Louise Sunshine and the W Downtown New York

The sluggish sales pace has picked up at the condominium units in Joseph Moinian’s W New York Downtown hotel thanks to a new marketing focus on fully-furnished units led by Louise Sunshine, according to the  Wall Street Journal.

Interest in the building was high when a sales effort was launched before it was built in 2007, but the  prospective buyers vanished when the recession hit. When the 57-story building’s 22 lowest floors opened as a 217-room hotel in 2010 the building, at 123 Washington Street, had its first sale. By the fall of 2011, though, just 15 of the 223 for-sale units had closed, in part because of a controversial Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act lawsuit. [more]

A William Street New School accommodation facility is one of five New York City addresses making its debut on Trepp’s list of distressed properties in November, according to data from the real estate analytics firm.

New to the 56-item list of distressed properties is Metro Loft Management’s 111,000-square-foot, 17-story building at 84 William Street, currently being used as a student housing facility for attendees of the New School, according to the university’s website. The company is non-performing on a loan beyond maturity, with a balance of $28.9 million, after being current in October, the data shows. (note: correction appended) – Katherine Clarke [more]

From left: Joseph Moinian and a rendering of 605 West 42nd StreetMoinian Group head Joseph Moinian is putting a 1.1 million-square-foot development site in Midtown West on the market, the New York Post reported. The developer wants to find financing for a $750 million, 65-story rental apartment tower designed by Costas Kondylis on the site, located at 605 West 42nd Street near 11th Avenue. However, Moinian admitted that while he’d prefer to find financing and develop the tower himself, he is leaving the options open for a sale.

“When you market something, you have to leave the door open for anything that could be beneficial to the project, including selling it,” he said. [more]

Clockwise from top left: Rockwood Capital CEO Edmond Kavounas, Crown Acquisitions CEO Stanley Chera, 530 Fifth Avenue, Murray Hill Properties CEO Norman Sturner and Jamestown Properties managing director Matt BronfmanA partnership of Jamestown Properties and Rockwood Capital is providing equity to Murray Hill Properties and Crown Acquisitions for their previously reported $390 million purchase of 530 Fifth Avenue. The Wall Street Journal reported Jamestown and Rockwood will be the controlling equity holders.

The four firms are putting about $200 million in equity into the purchase and taking out about $220 million in debt. Crown is slated to manage leasing the retail space in the building, which is occupied by Fossil Store and LensCrafters, and will soon be home to a Syms. [more]

Joe Moinian and 3 Columbus CircleJoseph Moinian’s 3 Columbus Circle is close to landing its first major tenant since undergoing a $100 million renovation, the New York Post reported. The Y&R division of ad company WPP Group, which also owns Ogilvy & Mather and Grey, among others, is reportedly in talks for 350,000 square feet in the building through CB Richard Ellis tri-state CEO Mary Ann Tighe.

It would mark a major milestone for Moinian, who had deals aligned last year with the WIlliam Morris Agency and HQ Global Workplaces for a total of 110,000 square feet, before the Related Companies moved to foreclose on the property. [more]

From left: Brothers Meyer Chetrit and Joseph Chetrit; Moinian Group CEO Joseph Moinian; Murray Hill Properties CEO Norman Sturner and 530 Fifth Avenue

Crown Acquisitions and Murray Hill Properties have partnered to purchase 530 Fifth Avenue for $390 million from the Chetrit Group and the Moinian Group, the Wall Street Journal reported. The 26-story, 500,000-square-foot building between 44th and 45th streets was bought for $210 million by Joseph Moinian and the Chetrit family in 2004.

The building has 21,790 square feet of retail space on Fifth Avenue, currently occupied by LensCrafters, Chase bank and Fossil. This summer Moinian and the Chetrits expanded the retail space to include part of the second floor in order to accommodate forthcoming tenant Syms. [more]

From left: Anthony Kammas, president of Lyons General Insurance, Jeffrey Levine, chairman of Douglaston Development Group, moderator Lou Katsos, owner of Jekmar Associates, Taso Pardalis, a partner at Mavromihalis Pardalis & Nohavicka, Joseph Moinian, founder of the Moinian group, Bernard Tyminski, manager of construction for Bank of America, Chuck Olivieri, senior vice president of Minskoff Equities, George Liakaris, a principal at Masterpiece Construction and Barbara Koudellou, assistant vice president at TD Bank

Joseph Moinian, founder of the Moinian Group, is ready to dust off his plans for a 1 million-square-foot rental tower at 605 West 42nd Street, a 61-story high-rise planned by the company for the northwestern corner of 11th Avenue, he said last night at a panel discussion organized by the Hellenic-American Chamber of Commerce and attended by former Gov. David Patterson. “We have approved plans and a building permit. We waited three to four-and-a-half years on the stalled site program,” Moinian said of a Bloomberg initiative that allows developers to renew active work permits for up to four years in return for following an in-depth site safety maintenance plan and keeping the site clean. [more]

Stephen Ross, founder, chairman & CEO of the Related Companies, and Pamela Liebman, CEO of the Corcoran Group, turned out at last night’s Stroock & Stroock & Lavan real estate reception at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in the Time Warner Center (see photos above). In the Mandarin ballroom, with its breathtaking view of Central Park, Columbus
Circle and the East Side of Manhattan, top real estate executives, lawyers
and others networked with each other over drinks and food.
Others spotted were Joseph Moinian, CEO of the Moinian Group, and Leonard Boxer, chairman of
Stroock’s real estate practice. — Miranda Neubauer [more]

Joe Moinian and 3 Columbus CircleAfter a tumultuous few years, Joseph Moinian‘s brick office tower at 3 Columbus Circle is finally ready to display the results of a major makeover, Crain’s reported.

Moinian invested $100 million to transform the building, which was previously home to Newsweek. It has a new all-glass façade, a new roof and the lobby has been moved from West 57th Street to Broadway, Crain’s said.
“Everything that could be touched has been touched,” said Steve Durels, the head of leasing for SL Green Realty, which swooped in to bail out Moinian in return for a 49 percent equity stake after he defaulted on a $250 million loan at the property. [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.

ILSA law requires developers of newly constructed condo buildings to file a
property report and annual financial statements with the Department of Housing
and Urban Development if a building has 100 or more units. The suits allege that Moinian allegedly failed to provide required disclosure forms to buyers, and continued to sell apartments after the agency ordered the developer to temporarily suspend
sales at the building in late 2007. [more]