City Apartments New York

Real estate bigwigs owe hundreds of thousands each in state taxes, records show

Tax debtors beware: New York State is calling you out. Last Friday, the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance went live on its Web site with lists of the top 250 individual and corporate tax debtors in the state. The individual debtors range from Onandaga County resident Bradley Cooke, who owes $381,509, to Irving Bilzinsky, the former Scores strip clubs owner from Brooklyn who topped out the list with more than $15 million outstanding taxes from between 2007 and 2009. Among businesses, Gui Hong Chen, of Queens, took the top spot with more than $19 million in unpaid corporate taxes. This week, The Real Deal combed through the newly-public documents to find the worst offenders in New York City real estate. They include luxury broker Agnes Nolan and her late husband, who owe more than $850,000 in personal income taxes, a subsidiary of real estate investment firm W.P. Carey, which has a warrant out for roughly $464,000, and JPMorgan Chase Bank, which owes upwards of $300,000 (see the full list after the jump). Perhaps the highest-profile individuals listed were Ponzi-schemer Bernard Madoff (No. 69, with $984,281 in sales taxes) and celebrity fashion photographer Annie Leibovitz (No. 83, with $503,740 in personal income taxes outstanding). Earlier this week, Leibovitz narrowly avoided emergency sales of her four New York homes -- three Greenwich Village brownstones and part of the Astor family's estate in Rhinebeck, N.Y. -- when a Los Angeles private equity firm specializing in distressed real estate agreed to take on her millions of dollars in debt.

Streetscapes | North of West 96th Street: Upper Broadway as a Young Boulevard

Broadway north of 96th Street was once a vibrant but shabby area and before that it was farmland.

SL Green moves to buy $250M in debt

SL Green Realty is angling to buy back as much as $250 million by issuing bonds in an effort to consolidate its assets. The company hopes to raise capital through a tender offer, set to expire April 7 this year, through which it will issue debt bonds, issued by partner company SL Green Operating Partnership. “This is prudent and further strengthens SL Green's liquidity position by effectively extending maturities,” Michael Knott, an analyst with Green Street Advisors, told Crain's. “While the company’s overall leverage remains on the high side relative to some key peers, that is not impacting SL Green's ability to run its business and make investments.” TRD

CurbedWire: Jay-Z’s Hardhat Style; Park Millennium Gets Some Pub

ATLANTIC YARDS—Not satisfied by our iPhonetactular liveblog of the Barclays Center groundbreaking today? The city has distributed this up-close photo of Bruce, Mike, Dave, Marty, Jigga and the gang putting shovel to dirt. Gotta love how Jay-Z even does that cool hat tilt thing with his hardhat. Hov! [CurbedWire Inbox]

UPPER WEST SIDE—Yesterday we pointed out a glorious Architectural Digest slideshow of a 46th floor Upper West Side apartment, and we figured someone would ID the mystery building while yelling at us for our ignorance. A tipster writes: "Hopefully you don't mind if I don't yell, but it's almost assuredly from The Park Millennium aka 111 w67th St nee 1992 Broadway. There aren't many other buildings that tall in the area with that set of views, and the window spandrels match perfectly. They must have a unit that's the whole south side of the building, since you can see the Trump Riverside stuff from the bedroom and the smoke stacks at Ravenswood out the other side (and then there's the view of TWC to the south). I was going to mention the April AD too, since I bought a copy for the great 15CPW photos, but clearly someone yelled me to it." [CurbedWire Inbox]

Linkage: Riverton Houses Auctioned; Crane Comes Down at Beekman Tower

[An LIC construction site by moonlight, via Curbed Photo Pool/liQcity]

· Riverton Houses' special servicer wins title to property for $125 million [Real Deal]
· Crane's coming down at Gehry's Beekman Tower [LMCCC]
· Port Authority digs in heels before tomorrow's WTC deadline [NYDN]
· Tracking Manhattan's serial renovators [MLG]
· Construction watch: Prospect Park's Lakeside project [PMFA]
· Art collectors put gallery-style staircase in their apartment [Dezeen]
· Answers to some questions about Gowanus Superfunding [NYT]
· Rubenstein Atrium gets LEED Gold certified [My Upper West]
· CB 3 committee likes new LES bike lane proposal [Streetsblog]

