Still stinging from the rejection of its casino bid, SL Green made a splash this week by agreeing to buy the 36-story Park Avenue Tower at 65 East 55th Street in the Plaza District for $730 million, a discount on the roughly $925 million that the Blackstone Group put into acquiring and renovating the building since 2014.
SL Green moved quickly on the tower once it hit the market and preempted other bids. Clearly, Marc Holliday wasn’t interested in another defeat this fall.
Speaking of casino bids, one of the few to move on to the next round of the process suddenly tossed its cards this week.
MGM Resorts — considered a shoo-in for one of three casino licenses — withdrew its proposal for a $2.3 billion expansion of its facility in Yonkers.
The gaming giant blamed the decision on “a newly defined competitive landscape,” noting the remaining proposals were clustered in a “small geographic area.”
MGM also relied on receiving an initial 30-year license, but based on rules issued by the state last week, the Yonkers proposal would only qualify for 15 years.
The Queens Aqueduct, Steve Cohen’s Metropolitan Park in Flushing and Bally’s Bronx project are all that remain. The state does not have to award all three available licenses, meaning the competitors can’t start counting their chips just yet.
In other news, a lender is pursuing two non-judicial foreclosures on equity interests tied to two phases of Fordham Landing, a multi-billion-dollar mixed-use development along the Harlem River in the Bronx. Dynamic Star, led by Gary Segal and Brad Zackson, is developing the megaproject with Namdar and Gorjian Acquisitions.
A mysterious lender alleges debts are owed on a $55.1 million loan tied to 320 West Fordham Road, as well as $18.9 million tied to a loan for 2371 Exterior Street, 2391 and 2401 Exterior Street and 2444 Exterior Street.
Two foreclosure auctions are scheduled for Dec. 2.
While Fordham Landing is facing threats, the Brooklyn Mirage appears doomed. The East Williamsburg building’s owner filed for a demolition permit for at least part of the live music venue, part of a bigger space called Avant Gardner. The application is for a full demolition of 32,000 square feet.
The demolition would be the culmination of a tumultuous series of months, which included canceled shows, bankruptcy filings and overrun renovation costs.
On the culture beat, the Metropolitan Museum of Art is getting involved in its own real estate wheeling and dealing.
The museum signed a deal to sell a pair of townhomes on East 82nd Street on the Upper East Side last asking $28 million. The buyer signed a contract two weeks after the homes went up for sale and plans to convert them into one single-family residence.
Read more
SL Green buying Park Avenue Tower for $730M
MGM drops out of the casino race
Dynamic Star’s troubled Bronx megaproject faces new foreclosures