Architect injured at Goldman site files lawsuit seeking damages
An architect paralyzed from the waist down after being crushed last December by falling building materials at the site of the rising Goldman Sachs headquarters accused the investment bank, Tishman Construction, a state entity and others of negligence, and is seeking an unspecified amount of money for damages, a lawsuit said.
The complaint was filed mid-September in Manhattan State Supreme Court, while Wall Street was rocked by financial turmoil that left Goldman and Morgan Stanley as the only two large independent investment banks standing in the United States.
In his lawsuit, architect Robert Woo said he was permanently injured both physically and emotionally because of the accident on Dec. 14, 2007, at the construction site of the 43-story office tower at 200 West Street at Vesey Street.
Goldman Sachs, now with main offices at 85 Broad Street, is building its 2.1 million-square-foot world
headquarters at the site in Battery Park City near Ground Zero.
Woo, 40, was working as an architect for Adamson Associates Architects at the site when seven tons of metal studs supported by a nylon sling fell, crashing into the trailer in which he was working. He charged that the sling failed due to damage and fraying.
The suit names as defendants the building owner, Goldman Sachs Headquarters; the project’s general contractor, Tishman Construction; the land owner, Battery Park City Authority; three construction contractors; and a safety consultant.
Tishman received four Department of Buildings violations, and the crane operator received one at the time of the accident.
Spokespeople for Goldman Sachs, Tishman and the authority said they did not comment on pending legal matters.
Woo suffered injuries, including trauma to his head and spinal cord, and is confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life, his attorney, Ben Rubinowitz, said. Also, Woo cannot work as an architect, he added.
Woo’s wife is also named as a plaintiff because of the effect of his injuries on their relationship, the court papers said. They live in Manhattan with their two children.
The suit was brought so Woo could receive compensation for injuries, medical care and pain and suffering, Rubinowitz said. He would not specify the amount of money Woo is hoping for. By Adam Pincus
Brokers target creative types for Sunset Park workspaces
A firm is pitching Dumbo-style workspaces in Sunset Park, hoping to draw creative professionals to the industrial section of the Brooklyn neighborhood.
Commercial brokerage CRES NYC is representing 11 fully renovated workspaces in Sunset Park’s Industry City, a sprawling industrial complex on 36th Street near the waterfront. The spaces range from 812 square feet to 2,598 square feet, and asking rents average $16 a foot.
Rents for similar spaces in Dumbo go for about $28 a foot, according to Chris Havens, CRES NYC chief executive.
“About eight years ago, Dumbo started to become a commercial area,” Havens said. “We’re delivering renovated, operational space, just like Two Trees does in Dumbo.”
The 11 spaces — more will eventually hit the market — are in a 6 million-square-foot complex owned by Industry City Associates, a partnership that includes Bruce Federman and the Schron and Fruchthandler families. The landlords have already turned thousands of square feet in the property into studio space for artists. By Gabby Warshawer
15 CPW unit flips for $18M
A pair of buyers named Gotham and Vicky Makker bought their second flipped 15 Central Park West condominium for $18.8 million, earning the latest seller $8.2 million for the three months he held the unit.
The Makkers closed on the purchase of unit 34A on Sept. 5 from Brian France, after going into contract on June 30, according to city records.
France closed on the unit June 17, records showed.
The Makkers bought their first unit, 28C, on March 3 for $13.3 million, nearly doubling seller Alex Guodong Li’s purchase price of $6.8 million. By Adam Pincus
Barbara Corcoran buys $1.4M Bed-Stuy townhouse
Barbara Corcoran, founder of the Corcoran Group, recently closed on the purchase of a five-family limestone townhouse in Bedford-Stuyvesant for $1.46 million, she told The Real Deal.
The three-story building at 408 Stuyvesant Avenue near Fulton Street in the Stuyvesant Heights Historic District had seen a series of price cuts from a listing of $2.1 million in late 2006. The seller, named 593 Jefferson Ave. LLC, purchased the house in August 2005 for $499,500, according to city records.
It was not immediately clear what Corcoran, an author and real estate investor, was planning to do with the 4,000-square-foot building.
Corcoran has been investing in real estate in New York City and beyond since selling her company in 2001 for $70 million. In April, Corcoran and her husband paid $4 million for a condo in a converted townhouse in Lenox Hill.
The Daily News reported last year that Corcoran owned 12 properties in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx, in addition to an apartment in Manhattan, a beach house in Fire Island and a school house in Duchess County.
In 2005, Corcoran bought a three-story building, with two apartments and ground-floor commercial space, at 293 Van Brunt Street in Red Hook for $1.08 million. It took her two years and a series of rental price cuts before she leased the storefront. By Adam Pincus
Oro closings to finally start
Oro Condominium, the Ismael Leyva-designed luxury tower in Downtown Brooklyn, recently sent out 30-day notices to buyers that it expects to begin closings at the long-awaited development.
Oro has been the subject of much speculation in recent months as anxious buyers have waited for word of a closing date on the controversial project, which critics have accused of being out of character with the public housing projects and low-density brownstones in nearby Fort Greene.
Prudential Douglas Elliman has sold about 45 percent of the 303 units in the 40-story building at 306 Gold Street, but many of those buyers signed contracts more than a year ago when the New York condominium market was still going strong. According to Streeteasy.com, Oro had 132 units for sale as of early September at prices ranging from $357,000 to $1.43 million.