Comment of the Day: “I was by the building on…

"I was by the building on Madison Park today. Although I hate what it did to the park, it is an attractive building, very elegant and transparent. It is neither dull nor uninspired. Of course, the fact that I like it makes me hate it even more!"—Sai Baba [Tribeca Arrested Development Winds Up on eBay]

Hotel biz posts improved occupancy, revenues

The U.S. hotel industry posted increased occupancy and revenue per available room numbers for the week ending March 6, according to data from Smith Travel Research, a rare bright spot in what has been a shaky couple of years for the hospitality sector. The 0.9 percent revenue per available room, or revpar, increase, to $52.75, was the third in 18 months and the first that wasn't holiday-related. Luxury hotels reported the largest increase in revpar, up 10.2 percent to $160.19. Occupancy was up overall to 54.9 percent from 50.9 percent one week earlier, while the average daily rate dropped 3 percent to $96.05. Luxury hotels also were most-improved in terms of occupancy, up 16.5 percent to 66.4 percent. The Miami-Hialeah market was the most-improved region with average daily rates up 10.1 percent to $189.37. “The growth in year-over-year revpar is significant because the occupancies are clearly showing an improvement and the decline in rates is finally starting to slow,” said Randy Smith, co-founder and CEO of Smith Travel Research. “While the size of the revpar increase is not significant, it is a clear sign that the outlook for the industry is improving." TRD

Paterson Scraps Aqueduct Deal, Hard Rock’s Interested

The office of embattled New York Governor David Paterson scrapped a deal with Aqueduct Entertainment Group (AEG) to develop a casino at the Aqueduct Race Track in Queens, poised to be the Big Apple’s first gambling destination.

The decision shouldn’t have come as a big surprise. Mr. Paterson’s selection of AEG sparked a furor among losing bidders and prompted a federal investigation, as critics complained that AEG wasn’t qualified to spearhead such an ambitious and expensive project.

“The Division of the Lottery has concluded that it cannot issue a gaming license to Aqueduct Entertainment Group (AEG). Therefore, the State has officially withdrawn its support for AEG to develop and operate a video lottery terminal (VLT) facility at Aqueduct Race Track,” Mr. Paterson’s office said in a statement Thursday.  “The Executive Branch advocates that the selection of the Aqueduct VLT franchisee be done pursuant to an expedited, transparent, apolitical and publicly accountable procurement process.”

Mr. Paterson passed over heavyweight gaming companies like Penn National Gaming and MGM Mirage and New York City real estate veteran SL Green Realty for AEG, which has close ties to Floyd Flake, an influential Queens preacher and former congressman. Critics blasted the choice as politically motivated. The losing bidders even considered a lawsuit alleging AEG wasn’t forced to adhere to the same conditions as the other four contenders.

It’s unclear how the state will move forward with another bidding process, but some of the companies want back in the game. “The SL Green/Hard Rock team is still interested and ready to go forward.  We have already fulfilled all of Lottery’s licensing requirements and we remain able to deliver on our promises – both on expedited timing and on our long-term vision for this exciting project,” said SL Green in a statement.

PriceSpotter: Big Reveal: How Much for Some Park Slope Greenery?

And now, the results of this week's PriceSpotter asking price guessing game!

Location: 142 Prospect Park West, Third Floor
Asking: $1.595 million

Despite some accusations of cheating in the comments, there were no correct guesses this week. Most came in too low. A few guessers pooh-poohed the floorplan or suggested something fishy going on with school zoning to account for the low maintenance charges. We've got no explanation: sometimes the universe just works in mysterious ways, folks.
· Listing: 142 Prospect Park West [Corcoran]
· 142 Prospect Park West in Park Slope [StreetEasy]
· How Much for Some Park Slope Greenery (and Park Views)? [Curbed]

Residents riled over possible FDNY closures, DA raids Lehr Construction office … and more

