Gotta hate the Drake!
The giant hole where the Drake Hotel stood will remain a vacant lot for the foreseeable future after iStar Financial, the senior noteholder on the Macklowe Properties-owned site, stopped marketing the loan.
According to people familiar with the matter, iStar let the agreement to market the note with Cushman & Wakefield expire.
Ownership of the note is the key to controlling the site at Park Avenue and 56th Street and its future development. The site is zoned to handle a 600,000-square-foot tower as tall as 60 stories.
Bids for the note, which has a $225 million face value, went as high as $135 million, according to reports, but iStar refused to budge.
Deutsche Bank, which owns a small piece of the loan, has already begun foreclosure proceedings.
