Laurence Gluck-led Stellar Management requested to transfer its debt on Independence Plaza to a special servicer in an effort to extend the mortgage. Independence Plaza is a mixed-use complex in Tribeca that consists of 1,328 apartment units across three 39-story towers with 73,000 square feet of retail space and a 230,000-square-foot commercial parking garage. A spokesperson for Stellar Management said that the deal will not affect residents of the buildings, and that ownership still has a firm grasp on the property. TRD Comments

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From left: Blackstone CEO Stephen Shwarzman, Laurence Gluck, 1140 Sixth Avenue, Andrew Scandalios, and Rockpoint head Pat Fox

Private equity firm Blackstone was the winning bidder in the highly competitive process to buy the $116 million non-performing note for the leasehold on the entire building at 1140 Sixth Avenue, which is owned by Stellar Management and Rockpoint Group, sources said.
Blackstone will pay something close to — but a little bit less than — $100 million for the note held by German lender Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg, sources said, but the precise figure could not be obtained. In addition, the owners have an agreement to transfer the leasehold to Blackstone, a source said, but it was not clear if Blackstone would pay for the title, or when the exchange would happen. [more]

Laurence Gluck and 111 Kent Avenue

Laurence Gluck’s Stellar Management has purchased the stalled Williamsburg condominium project at 111 Kent Avenue for $24.6 million and plans to revive the property as a 62-unit rental. According to Crain’s, Stellar partnered with Largo Investments in the acquisition from Garrison Investment Group, which paid $43 million to take it off the original developers’ hands this past November. The developers had defaulted on their $1.3 million loan two years ago after listing the condo units for between $575,000 and $1.1 million apiece. [more]

Columbus Square general manager Jeffrey Davis and the development at 808 Columbus Avenue

A five-building, 710-unit rental complex on the Upper West Side is nearing completion, according to the Wall Street Journal, and, despite the premium price tag on many of its units, the development at 808 Columbus Avenue near 100th Street is drawing plenty of interest from renters. The $650 million Columbus Square residential project, which includes several big box stores, including a Whole Foods, Modell’s and TJ Maxx, as well as two private schools, has already leased out all the units at two of its buildings. The third, which just recently opened, was 20 percent leased after a week and a half on the market. [more]

1140 Sixth Avenue and Laurence Gluck

It’s a good day for investors looking to pick up commercial property debt: in addition to the $75 million senior mortgage at 80 Broad Street that just came on the market, Crain’s reported that a $116 million senior loan at 1140 Sixth Avenue is also about to hit the block. The 22-story building, owned by Laurence Gluck’s Stellar Management and Rockpoint Group, sits on the corner of West 44th Street and according to Jones Lang LaSalle’s Scott Latham, it is likely to draw “tons of interest” and as much as $600 per square foot. [more]

Steven Witkoff, CEO of the Witkoff Group, and Columbus House at 95 West 95th StreetIn a decision that lawyers say could impact 17,000 current and former Mitchell-Lama apartments statewide, an appellate court ruled Dec. 28 that tenants at Columbus House, a former Mitchell-Lama building on the Upper West Side, were protected against rent increases after the building was sold. The Witkoff Group, following the 2006 acquisition of 95 West 95th Street for $68 million, applied for rent increases for 248 individual apartments at Columbus House, but the applications sat at the state Division of Housing and Community Renewal for more than a year. In 2007, the state then moved to close a loophole that would have allowed landlords to convert thousands of Mitchell-Lama buildings to market-rate. [more]

[Updated 6:03 p.m., Dec. 10, 2010, with a comment from Stellar] As temperatures dropped below freezing this week, tenants at Independence Plaza North said they were left in the cold, literally. Many residents of the 1,331-unit complex at 310 Greenwich Street in Tribeca, owned by Stellar Management, told DNAinfo that their radiators are lukewarm and they bundle up just to keep from shivering in their apartments, and that the problem is a recurring one. “It’s horrible,” said tenant Janet Moore. “All winter I keep the oven on. Everyone I talk to, no one has heat.” Diane Lapson, president of the Independence Plaza North Tenant Association, said more than a dozen tenants complained that their apartments are not warm enough. [more]

Larry Gluck and the Windermere Hotel

Larry Gluck’s Stellar Management has purchased the 374-unit Windermere Hotel at 666 West End Avenue for $68 million, according to the Post. The 23-story building currently contains both market-rate and stabilized hotel rooms and apartments, but Gluck said yesterday’s closing — with more than $50 million in financing from a group led by Signature Bank — marked the end of transient guests at the property. [more]

2 Rector Street

Following the joint venture between Stellar Management and Savanna to recapitalize 2 Rector Street earlier this month, Stellar, together with Cushman & Wakefield, launched a new marketing and development plan today that will reposition and re-tenant the Financial District office tower. The plan calls for the development of high-end prebuilt units ranging from 3,500 square feet to 17,945 square feet and will also incorporate free architecture consultations, turnkey services for new tenants and major upgrades such as new bathrooms, window repairs, heating system upgrades and facade improvements. Larry Gluck, Stellar’s founder, said that his company is prepared to be competitive on pricing and that they expect the units to move quickly. Stellar acquired the 430,000-square-foot, 26-story office tower in 1997. Current tenants include Daniel Libeskind, Skanska, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch and law firm Morris Duffy Alonso & Faley. TRD

[more]

2 Rector Street (source: PropertyShark)

Stellar Management and Savanna Real Estate Fund have successfully
recapitalized the Lower Manhattan office tower located at 2 Rector
Street. The price was undisclosed, although sources told the Post it
was close to $10 million. Stellar acquired 2 Rector Street in 1997. The
430,000-square-foot, 26-story building occupies the full block front on
Rector Street between Greenwich Street and Trinity Place. The
recapitalization, which effectively recasted the mortgage, puts a
structure in place that provides for the bu [more]