1. Protestors descend on Barclays Center groundbreaking [Post]
2. Expert answers questions on Gowanus Canal conditions [NYT]
3. Residents riled over possible FDNY closures [SI Advance]
4. Despite rumors, Starbucks not taking on Williamsburg location [Post]
5. Fort Greene's Ingersoll and Walt Whitman Houses remain approximately 25 percent vacant [NYT]
6. Brooklyn Bridge Park to stay open till 1 a.m. [NYDN]
7. Queens Community Board 2 concerned about P.S. 1 museum renovation plans [Your Nabe]
8. City's $25 million Yankee Stadium demolition nearing completion [NYT]
9. Nets arena poised to absorb some of Madison Square Gardens' events [Post]
10. East River Plaza stores not living up to promise to hire locals as employees [DNA info]
11. More unmarried couples buying up real estate [Post]
12. Upper Brookville home welcomes guests with models and Maseratis [Newsday]
13. Manhattan DA raids Lehr Construction office [Gothamist]
14. More troubled commercial loan holders walking away [WSJ via Realtor Mag]

Shitshows: One Madison Park Buyers Can Get Their Money Back

Yesterday it was accusations of fraudulent signature shenanigans, so what new craziness does One Madison Park have in store for us today? Buyer refunds! The Real Deal's David Jones reports that State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office has told One Mad Park's developers to offer refunds to buyers who haven't yet closed on their contracts. Half of the 69-unit building is in contract but only about a dozen sales have closed so far, so the developers could be on the hook for refunds for more than 40 percent of the apartments. Refund offers are legally required after what one attorney called "material" events like a foreclosure. On the bright side for the developers, maybe a few more of those in contract units will turn out to be freebies?
· One Mad. Park told to offer buyers refunds [Real Deal]
· One Madison Park coverage [Curbed]

Manhattan-only firms start seeing Brooklyn benefit

From the March issue: A handful of major real estate management and development firms that have long avoided Brooklyn -- even as housing prices in the borough shot up and brokerages rushed in -- are finally venturing across the river. The reasons are twofold. First, new high-rise, high-end construction in Brooklyn fits their business model. And second, values of these new Brooklyn buildings appear to have tumbled further and faster than their Manhattan counterparts, according to brokers and developers. "Developers are looking for opportunities, 100 percent," said David Maundrell, a Dumbo resident and the president of aptsandlofts.com, a brokerage with a Brooklyn focus. "But they are willing to do that because there is a viable market here. It's become a destination as opposed to an afterthought for Manhattanites who want a cheaper place." Jamestown Properties is one of the developers that recently upped its bet on the borough. In early 2007, the firm had a 60 percent equity stake in be@Schermerhorn, a troubled condo in Downtown Brooklyn, which was developed by SDS Procida and saw construction and sales suspended last year. But in December, Jamestown bought the balance of the mortgage from a consortium of banks. The consortium had originally lent $100 million to SDS Procida.

High Line Construction Chronicles: Piano Still Playing With the Whitney in MePa

The recent news that a "maintenance and operations" building for the High Line was moving ahead at 820 Washington Street left some doubts about architect Renzo Piano's plan for a new Whitney Museum at the edge of the Meatpacking District. After all, the two were supposed to share space. But the Piano is still in tune. We dug into the High Line Maintenance and Operations Facility RFP (warning: huge PDF) from the NYC Economic Development Corporation, and the Renzo Piano Building Workshop is listed as the design consultant on the project. Phew! We don't want the High Line's new Love Shack clashing with all that fancy Italian starchitecture!

The "Detailed Site Map" shows the long and narrow M&O building will go up on the north end of the site just west of the High Line, off Washington. That corresponds with both models and renders of the Whitney MePa from the Renzo Piano Building Workshop showing a boxy structure with a ramp running alongside and a terrace on top.

