Now you XI it, now you don’t.
Steve Witkoff’s Witkoff Group and Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries have rebranded the beleaguered condo project at 76 11th Avenue in West Chelsea as One High Line, Bloomberg reported. Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group is set to restart sales this week, replacing Douglas Elliman from the troubled property’s development period.
Pricing for units was not disclosed, but the first units are expected to be ready next summer.
Construction on the long-stalled project resumed earlier this spring. A sign posted at the development site listed a revisited completion date of winter 2024.
Witkoff and Access Industries spent $900 million in December to buy the development at a foreclosure sale triggered by HFZ Capital Group’s financial troubles. The 900,000-square-foot development, which includes asset management firm Monroe Capital as a partner, was paused in late 2019 due to HFZ’s troubles.
Read more
The project’s initial lender, a subsidiary of The Children’s Investment Fund, scheduled a UCC foreclosure on HFZ’s stake in the project in October, which led to its sale. The hedge fund previously provided HFZ a $1.25 billion construction loan in 2017, including a senior mortgage and a pair of mezzanine loans.
Ziel Feldman’s HFZ has faced numerous foreclosures, lawsuits and liens in recent years. Feldman has largely blamed Nir Meir for the firm’s downturn, claiming Meir used HFZ money on personal expenses and kept him in the dark on financial problems at the XI. Meir’s attorneys have dismissed the allegations.
As for One High Line, the two-tower condo project is slated to include 236 condo units, 137 hotel rooms, 85,000 square feet of retail space and a public plaza. Resident amenities include a golf simulator, a lap pool and a spa with steam and sauna rooms.
The 36- and 26-story buildings are being constructed by Suffolk Construction Corporation, which replaced Omnibuild as the project’s general contractor. Gilles & Boissier is designing the interiors for one building and, while Gabellini Sheppard Associates is handling the other.
Model apartments are expected to be ready for viewing later this year.
[Bloomberg] — Holden Walter-Warner