Bill Rudin and 130 West 12th StreetThe first fruit of William Rudin’s labor at the site of the St. Vincent’s hospital site is set to blossom today, when Stribling Marketing Associates opens the on-site sales office for the condominium conversion at 130 West 12th Street, adjacent to the main campus, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The building should open next spring, according to Rudin, three years before the 203-foot tall, 450-unit development on the actual site of the main hospital.

Rudin signed a contract to purchase the 12-story building, between Sixth and Seventh avenues, from the struggling hospital for $55 million in 2007. [more]

From left: Developer Larry Silverstein, Newmark Knight Frank Chairman Jeffrey Gural, Assemblyman David Weprin, Rep. Bob Turner and Gristedes owner John Catsimatidis

The loser in New York City’s special election to replace former Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner, Democratic Assemblyman David Weprin, had more high-profile supporters from the real estate community than Republican businessman Bob Turner, the winner, although Turner’s support picked up somewhat as the race became tighter and drew to a close, according to federal campaign finance filings.

While Weprin, who had initially led in polls for the race in the 9th Congressional District, received financial support from big names such as developer Larry Silverstein, real estate executive Jeffrey Gural and property owner William Rudin, Turner, who began showing higher poll numbers at the end August and in September, received support from Gristedes owner John Catsimatidis and developer Peter Kalikow. [more]

William Rudin and the St. Vincent’s Hospital siteThe Rudin family’s $800 million redevelopment of the St. Vincent’s Hospital site is one step closer to a reality. According to the Wall Street Journal, Rudin Management obtained $525 million in construction financing and can begin construction once the government approval process, already underway, is complete.

The relative ease with which the Rudin’s cleared the financing obstacle given today’s tight lending environment was surprising, the Journal said. Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of New York Mellon and M&T Bank contributed to the loan.

But that last hurdle, government approval, could be the highest. [more]

Community activists opposing the Rudin family’s proposed takeover of the St. Vincent’s Hospital campus in Greenwich Village dropped their court appeal without ever appearing before a judge. According to the Wall Street Journal, the activists, led by former City Council member Alan Gerson, will pursue less costly options. The group had appealed a Bankruptcy Court ruling in April that approved the sale of the campus, on Seventh Avenue between 12th and 13th streets, to Bill Rudin for $260 million. [more]

Among the top 10 individual donors to members of the House and Senate from New York are some of the city’s biggest names in real estate, according to an analysis of campaign finance records by the New York Times and the Center for Responsive Politics. Coming in second on the list was hotel magnate George Tsunis, managing director of Chartwell Hotels, and his wife, Olga. The pair gave a total of $49,200 last year to federal lawmakers from New York like representatives Nita Lowey, Gary Ackerman and Carolyn Maloney. Developer Joseph Sitt and his wife Betty gave $36,100 to New York politicians last year, ranking fifth. Also on the list was William Rudin, the Rudin Management CEO who gave $32,500 with his wife, Ophelia, putting them in the No. 8 spot. Rudin Management’s Manhattan portfolio includes 16 office and 20 apartment buildings. Together the top 10 individual donors gave more than $381,000 in 2009. [NYT]

The Real Deal had a contingent of reporters and editors at the New York Hilton for the Real Estate Board of New York’s annual banquet and awards ceremony (click here to see an article on the event). The Real Deal’s Web editor Lauren Elkies interviewed a slew of real estate bigwigs from Bill Rudin of Rudin Management — who said Jonathan Mechanic of Fried, Frank (who The Real Deal also spoke to) is “the real deal” — to Bruce Mosler of Cushman & Wakefield — who said he loves The Real Deal, to Frederick Peters of Warburg Realty — who said “Virtual Office Web sites,” or VOWS, “will ultimately be insignificant.” [more]

Richard LeFrak, president and chairman of the LeFrak Organization, and William Rudin, president of Rudin Management

Heads of two of the city’s leading real estate families said although the short-term commercial property landscape remains difficult, opportunities are fast approaching. Richard LeFrak, chairman and CEO of the LeFrak Organization, told an audience during a Real Estate Board of New York luncheon in Midtown this afternoon that signing a new lease with a tenant was similar to a famously difficult medical procedure. “It is like having a colonoscopy,” he said. “That is exactly what it is like.” He was joined on a panel by William Rudin, president of Rudin Management, and Jeffrey DeBoer, president of the national trade association, the Real Estate Roundtable, in a discussion moderated by Steven Liesman, senior economics reporter for CNBC. Rudin confirmed that striking lease deals was hard work, but there was more activity in the market. [more]

William Rudin, president of Rudin Management, told CNBC that he sees some positive signs in the commercial real estate market. Rudin said companies are adding space to their leases in Rudin Management’s buildings. Law firm Loeb & Loeb, for example, added about 30 percent more space to the lease it just signed at Rudin’s 345 Park Avenue. Some companies, like Bank of America, have taken sublease space off the market. But the commercial debt market is still problematic, Rudin said. Debt problems will probably peak in 2017 or 2018, Rudin said, when loans made a few years ago come due. [more]

The New York Times interviews William Rudin, president of Rudin
Management Company, about the current real estate market. Rudin said he
is seeing much more activity now than in the last quarter of 2008 or
the first quarter of this year for both commercial and residential
leases. He has signed more than 30 leases in the last 30 days for
residential properties, he said. Commercially, the company has had some
success with creating and leasing prebuilt offices at 355 Lexington
Avenue. The Rudin Organization also doesn’t have much debt in its
portfolio because it did a lot of refinancing in 2006, 2007 and 2008,
Rudin said. Comments

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