From left: 505 West 47th Street and Ian Reisner and Mati Weiderpass,
co-founders of Parkview Developers

A federal district judge late last week ruled that 35 buyers at the 505 Condominium in Hell’s Kitchen should get their escrow deposits refunded, overturning an earlier verdict for Parkview Developers in this closely watched case involving the Interstate Land Sales Disclosure Act.

In June 2009, 53 buyers filed suit in U.S. District Court alleging that Parkview, led by Ian Reisner and Mati Weiderpass, failed to provide the buyers with property reports at the building, at 505 West 47th Street. Eighteen of the buyers settled with the developers or closed on their purchases before a federal district judge dismissed the case in December 2010.

On Sept. 28, Judge Lawrence McKenna reversed the 35 buyers ruling, citing a reversal earlier this year in the case by Lola Bodansky against the Fifth on the Park condominium. [more]

From left: Stuart Saft and the W Downtown Hotel

A U.S. District Court judge ruled against Joseph Moinian’s Moinian Group in a closely watched escrow dispute with buyers at the W New York Downtown Hotel and Residences, a decision that lawyers say further establishes the applicability of the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act in New York condominium sales.

Judge Robert Patterson rejected a motion to dismiss the case by the Moinian Group, which developed the 217-unit hotel and condo at 123 Washington Street, and argued that the federal ILSA law does not apply to condos, but was designed to protect consumers against fraudulent land sales. [more]

[Updated 1:15 p.m., April 15, 2011 from a previous version of the story] Trump Soho hotel-condo recently entered discussions with a number of brokers, including Prudential Douglas Elliman, on a potential deal to replace Prodigy International, according to sources familiar with the discussions.

Developers and lenders have been in furious discussion about how to revive sales at the luxury tower, located at 246 Spring Street, following a 2010 deal with Los Angeles-based CIM Group to recapitalize more than $295 million in debt.

When asked about this last week, Elliman declined to comment, while a spokesperson for Trump Soho denied the move. “There has been no change in the sales and marketing team,” the spokesperson said.
[more]

From left: Fifth on the Park and One Hunters Point

In one of the nation’s most closely watched Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act cases, a federal circuit court yesterday overturned a controversial lower court ruling involving two New York condominiums, forcing the release of millions of dollars in escrow funds and potentially ending the debate over whether the federal statute applies in New York City real estate.

The U.S. District Court previously ruled that Harlem’s Fifth on the Park condo and One Hunters Point condo in Long Island City were exempt from ILSA laws because even though the condos were larger than the federally mandated 100-unit limit, the developers sold less than 100 units when they got the temporary certificate of occupancy from the New York City Department of Buildings. [more]

Promoting the construction of the No. 7 subway line and curbing “unnecessary designation of landmark districts” are among the goals the Real Estate Board of New York has laid out for 2011, the trade organization said today. Among the other items on the REBNY docket are closer monitoring of rent regulation programs and establishing industry protocol for dealing with Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act lawsuits. Steven Spinola, president of REBNY, said that the group would also be promoting more conservative government involvement in the real estate industry. TRD [more]

For New York City real estate, 2010 in many ways marked a return to normalcy after the tumultuous aftermath of the financial crisis. As the ubiquitous real estate appraiser and Miller Samuel CEO Jonathan Miller put it: “it was a year of a sense of relief.” City home prices stopped their freefall and sales activity improved considerably from the post-Lehman doldrums. Stalled condominium projects like the Sheffield and 1 Rector Park re-started sales. Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim bought Tamir Sapir’s Fifth Avenue townhouse, the Duke Semans mansion, for $44 million. As the unspoken taboo on ostentatious spending faded, a number of high-end residential properties changed hands at the end of the year, including Brooke Astor’s 14-room duplex at 778 Park Avenue, which finally sold after two years on the market (albeit for a significant discount from its original asking price). Japanese retailer Uniqlo snagged 89,000 square feet at 666 Fifth Avenue’s former Brooks Brothers space for a record $300 million, demonstrating that retail is still thriving along the posh shopping corridor.
But the economic downturn continued to make its presence felt. The office market remained uneven and troubled lender iStar Financial fought to stave off bankruptcy amid lingering fears of a double-dip recession.
Here are The Real Deal staff’s picks for the stories that most altered the New York City real estate landscape in 2010, in alphabetical order. [more]

Buyers’ attorney Lawrence Weiner and the 505

An Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act case brought against the 505, a new 108-unit Hell’s Kitchen condominium, has been dismissed in U.S. District Court, the developer announced today, marking a defeat 35 buyers.

Fifty-three buyers filed ILSA claims, starting in June 2009. Subsequently, 18 of those either settled with the builder Parkview Developers or closed on their units at 505 West 47th Street.

But while a statement from Parkview said the developer intends to seek legal fees from the claimants, the buyers’ attorney Lawrence Weiner said that his clients intend to appeal. [more]

5th on the Park and Stephen Kliegerman

Fifth on the Park, the Harlem condominium that saw a landmark Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act case earlier this year, has switched up its marketing team after selling 51 percent of its 160 units since launching sales in April 2007. Halstead Property Development Marketing will become the exclusive sales team for the development, located at 1485 Fifth Avenue between 119th and 120th streets. Prices there range from $489,000 for a one-bedroom unit to $1.74 million for a four-bedroom apartment. Stephen Kliegerman, executive director for Halstead Property Development Marketing, was not immediately available for comment.

Yoav Haron, CFO with Artimus Construction, a partner with the development team, Uptown Partners, said in a statement that the team has “been very pleased with the progress made up until this point.” [more]

From left: “Royal Pains” actress Anastasia Griffith, 80 Metropolitan and Fifth on the Park

Three buyers, led by “Royal Pains” actress Anastasia Griffith, won the right to get their deposits back at 80 Metropolitan Avenue in Williamsburg.

U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Peck ruled that developer Doug Steiner’s Steiner Studios failed to register the 123-unit condominium, and was not exempt from the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act despite selling less than 100 apartments at the property.

“When plaintiffs… signed their purchase agreements, the condominium was publicly announced as consisting of 123 units,” Peck wrote. “Therefore the condominium was not exempt from ILSA registration and disclosure provisions under the 100-lot exemption unless 24 units were exempt at that time.” [more]

From left: Adam Leitman Bailey, the Edge and its developer, Jeffrey Levine of Douglaston Development

At least nine apartment buyers, represented by attorney Adam Leitman Bailey, are now trying to back out of their contracts at the Edge, a 575-unit condominium at 22 North 6th Street on the Williamsburg waterfront. Bailey, who just won a similar case at the Brompton on the Upper East Side, is using the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act to fight for his clients, Curbed first reported. “Our client purchasers at the Edge are entitled to a full refund of their deposit and to rescission of their purchase agreements,” Bailey said in a statement. TRD [more]