CIM founders (left to right): Richard Ressler, Shaul Kuba and Avi Shemesh

From the December issue: The principals of the Los Angeles-based private equity firm the CIM Group know a thing or two about military strategy — two of them served as Israeli paratroopers before immigrating to the United States and teaming with a former Drexel Burnham executive to found CIM.
Perhaps it’s no coincidence, then, that CIM entered Manhattan with a real estate equivalent of “shock and awe.”
Virtually unknown to most local industry players until recently, CIM parachuted into Midtown in late 2009 — with a speed and decisiveness that surprised many of those still cautiously hoarding cash — and targeted distressed assets in prime locations.
Two years later, the firm has multiple beachheads around the city, and has established itself as a major New York City player, likely for the long haul.

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From left: William Beaver House, 25 Broad Street and the Setai Wall Street

Financial District condominium projects have found success since being converted to rentals early this year, according to the Wall Street Journal, although the Occupy Wall Street protests have dampened the trend in recent days.

The 300-unit Sapir Organization-developed William Beaver House, for example, put its 208 unsold units on the rental market this spring, and about 75 percent of them have been leased at a rate of 18 per month and $57 per square-foot.

Similarly, 25 Broad Street, the condo conversion by Kent Swig, went on the rental market earlier this year, and 104 of the 305 units have rented for about $55 per square foot. [more]

From left: Esplanade’s David Scharf, iStar’s Jay Sugarman and 47 East 34th Street (building photo source: PropertyShark)

CIM Group is in talks with Esplanade Capital and iStar Financial to buy 47 East 34th Street, the troubled mixed-use tower that is currently leased to corporate housing provider Bridgestreet Worldwide.

Istar has been shopping the $84 million in debt on the foreclosed property for months and was engaged in talks with an undisclosed buyer in February,

but that deal has since collapsed and the lender recently entered discussions with CIM while preparing to place the building on the auction block.

CIM, the Los Angeles-based investment firm, led by founder Richard Ressler, has been on something of a buying spree in New York, scooping up the debt at two iStar projects, William Beaver House and Trump Soho. The firm would not divulge any details on these negotiations. [more]

From left: Michael Shvo, 20 Pine Street and 25 Broad StreetStalled condominium developments that suffered during the recession are now being revived in the Financial District. However, as the neighborhood emerges from the downturn, the new developments are falling short of previous expectations, in terms of pricing and design, the Wall Street Journal reported. The new owners of William Beaver House, for instance, are slashing condo prices, while the creditors of the Setai Wall Street are selling their defaulted loan, to help closings resume. The lenders to 25 Broad Street are foreclosing on the property, paving the way for converting it to rentals. “People in the Financial District got a little over-ambitious, both in terms of prices and concepts,” said Frederick Peters, president of Warburg Realty. [more]

Developer Tamir Sapir and the William Beaver House

The distressed sale of the unsold apartments in William Beaver House — a 47-story condominium in the Financial Distrcit that was just bailed out by the CIM Group — has led to a sharp drop in asking prices and refunds for potential buyers, the Wall Street Journal reported. CIM took control of 209 unsold units at the William Street condo and has now filed an amendment to the offering plan cutting combined asking prices by $91.8 million. CIM also indicated they might rent out some or all of the units, as The Real Deal reported. [more]

Rodrigo Nino of Prodigy International and the William Beaver House

William Beaver House, the André Balazs-designed Financial District condominium that was just bailed out by the Los Angeles-based CIM Group, is going partially rental under its new ownership.

The 333-unit tower, which had been facing a foreclosure lawsuit prior to the takeover, was part of a three-piece deal in which CIM agreed to buy the debt on two troubled Sapir Organization buildings (Trump Soho and Beaver House) and take an equity stake in another (11 Madison Avenue), sources said. As the Wall Street Journal reported earlier today, CIM purchased the loan on over 200 unsold condos at the Beaver House and subsequently took ownership through a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure.
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11 Madison Avenue and Tamir Sapir

Los Angeles-based investment firm CIM Group has picked up an equity stake in yet another Sapir Organization-developed property, 11 Madison Avenue, according to the Wall Street Journal. The news comes on the heels of CIM’s deal to purchase a stake in both the Trump Soho and William Beaver House. CIM is buying the property, which overlooks Madison Square Park and serves as the headquarters for Credit Suisse, for an undisclosed amount. [more]

William Beaver House and Andre Balazs
Another iStar-backed Sapir Organization project is getting a shot in the arm from Los Angeles-based CIM Group. According to the Post, CIM has purchased the $60 million face-value loan on 209 unsold condominiums at the Financial District’s William Beaver House for an undisclosed price. It’s unclear whether iStar will maintain a stake in the project, designed by Andre Balazs at 15 William Street. Last week, CIM helped Sapir and partner Bayrock Group pay down iStar’s debt on their Trump Soho condominium-hotel. [Post] [more]

From the South Florida website: While troubled lender iStar may be about to sell off its debt at Trump Soho, another struggling iStar-backed condominium-hotel is getting a new lease on life. The W Fort Lauderdale, which opened in 2009 but has not yet sold any units, has reached a modification on its $245 million
mortgage that dates back to 2006. The loan mod with iStar, which is in the midst of a bid to stave off a bankruptcy filing, stated
that $232.7 million of the original loan was outstanding. The lender has been behind some of New York City’s most high-profile, high-risk condominium projects, which, in addition to Trump Soho, include One Madison Park, 34 Leonard Street and the William Beaver House.  [more]

From left: Andre Balazs and Tamir Sapir

William Beaver House, the 47-story, 333-unit FiDi condominium that’s faced numerous legal and fiscal woes since its development in 2008, has yet another creditor on its tail, according to Curbed. Lender iStar is now seeking to foreclose on the building’s remaining 209 unsold units, and has filed suit against developer Tamir Sapir and partner SDS Investments. Famed hotelier co-developer Andre Balazs was not named in the suit, according to court documents. The move comes on the heels of a $130 million suit filed earlier this month by a Blackstone Group fund, which alleged that Sapir had defaulted on the loan used to develop William Beaver House. [Curbed]

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