Trump Place condo at 120 Riverside Boulevard and a Sukkah

A Trump Place resident will be forced to confront a higher authority for the religious structure he erected on his third-floor terrace in the fall. The New York Post reported that a couple who lives two floors above Zev Geller’s 120 Riverside Boulevard apartment has sued him for building a Sukkah on his terrace.

The suit filed last week alleges the 20-foot-long Sukkah, a religious structure with a bamboo top that Jews erect for 10 days each fall for the holiday Sukkot, presents a fire hazard. [more]

180 Riverside Boulevard

A fire broke out at the Trump Place apartments on Riverside Boulevard this morning and injured 11 people, according to Bloomberg News, including one firefighter.

The fire was on a third floor apartment of the 42-story rental tower at 180 Riverside Boulevard, near 68th Street, owned by Equity Residential. The cause of the fire is not yet known, according to the New York City Fire Department, which responded at 5:03 a.m. this morning. [more]

From left: Daniel D’Aniello, co-founder of the Carlyle Group, Gary Barnett, president of Extell Development, and developer Donald Trump

Two Trump Place development sites, one on the southwest corner of 61st Street and West End Avenue and the other at the northwest corner of 59th Street and West End Avenue, have been placed on the market, the New York Post reported, by a joint venture between the Carlyle Group and Extell Development, as the two companies seek to reduce their holdings. Sources said the sites could fetch a combined price of upwards of $400 million. Together the parcels have approval for up to 1,200 apartments, the Post said, and are currently in use as parking lots. Holliday Fenoglio Fowler is marketing the two lots on behalf of the partnership. [Post]

From left: R&B artist Joe and Blu Realty Group co-founder Alon Chadad; Joe with guests from the National Committee For the Furtherance of Jewish Education, including chairman Rabbi Shea Hecht on the right; Blu Realty Group co-founders Alon Chadad and David Tobon

The Real Deal made the rounds at a pair of real estate gatherings last night, including a charity event at Trump Place on the Upper West Side sponsored by Blu Realty Group, and a wine and cheese celebration party for the opening of MNS’ new Chelsea office. At Trump Place, Blu took a few minutes from helping to raise money for Toys for Hospitalized Kids to discuss their new office opening in the building’s base and introduce a few music celebrities to guests, which were largely real estate pros.
Meanwhile, TRD checked out MNS’ wine and cheese party also held last night to celebrate the opening of its new Chelsea office at 189 Eighth Avenue. Sales director Fabrizio Uberti Bona told us he recently sold an apartment for an executive at the concert and ticketing company Live Nation and after he succeeded, the client hooked him and his wife up with tickets to a Beyonce concert. – Adam Fusfeld and Miranda Neubauer Comments

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Clockwise from left: actor Bruce Willis, his Trump Place condo, and brokers David Salvatore and Chris Sileo

Action star Bruce Willis has sold his three-bedroom, three-bathroom condominium unit at Trump Place at 220 Riverside Boulevard for $3.9 million, The Real Deal has learned. The sale of the unit, #20N, is expected to close tomorrow.

It is the only apartment in the 430-unit building with 11-foot ceilings and boasts en suite marble bathrooms and a jacuzzi.

David Salvatore and Chris Sileo of Town Residential had the listing. The buyers, a couple named Joe and Maria Luciania, were represented by Kristen Magnani of Rutenberg Realty in the sale.

Willis bought the apartment in early 2007, before the market crashed, for $4.2 million, Salvatore said. “It’s really just a change of life for him,” he said. “He’s married now. [more]

From left: David Tobon, Alon Chadad, Moshe Balalo, Andy Kim and Michael Arcos of the firm Blu

Blu Realty Group, the new 100 percent commission residential brokerage launched in Midtown by five Nest Seekers alumni earlier this year, is expanding its business to the Upper West Side, where it plans to open its second office in mid-July.

Alon Chadad, one of the firm’s co-founders, told The Real Deal that Blu has leased a roughly 1,600-square-foot space at Trump Place, at 120 Riverside Boulevard and 67th Street, chosen because of its proximity to the burgeoning new developments market in the area.

“We’ve been doing a lot of business with Extell [Development] and at Trump Place,” Chadad said. “The Rushmore, the Avery… all of those. The neighborhood is picking up tremendously.” [more]

Donald Trump Jr. has sold his two-bedroom, two-bathroom Trump Place
condo at 220 Riverside Boulevard for $1.85 million to Brazilian model
Isabeli Fontana, according to Curbed. The condo was never officially
listed, but the Post reported last year that the Trump family had moved
on to the Sovereign at 425 East 58th Street — a non-Trump building –
for more space. Trump once sat on the condo board at Trump Place, but
was ousted in 2006 along with his six fellow board members after
Eugenia Kaye, director Tony Kaye’s wife, accused them of neglectful
management. [Curbed]

[more]

Gary Barnett and a rendering of Riverside Center

Gary Barnett of Extell Development is raising funds for his West Side Highway lot — the site of the planned Riverside Center that would stretch between 59th and 61st streets and between West End Avenue and the West Side Highway — through a refinancing deal with an Oman limited liability company. Extell and Washington-based partner the Carlyle Group have a mortgage out on the land with Cigna and ING, which now allows for a mezzanine loan from Orange Sands LLC. It is unclear whether the Oman investors are a private or government entity. Barnett wants to rezone the spot, located just south of Trump Place, and to ultimately obtain more construction financing for a five-building complex. The approved plans so far, by architects SLCE, call for a 73-story, 953-foot tower that is residential from the 21st floor up. Barnett said he won’t be moving into the sky-high penthouse, on the 71st and half of the 72nd floor, once it’s finished. “I can’t afford it,” he quipped to the Post. Retail space will be located on the ground floor and above that, there will be a hotel. [Post] [more]

Icon Parking has stopped paying its condo charges on the parking lots
it owns in four Trump Place condos, according to the Post. According to
city lien filings, 120 Riverside Boulevard, 200 Riverside, 220
Riverside and 240 Riverside, also known as Heritage at Trump Place at
the corner of 72nd Street, are owed a total of $203,921 since the
beginning of the year. A board member from one of the buildings said
that Icon is complaining that it is paying too much in common charges
since it doesn’t use the gyms or other amenities in the building meant for
residents. Icon has mortgaged about 140 of its garages around the city
for $133 million. The Post said it could not be determined if Icon is
current on the loan or if it owes other co-ops and condos for rent or
common charges. [more]

Extell Development filed plans this month to construct a 530-unit
residential tower at 40 Riverside Boulevard, the greatest number of
units in the long-running West Side development known as Riverside
South, records with the city Department of Buildings show. The 33-story tower at 62nd Street is part of the expansive mixed-use
Riverside South project, which stretches from 59th to 72nd streets east
of the West Side Highway. The 345-foot tall structure is being designed by architect Costas
Kondylis & Partners, according to the DOB application made June 10. Donald Trump first developed seven buildings on the northern part of
the 75-acre Riverside South site, known as Trump Place, and Extell
Development completed the Avery and the Rushmore further south.
Extell is also building 60 Riverside Boulevard. The highest number of
units today in the series of apartment buildings is the Trump-built 180
Riverside Boulevard, with 516 units, completed in 1998. [more]