From left: Gary Barnett of Extell Development, Frank Ring of F.M. Ring Associates and 251 Park Avenue South
For the second time in four years, Gary Barnett’s Extell Development is looking to the courts to wrest control of an under-utilized Manhattan office property from brothers Michael and Frank Ring. Extell owns half of the 120,000-square-foot 251 Park Avenue South, while the other half is owned by the Ring brothers. The property is managed by Frank’s F.M. Ring Associates. [more]
A state appeals court panel today backed jilted joint-venture partner Joseph Tabak in his effort to buy a $112.4 million stake in the mostly underperforming Ring portfolio of 14 office properties concentrated in Midtown South.
The interim ruling, handed down this morning, does not provide a final victory for Tabak in his struggle to gain an equity stake, but it gives him some breathing room while a lawsuit filed in May winds through the courts. [more]
[Updated 11:41 p.m., with a comment from Ring's attorney] A state court judge handed down a defeat today to deep-pocketed real estate
investor Joe Tabak who sought to partner with property heir Michael Ring
through a $112.4 million infusion of cash and debt in 14 mostly underperforming
Manhattan commercial properties.
State Supreme Court Justice Bernard Fried rejected a request by Tabak’s
Princeton Holdings for a preliminary injunction to block Ring from “selling,
leasing, transferring or encumbering Michael Ring’s interest,” until arbitration had
resolved a simmering agreement dispute.
[more]
Midtown-based property owner Joe Tabak is battling in court over a disputed contract to
buy a share in the neglected Ring family’s Manhattan real estate fortune for $112.4 million.
Tabak, through his Princeton Holdings, signed an agreement Feb. 24 with Michael
Ring, a co-owner of the properties, to pay $112.4 million in debt and equity for
a partial interest in 14 buildings, mostly in Midtown South near the Flatiron building, a
lawsuit filed May 31 in New York State Supreme Court shows. By April 15, Tabak had
put about $10 million in escrow, and confirmed in writing that he wanted to proceed with
the transaction, the papers say.
But Ring backed out of the deal, the lawsuit contends. Now, Tabak wants the
complicated joint venture deal — made up of five different parties — to go forward, and
in his petition, asked the court to order arbitration and issue a temporary restraining
order blocking any sale of the properties. On June 6, the judge agreed to the temporary
restraining order. [more]
Gary Barnett won the 14-story office building located at 20 West 47th Street at a judicial sale today in the rotunda of the State Supreme Court building at 60 Centre Street, with a winning bid of $73 million (note: correction appended).
Barnett, president of Extell Development, beat out multiple bidders, including Parkway Realty and Bluestone Group, for the building between Fifth and Sixth avenues.
“We think the price for a 150,000-[square-foot] building, close to Fifth Avenue, with a large jewelry exchange made sense for us to purchase,” Barnett said in an e-mail. “We expect the whole block to be upgraded once the International Gem Tower (which his firm is building on the same block at 50 West 47th Street) goes vertical, which will be within two months.” [more]
From the September issue: New York real estate might be known for its big personalities, but there are a host of owners and investors like Frank Ring who shun the spotlight.
Some publicity-shy players are revered in the industry for having orchestrated some of the city’s biggest deals: Lloyd Goldman, Jeffrey Feil and Joseph Cayre, for example, are spoken of in reverential tones by commercial brokers as high-powered, big-money wheelers and dealers.
Still others are the stuff of local legends. Families like the Moskowitzes and the Trenkmanns are known for being multi-generational kings of small neighborhoods. [more]
From the September Issue: In the West 20s, the name “F.M. Ring Associates” is emblazoned on the
sides of numerous buildings. The fading mural-like advertisements look
like relics from a bygone era. Brokers say much of Ring’s valuable
portfolio, most of which is in the prime neighborhoods of Gramercy,
Chelsea and Flatiron, sits strangely empty. This month, The Real Deal looks at the mystery of the Ring family and profiles a host of big under-the-radar players in New York. more
