New York State Attorney General Cuomo has told the developers of the financially-troubled One Madison Park condo on the south side of Madison Square Park to offer refunds to any buyers that have not closed on their apartments, article to an article by David Jones posted late yesterday at therealdeal.com.
His office, the article said, forced the rescission offers after senior lender Istar Financial filed last month to foreclose on developers Ira Shapiro and Marc Jacobs, partners in Slazer Enterprises, for allegedly defaulting on five months of interest payments, pledging apartments without the bank's permission and allowing the building loan to fall out of balance by $63.6 million, according to court documents and legal sources.
His action would require the developers to refund deposits on more than 40 percent of the 69 units in the building, the article continued, as "half of the units are under contract and a dozen of those contracts have closed, according to Department of Finance records."
State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office, which regulates the sale of condominiums in New York, has told the developers of the financially-troubled One Madison Park condominium to offer refunds to any buyers that have not closed on their apartments, The Real Deal has learned.
Burton Dorfman, a Nyack, N.Y.-based attorney who represents the developers in the foreclosure case, confirmed to therealdeal.com that it was his "understanding" that the attorney general forced the rescission offers.
The article also noted that there is "an apparent rift between the partners" of the development: "The Rockland County district attorney is investigating allegations by Jacobs that he and his wife's signatures were forged on promissory notes, according to a recent story by the New York Observer," adding that "The Real Deal obtained an affidavit by Jacobs in a lawsuit by Flatiron Gramercy Realty, where Jacobs alleges that personal guarantees and a notarized signature on a $2.27 million promissory note were not his."
The sliver tower was designed by Cetra/Ruddy and is distinguished by several multi-story protrusions of varying heights on its north and east facades that are somewhat reminiscent of the four-story "townhouse-in-the-sky" sections of the Santiago Calatrava design for 80 South Street, which has not been built.
The tower was further distinguished by subsequently plans by Rem Koolhaas of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture for a 24-story residential condominium building at the rear of its site on 22nd Street for a cantilevered lower with windows of varying height as well as windows in the floor of the cantilevered sections. That spectacular "peekaboo" design, however, was apparently abandoned last year and a simpler design for an 11-story building designed by Cetra/Ruddy was substituted, but never publicized.
His office, the article said, forced the rescission offers after senior lender Istar Financial filed last month to foreclose on developers Ira Shapiro and Marc Jacobs, partners in Slazer Enterprises, for allegedly defaulting on five months of interest payments, pledging apartments without the bank's permission and allowing the building loan to fall out of balance by $63.6 million, according to court documents and legal sources.
His action would require the developers to refund deposits on more than 40 percent of the 69 units in the building, the article continued, as "half of the units are under contract and a dozen of those contracts have closed, according to Department of Finance records."
State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office, which regulates the sale of condominiums in New York, has told the developers of the financially-troubled One Madison Park condominium to offer refunds to any buyers that have not closed on their apartments, The Real Deal has learned.
Burton Dorfman, a Nyack, N.Y.-based attorney who represents the developers in the foreclosure case, confirmed to therealdeal.com that it was his "understanding" that the attorney general forced the rescission offers.
The article also noted that there is "an apparent rift between the partners" of the development: "The Rockland County district attorney is investigating allegations by Jacobs that he and his wife's signatures were forged on promissory notes, according to a recent story by the New York Observer," adding that "The Real Deal obtained an affidavit by Jacobs in a lawsuit by Flatiron Gramercy Realty, where Jacobs alleges that personal guarantees and a notarized signature on a $2.27 million promissory note were not his."
The sliver tower was designed by Cetra/Ruddy and is distinguished by several multi-story protrusions of varying heights on its north and east facades that are somewhat reminiscent of the four-story "townhouse-in-the-sky" sections of the Santiago Calatrava design for 80 South Street, which has not been built.
The tower was further distinguished by subsequently plans by Rem Koolhaas of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture for a 24-story residential condominium building at the rear of its site on 22nd Street for a cantilevered lower with windows of varying height as well as windows in the floor of the cantilevered sections. That spectacular "peekaboo" design, however, was apparently abandoned last year and a simpler design for an 11-story building designed by Cetra/Ruddy was substituted, but never publicized.
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
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