Sometimes an accepted offer isn’t enough.
Developer Rotem Rosen has failed in his attempt to buy a development in Gowanus after Andrew Bradfield, a partner in the Brooklyn venture, objected.
Bradfield’s partners in the 130-unit rental project — New Jersey resident Eyal Ben-Yosef and New Yorkers Yossi Ariel and Paul Amit of Sterling Town Equities — had agreed in January to sell to Rosen for $27.5 million.
But a Manhattan court ruled that Ben-Yosef and Ariel cannot accept Rosen’s offer if Bradfield’s Orange Management matches it.
The firm “established that it properly exercised its contractual right to purchase defendants’ membership interest,” the court’s ruling reads.
“We’re obviously pleased,” said Bradfield’s attorney, Dan Wachtell. “The court confirmed my client’s exercise of its purchase rights, and the fast decision shows the defendants’ legal position really had no merit.”
“My client is looking forward to working cooperatively with its current partners to complete the buyout,” Wachtell added.
Bradfield will pay roughly 80 percent of Rosen’s offer, because he would not have to buy out his own stake, as Rosen would. The other partners would get the same amount from Bradfield as they would from Rosen. Bradfield has four months to come up with the funding to complete the buyout.
Janice MacAvoy, who represented Ben-Yosef and his 70 percent equity interest in the project, did not immediately return a request for comment. Ben-Yosef and Rosen have partnered on past projects, perhaps explaining how Rosen’s proposal came together.
Bradfield filed plans for a residential development at the site in November 2021, the same month the City Council rezoned the neighborhood to allow for about 8,000 new homes. The project at 125 Third Street was originally pegged at 84 units.
The partnership of Ben-Yosef, Bradfield and others bought the 20,000-square-foot parcel in 2022 for $21.6 million. Maxim Credit group provided the acquisition financing. No construction financing at the site has been recorded.
Rosen has larger projects in the hopper. Late last year Rosen, along with Indian billionaire Anand Mahindra and Israeli developer Zahi Hagag, nailed down $170 million in construction financing for a 180,000-square-foot residential project at 126 East 57th Street, along Billionaires’ Row.
This story has been updated to reflect the current number of units planned at 125 Third Street and to clarify the judge’s ruling.
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