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US Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane approved a plan to hire brokers and sell the development site for 3 Sutton Place (pictured), a 262k SF, 900-foot-tall condo at 426-432 East 58th St.
Whoever lands the site will also get plans by British architect Sir Norman Foster. These plans may appeal to international buyers, but the winning bidder might also have to give Norman his pay, the New York Post reports.
Bauhouse Group’s Joseph Beninati put together the site over several years, but put the project into bankruptcy last spring after he couldn’t refinance $130M in loans from N. Richard Kalikow and defaulted on a loan. Interest has boosted the loans’ value to about $185M. Lenders have the right to make a “credit bid” and include their loans within the bid.
It’s unknown if Philip International’s Philip Pilevsky—who grouped with his sons to provide Joseph with funds and legal services—will also try to bid or get profits from a deal. The Pilevskys were sued by Kalikow’s leading entity, Gamma, who claimed the family was interfering with the deal. Gamma was in turn sued by Joseph for allegedly conspiring with the projects lawyer (and N. Richard Kalikow’s cousin) Richard R. Kalikow.
The project’s marketing will be handled by JLL’s Scott Latham, Richard Baxter, Ron Cohen and Jon Caplan, as well as Meridian Investment Sales’ David Schechtman. The Post estimates the site will sell for $800 per SF, bringing in $210M but still falling short of current Manhattan condo land sales, which are hovering around $1k per SF. [NYP]
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