Ian Bruce Eichner has reportedly agreed to invest $40 million to complete One Madison Park, the unfinished, 50-story tower at the foot of Madison Avenue overlooking Madison Square Park, according to an article by Josh Barbanel in yesterday's edition of The Wall Street Journal.
The article said that Mr. Eichner, the developer of CitySpire on 56th Street between the Avenue of the Americas and Seventh Avenue, and more recently a large project in Las Vegas, joined with Ira Shapiro and Marc Jacobs, the developers of One Madison Park in a plan that was filed last week in U. S. Bankruptcy court to restructure the project's financing. The Las Vegas project was known as the Cosmopolitan Resort Casino and Mr. Eichner was forced to turn it over to Deutsche Bank in 2008, which subsequently completed the $4 billion project and plans to open it by the end of the year.
The article said that Barry Slotnick, a lawyer who represents Kraus Hi-Tech Home Automation, which has been working with Mr. Eichner on the financial plan, said that "This means ultimately the project will be built."
The plan, however, still faces a major obstacle, the article continued, adding that "The mortgage holder, iStar Financial Inc., which is also facing pressure from its own creditors, has not yet taken a position in court."
"Under the plan, iStar's debt, which it put at $233.5 million including interest and fees in court filings, would be reduced to $124 million. 'We have just received papers and will proceed to protect our position,' said Andrew G. Backman, a spokesman for iStar, in an interview....In a statement, Mr. Eichner confirmed that he would take over as developer through Continuum Co., his development company....'"
Mr. Eicher, the article continued, "bought a four-bedroom condo in the project earlier this year for $5 million, a big discount from the asking price. But that sale and some other low-price sales are being contested by iStar as part of the legal imbroglio over the building. The project came to halt in February when iStar moved to foreclose on it. At that point, the first purchasers had closed on about a dozen apartments and others were under contract. The foreclosure action was delayed in June when some worried buyers filed an involuntary bankruptcy petition in Delaware in June, asking the court to liquidate four companies controlled by the developers. IStar opposed the bankruptcy filing as did the developers, Mssrs. Shapiro and Jacobs. But late last week, Mssrs. Shapiro and Jacobs, joined forces with the Krauses and Mr. Eichner and moved to convert the bankruptcy from an involuntary plan to dissolve the developer to a Chapter 11 plan to reorganize it. As part of that filing, they outlined the plan to turn over control to Mr. Eichner. On Friday, Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross approved the switch to a Chapter 11 proceeding."
One Madison Park at 23 East 22nd Street was developed by Slazer Enterprises of New City, New York, and designed by Cetra/Ruddy. The 47-story tower was to contain 90 residential condominiums and its form is somewhat similar to the proposed skyscraper at 80 South Street that was designed by Santiago Calatrava.
The design of this residential tower has fewer "box" protrusions and they were considerably less dramatic than Calatrava's and they varied in height and did not represent multi-story residences as those at 80 South Street did.
This project's celebrity ratcheted up many more notches 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.
OMA's 24-story "back" building was startling 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.
The OMA plan, however, was eventually dropped.
The article said that Mr. Eichner, the developer of CitySpire on 56th Street between the Avenue of the Americas and Seventh Avenue, and more recently a large project in Las Vegas, joined with Ira Shapiro and Marc Jacobs, the developers of One Madison Park in a plan that was filed last week in U. S. Bankruptcy court to restructure the project's financing. The Las Vegas project was known as the Cosmopolitan Resort Casino and Mr. Eichner was forced to turn it over to Deutsche Bank in 2008, which subsequently completed the $4 billion project and plans to open it by the end of the year.
The article said that Barry Slotnick, a lawyer who represents Kraus Hi-Tech Home Automation, which has been working with Mr. Eichner on the financial plan, said that "This means ultimately the project will be built."
The plan, however, still faces a major obstacle, the article continued, adding that "The mortgage holder, iStar Financial Inc., which is also facing pressure from its own creditors, has not yet taken a position in court."
"Under the plan, iStar's debt, which it put at $233.5 million including interest and fees in court filings, would be reduced to $124 million. 'We have just received papers and will proceed to protect our position,' said Andrew G. Backman, a spokesman for iStar, in an interview....In a statement, Mr. Eichner confirmed that he would take over as developer through Continuum Co., his development company....'"
Mr. Eicher, the article continued, "bought a four-bedroom condo in the project earlier this year for $5 million, a big discount from the asking price. But that sale and some other low-price sales are being contested by iStar as part of the legal imbroglio over the building. The project came to halt in February when iStar moved to foreclose on it. At that point, the first purchasers had closed on about a dozen apartments and others were under contract. The foreclosure action was delayed in June when some worried buyers filed an involuntary bankruptcy petition in Delaware in June, asking the court to liquidate four companies controlled by the developers. IStar opposed the bankruptcy filing as did the developers, Mssrs. Shapiro and Jacobs. But late last week, Mssrs. Shapiro and Jacobs, joined forces with the Krauses and Mr. Eichner and moved to convert the bankruptcy from an involuntary plan to dissolve the developer to a Chapter 11 plan to reorganize it. As part of that filing, they outlined the plan to turn over control to Mr. Eichner. On Friday, Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross approved the switch to a Chapter 11 proceeding."
One Madison Park at 23 East 22nd Street was developed by Slazer Enterprises of New City, New York, and designed by Cetra/Ruddy. The 47-story tower was to contain 90 residential condominiums and its form is somewhat similar to the proposed skyscraper at 80 South Street that was designed by Santiago Calatrava.
The design of this residential tower has fewer "box" protrusions and they were considerably less dramatic than Calatrava's and they varied in height and did not represent multi-story residences as those at 80 South Street did.
This project's celebrity ratcheted up many more notches 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.
OMA's 24-story "back" building was startling 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.
The OMA plan, however, was eventually dropped.
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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