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Sharif El-Gamal, who is building a luxury residential tower at 45 Park Place in Tribeca, claims the Malaysian bank that agreed to provide millions in construction financing has withdrawn support and killed the project.
El-Gamal, who heads up SoHo Properties, filed a notice and summons in New York state court this week, alleging that Malayan Bank Berhard, or Maybank, and other syndicate members “ignored and breached their obligations under the building facility and related loan documents,” Bloomberg reports.
El-Gamal argues Maybank and others promised to hand over $162M in construction loans, but they backed out, “effectively thwarting” the project. All work has had to stop and it's harming the developer's relationship with the contractor, he said. El-Gamal is seeking $245M, per Bloomberg, which is the projected sellout of the 43-story development.
The lawsuit is the latest twist in a drawn-out legal saga for the project, where units were priced at an average of $3K per SF back in 2015, at the height of the luxury development boom.
Last month, the collection of foreign lenders El-Gamal pulled together to finance the project accused him of threatening to tear down the top of the building if they were to move ahead with foreclosure, The Real Deal reported.
The site north of the World Trade Center, which the developer bought in 2009 for $4.85M, was once slated for an Islamic Center, but the controversial plan was axed in 2011. El-Gamal instead moved forward with ground-up luxury development, a sector of the market that has been softening for the last few years.
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