From left: David Picket, president of the Gotham Organization, a rendering of Gotham’s rental project on West 45th Street, Joseph Moinan and a rendering of 605 West 42nd Street

The Gotham Organization broke ground today on the largest new construction project in Manhattan, a $520 million development encompassing nearly the entire city block on Manhattan’s Far West Side at 550 West 45th Street between 10th and 11th avenues. The residential portion of the project, which is slated to be completed in 2014, will create 1,238 new rental apartments with 600 of those units expected to be affordable to low-, moderate- and middle-income New Yorkers.

“The groundbreaking for this development is the latest sign that the Far West Side will soon be Manhattan’s next great neighborhood,” Deputy Mayor Robert Steel, who attended the groundbreaking ceremony, told the crowd. And he’s not the only one with that vision. [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]

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]

From left: UDR CEO Tom Toomey and 95 Wall Street (building source: PropertyShark)

Colorado-based UDR has closed on its acquisition of the 507-unit rental building at 95 Wall Street for $325 million, the firm announced today. It bought the 22-story Financial District building, formerly known as Dwell95, from the Moinian Group, which converted it to luxury rentals after it previously served as JPMorgan’s headquarters.

As The Real Deal previously reported, the transaction comes out to about $550,000 per unit, excluding the 97-space parking garage and 7,526-square-foot ground-floor retail space. The apartments are 93 percent occupied, according to UDR, and rent for an average of $3,100 per month. Six units in the building are currently on the market, Streeteasy.com shows, ranging from a $2,600 per month studio to a $5,000 per month two-bedroom apartment. – Adam Fusfeld Comments

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]

Colorado-based UDR announced today that it entered a “definitive agreement” to acquire Dwell 95, a 507-unit Financial District apartment complex owned by the Moinian Group, for $325 million. The deal brings the company closer to its planned $1.8 billion investment in New York City multi-family properties.

Located at 95 Wall Street, the 22-story building once served as JPMorgan’s headquarters before Joseph Moinian’s Moinian Group converted it into luxury rentals.

It is one block east of 10 Hanover Square, a 493-unit apartment building UDR acquired for $261 million in April, which marked the firm’s first foray into the New York City market despite owning 60,000 units nationwide. In July the company spent $581 million on multi-family acquisitions in the city, closing on a $443 million purchase of the 706-unit Rivergate complex in Murray Hill and paying $138 million for the 210-unit 21 Chelsea.
– Adam Fusfeld [more]

Retirement services firm TIAA-Cref is leading the race to buy 475 Fifth Avenue, between 40th and 41st streets, from Barclays Capital Real Estate, Crain’s reported, though no deal has been signed yet. Sources said the transaction was most likely valued between $100 million and $140 million.
Barclays reclaimed the building from Westbrook Partners and the Moinian Group in 2009 after they declined to put more equity in the building. L&L Holding Company managed the building until several months ago, when CB Richard Ellis took over. L&L sued Barclays earlier this year after it said it was denied first refusal on the property, despite a previous agreement. The suit was dropped.
Westbrook and Moinian paid $162 million for the 275,000-square-foot property in April 2007.
[more]

Joseph Moinian and 100 John Street

Developer Joseph Moinian has closed on an $84 million loan extension at the Financial District rental tower the Renaissance, where he had been facing a foreclosure lawsuit from special servicer LNR Partners, a representative for the developer said today.
Moinian, CEO of the Moinian Group, had been in talks with his lenders to refinance the loan for more than a year, according to records from commercial real estate analytics firm Trepp. As The Real Deal previously reported, LNR filed to foreclose on the property in February, alleging that Moinian had not been making monthly mortgage payments despite taking in $550,000 per month in rent at the 221-unit property and despite having been notified of his default on the loan in August 2010. Negotiations for a loan modification were still ongoing at the time. “This extension allows us to move forward with the planned renovation of this core asset and once again demonstrates our commitment to working with our banks and lenders to secure the long-term success of our portfolio,” Moinian said in a statement provided to The Real Deal. [more]

Shimon Shkury, the former Massey Knakal Realty Services partner who left to start his own firm, Ariel Property Advisors, recently hosted a fundraiser for Legal Outreach on the penthouse lounge of the Atelier Condominium in Midtown (see photos above). It’s a non-profit organization benefiting youth eductation for which Shkury serves on the advisory board. The Moinian Group-developed building, at 635 West 42nd Street, has an indoor pool, a basketball court, a tennis court, a 12,000-square-foot health center, daily breakfast and is reportedly home to several celebrities. Though no celebrities were spotted at the Shkurys’ event, the party did draw some notable names from the real estate industry. — Adam Fusfeld

From the June issue: Joseph Moinian founded the successful ladies’ apparel company Billy Jack for Her before venturing into real estate in 1982. Today, the Moinian Group operates a 20 million-square-foot portfolio of assets across the U.S., valued at more than $8 billion. The firm’s holdings include the newly opened W New York-Downtown Hotel & Residences and a stake in Chicago’s Sears Tower. At the 768,500-square-foot office tower 3 Columbus Circle, Moinian is close to completing a $175 million redevelopment, after a $138 million equity investment from SL Green Realty Corp. helped fend off an attempted takeover by the Related Companies. Click here to read the interview.