The bulk of that building site was cleared last summer and the Parks Department and Friends of the High Line have positioned several trailers on the Washington Street site to serve as a temporary maintenance and operations facility until the new building is completed. That construction is set to wrap up in 2013, leading us to surmise that the rest of the Piano plan won't be rising anytime soon. But there's another little nugget in the RFP: "It is anticipated that the M&O Facility will meet a minimum LEED Silver certification." That's the silver lining around the Whitney MePa cloud.
· High Line Maintenance and Operations Facility RFP [EDC; warning: PDF]
· High Line Gives Up Waiting on the Whitney [Curbed]
· Whitney MePa coverage [Curbed]

‘Burg Hotel Riseth: For too long the only hotel…

For too long the only hotel option (legal hotel, that is) in Williamsburg has been the BQE-neighboring Hotel Le Jolie, but Brownstoner reports there's progress at 160 North 12th Street, a new seven-story hotel in a row of three buildings designed by blahchitect Gene Kaufman. The other Kaufmanites will be residential. Hotels should do pretty brisk business in the 'Burg just off visiting parents, given all the residents that are too young to have completely disappointed them yet. [Brownstoner]

One Mad. Park told to offer buyers refunds

State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office, which regulates the sale of condominiums in New York, has told the developers of the financially-troubled One Madison Park condominium to offer refunds to any buyers that have not closed on their apartments, The Real Deal has learned. Cuomo’s office forced the rescission offers after senior lender Istar Financial filed last month to foreclose on developers Ira Shapiro and Marc Jacobs for allegedly defaulting on five months of interest payments, pledging apartments without the bank’s permission and allowing the building loan to fall out of balance by $63.6 million, according to court documents and legal sources. Such a move would require the developers to refund deposits on more than 40 percent of the 69-unit tower at 23 East 22nd Street, as half of the units are under contract and a dozen of those contracts have closed, according to Department of Finance records. “[The AG stated its] position to the sponsor that it should offer rescission to those in contract,” said a NYS regulatory source familiar with the case.

On the Racked: LES’s New Street Fair; Target’s Latest Pop-Up; Diesel Defaced!

And now, the latest from Racked NY, covering shopping and retail from the sidewalks up.

1) LES The speculation is that the upcoming Hester Street Fair is going to be Manhattan's version of the Brooklyn Flea, and hip merchants are already signing up. Given that exciting visual seen above, we can see why!

2) Midtown: It's flower mania near Bryant Park at Target's Liberty of London pop-up, and Racked thinks it's Target's best collab yet. Which might explain the lines.

3) Greenwich Village: Diesel's slightly infuriating "Be Stupid" ad campaign has been defaced throughout the West 4th Street subway station! But since the whole thing is stupid, we guess the company is on board?

· Racked NY [ny.racked.com]

College buds-turned-real estate attorneys moonlight as musicians

Fifty-eight-year-old real estate attorney Samuel Himmelstein is getting ready to rock next Friday at Lafayette Grill & Bar at 54 Franklin Street, as his band, the Love Handles, heads back to the stage after a six-month hiatus. Himmelstein, a partner at real estate litigation firm Himmelstein McConnell Gribben Donoghue & Joseph, is part of a six-person band including his old college buddy, tenant advocate attorney Marty Silberman of Silberman Law Firm, 58, who plays the drums. Himmelstein, who plays keyboard, sings lead on a few songs as well as harmony and back-up vocals, and Silberman had talked about forming a band for years before finally doing so in 2001. The band plays music from the 1960s through early 1980s, including hits from Elvis Costello and the Grateful Dead. The group has played at the Cutting Room and the Good Coffeehouse Music Parlor, in Park Slope and for the last three years has been the post-race entertainment at the Komen Race for the Cure in Central Park (see video below). TRD

AEG Out at Aqueduct: Aqueduct Entertainment Group’s short reign as…

Aqueduct Entertainment Group's short reign as the designated developer for a casino at the Aqueduct racetrack has ended. The Times reports that the company provided "insufficient financial details" for its investors and won't be getting the contract. Governor Paterson's office said it now wants to pursue a "traditional, though rapid," process for developing the site. The decision is not much of a surprise, but we're still sad to say goodbye to a design that was basically the city in miniature. [NYT; previously]

South Florida residential market won’t rebound until 2030

From the South Florida Web site: The South Florida residential real estate market will not rebound to previous highs until 2030, according to a Moody’s Economy.com prediction. The forecast made something of a stir when it appeared deep in an article on community development districts in Business Week Monday (see chart on the forecast after the jump). While Moody’s Economy.com was under a contractual obligation not to release the specific data it had supplied to Bloomberg, it provided The Real Deal with data that supported a reasonably similar forecast -- a peak to trough price trajectory that tells of a long road ahead for Florida real estate.

