It’s still unclear whether rumors about 100 Church Street’s big deal with Sirius XM Radio are true, but in the meantime, the Anne Frank Center USA has definitely signed on to lease space in what was once known as New York City’s emptiest office building. According to the Wall Street Journal, the non-profit organization has taken 2,500 square feet of ground-floor space at the building, and will open in time for the 10-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks this year. The Anne Frank Center, which describes itself as “a community center
that promotes tolerance and human rights,” is currently located on
Crosby Street but is looking forward to bringing that message closer to
Ground Zero, said co-chair Deborah Chapin. The space is also around the
corner from the site of the controversial proposed Islamic community
center known as Park51. [more]

Sirius XM Radio is setting its sights on SL Green’s 100 Church Street, potentially making it the latest in a string of Midtown media companies decamping to Lower Manhattan (see also: Conde Nast, the Daily News, National Enquirer parent company American Media). According to the Observer, Sirius is looking to take more than 250,000 square feet of office space at the building, or 180,000 square feet of contiguous space, though it’s not a done deal just yet. A major new tenant like Sirius would be a boon for SL Green, which purchased 100 Church Street, once derided as the emptiest building in Manhattan, from the Sapir Organization last January. [more]

Trump Soho and Prodigy Network’s Rodrigo Nino, who is heading up sales at the building

The developers of the Trump Soho hotel-condominium at 246 Spring Street are relaunching sales at the controversy-prone property, with units listed at an average of 21 percent below their original asking prices, according to Crain’s. Having recently reached a deal to restructure their $275 million loan at the project, Bayrock Group and the Sapir Organization are hoping that bargain buyers will emerge from the sidelines to take advantage of their new pricing schedule. As of last week, 279 of Trump Soho’s 391 units were still unsold. Since the project launched in 2007, only 45 units have closed for a total of around $55 million, while another 67 are in contract. [more]

Donald Trump, Alex Sapir and Trump Soho

Troubled lender iStar Financial has reached a deal with Los Angeles investment firm CIM Group to recapitalize the debt on Trump Soho, the condominium-hotel at 246 Spring Street, the project’s developers told Bloomberg News. According to the statement from Bayrock Group and the Sapir Organization, iStar has been “substantially paid down and all project indebtedness has been extended as a result of new debt financing.” [more]

Donald Trump, Alex Sapir and Trump Soho

Troubled lender iStar Financial is nearing a deal to sell around $275 million in debt on the Trump Soho condominium-hotel to Los Angeles investment firm CIM Group, likely at a discount, according to the Wall Street Journal. The two sides are apparently already about a month into negotiations and are expected to reach an agreement within days. Developers Bayrock Group and the Sapir Organization have been notoriously struggling with sales in the condo portion of the building, having closed just 20 of its 391 units by this summer. [more]

Donald Trump, Alex Sapir and Trump Soho

The developers of the embattled Trump Soho condominium-hotel are offering to refund buyers as much as half of their deposits if they agree not to join a lawsuit that accuses them of “fraudulent misrepresentations and deceptive sales practices” at the 46-story Spring Street building, according to the Wall Street Journal. Only those buyers who haven’t yet closed would be eligible for the refund, though it is unclear how many have been offered. “They must think the fraud lawsuit has legitimacy and that they will
have to settle for more than 50 percent,” said attorney Pierre Debbas,
whose former client was offered a refund at the building. Or, he said,
the refunds could mean that the developers could be planning to convert
the entire project to a hotel. [more]

Tevfik Arif, the New York-based developer and chairman of the Bayrock Group, was arrested in Turkey this week in a helicopter raid on a luxury yacht and is being held at police headquarters as the suspected organizer of an international high-end prostitution ring, Bloomberg News reported. The Bayrock Group was a partner in the Trump Soho hotel and condominium, along with the Trump Organization and the Sapir Organization. Arif launched his U.S. career in 1996 with the development of a 280,000-square-foot waterfront shopping center in Brooklyn; now, Bayrock’s other projects include the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. An attorney for Arif, who is a Turkish citizen, said his client will “vigorously defend himself in any court of law” as he is the victim of a “smear campaign.” Nine others are also being held in custody in connection with the alleged prostitution scandal, in which men were said to have paid $3,000 to $10,000 per night to sleep with Russian and Ukrainian women from modeling agencies. Of the 10 women detained in the raid, two were below the age of 18, which is the legal age for sexual consent in Turkey. [Bloomberg]

[more]

From the September issue: “Sold” means “sold” — except when it doesn’t. That’s the argument behind a new lawsuit involving the Trump Soho. The condo-hotel development, which has endured fickle buyers, community backlash and an unforgiving sales market, now faces a lawsuit that brings one central question to light: What does “sold” really mean? The suit, filed Aug. 2 in U.S. District Court, pits 15 buyers against Trump Soho developers and marketers, both past and present. The plaintiffs claim that the Trump Soho team misled them in the press — and in person — by reporting inflated sales figures, which they say lowered the value of their investments. The plaintiffs are backing up their claims by pointing to an amendment to declare the condo-hotel development’s offering plan effective, filed with the attorney general’s office this spring. The amendment was filed with 15 percent of the building’s 391 units in contract. So, if there were 50 percent or more units “sold” (as the buyers say was reported in the press), the plaintiffs ask: “Why weren’t they included in the amendment?”

[more]

Donald Trump, Alex Sapir and Trump Soho

Trump Soho, the recently opened condominium-hotel in Lower Manhattan,
has received another $20 million in financing after restructuring its
mortgage loan with iStar Financial, according to newl [more]

Donald Trump, Alex Sapir and Trump Soho

Trump Soho, the recently opened condominium-hotel in Lower Manhattan,
has received another $20 million in financing after restructuring its
mortgage loan with iStar Financial, according to newl [more]