for 7 percent less than its asking price of $14.2 million
when it first hit the market in January. The duplex condo has a Jacuzzi
in the master bathroom plus a wine cellar. Nest Seekers International’s
Alon Chadad, Andy Kim and Moshe Balalo have the listing. TRD
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