The new owner of William Beaver House, the 47-story condominium tower in the Financial District, the CIM Group, a California investment firm, has filed an amendment to the offering plan cutting combined asking prices by $91.8 million, but indicated they might rent out some or all of the units instead, according to an article today at wsj.com by Josh Barbanel and Craig Karmin.
It took control of the building's 209 unsold units last month as it was in the midst of a foreclosure.
The CIM Group purchased $66 million in debt at a discount from a fund controlled by Blackstone Group. It then took title to the unsold units as part of a complicated deal in which it helped bail out Tamir Sapir, developer of William Beaver House.
The new documents, filed with the New York state attorney general's office, show official asking prices on many units are being cut by 21.5%, the article said.
In the plan, the asking price on a one-bedroom apartment on the 37th floor with 812 square feet was cut to $1.13 million from $1.44 million, reflecting the lower market values on the units.
But in the short term at least, the unsold units mostly are to be rented out to tenants, who would live among the 100 or so buyers who already own units in the development.
The amendment submitted didn't identify a brokerage firm that would sell the apartments.
Instead it said the CIM Group would sell its own apartments, and listed a telephone number in California to call.
The amendment will bring some relief to a group of 10 buyers, who had been working with a lawyer, Adam Leitman Bailey, and had planned to file a suit to get their deposits returned.
Mr. Bailey said that he has been hoping the need to file an amendment would convince the sponsor to return the deposits.
The building set a record price downtown, when a two-bedroom penthouse sold in 2007 for $3,512 a square foot.
But sales sputtered, and last spring foreclosure actions were begun.
It took control of the building's 209 unsold units last month as it was in the midst of a foreclosure.
The CIM Group purchased $66 million in debt at a discount from a fund controlled by Blackstone Group. It then took title to the unsold units as part of a complicated deal in which it helped bail out Tamir Sapir, developer of William Beaver House.
The new documents, filed with the New York state attorney general's office, show official asking prices on many units are being cut by 21.5%, the article said.
In the plan, the asking price on a one-bedroom apartment on the 37th floor with 812 square feet was cut to $1.13 million from $1.44 million, reflecting the lower market values on the units.
But in the short term at least, the unsold units mostly are to be rented out to tenants, who would live among the 100 or so buyers who already own units in the development.
The amendment submitted didn't identify a brokerage firm that would sell the apartments.
Instead it said the CIM Group would sell its own apartments, and listed a telephone number in California to call.
The amendment will bring some relief to a group of 10 buyers, who had been working with a lawyer, Adam Leitman Bailey, and had planned to file a suit to get their deposits returned.
Mr. Bailey said that he has been hoping the need to file an amendment would convince the sponsor to return the deposits.
The building set a record price downtown, when a two-bedroom penthouse sold in 2007 for $3,512 a square foot.
But sales sputtered, and last spring foreclosure actions were begun.
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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