Extell Development's Gary Barnett and the Belnord

Extell Development’s Belnord and Kushner Companies’ 666 Fifth Avenue both made it off Trepp’s list of distressed properties for January, according to data prepared for The Real Deal by the research firm today, while an 144,000-square-foot office and retail building owned by private investors at 2 West 46th Street made it onto the list for the first time.

The $375 million loan on the Belnord, which has 215 rental apartments spanning the entire block from 86th to 87th streets between Amsterdam Avenue and Broadway, has been in financial trouble since Extell President Gary Barnett put more debt on the historic building than its rental income could support, according to news reports. He stopped paying his sizable debt service on the Belnord in May 2011; it was reported in August that he could wind up walking away from it, a prospect that alarmed longtime tenants. [more]

Corcoran Sunshine Director of Sales Dan Tubb and new renderings of One57

About 30 percent of the apartments at One57 are under contract, according to Gary Barnett, founder of Extell Development Company, the developer behind the 95-unit luxury condominium tower.

Barnett, who would not discuss which units are finding buyers or what kinds of prices they are paying, was at the One57 off-site sales office today for a press-only panel discussion on the architecture and design of the 90-story tower at 157 West 57th Street. [more]

From left: former Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, 80 Riverside Boulevard and Gary Barnett, president of Extell Development

After nearly three years of litigation in multiple venues, a state Supreme Court judge ruled last week that former Attorney General Andrew Cuomo was correct in his 2010 order for the return of $16 million in disputed escrow deposits at the Rushmore condominium.

Justice Anil Singh, in a 15-page decision, ordered co-developers Carlyle Realty Partners and Extell Development, to return the deposits to 40 buyers at the 80 Riverside Boulevard tower. [more]

Gary Barnett, president of Extell Development, and the parking garage on West 44th Street

Gary Barnett’s Extell Development has purchased a 44,564-square-foot parking garage on West 44th Street for $29 million, according to public records filed with the city today.

The garage, at 332 West 44th Street, was was sold by Central Parking System. The company first put the property on the market amongst a batch of other Midtown parking sites in 2007. [more]

Riverside South

Just a handful of bidders remain for 1.35 million of Extell Development and Carlyle Group’s buildable square feet along West End Avenue, and final bids are due by the end of the month. But the New York Post reported that the site is burdened by several major restrictions.

The parcel, named Riverside Center, is located between West 59th and 61st streets, the southernmost part of the massive Riverside South complex. The portion for sale is slated for two residential towers of 43 and 44 stories. [more]

A rendering of One57

It’s no surprise that Extell Development President Gary Barnett said the $110 million he is asking for a penthouse in the forthcoming One57 condominium is a bargain, but according to Forbes there is some sales data to support Barnett’s seemingly wild claim.

For example, the $88 million Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev reportedly paid for 6,744 square feet at 15 Central Park West comes out to about $13,049 per square foot, whereas the $110 million penthouse has 10,923 square feet, rendering its asking price $10,070 per square foot. [more]

Extell Development purchased a 10,000-square-foot development site on East 50th Street for $61 million, the New York Post reported. The deal closed Dec. 1 and was recorded in city records this past Friday. The property, at 138 East 50th Street between Third and Lexington avenues, is currently a seven-story vertical parking tower flanked by the W New York and San Carlos hotels. [more]

Riverside South, the 77-acre former rail yard-turned condominiums between 59th and 72nd streets, is seeing an uptick in sales, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The Aldyn, at 63rd Street and West End Avenue, is 50 percent sold, and the Rushmore, at Riverside Boulevard and 64th Street, is 90 percent sold, the Journal said. Both buildings are around 40 stories. In the third quarter of 2011 the average price for condominiums on Riverside Drive rose 19 percent, the Journal said, to $1,470 per square foot.
[more]

Clockwise from top left: Elizabeth Sample of Sotheby’s International Realty, One57 and Wendy Maitland, managing director of Town ResidentialExtell Development has raised the price of one of its penthouses by 12 percent to a whopping $110 million, according to documents filed with the New York state attorney general cited by the Wall Street Journal.

In what will be Manhattan’s tallest residential tower, the listing for the 10,923-square-foot, six-bedroom condominium on the top two floors of the 90-story building might be the borough’s priciest ever. The asking price of a 13,554-square-foot unit on the 75th and 76th floors was also raised to $105 million. Building wide, prices are about about 3.9 percent since the condo plan was first submitted. [more]

The Belnord and Extell’s Gary Barnett

Fitch Ratings today said it downgraded a pool of $4.53 billion in commercial real estate loans from JPMorgan Chase, led by the Belnord, a landmark Upper West Side rental building owned by Extell Development President Gary Barnett.

The Belnord loan, the biggest contributor to losses in the pool, at 7.9 percent, was harmed by the recent decision that affirmed the controversial Stuyvesant Town ruling that New York City landlords would have to refund rent overcharges in buildings that received J-51 tax benefits.
The ruling effectively means that landlords cannot raise rents on rent-stabilized apartments to market rates, and if those units were illegally converted, the tenants can get reimbursed for past overcharges. [more]