The 505, 505 West 47th Street: Review and Ratings

Review of 505 West 47th Street by Carter Horsley

Centro 505 was designed by H. Thomas O'Hara and marketing for the 7-story, through-block building started in May 2007 when it was called Centro 505. It has a garden, roof decks, a gym, a doorman, balconies, an entrance marquee and penthouse terraces with hot tubs and barbecues.

History

Parkview Developers announced December 10, 2010 that the U. S. District Court has dismissed an Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act lawsuit brought against the 108-unit residential condominium at 505 West 47th Street, according to an article by Amy Tennery at therealdeal.com.

In June, 2009, 55 buyers of units in the building filed ILSA claims but subsequently 18 of them settled with the developers or closed on their units.

ILSA requires developers of residential condominium buildings with 99 or more units to register with the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and some buyers at new condominium developments in the city such as the Brompton, One Hunter s Point and The Edge have used its provisions to get out of purchase contracts after the downturn in the market.

"While a statement from Parkview said the developer intends to seek legal fees from the claimants, the buyers' attorney, Lawrence Weiner, said that his clients intend to appeal," the article said. "'We feel that the trial court got it wrong,' said Weiner, who also has a pending ILSA appeal case at 5th on the Park in Harlem, which he filed in February. Weiner said it's too early to tell how long the appeal will take," the article added.

"Mati Weiderpass, a principal with Parkview, said that while he expected the 505 claimants' appeal," the article continued, "he believes the buyers' claims are unfounded. 'From my standpoint, the buyers got together and thought they'd use this as leverage to demand discount,' Weiderpass said. Evan Schieber, an attorney for the developer said in a written statement that Parkview believed the 505 ruling set a precedent. 'This ruling sends a clear message to those purchasers hoping to use ILSA as a way of escaping their contractual obligations that ILSA is not the panacea proclaimed by plaintiffs' lawyers,' Schieber said."

The buyers that sued cited "the arcane law being used in many lawsuits around town, which was passed decades ago to protect buyers from being hookwinked by Florida swamp salesman," according to an article by Joey Arak today at ny.curbed.com.

"Several recent ILSA suits have been won by buyers, but The 505's developers always thought they had a winning case. In fact, they dared the buyers to sue," the article said.

"The buyers went into default," the article continued, "by not closing on their units, and 75% of the disputed apartments were resold at prices 1% higher on average. The ILSA peeps had wanted 20% to 30% price reductions."

The building was developed by Ian Reisner of Parkview Developers and LEV Development of which Eddie Shapiro and Yudel Kahan were co-founders. They had acquired the property for about $17 million from Pitcairn Properties.

Lev Parkview claimed in a letter that it was exempt under the act after New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo approved the building's 11th amendment, in which the developer disclosed plans to delay the completion of the final 8 units until twoyears after those apartments were sold, according to a August 31, 2009 article by David Jones at therealdeal.com.