iStar Tara has filed foreclosure papers in Manhattan Supreme Court against One Madison Park, the residential condominium tower at the foot of Madison Avenue facing Madison Square Park that was developed by Slazer Enterprises, which is headed by Ira Shapiro and Marc Jacobs, according to an article in The New York Post Saturday by Jennifer Gould Keil and Dareh Gregorian.
The article said that the lender claims that the developers defaulted on interest payments, "which have not been paid since September and now total over $13 million" and "also didn't keep enough cash on hand to finish the 60-story building on East 23rd Street."
The suit maintained that there are "a dozen judgments, liens and lawsuits pending against the property," adding that "the on-site sales and marketing office has been closed for at least the past week, sources said."
In an interview with The Post on Thursday, the article continued "Shapiro acknowledges there were 'issues' with iStar, but said, 'we are hoping to resolve them.' iStar didn't return calls about what Shapiro had characterized as 11th-hour talks."
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.
The article said that the lender claims that the developers defaulted on interest payments, "which have not been paid since September and now total over $13 million" and "also didn't keep enough cash on hand to finish the 60-story building on East 23rd Street."
The suit maintained that there are "a dozen judgments, liens and lawsuits pending against the property," adding that "the on-site sales and marketing office has been closed for at least the past week, sources said."
In an interview with The Post on Thursday, the article continued "Shapiro acknowledges there were 'issues' with iStar, but said, 'we are hoping to resolve them.' iStar didn't return calls about what Shapiro had characterized as 11th-hour talks."
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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