Linden78 apartment from left: the A-line model unit by Thom Filicia and the B-line unit by Meridith Baer & Associates

Linden78, Urban Residential’s once-troubled Upper West Side condominium that relaunched sales late last year, is now 80 percent sold, according to the project’s marketing team. The long-awaited 32-unit project, at 230 West 78th Street, has been here before: Linden78 had nearly sold out in pre-sales during its first go-around on the market, but construction delays forced the developers to let buyers out of their contracts in the spring of 2009. But that threat has vanished now that the building is complete, and apartments are moving quickly. TRD Comments

Amid accusations of a sham closing, buyers at new condo No. 22 Renwick are getting their money back.
Purchasers at the delayed Soho development were given a 15-day period in which to rescind their contracts, according to a Feb. 17 amendment to the offering plan obtained by The Real Deal (see amendment after the jump). In a previous amendment, filed in November, sponsor 22 Renwick Street Associates stipulated that purchasers would receive the right of rescission unless a temporary certificate of occupancy, or TCO, for at least 50 percent of the units in contract had been issued by Jan. 31, 2010. The TCO was not issued in time, according to the amendment, so purchasers who were in contract at the time of the November amendment were told they could back out of their contracts and get their deposits back. Located at 22 Renwick Street between Spring and Canal streets. It was hit with a stop work order in December, but it has since been removed, according to the Department of Buildings Web site. A growing number of new developments, including Linden78, One Madison Park and the Setai, are being forced to offer their buyers so-called right of rescission in the real estate downturn, often due to construction delays. [more]

Linden78 and Chris Westley of the eponymous marketing firm

New York real estate sales and marketing representative Chris Westley of CW Management, whose most recent project was attempting to turn around sales at condominium Linden78 at 230 West 78th Street, is setting up shop in Hollywood. Linden78,  Urban Residential’s development, whose exclusive sales and marketing agent is the Marketing Directors, has weathered broken contracts and construction delays and saw around 90 percent of its buyers pull out when the recession hit, the New York Daily News reported. Westley, who is considered by some to be a guru of selling units in troubled buildings, said he plans to use his same repackaging skills on the other coast. “The idea is to generate sales of underperforming properties whose initial efforts didn’t deliver desired results,” Westley said. “My role is to… tweak the asset identity and manage the sales.

After construction delays and purchaser lawsuits, the posh Setai New York condominium has joined a growing number of city projects releasing buyers from their contracts. An amendment to the offering plan dated July 8 states that buyers at the 40 Broad Street condo conversion in the Financial District have been granted the right of rescission, meaning that they may walk away from their contracts and get their deposits back. The amendment, obtained by The Real Deal, states that buyers have 15 days to exercise that option. Purchasers learned of the change when they received a letter — addressed to all of the project’s buyers — and a copy of the amendment by an attorney representing the sponsor, 40 Broad LLC. The building is being developed by a partnership between family-owned real estate company Zamir Equities and the Setai Group, known for hotel and residential development in Miami. [more]

In the type of dispute likely to become more common in the rocky
economy, buyers at West Soho condominium 22 Renwick are demanding their
money back amid claims that the first closing at the building may be
a sham. At least six purchasers at the 19-unit condo have
filed claims with the attorney general’s office requesting their
deposits back from the developer, Manhattan-based Orange Management. Buyers,
who requested anonymity because they are still in negotiations with the
developer, say construction delays at the site have triggered their
right of rescission, and the first closing — which would, if legitimate, require buyers to close on their units — doesn’t count because it is
a commercial space, according to claims filed with the AG’s office (a cheaper but legally binding alternative to filing a
lawsuit). They also say the commercial buyer may not be a bona fide
purchaser, but be part of an attempt by the sponsor to avoid giving
them their money back. The AG, whose office did not
return phone calls for comment, will determine the legality of the
first closing. [more]

Just a week before a looming deadline for the first closing at the
luxury condominium conversion project at 45 John Street in the
Financial District, the lender sued the developer for $51.7 million in
defaulted loans at the project, court papers say. The developer, Midtown-based Manhattan Capital, and its partner, a
subsidiary of Deutsche Bank known as RREEF Global Opportunities Fund,
were converting the 14-story loft building at John and Dutch streets
into 84 luxury one- and two-bedroom units. Lender Bayerische Landesbank, a German bank, filed suit in New York
State Supreme Court June 22 to foreclose on the note, court papers say,
claiming the developer had missed payments beginning in February. [more]

Former Corcoran sales director suing for commissions from Five Franklin, the Avery and Linden78

A former sales director for Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group says she
has been stiffed for more than a quarter million dollars in residential
brokerage commissions for sales in high-profile developments including
Five Franklin, the Avery and Linden78, a court filing says. Broker Nancy Reese accuses Corcoran Sunshine and other Corcoran
entities of withholding at least $200,000 in commissions on closed
sales and says the developer of Linden78 owes her $70,000 in
commissions on canceled contracts, the court papers say. The lawsuit was filed at a time when experts believe more contracts
will be canceled as the condominium market continues to deteriorate.
But real estate lawyers said most contracts between brokerages and
developers include clauses that state that commissions are not due
until the title is passed to the buyer, so brokers are generally not
paid when a contract is canceled, attorney Adam Leitman Bailey, who was
not involved in the case, said. [more]

Due to construction delays, the developers of Upper West Side
condominium Linden78 have given all of the project’s buyers the option
to back out of their contracts, a phenomenon that may become more
common throughout the city as the credit crisis slows building progress. The sponsors of Linden78, a 33-unit condominium at 230 West 78th
Street, offered rescission rights to all of the project’s buyers in
mid-April, according to a statement provided exclusively to The Real
Deal from the developer, Urban Residential. “The building was originally slated for completion in 2008, but
experienced delays during construction,” Urban Residential said in the
statement, released through the project’s exclusive sales agent,
Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group. “As a result of the delays, a
provision of the condominium offering plan required the developer to
offer rescission rights to purchasers.” [more]