Tentative deal reached to sell Windermere
April 23, 2009 11:30AM By David Jones
Steve McQueen once lived at the Windermere
Following five months of litigation from state and city regulators, sources say that Toa Construction has reached a tentative deal to sell the landmark Windermere apartment building on the Far West Side.
The Tokyo-based developer is also negotiating a deal with its former tenants, who were evacuated in 2007 by the New York City Fire Department due to unsafe conditions at the building, located at 400-406 West 57th Street.
"Since then we have been engaged in a court battle with Toa Construction to fix the building," said Bennett Baumer, a tenant organizer with Housing Conservation Coordinators, a non-profit based in the Hell's Kitchen/Clinton section of Manhattan, which has provided legal assistance to the Windermere tenants.
Baumer said the 2007 evacuation stemmed from major structural problems at the building, and vandals have since demolished parts of the building with sledgehammers and the property has become infested with pigeons. Records from the city Department of Housing Preservation & Development show 649 violations at the building, ranging from exposed wires to water leaks and piles of garbage.
Terms of the agreement were not immediately available, however sources confirmed that as recently as 2007 a number of organizations and individual investors had approached Toa Construction about buying the property for as much as $40 million.
Evan McLaughlin, a spokesman for Common Ground, a Manhattan-based advocacy group for the homeless, confirmed that his organization met with principals of the company in Tokyo in 2007, but were unable to reach an agreement on a deal.
A spokesperson for the New York City Law Department declined to comment, and referred inquiries about the possible sale to Toa Construction's attorney, Adam Kaiser at Dewey & Lebouf. Kaiser was not immediately available for comment.
The sale of the Windermere would end years of legal wrangling over the 128-year-old complex, which received landmark status in 2005 and was once the home of screen legend Steve McQueen.
In May 2008, state Supreme Court Judge Karen Smith ordered an injunction against Toa Construction, to compel the owner, Masako Yamagata, to repair the property, which city officials said had been neglected for two decades.
The buildings department on Feb. 9, 2009 issued an emergency declaration regarding falling bricks and other unsafe conditions at the building, and two days later, HPD awarded a $12,000 contract to Monte United to repair deteriorating mortar and loose bricks.
Meanwhile, attorney Steven Sieratski filed a lawsuit in state Supreme Court against Toa Construction in October 2008, alleging his former client had failed to pay him more than $291,000 in legal fees after representing the firm from 2006 to 2008. Reached by telephone, Sieratski declined to comment on the Windermere or his relationship with Toa Construction.
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Comments
Anonymous
also I have a bridge to sell you ...
Comment #1 Posted By: Anonymous 04/23/09
Anonymous
Is Seller still alive? if so, then you buyer are wasting your time.
Comment #2 Posted By: Anonymous 04/23/09
Anonymous
I lived next door at 408 West 57th from 1977-78 and sections of the Windermere were boarded up back then.
Comment #3 Posted By: Anonymous 04/23/09
Anonymous
You get disgusted. TOA should have waited till the prop values plummet even lower ...to finally sell. What has been accomplished here by the holding time ?
Comment #4 Posted By: Anonymous 04/23/09
Anonymous
Now that the building has landmark status, it can only be taken down, if it is deemed condemed. If this happens there can only be a 4-5 story building put up in it's place, because of the landmark status. This is sheer stupidity..holding on to this in hope of what? The smell of that building is horrible, and is even probably a health hazard. I heard that the last time some people were inside, they had to wear hip boots, because pidgeon droppings were over a foot high! If Toa does not make a deal, I think the building should be seized by the city..emminant domain anyone? I think the seller must be dead anyway,
Comment #5 Posted By: Anonymous 04/23/09
Anonymous
I wouldnt be surprised if there is a mysterious fire one night.
Comment #6 Posted By: Anonymous 04/23/09
Anonymous
Absolutely should be taken over by the City. But.......do not let the lefties make it yet more so called "affordable housing" (the terms reminds me of "Pro-life" - who is against life?).. Sell it to a developer at a price that makes sense for to renovate the existing building into market rate housing, and put money in the City coufures.
Comment #7 Posted By: Anonymous 04/24/09
Anonymous
Wonderful to learn that there is a buyer who knows that real estate values can only escalate when the market corrects itself, very likely by spring 2010 if not sooner.
Comment #8 Posted By: Anonymous 04/26/09
Anonymous
this is one of the most desireable buildings in the city on a great traffic corner,rumor has that a european developer has paid toa 35 million dollars for the site.grat value,looking forward to the continuation of 57th streets magnificent structures (parc vendome,sheffield)
Comment #9 Posted By: Anonymous 04/26/09
Anonymous
buyer paid 10 million and its a new york guy
Comment #10 Posted By: Anonymous 04/27/09
Anonymous
This deal is far from done!!!!!
Comment #11 Posted By: Anonymous 04/27/09
Anonymous
it is done, and closing in two weeks
Comment #12 Posted By: Anonymous 04/27/09
Anonymous
comment #10ask him if he wants to flip to me for 20 million, i offered yamagata in japan 35 million in 2002 and he declined
Comment #13 Posted By: Anonymous 04/27/09
Anonymous
its true.. 10 million is the price. however there are millions of dollars in fines and HPD liens...
Comment #14 Posted By: Anonymous 05/21/09
Anonymous
I am a close neighbor in the same block and I ache every time I pass the Windermere and see such a magnificent structure decaying as it is. By the time someone gets to do something about it it will be too late and it will have to be razed. What a terrible shame that would be. Does anybody care?
Comment #15 Posted By: Anonymous 05/23/09
Anonymous
the deal is a done deal
Comment #16 Posted By: Anonymous 05/25/09
Anonymous
I live directly behind the Windermere--if they tear it down or do construction, the air in my building is going to be completely filthy and unsafe to breathe for anyone, especially for someone like me who has asthma. Plus there's going to be years of unbearable noise--I'm going to have to move. Crap.
Comment #17 Posted By: Anonymous 07/08/09