Some buyers are openly questioning the value of their investment and whether they can even obtain financing.
Sam Heskel, executive vice president of HMS Associates, a Brooklyn-based appraisal service, said that buyers who have been in contract for more than a year may face financing difficulties, as banks have tightened the screws on new consumer financing. Heskel said a number of projects in Downtown Brooklyn have been converted from condo to rental, as sales have slowed considerably.
“People who bought with the intention of flipping will probably try to get their money back,” he said.
Oro officials said they expect to gain approval for the condominium plan from the attorney general’s office and then acquire a temporary certificate of occupancy from the city’s Department of Buildings.
“We’re hoping [to start closings] by the first couple of weeks of October,” said Matthew Faris, vice president at Greenfield Partners, the developer of Oro.
The project, which costs more than $150 million, is the tallest new construction project in Brooklyn, rising 40 stories. Greenfield, a South Norwalk, Conn.-based private equity fund and majority investor in the project, recently bought out the original developers, United Homes, led by Ron Herscho, and Palin Enterprises, run by Dean Palin. Faris said Greenfield was part of the original investment team.
The building, located steps away from the Manhattan Bridge, offers spectacular views of the island, and amenities include a swimming pool, residents’ lounge, screening room and a fitness center with racquetball and basketball courts.
Herscho is working on a site across the street at 313 Gold Street, which was originally planned as a sister property to the Oro tower at 306 Gold Street. Ken Fisher, a land-use attorney representing United Homes, said that groundbreaking on the hotel and apartment complex has been delayed because the developers are still working to secure financing. By David Jones
Spence School and Luxembourg buy East Side mansions
The exclusive Spence School recently closed on a $27.5 million mansion adjacent to its building at 22 East 91st Street. Spence, a private college preparatory school for girls from kindergarten through 12th grade, bought the Wanamaker Munn House at 17 East 90th Street near Fifth Avenue from the estate of socialite Aimee de Heeren, who died in 2006.
The deal closed on Aug. 15, city records published last month showed. An official with the school said it had no comment on how the building would be used.
Meanwhile, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg paid $17.5 million for a Beekman Place townhouse. Representatives of the small European country bought the 8,600-square-foot, five-story townhouse at 37 Beekman Place near 51st Street from an entity called 37 Beekman Place LLC.
The sale of the single-family home, built in 1890, closed on Aug. 22, according to city property records posted last month. By Adam Pincus
Toll brother sells UES condo for $9M
Bruce Toll, vice chairman of Pennsylvania-based homebuilder Toll Brothers, sold a four-bedroom apartment at 15 East 69th Street near Fifth Avenue for $9.7 million.
Toll, who founded the firm with his brother Robert, closed on the sale to Azaleia Glen Holdings on Sept. 3, according to public records.
The 3,023-square-foot unit is in the Westbury, a 17-story condominium building with 47 units.
Bruce Toll, who stepped down as president and chief operating officer of the company in 1998, bought a $26.95 million home in Florida in 2005.
The firm has been hit hard by the credit crunch and slumping housing market, reporting a loss in its latest quarter.
By Adam Pincus
Developer buys $8M penthouse in Flatiron District
Adam Rose, president of development firm Rose Associates and a member of the third generation of the Rose real estate family dynasty, paid $7.99 million for a penthouse apartment at 240 Park Avenue South. The sale of the apartment closed on Aug. 21, according to property records posted last month. A 52-unit project in the Flatiron District, 240 Park Avenue South was developed by Yitzchak Tessler and designed by Gwathmey Siegel and Associates. By Adam Pincus
New York City shows foreclosure spike
New York City showed a 13 percent increase in foreclosures in August, compared to the previous month, according to a monthly report from PropertyShark.com.
New York was the only of four markets surveyed in the report — including Los Angeles, Miami and Seattle — that showed an increase over this period.
The change was brought on by a drastic increase in foreclosures in Queens, which outweighed improvements in the other four boroughs. Foreclosures in Queens increased 43 percent from July, to 254 homes, out of the city’s 383 foreclosures.
Meanwhile, Brooklyn showed a 29 percent decrease in foreclosures. Manhattan was down 21 percent, the Bronx was down 17 percent and Staten Island was down 9 percent.
Of the 15 New York City zip codes with the highest number of foreclosures in August, 14 of them were in Queens. The zip code with the most was 11433 — an area including parts of Jamaica, South Jamaica, Hollis and St. Albans — which had 19 new foreclosures during the month.
The average value of a home foreclosed on in New York in August was $485,000. By James Kelly
Photographer buys $13M Tribeca penthouse
Photographer Albert Watson paid $13.15 million for a three-bedroom penthouse in the Edward Minskoff-developed 101
Warren Street in Tribeca.
The 4,518-square-foot condominium at the southeast corner of the building is the second largest in the 227-unit development. Watson’s apartment includes a 1,669-square-foot wraparound terrace.
The sale by the developers closed on Aug. 19, according to public records posted last month.
Watson made a handsome profit in February this year when he sold for $34 million a West Village building at 777 Washington Street that he bought for $850,000 as a live-work space in 1985.
The 227-unit, 35-floor tower in Tribeca is part of a 1 million-square-foot mixed-use development designed by architects Skidmore, Owings and Merrill.
Barnes & Noble, Bed Bath & Beyond and Whole Foods have signed retail leases at the building.
The apartment, called a “skyhome” by the developers, was listed for $16.3 million on the Corcoran Web site early last month. By Adam Pincus