Vanbarton eyes life sciences project at former HFZ site in NoMad

One of New York’s most anticipated office projects appears to be changing course. Vanbarton Group is considering developing its vacant site next to the Marble Collegiate Church at West 29th Street and Fifth Avenue as a life science project rather than an office tower, according to a person familiar with the matter. If completed, it would be one of the largest such projects in the city. The site’s latest turn comes more than seven years

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New York’s biggest, baddest and juiciest real estate lawsuits of 2022

New York’s legal eagles billed plenty of hours to real estate clients last year on both sides of the courtroom, where landlords, tenants, scammers and profligates all had their day. A lawsuit over a ring of illegal Airbnb rentals drew the most attention from readers of The Real Deal, and City Hall’s crackdown on negligent landlords garnered a lot of clicks too. Several disputes over rent regulation were also represented among the lawsuits our readers

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HFZ investor wants Nir Meir held in contempt

Nir Meir has faced his fair share of wild accusations. Since the implosion of his former firm, HFZ Capital, he has denied claims of false wire transfers, fake term sheets, missing funds and other allegations by creditors, investors and his former business partner Ziel Feldman. Despite the seriousness of those accusations, all are civil in nature. But at an upcoming hearing, a judge will decide whether Meir should be held in criminal contempt. Mark Hatch-Miller,

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Vanbarton quietly taps KPF as NoMad tower architect

Vanbarton Group appears to have found a holy alliance for its NoMad office project. The New York firm is drawing up plans for a new development next to the Marble Collegiate Church and has tapped Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) as its architect over a year after it initiated a foreclosure tied to the site. Vanbarton foreclosed on the equity stake of a joint venture between HFZ Capital and the Marble Collegiate Church in March

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Witkoff and Access Industries buy HFZ’s languishing XI condo project

UPDATED, Dec. 23, 8:05 p.m.: Steve Witkoff and Len Blavatnik are the new owners of the stalled XI condo project. The real estate developers bought the twisting tower luxury development on 76 11th Avenue in a foreclosure sale on Thursday after its former owner HFZ Capital Group fell into financial ruin. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Witkoff Group and Blavatnik’s Access Industries have secured financing to resume construction of the 900,000-square-foot mixed-use towers

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Ex-HFZ principal Meir agreed to scrape Steinmetz’s name from Belnord chart

An alleged associate of Beny Steinmetz, the Israeli diamond magnate recently convicted of bribery, successfully sought in 2017 to alter an organizational chart that showed Steinmetz was tied to one of developer HFZ Capital Group’s marquee projects, court documents show. The emails included in federal court proceedings suggest that a top HFZ executive had direct communication with a company tied to Steinmetz after he had been arrested on bribery charges over mining rights in Guinea

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HFZ set to lose stake in $2B XI condo project

One of the boldest bets of the past decade on New York City’s high-end real estate market appears to have finally run out of rope — a case study in what happens when big risks don’t pan out. HFZ Capital Group’s $2 billion XI project on the High Line in West Chelsea is headed for foreclosure after years of hand wringing over its viability, The Real Deal has learned. The project’s lender, a subsidiary of

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Former HFZ exec, alleged mob members plead guilty in construction scheme

A former HFZ executive and 11 alleged members of the Gambino crime family pleaded guilty last week in connection to a construction bribery scheme that skimmed hundreds of thousands of dollars from the developer’s luxury condo tower and other projects. John Simonlacaj, HFZ’s former managing director of development, admitted to submitting a false tax return in relation to renovation work at his home. Simonlacaj was accused of accepting free labor and materials for the renovations

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