303 East 51st Street and Colin Kaufman

A New York state appeals court has upheld a lower court judge’s decision to unseal documents relating to multiple wrongful death settlements in a 2008 Turtle Bay crane collapse, The Real Deal has learned. The site is home to HFZ Capital Group’s Halcyon NY condominium development.

The March 2008 crane accident at 303 East 51st Street, between First and Second avenues, killed seven people and damaged nearby buildings, including the site of restaurant Crave Foods and 305 East 50th Street, home of co-plaintiff Jean Squeri. The settlements that resulted from the wrongful death cases were originally sealed by Judge Carol Edmead after one of the trials, so that that previous judgments would not impact the ones pending.  [more]

Rendering of the Marquand

HFZ Capital is redeveloping the Marquand condominiums on the Upper East Side and will list the renovated units between $15 million and $40 million, Curbed reported. Douglas Elliman will handle sales, which are slated to kick off in May.

Renovations to the 100-year-old building at 11 East 68th Street will take place on the exterior and interior, including fixes to the Beaux-Arts façade. Shelton, Mindel & Associates and Beyer Blinder Belle Architects are the architects of record. [more]

HFZ’s Ziel Feldman and a Halcyon project rendering

HFZ Capital Group’s condominium development in Turtle Bay, once the site of a deadly crane collapse, will be called Halcyon NY and will include a mix of one-bedrooms through four-bedrooms, priced at between $1.5 million and $5 million, Curbed reported.

The building is set to reach 32 stories, with a total of 123 condos, as The Real Deal reported. In 2008, the crane accident killed seven people and damaged nearby buildings, effectively forcing out the original developer. [more]

A rendering of the Zeckendorfs’ 50 United Nations Plaza

Midtown East’s Turtle Bay neighborhood is undergoing a development renaissance, with several long-stalled projects recently taking off and a number of new projects in the pipeline, the Wall Street Journal reported.  [more]

From left: Ziel Fedlman, the Chatsworth and Lipa Lieberman

Ziel Feldman’s HFZ Capital and partner BSG Real Estate have closed on the purchase of the Chatsworth, an Upper West Side rental building, for $150 million, the Wall Street Journal reported. [more]

From left: Howard Lorber of New Valley and 11 Beach Street

HFZ Capital is moving ahead with the redevelopment of a commercial building at 11 Beach Street in Tribeca, and has retained Prudential Douglas Elliman to assist with sales and marketing, a statement from HFZ today said.

HFZ is partnering with New Valley, Howard Lorber’s firm, which owns 50 percent of Prudential Douglas Elliman, and a company called Joy Construction, the statement said. [more]

From left: Ziel Feldman, managing principal of HFZ Capital, and 303 East 51st Street

Los Angeles-based CIM Group closed its majority stake in a high-rise residential tower and retail development site in Midtown, according to a statement from the developer yesterday.

The site, at 303 East 51st Street, will be co-developed by CIM Group and Ziel Feldman’s HFZ Capital and construction will begin later this year, the statement said. [more]

From left: HFZ Capital founder Ziel Feldman, Vornado Realty Trust Chairman Steven Roth and 11 East 68th Street (building credit: PropertyShark)

HFZ Capital Group joined Vornado Realty Trust in its previously reported acquisition of 11 East 68th Street, and will take control of the 41 residential units while Vornado presides over the 100-foot-long Madison Avenue retail space, the Wall Street Journal reported.

In September, Vornado entered into contract to buy the Upper East Side rental building for $170 million, a $21.8 million discount on the amount the sellers, ABRO management, paid for it in 2008. [more]

From left, 303 East 51st Street, Ziel Feldman, founder of HFZ Capital
Group, and City Council member Jessica Lappin

For three and a half years, the structure at 303 East 51st Street has remained a stunted
skeleton, halted at 18 stories after the infamous March 2008 crane collapse that killed
seven people and crushed an adjacent building.

But that may change soon.

Ziel Feldman, founder of HFZ Capital Group, which closed on the purchase of the site
early this year, said through a spokesperson that he would have “significant progress to
announce” later this week, and the firm plans to restart construction at the site, on 51st
Street between First and Second avenues, this spring.

The expeditor on the project, Laurence Gillman, an associate at Jerome S. Gillman
Consulting Architect, said that the Department of Buildings had completed its zoning
examination of the plan and was reviewing architectural and other drawings as part of a
building code review…. [more]

Top left: Ziel Feldman; Bottom left: Steve Ross; Right: One Madison Park

The new holders of the senior debt at One Madison Park issued subpoenas yesterday to force investor Green Bridge Capital to disclose its relationship with Ziel Feldman’s HFZ Capital and why the firm is refusing a June 30 offer to accept a new plan backed by Related Cos.
The new proposal, by an entity called One Madison FM, is designed to bring in new bidders through an open auction and substantially raise the value of the property. Sources say the new entity is backed by Related Cos. Chairman Steve Ross, who is pursuing a plan to become the new sponsor of One Madison Park.
Related, one of the largest and most respected real estate developers in the city, is working with Amalgamated Bank on a financial plan to help pay off creditors of the bankrupt condominium at 23 East 22nd Street, and complete construction.

“He wants to develop it,” according to a source familiar with Ross’ plans for the property…. [more]