Corcoran's Marie-Claire Gladstone and 57 Irving Place
The long-stalled boutique condo 57 Irving Place is now sold out, after re-starting sales in November, the project’s developer told The Real Deal. Sales at the nine-unit Gramercy Park building originally started in 2010, but stalled later that year due to the collapse of the original lender for the project, according to developer Robert Gladstone. [more]
A parking garage in Manhattan
The car is waging a losing battle in New York City, the New York Times reported. And its main foe is luxury development.
As demand for luxury apartments spurs development, parking garages are often sites for new buildings, and due to zoning that discourages the inclusion of parking even in new residential developments, the amount of Manhattan parking overall is declining, the Times said. [more]
Robert Gladstone and the Courtyard Marriott
The 226-room Courtyard Marriott on East 92nd Street may close this spring, in the wake of two years of legal battles, including a lawsuit against Marriott International, Crain’s reported. It is scheduled to lay off 59 employees by March 30, according to documents filed with the Department of Labor.
The property, at First Avenue, has struggled to break even ever since it opened in 2006, Crain’s noted, with owner Madison 92nd Street Equities, led by Robert Gladstone, Louis Taic and Jeffrey Kosow, citing extortionate franchise fees and the turbulent economic climate. The hotel eventually filed bankruptcy protection in August. [more]
When the first three buyers failed to close on townhouse-style gallery duplexes in the Chelsea Modern building at 447 West 18th Street, between Ninth and 10th avenues, earlier this year, developer Robert Gladstone, owner of Madison Equities, turned to a new marketing strategy– inviting a celebrity artist to live in the building — for free. The developers have provided a $2.85 million, 2,700-square-foot gallery duplex to New York City-based artist and “Real Housewives of New York” guest star Brian Farrell (he’s the one that dated and painted ‘Real Housewife’ Sonja Morgan’s portrait on the show) to use as his painting studio and gallery. He has been encouraged to host events with the goal of driving prospective buyers to the building. … [more]
Amid the credit crunch, New York City’s large and growing inventory of stalled projects seem to have scared off even the wealthiest of new development apartment buyers. At pricey developments like 57 Irving Place, where the cheapest unit is a $6.75 million three-bedroom, buyers are still wary of committing to anything before the building is finished, Robert Gladstone, CEO of developer Madison Equities, told the New York Times. “There’s no market of people buying from plans,” he said. “Basically everyone is saying, we’d like to see a representation of how the lobby is going to look, we want to see the apartment a little further along.” Gladstone’s next project is 145 Perry Street, a bed-and-breakfast inn. He says New York has a dearth of hotels, and the outlook for those types of properties is “very, very strong.”
An Upper East Side Marriott Courtyard hotel that is losing money fast is subject to its second lawsuit in less than two months.
Just eight weeks after the owner of the Marriott Courtyard New York Manhattan/Upper East Side hotel sued the hotel’s management for allegedly making secret deals that hurt the bottom line, the lender on the property has sued the owner to foreclose on a $62 million mortgage at the building.
The pair of lawsuits highlights the difficulties facing commercial building owners and borrowers in the weak economy, said Harvey Krasner, a real estate partner at Warshaw Burstein Cohen Schlesinger & Kuh, who was not involved in the litigation.
The Landmarks Preservation Commission has approved the construction of
two townhouses in the West Village. Madison Equities will develop the
two five-floor townhouses through ground-up construction, giving buyers a greater say in the look of their home. “The interiors will be a nearly blank canvas where buyers
are able to design a one-of-a-kind home,” Robert Gladstone, CEO of
Madison Equities, said in a statement released today. The two homes,
at 705 and 707 Washington Street, will be 7,437 square feet and 6,924
square feet, respectively, and will cost $23 million and $21 million.
The homes will feature garages with electric car capability, wine
cellars and artist’s studios. TRD
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