When the developers of Trump Soho built the 46-story hotel-condo in Hudson Square, they were allowed to build 20 percent bigger than zoning would typically allow by vowing to build an 8,161-square-foot plaza. According to the Villager, one year after the building opened, the developers now want to take back some of that space for outdoor seating for the Quatro restaurant on the hotel’s ground floor. Trump Soho representatives presented the plan before Community Board 2, which plays an advisory role in the City Planning Commission’s decision, arguing that the plaza attracts little public use and the cafe would invite people into the public space. Comments

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Tamir Sapir and the William Beaver House

Billionaire developer Tamir Sapir is facing a $130 million lawsuit from a fund controlled by the Blackstone Group, alleging he defaulted on a multi-million-dollar loan used to develop the William Beaver House condominium in the Financial District.

GSO Re Onshore, the fund managed by Blackstone subsidiary GSO Capital Partners, filed suit Monday against Sapir individually in New York State Supreme Court, seeking a judgment on the $66 million loan that he guaranteed and then failed to repay by the November 2009 maturity date.

“GSO RE would not have made the loan to SDS William Street absent Sapir’s personal and unconditional promise to repay the loan set forth in the guarantee,” wrote Kobre & Kim attorney Elizabeth Wolstein, who is representing the fund.

The lawsuit alleges that as of November 2009 Sapir owed $48.7 million in interest, on top of the $66 million in principal. Another $15.7 million in new interest is now due, resulting in the $130 million claim for summary judgment. [more]

Renderings from the Trump Soho hotel

The controversial Trump Soho has scheduled its first round of unit closings by mid-April, not long after it officially opens April 9, The Real Deal has learned. The high-rise condo-hotel has been delayed due to years of legal wrangling with community opponents that have challenged the property’s zoning, a fatal 2008 crane collapse at the site and a weak credit environment that slowed financing. “Trump Soho, the first downtown property for the Trump Hotel Collection, is opening April 9, 2010,” according to an e-mailed statement from the developer. “The closings will begin after the hotel opens.” The 46-story property at 246 Spring Street, at the corner of Varick Street, broke ground in 2007 and was previously scheduled to open in the fall of 2009, then on Feb. 1, 2010. [more]

Condo-hotels, like the Plaza Hotel at 768 Fifth Avenue, and the new Trump Soho at 246 Spring Street, may soon become a thing of the past. The buildings allow condo buyers to access hotel services and restrict their occupancy so that units can be rented out while they are away. But they are now proving difficult to sell — not because of a lack of interest but because of a lack of financing. “There is no financing for condo-hotels, so people have to buy in cash,” said Rodrigo Niño, president of the Prodigy Network, which is marketing Trump Soho. “What we think is, out of the original sales, we’re going to lose 10 to 15 percent of the people who won’t be able to close because of lack of financing.” After their planned 205-unit Nobu Hotel and Residences fell through, Raphael and father Robert De Niro are now planning a new condo-hotel in Miami’s South Beach, but the model is slightly different: Buyers’ occupancy will not be restricted and the units will not be rented out part-time. Condo-hotels using the Trump Soho’s model “are proving to not be successful,” said Raphael De Niro, managing director at Prudential Douglas Elliman. At the Fannie Mae-approved 75 Wall Street, hotel services are being sold to buyers à la carte. “Fannie Mae will not approve a condo-hotel under their guidelines,” said Larry Kruysman of Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group, who is directing sales at 75 Wall Street. [NYT]

Shaun Osher and William Beaver House

Core Group Marketing
has filed suit against the developer of chic downtown condominium
William Beaver House, claiming it is owed more than $220,000 in unpaid
commissions for units sold at the building. In a suit filed Monday in New York State Supreme Court, Core claims
that the project’s owners committed breach of contract and fraud by
failing to pay commissions for units Core sold at the development. Core
asked that the payments for rent be paid along with interest, legal
fees and compensatory damages. The high-profile Financial District project is being developed by
hotelier and nightlife impresario Andre Balazs, along with SDS
Investments, a private real estate firm led by developers S. Lawrence
Davis and Alex Sapir, president of the Sapir Organization. [more]

Dottie Herman’s Elliman replaces Kelly Kennedy Mack’s Corcoran Sunshine as marketing agent at Arris Lofts.

Two more developments have pulled sales-team switcheroos in a tough real estate climate. Prudential Douglas Elliman has now taken over as the sales and
marketing agent at Arris Lofts, a 237-unit condominium in Long Island
City. Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group previously marketed the
project. Meanwhile, the 330-unit William Beaver House in the Financial District has
changed sales teams yet again. After a disagreement with the
development team of Andre Balazs and SDS Investments, Core Group
Marketing is no longer the co-exclusive sales agent at the project, according to Core CEO Shaun
Osher. Prodigy International, a brokerage with offices in New York,
Miami, Panama, Mexico and Spain, previously handled sales at the development alongside Core, but is now the sole sales and marketing agent,
according to Rodrigo Nino, the president of Prodigy. [more]