Developer Harry Macklowe, who was infamously forced to relinquish nearly his entire real estate empire after a bad $7 billion real estate bet at the height of the market, is getting back in the game. Macklowe, who also lost a business partner in his son, William, as a result of his portfolio’s implosion, now has a new teammate in Prudential Douglas Elliman Chairman Howard Lorber. According to Crain’s, the pair just purchased the defaulted loan on a prime Midtown development site and is planning to build a residential tower there. Comments

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Lender Anglo Irish Bank will cease to exist within a few months’ time, according to Ireland’s central bank. The bank’s “nameplate” will be removed in early 2011, as the lender is wound down as quickly as possible and its deposits are given a “comfortable home,” said Governor Patrick Honohan. According to Bloomberg News, the central bank today issued a statement saying that it’s working on a new restructuring plan for the bank, which will be filed to the European Commission by the end of January. Comments

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Louise Sunshine and the Mark

Anglo Irish New York is quietly selling loans on three upscale
hotels owned by Alexico Group totaling $350 million
to $400 million, industry sources told Crain’s. It was
unclear if Alexico had defaulted on one or more of the loans
associated with the properties, which are the Mark Hotel on East 77th
Street, the Alex Hotel on East 45th Street and the Flatotel
on West 52nd Street. But sources familiar with the deal said the
prospective buyers were only interested in the mortgages because they
hoped to eventually foreclose on the company. Alexico, where industry veteran Louise Sunshine is director of development, recently
invested at least $100 million into renovating the 16-story Mark, hotel. It planned to convert some suites into private
residences that it would sell to pay off debt, but fell short of the
cash it needed and borrowed $255 million from Anglo Irish. The other
hotels don’t appear to have the same issues as the Mark. However,
Alexico has had problems with some of its residential developments
such as the Laurel condos
on the Upper East Side, where buyers have filed lawsuits to break
contracts. [Crain's]

[more]

Louise Sunshine and the Mark

Anglo Irish New York is quietly selling loans on three upscale
hotels owned by Alexico Group totaling $350 million
to $400 million, industry sources told Crain’s. It was
unclear if Alexico had defaulted on one or more of the loans
associated with the properties, which are the Mark Hotel on East 77th
Street, the Alex Hotel on East 45th Street and the Flatotel
on West 52nd Street. But sources familiar with the deal said the
prospective buyers were only interested in the mortgages because they
hoped to eventually foreclose on the company. Alexico, where industry veteran Louise Sunshine is director of development, recently
invested at least $100 million into renovating the 16-story Mark, hotel. It planned to convert some suites into private
residences that it would sell to pay off debt, but fell short of the
cash it needed and borrowed $255 million from Anglo Irish. The other
hotels don’t appear to have the same issues as the Mark. However,
Alexico has had problems with some of its residential developments
such as the Laurel condos
on the Upper East Side, where buyers have filed lawsuits to break
contracts. [Crain's]

[more]

Alexico is the subject of litigation for its Laurel condo at 400 East 67th Street (left). The off-site sales office at St. Tropez, 1161 First Avenue.

Alexico Group is facing litigation after it allegedly failed to pay
$254,000 in back rent and other charges for an off-site sales office at
the Laurel, its 31-story condominium building at 400 East 67th Street. Since 2007, the Manhattan-based development marketing firm has operated
the Laurel sales and design center at 1161 First Avenue, which is a
street-level commercial space located at the rival St. Tropez condo, on
the corner of 64th Street.
The complaint, filed by the St. Tropez Board of Managers May 27 in New
York Housing Court, alleges the developer — which pays $53,571 per
month in rent — failed to make a payment since January. Alexico, led
by Izak Senbahar and Simon Elias, told the landlord that slow sales at
the Laurel were hurting its ability to make rent payments for the sales
office, according to St. Tropez’s attorney. [more]