New York-based real estate investment firm Rossrock Fund, owner of commercial mortgage loans, originating mezzanine loans and commercial real estate properties, is foreclosing on an Italian Renaissance-style building at 23 Park Place in the Financial District, according to data from PropertyShark.com. The building, which had at one time been considered for a controversial mosque, once served as the headquarters of the New York Daily News and will hit the auction block next month with a total mortgage lien of $7 million.

The five-story, 23,664-square-foot building, owned by Park Murray Associates LLC., made headlines last year after it was tapped as the site of a second mosque close to the World Trade Center.  [more]

Mort Zuckerman and 950 Fifth Avenue (Source: Propertyshark)

The Real Deal interviewed Mort Zuckerman for what it thought was The Closing section of the September magazine, a wide-ranging monthly Q & A piece with some of New York real estate industry’s top players.

But Zuckerman, the chairman of Boston Properties and publisher of the New York Daily News, might not have been thoroughly briefed on the personal nature of The Closing interview, which generally includes questions ranging from where people maintain homes to who they are dating to mistakes they’ve made in their careers. When The Real Deal asked about the size of his apartment, one of the tamer questions slated for him, the 74-year-old billionaire said he didn’t “have any idea” about the square footage, called the question “silly” and terminated the interview.

The Real Deal decided to share a slightly condensed version of the Q & A with the divorced father of two on the Web. Check here to see what Zuckerman had to say. [more]

Mortimer Zuckerman, founder and chairman of Boston Properties and owner of the New York Daily News, appeared on CNBC this afternoon to discuss the media business, the debt ceiling and the commercial real estate market. When CNBC noted the bifurcated nature of the market, which is seeing growth in the best markets, but rent declines in other large cities, Zuckerman said that the dichotomy does not concern him. “We’ve limited our own activities to Washington and New York, Boston and San Francisco and these are the best markets to be in,” he said. [more]

The New York Daily News has hired Cushman & Wakefield to find a new office, according to the New York Observer, away from its digs at 450 West 33rd Street on the corner of 10th Avenue. The paper is reportedly looking for about 120,000 square feet — roughly the same size as its current headquarters — after spending roughly 16 years in its current office. While Michael Burgio was named as the paper’s Cushman broker, the Observer pointed out that this search may just be a scare tactic to garner lower rent from 450 West 33rd’s property manager, Broadway Partners.
[more]

Boston Properties chairman Mortimer Zuckerman is taking some of his
money out of real estate to invest it in the New York Daily News, he
said last week. He will sell one million Boston Properties shares for
about $50 million and will use that money to buy new printing presses
for the Daily News. The sale of the shares represents about 9 percent
of Zuckerman’s holdings, a Boston Properties spokesperson said. Boston
Properties’ stock is “at the rich end of the reasonable range,” said
analyst Michael Knott. [more]