Joseph Chetrit, a New York developer and one of the owners of America's tallest building, is moving ahead with a long-delayed residential project overlooking Prospect Park in the latest sign of life in the city's real estate industry, according to an article in today's edition of The Wall Street Journal by Dana Rubenstein.
Mr. Chetrit has begun interior demolition on the former Caledonian Hospital complex at 100 Parkside Ave., which he is planning to convert into a 270-unit condominium and rental development, according to Karl Fischer, the architect on the project, the article said.
"The rental units may come on the market, I suspect, within a year," he said in an interview, the article added.
A Moroccan-born immigrant, Mr. Chetrit is a member of a group of private investors who burst on the global scene in 2004 when they purchased the Sears Tower in Chicago, later renamed the Willis Tower. The members of the loosely knit group - which also includes Jeffrey Feil, Joseph Moinian and Lloyd Goldman - occasionally join forces but often do deals by themselves.
Mr. Chetrit is moving ahead with the 100 Parkside project at a time that work is slowly being renewed on some projects stalled by the downturn, even as the real estate outlook remains murky and financing remains difficult to obtain, the article said.
Indeed, a venture of his Chetrit Group and Stellar Management is close to signing a deal with the Manhattan division of Jewish Home Lifecare to do a major land swap on the Upper West Side that would give the venture the home's huge 106th Street campus for housing development, the article continued. Under the terms of the deal, the venture will get the Jewish Home's campus in exchange for a site on West 100th Street and an undisclosed amount of cash. Jewish Home plans to build a cutting-edge facility that will cost more than $250 million on that site.
"It's been difficult," said Ethan Geto, a spokesman for the Jewish Home in an interview on Saturday. "But we think we have everything pinned down and that within a few months we'll finalize the deal," he said.
Mr. Chetrit is acting even more bullishly with the Brooklyn development because it's in a neighborhood that remains economically depressed. The Flatbush area has seen some gentrification in recent years thanks to its proximity to the park and overflow from tonier neighborhoods like Park Slope. But, the article said, the median household income in the census tract that encompasses the Caledonian Hospital site is $33,671, according to the Census Bureau's 2005-2009 American Community Survey, a 3% increase since 2000.
The 100 Parkside development also is unusual because residential projects launched since the downturn have primarily been rentals, as the market for those units has been stronger than the sales market. In the first four months of 2011 only 49 condominium offering plans were submitted to the New York Attorney General's office, compared with 78 in the same period of 2010, the article noted.
The Chetrit Group made its name in New York real estate over the past 20 years with the purchase of properties like Park West Village on the Upper West Side, the International Toy Center on Madison Square Park, and 500 and 512 Seventh Ave. in the Garment District, often in partnership with Mr. Moinian.
The Chetrit Group bought the former Caledonian Hospital in August 2007 for $15.6 million, according to city records. The sale was part of Brooklyn Hospital Center's effort to come out of bankruptcy.
"Joe's one of the smartest guys I've ever met," said James Kuhn, a friend of Mr. Chetrit's who, as president of Newmark Knight Frank, brokered the hospital transaction. "He has an amazing eye for value. Lots of guys buy trophy buildings, but Joe finds good real estate under rocks."
Mr. Chetrit has begun interior demolition on the former Caledonian Hospital complex at 100 Parkside Ave., which he is planning to convert into a 270-unit condominium and rental development, according to Karl Fischer, the architect on the project, the article said.
"The rental units may come on the market, I suspect, within a year," he said in an interview, the article added.
A Moroccan-born immigrant, Mr. Chetrit is a member of a group of private investors who burst on the global scene in 2004 when they purchased the Sears Tower in Chicago, later renamed the Willis Tower. The members of the loosely knit group - which also includes Jeffrey Feil, Joseph Moinian and Lloyd Goldman - occasionally join forces but often do deals by themselves.
Mr. Chetrit is moving ahead with the 100 Parkside project at a time that work is slowly being renewed on some projects stalled by the downturn, even as the real estate outlook remains murky and financing remains difficult to obtain, the article said.
Indeed, a venture of his Chetrit Group and Stellar Management is close to signing a deal with the Manhattan division of Jewish Home Lifecare to do a major land swap on the Upper West Side that would give the venture the home's huge 106th Street campus for housing development, the article continued. Under the terms of the deal, the venture will get the Jewish Home's campus in exchange for a site on West 100th Street and an undisclosed amount of cash. Jewish Home plans to build a cutting-edge facility that will cost more than $250 million on that site.
"It's been difficult," said Ethan Geto, a spokesman for the Jewish Home in an interview on Saturday. "But we think we have everything pinned down and that within a few months we'll finalize the deal," he said.
Mr. Chetrit is acting even more bullishly with the Brooklyn development because it's in a neighborhood that remains economically depressed. The Flatbush area has seen some gentrification in recent years thanks to its proximity to the park and overflow from tonier neighborhoods like Park Slope. But, the article said, the median household income in the census tract that encompasses the Caledonian Hospital site is $33,671, according to the Census Bureau's 2005-2009 American Community Survey, a 3% increase since 2000.
The 100 Parkside development also is unusual because residential projects launched since the downturn have primarily been rentals, as the market for those units has been stronger than the sales market. In the first four months of 2011 only 49 condominium offering plans were submitted to the New York Attorney General's office, compared with 78 in the same period of 2010, the article noted.
The Chetrit Group made its name in New York real estate over the past 20 years with the purchase of properties like Park West Village on the Upper West Side, the International Toy Center on Madison Square Park, and 500 and 512 Seventh Ave. in the Garment District, often in partnership with Mr. Moinian.
The Chetrit Group bought the former Caledonian Hospital in August 2007 for $15.6 million, according to city records. The sale was part of Brooklyn Hospital Center's effort to come out of bankruptcy.
"Joe's one of the smartest guys I've ever met," said James Kuhn, a friend of Mr. Chetrit's who, as president of Newmark Knight Frank, brokered the hospital transaction. "He has an amazing eye for value. Lots of guys buy trophy buildings, but Joe finds good real estate under rocks."
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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