Wendy Maitland, a broker with Brown Harris Stevens, has filed one of several suits against the developers of One Madison Park over loans and deposits.
Ms. Maitland, a senior vice president at Brown Harris Stevens, and the building's original listing broker, filed suite December 22 in New York State Supreme Court claiming that she lent Ira Shapiro and Marc Jacobs, the developers of the residential condominium tower, $300,000 last August, according to an article by David Jones today at therealdeal.com
The article said that the suit maintains that the developers asked to borrow the funds "to help pay for unpaid mechanics liens on the property" and that Mr. Shapiro had told Ms. Maitland "he would receive money from another source, so Maitland agreed to lend the funds if they money was repaid within 24 hours."
"As reported by the New York Post in November, BHS was replaced by Tamir Shemesh, a managing director at Prudential Douglas Elliman, as the listing broker for One Madison Park, however there was a dispute over whether BHS was fired or resigned from the account," the article said, adding that "Court records show that Maitland was not the only individual lender at the property."
The article also stated that "Edward Lau, a resident of Tobyhanna, Penn., filed suit against the developers in U.S. District Court in October, alleging they failed to repay two $500,000 loans he made in November and December 2008" and that the developers "agreed to personally guarantee the money and pledged condo unit 7D as collateral, according to court documents."
The article said that Mr. Shapiro's attorney, Burton Dorfman maintained in court documents that "the agreements are unenforceable."
One Madison Park is a dramatic and very slender residential skyscraper on the south side of Madison Square Park that was developer by Slazer Enterprises of New City, New York, and designed by Cetra/Ruddy.
The 47-story tower contains 90 residential condominiums and its form is somewhat similar to the proposed skyscraper at 80 South Street that was designed by Santiago Calatrava for Frank Sciame. That tower featured 10 four-story townhouses that were vertically stacked and separated by roof terraces.
The project's celebrity ratcheted up many more notches, furthermore, when the developer unveiled its plans for the 22nd Street portion of the through-block project.
For that, the developer commissioned the Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), which is headed by Rem Koolhaas, the author of "Delirious New York," one of the most famous books ever written about the city that was notable for its illustrations.
OMA's 22nd Street design was startling and although much shorter than the residential tower facing Madison Square Park, it promised to be even more of a "double-take" structure for not only was it a "peek-a-boo" building that at first glance appeared to loom from behind the tower to take a look at the park but it also was cantilevered substantially to the east in what appeared to be a very remarkable feat of engineering.
OMA's proposed 24-story "back" building also was extremely notable for the "bottom" windows that it offered in the cantilevered floors.
The Department of Buildings, however, approved an amendment submitted by John Cetra of Cetra/Ruddy, Inc., to the building plan for 23 East 22nd Street June 18, 2009 that appeared to substantially lowered the height of the 24-story building.
Ms. Maitland, a senior vice president at Brown Harris Stevens, and the building's original listing broker, filed suite December 22 in New York State Supreme Court claiming that she lent Ira Shapiro and Marc Jacobs, the developers of the residential condominium tower, $300,000 last August, according to an article by David Jones today at therealdeal.com
The article said that the suit maintains that the developers asked to borrow the funds "to help pay for unpaid mechanics liens on the property" and that Mr. Shapiro had told Ms. Maitland "he would receive money from another source, so Maitland agreed to lend the funds if they money was repaid within 24 hours."
"As reported by the New York Post in November, BHS was replaced by Tamir Shemesh, a managing director at Prudential Douglas Elliman, as the listing broker for One Madison Park, however there was a dispute over whether BHS was fired or resigned from the account," the article said, adding that "Court records show that Maitland was not the only individual lender at the property."
The article also stated that "Edward Lau, a resident of Tobyhanna, Penn., filed suit against the developers in U.S. District Court in October, alleging they failed to repay two $500,000 loans he made in November and December 2008" and that the developers "agreed to personally guarantee the money and pledged condo unit 7D as collateral, according to court documents."
The article said that Mr. Shapiro's attorney, Burton Dorfman maintained in court documents that "the agreements are unenforceable."
One Madison Park is a dramatic and very slender residential skyscraper on the south side of Madison Square Park that was developer by Slazer Enterprises of New City, New York, and designed by Cetra/Ruddy.
The 47-story tower contains 90 residential condominiums and its form is somewhat similar to the proposed skyscraper at 80 South Street that was designed by Santiago Calatrava for Frank Sciame. That tower featured 10 four-story townhouses that were vertically stacked and separated by roof terraces.
The project's celebrity ratcheted up many more notches, furthermore, when the developer unveiled its plans for the 22nd Street portion of the through-block project.
For that, the developer commissioned the Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), which is headed by Rem Koolhaas, the author of "Delirious New York," one of the most famous books ever written about the city that was notable for its illustrations.
OMA's 22nd Street design was startling and although much shorter than the residential tower facing Madison Square Park, it promised to be even more of a "double-take" structure for not only was it a "peek-a-boo" building that at first glance appeared to loom from behind the tower to take a look at the park but it also was cantilevered substantially to the east in what appeared to be a very remarkable feat of engineering.
OMA's proposed 24-story "back" building also was extremely notable for the "bottom" windows that it offered in the cantilevered floors.
The Department of Buildings, however, approved an amendment submitted by John Cetra of Cetra/Ruddy, Inc., to the building plan for 23 East 22nd Street June 18, 2009 that appeared to substantially lowered the height of the 24-story building.
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.
6sqft delivers the latest on real estate, architecture, and design, straight from New York City.
