Twenty months after a deadly crane collapse halted construction on a tower at 303 East 51st Street, new life has come to the condominium.
HFZ Capital Group has acquired the note on the building from Arbor Realty Trust for $40 million, after the original principal developer, James Kennelly, invested more than $110 million for the defaulted project, according to sources.

Nineteen of the building’s 30 floors have already been built, and the rest should be completed within a year and a half, according to a source closely involved in the deal. The project, east of Second Avenue, has yet to be named, but HFZ is expected to invest $60 million to complete construction.

HFZ is a partnership between Tamir Sapir and Ziel Feldman, chairman of Polar Investments, and Israeli-based Acro Real Estate, although Sapir had nothing to do with the crane note purchase. Note: Correction Appended [more]

Former Africa Israel USA chief executive Rotem Rosen has been named
president of Polar USA/HFZ Capital, The Real Deal has learned. Polar is a unit of Israel-based Polar-ZSG Group, a partnership formed
by real estate investors Ziel Feldman, Tamir Sapir and Giron
Development & Building Ltd., to buy distressed real estate. Rosen left Lev Leviev’s Africa Israel earlier this year amid increasing
turmoil involving the Israeli billionaire’s global real estate
holdings, which include the Apthorp, the controversial condominium
conversion at 390 West End Avenue, and 20 Pine Street, a condo where
Africa Israel wrested control from former partner Shaya Boymelgreen. [more]