From left: Joseph Moinian, 535-545 Fifth Avenue (building credit: PropertyShark) and Jeff Winick
Even as more retailers appear to be downsizing, Joseph Moinian is working to combine 84,000 square feet of retail space on a full Fifth Avenue block. The New York Post reported that the Moinian Group head is unifying the retail space in the ground floor of the office building at 535-545 Fifth Avenue, between East 44th and East 45th streets. [more]
From left: Joseph Moinian, Joseph Sitt and 245 Fifth Avenue
A $140 million loan on developers Joseph Sitt and Joseph Moinian’s 245 Fifth Avenue has been transferred into special servicing because of default concerns, according to data provided to The Real Deal by analytics firm Trepp.
While the developers are still current on their loan, a default may be imminent, the data indicates. The transfer happened March 5, according to Trepp’s records. [more]
From left: Starwood CEO Barry Sternlicht, Moinian Group CEO Joseph Moinian and a rendering of 237 West 54th Street
Developer Joseph Moinian and partner Starwood Capital Group paid $6.125 million to the Shubert Organization for 25,000 square feet of air rights that will be used for the development of a hotel at 237 West 54th Street, a source familiar with the deal said. [more]
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]
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]
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]
