Ziel Feldman and One Madison Park

Amalgamated Bank has acquired the senior piece of the One Madison Park condominium mortgage loan from iStar Financial, according to federal bankruptcy records obtained by The Real Deal, jeopardizing a rescue plan submitted earlier this month by HFZ Capital.

Manhattan-based Amalgamated already held the $78.5 million junior piece of the mortgage loan, and a New York state Supreme Court judge refused to block the deal despite a $75 million lawsuit from HFZ, a distressed real estate firm led by investor Ziel Feldman.

HFZ asked the judge to block the deal on the grounds that Amalgamated, after initially promising to sell the junior piece to HFZ in November 2010, reneged on that deal and swooped in on the senior note after HFZ filed a rescue plan in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. [more]

HFZ Capital’s Ziel Feldman, Green Bridge’s Cevdet Caner and One Madison Park

A long-awaited reorganization plan was submitted in the One
Madison Park bankruptcy case late yesterday evening giving
an outline that could finally lead to the troubled condominium
settling millions of dollars in claims and resuming sales.

The plan, submitted to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware,
calls for senior lender iStar Financial to get $162 million in the
form of a secured note.

In addition, $12.5 million in mechanics liens would be recovered
in the form of cash, $15 million to $20 million in “unclassified
claims” would be recovered in immediate cash, deferred cash
and other payments and another $160 million to $180 million in
unsecured claims would be recovered at the rate of 3 to 5 percent. [more]

Steve Ross is the latest developer angling for a piece of One Madison Park, the skinny glass condo at 23 East 22nd Street that’s been mired in lawsuits since its owners ran out of cash in 2009. According to the Wall Street Journal, Ross’ Related Companies is working on a bid with Amalgamated Bank, one of the project’s junior lenders, to wrest control of the property through a buyout of senior lender iStar Financial’s debt. The Amalgamated plan was revealed in yet another lawsuit filed yesterday by Ziel Feldman’s HFZ Capital, which is expected to submit an official rescue plan for One Madison to federal bankruptcy court in Delaware within days. [more]

From the South Florida website: The new ownership of Miami’s 47-story Paramount Bay condominium has tapped Lenny Kravitz to redesign the property’s interiors and outdoor space, including the spa fitness center, lobby and pool terraces. The 340-unit project was taken over through a foreclosure by lender iStar and ST Residential, which recently ponied up the rest of the financing needed to complete the long-awaited, mixed-use tower. [more]

From left: Esplanade’s David Scharf, iStar’s Jay Sugarman and 47 East 34th Street (building photo source: PropertyShark)

CIM Group is in talks with Esplanade Capital and iStar Financial to buy 47 East 34th Street, the troubled mixed-use tower that is currently leased to corporate housing provider Bridgestreet Worldwide.

Istar has been shopping the $84 million in debt on the foreclosed property for months and was engaged in talks with an undisclosed buyer in February,

but that deal has since collapsed and the lender recently entered discussions with CIM while preparing to place the building on the auction block.

CIM, the Los Angeles-based investment firm, led by founder Richard Ressler, has been on something of a buying spree in New York, scooping up the debt at two iStar projects, William Beaver House and Trump Soho. The firm would not divulge any details on these negotiations. [more]

Ira Shapiro and One Madison Park One Madison Park, the embattled, 50-story condominium tower at 22 East 23rd Street, has been hit with yet another lawsuit, this time by the owner of the next-door property, which developers Ira Shapiro and his partners have been in contract to buy for $13.8 million since 2007. According to Crain’s, Abe Shrem’s Flamingo LLC, which, despite the signed contract by Shapiro, still owns 26 East 23rd Street, is claiming that the developers forged signatures and posed as the owners of the site in order to demolish part of the structure there and install a duct on a support structure there without permission. [more]

From left: One Madison Park (source: Eden Pictures via Flickr), Trump Soho and William Beaver House

Fitch Ratings upgraded the issuer default ratings of iStar Financial, citing the lender’s
recently announced $2.95 billion credit agreement, which
lowered the amount of debt coming due in June.
The funds are comprised of two credit lines that will help iStar extend its debt payments
until 2013 and 2014. The Manhattan-based lender had warned of a potential collapse
unless it was able to extend the deadline on its payments. [more]

Trump Soho and Prodigy Network’s Rodrigo Nino, who is heading up sales at the building

The developers of the Trump Soho hotel-condominium at 246 Spring Street are relaunching sales at the controversy-prone property, with units listed at an average of 21 percent below their original asking prices, according to Crain’s. Having recently reached a deal to restructure their $275 million loan at the project, Bayrock Group and the Sapir Organization are hoping that bargain buyers will emerge from the sidelines to take advantage of their new pricing schedule. As of last week, 279 of Trump Soho’s 391 units were still unsold. Since the project launched in 2007, only 45 units have closed for a total of around $55 million, while another 67 are in contract. [more]

From left: Ira Shapiro, Cevdet Caner, Ian Bruce Eichner and One Madison Park

By Lauren Elkies and David Jones

Bruce Eichner, chairman of Continuum Companies, said he hopes to submit a new plan to rescue the embattled One Madison Park condominium project, as he awaits a tentative, rival agreement to sell the property to HFZ Capital Group, led by managing principal Ziel Feldman.

The move comes just weeks after One Madison developer Ira Shapiro settled with billionaire investor Cevdet Caner, who previously filed suit alleging Shapiro had exceeded his decision-making authority at the 23 East 22nd Street tower. [more]

From left: Esplanade’s David Scharf, iStar’s Jay Sugarman and 47 East 34th Street (building photo source: PropertyShark)

Esplanade Capital is in the final stages of a compromise deal to sell its embattled BridgeStreet hotel property at 47 East 34th Street, which iStar Financial foreclosed on in January.

Manhattan-based iStar, which in 2010 rejected offers of more than $60 million to buy out the debt on the property, would likely take a slight haircut to pay off $84 million in loans and other fees, sources said. The property is currently licensed to BridgeStreet, but sources said the building, located between Park and Madison avenues, could be used for condominium units or a combination of uses. “Working closely with iStar, which has been diligent and extremely cooperative, we are now near a resolution that should benefit all parties,” David Scharf, managing member of Esplanade, said in an e-mailed statement. [more]