Arrested Development: Tribeca Arrested Development Winds Up on eBay

Maybe it wasn't very nice of us to gloat about the 58-piece plastic model of Herzog & de Meuron-designed 56 Leonard currently residing at Curbed HQ. But now you can have your very own! One of the models—apparently #37 out of the 300 made—is now up for sale on eBay, with a starting bid of one cent and an unknown reserve. (And shipping'll set you back another $30.) The model is "designed to be taken apart and reassembled as a means of exploring the tower's radically innovative design." Fun! Cotton gloves also included so you don't get your pawprints all over the starchitecture. Centerpiece for your next holiday dinner? A playful way to teach young children about the sad times we live in? Up to you!
· 56 Leonard St. Building Model (Herzog & de Meuron) [eBay]
· 56 Leonard coverage [Curbed]

Twitterverse: Did you know that Curbed has…

Did you know that Curbed has a Twitter account? Follow us @Curbed or the bosses will whip us. [CurbedWire Staff]

Pulte Offers To Buy Back Damaged Homes in Texas

Pulte Homes offered to purchase 27 San Antonio homes damaged by a January retaining-wall collapse that created crevices up to 15 feet deep and eight feet wide.

The builder will also erect a new wall, a six-month project with a price tag estimated between $4 and $5 million. Work will begin following city approvals and permits. Given that time commitment, Pulte’s Centex division, which built the homes in this development known as Rivermist, offered to buy back the units deemed uninhabitable.

Pulte, the nation’s largest builder, will also cover moving costs, home improvements and reasonable legal fees. For owners who want to keep their homes, it will provide or fund alternative housing until the new wall is finished and certified.

Spokeswoman Valerie Dolenga couldn’t provide a total cost Thursday.

The community’s average selling price is $200,000, though some of the affected homes commanded more because they are bigger and offer city views. Two of the affected addresses have already closed for an undisclosed sales price.

The builder has not addressed other residents’ complaints of reduced property values, leaving some angry. “We’ve worked all our lives for nothing,” resident Dell Hammett told the San Antonio Express-News. “It makes us sick.”

But since the collapse, six homes have sold at prices similar to before the slope’s failure, Ms. Dolenga said, a sign the community is holding value.

In late January, about 90 houses were evacuated following a “significant soil movement” underneath some of the homes. Most owners returned home quickly, but 27 units were deemed unsafe. Those residents are in hotels or short-term housing paid for by Pulte, Ms. Dolenga said.

San Antonio officials later said the retaining wall went up without a permit. A representative for Pulte, which acquired Centex last year, said in January that “it was our understanding that we were in full compliance with the city requirements.” Pulte hired an engineering firm to test and analyze the soil.

Readers, what would you do in similar circumstances?

Follow Dawn on Twitter @dwotapka

With AEG’s contract dead, what would be the best group to take over the Aqueduct race track project?

The Real Deal is looking for your feedback on market-related issues. To read an item about the AEG fallout, click here. To check out a rundown of the former competitors, click here. Please comment below. If you have questions you'd like posted, please e-mail news@therealdeal.com.

Property Values: What You Get for … $175,000

A cabin in Heber City, Utah, a Gothic revival in Seneca Falls, N.Y., and a condo in Milwaukee.

Feuds: Long Island City Wants P.S. 1 to Tear Down This Wall!

[Photo via Flickr/wallyg]

Long Island City art museum P.S. 1 had big plans for the renovation of its Jackson Avenue entrance, including some snazzy LED lighting. One thing they didn't change: the concrete wall that separates P.S. 1 from its neighbor, Community Board 2. And it turns out a 16-foot wall translates to at least 16 feet of pure Community Board rage. Or, as CB 2's chair put it to the Post, "The prison on Van Dam Street has a better feel than this concrete wall....The amount of input that was put into this was zero from the community." The wall encloses a courtyard where art exhibitions are held. CB 2 had suggested maybe adding some plants along the wall, but P.S. 1 said plant maintenance would cost too much. But maybe they were just trying to keep the pole dance away from impressionable community board eyes?
· P.S. 1 entrance plan draws CB 2 anger [NYP]
· P.S. 1 coverage [Curbed]