Ari LeFauve, vice president of MNS, and 123 Third Avenue

With so little new development in the East Village, the few units of luxury condominiums that hit the market sell fast and for high prices, the New York Post reported.

For example, Orange Management, which developed the 48-unit 123 Third Avenue at 14th Street, sold every unit in about a year, excepting four penthouses priced between $3.6 million and $4.525 million ($1,800 to $2,000 per square foot). And developers aren’t the only ones trying to capitalize on a shortage of luxury with high asking prices, the Post said, as John Legend is asking $2.95 million for his 1,359-square-foot two-bedroom unit at 52 East Fourth Street. [more]

[Updated at 4.30 p.m.] Developer Andrew Bradfield’s luck is continuing with 123 Third Avenue, a luxury condominium at the southeast corner of East 14th Street and Union Square. The 2,928-square-foot retail condominium at the base of the 19-story Orange Management building just sold for $11.05 million to Related Companies and Lloyd Goldman’s BLDG Management, according to public records.  RKF Investment Sales and Advisory Services brokered the deal.

The condo, which features 126 feet of wraparound frontage, is currently fully occupied by Capital One Bank.

RFK Executive Vice Presidents Jeff Fishman and Ariel Schuster and Director Brian Segall negotiated both sides of the deal. – Katherine Clarke [more]

MB Financial Bank is moving forward with plans to foreclose on No. 22 Renwick, a new boutique condominium in Soho, according to a complaint filed in New York Supreme Court, Crain’s reported. The bank assumed the $19 million mortgage last year on the 12-story building at 22 Renwick Street, between Spring and Canal streets. According to the filing, the developers of the project, Orange Management and Helix Partners, owe MB Financial at least $21.7 million in loans, interest, late charges and other fees. The developers were sent a notice of default on the loan in May 2010. Comments

123 Third Avenue

Sales have launched at 123 Third Avenue in Union Square, a new residential project developed by Orange Management and the F&T Group. The 19-story condominium — at the corner of 14th Street and Third Avenue — features 47 one-, two- and three-bedroom homes, as well as four penthouses. Prices at the building, which was designed for LEED certification, range from $585,000 to $4.2 million. Elaine Diratz of Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group is handling sales. Residences feature oversized picture windows, white oak hardwood floors and ceilings up to 11 feet. Building amenities include a full-time doorman, a fitness center, a multimedia lounge, a sun terrace and a full-sized movie screen. TRD

[more]

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]

The developer of 22 Renwick is refuting buyers’ claims that the first closing in the building was a sham. “We’re not doing anything tricky here,” said Andrew Bradfield, a principal at Orange Management and the developer of Renwick along with Helix Partners. Buyers in the building have filed applications with the attorney general to get their money back, saying they’re entitled to a right of rescission because of delays at the site. Bradfield says their applications have no legal merit and some buyers are merely looking for steep discounts from the originally agreed-upon sales prices. “They’re treating it like they can close at that price [only] if they feel like it,” he said. “That is not the idea of a contract.” [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]