One World Trade Center won’t be sold by the Port Authority, we’ve learned.
Despite calls from some quarters suggesting the sale as a way for the Port Authority to raise money and get out of the real-estate business, Executive Director Chris Ward told me yesterday, “There’s not a chance.”
Ward had just given an extremely political speech to the Building Congress at the Ritz Carlton Battery Park City, wherein he bemoaned the country’s lack of will and political center to invest in infrastructure projects.
He also defended calling for large toll hikes that sparked outrage, saying he’s got to be the advocate for the Port Authority and its mission.
Projects that now may have to wait until at least 2015 include new terminals for both LaGuardia and Newark Airports, he said.
Ward said he stood in Battery Park at 2:30 a.m. on Sunday morning, watching Hurricane Irene’s storm surge lapping at the sea wall. He’s relieved that Downtown “dodged a bullet” because a higher surge could have sent water pouring into the World Trade Center vehicle screening center and then a tunnel directly into the Sept. 11 Memorial.
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The red TJ Maxx flag went up yesterday on the Broad Street side of 14 Wall St., where it will open this fall in 32,000 square feet of lower- level space. Peter Ripka of Ripco and his former colleague, Scott Auster, represented TJ Maxx in the deal we wrote about a year ago but that was never acknowledged. Darrell Rubens of Winick Realty represented the building owners, Capstone Equities.
“This is the first large national retailer opening in the heart of the Financial District,” said Rubens.
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A development site in Clinton is back on track after Glenwood Management bought the mortgages and obtained the keys to the properties.
The original developer, Tribeach Holdings, had accumulated enough buildings and air rights to construct a 38-story condo hotel but was never able to proceed.
The site is on the west side of Eighth Avenue between 46th and 47th Streets.
In 2009, Tribeach principal William Fagen told Post colleague Steve Cuozzo, “There’s no way I could sell it now, because it would wipe out my equity.”
But a year ago lender Bank of Scotland sold the notes to luxury rental developer Glenwood, which has now cut a deal with Tribeach that was negotiated by Brian Ezratty of Eastern Consolidated. The mortgages had totaled $80 million and the deed amount was $76,304,844, which included a settlement amount.
The site can be constructed to between 260,000 and 320,000 square feet, depending on what other air rights and affordable housing options are included, if any.
“We’re definitely not using their plans,” said Glenwood’s Gary Jacob. “We’re going to work on a mixed-use property with retail and high-end rentals.” While there is still a possibility of adding air rights, Jacob noted it is still in the very early stages of their planning.
Fagen did not return calls for comment.
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In an all-cash deal, two West Village apartment houses were sold for $32.6 million to Stone Street Properties.
The five-story walkup at 100-102 Christopher St. between Bleecker and Bedford Streets has 37 apartments and three stores and was built in 1920.
The five-story elevatored property at 7-11 Cornelia St. was constructed in 1900 and has 48 apartments and two stores along with a charming carriage house.
Seller Ioannis Danallis owned the buildings for 13 years and hired Laurence Ross, Christen Portelli and John Goldflam from the Highcap Group to market them.
With total income of $2.7 million and a net operating income of $1.9 million, the sale was completed at an income multiple of 12 and a 5.8 percent cap rate.
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We’ve learned the final price allocated to the purchase of the 188-key Carlyle Hotel was $319,400,000, while HSBC supplied a $40.32 million mortgage. The hotel includes 65 suites and 55 cooperative residences.
