From therealdeal.com (15 July 2011):
http://therealdeal.com/newyork/artic...-meir-milgraum
54-story luxury rental planned for 111 Washington in FiDi
July 15, 2011 12:00PM
By Adam Pincus
From left: Pink Stone Capital's Richard Ohebshalom, Meir Milgraum and David Goldban; 111 Washington Street (source: PropertyShark)The Midtown-based real estate development firm Pink Stone Capital expects to build a high-end residential rental tower with 54 floors at 111 Washington Street, two blocks south of the World Trade Center site in the Financial District.
The approximately 430,000-square-foot high-rise will have about 500 units in a mix of studios and one- and two-bedroom apartments, Meir Milgraum, director of acquisitions for the firm, said. One or two large penthouses may also be includedd, he added.
Pink Stone bought the defaulted $50 million note from New York Community Bank in March. The bank lent parking magnate Gerald Brauser and his company Term-Washington Street Garage the money in 2006 to develop the property.
On July 1, Pink Stone acquired title for the site through a deed in lieu of foreclosure, Milgraum said. Court records show the site includes the property at 105 Washington Street and 111 Washington Street, as well as air rights from four other properties. Milgraum would not disclose the price paid, if any, for the deed. The title transfer has not yet appeared on city property records.
In addition to the apartments, the tower at 111 Washington Street will have two floors of retail with about 30,000 square feet of space.
The firm is interviewing architects and plans to hire one by the end of next week.
"We hope to be in the ground by next summer and complete construction by 2014," Milgraum said.
The company plans to construct a one-story retail site at 105 Washington Street.
Pink Stone is an active note and property buyer over the past year. It bought the note for 174 Nassau Street in Downtown Brooklyn on June 22, which has development rights for approximately 100,000 square feet. In addition, the company is constructing a 73-unit residential building with 21 stories at 3 West 36th Street and a new, 21-story hotel with 108 rooms at 250 Fifth Avenue, at 28th Street.
Pink Stone Capital was founded in 2010 and is led by CEO Richard Ohebshalom, son of Empire Management's Fred Ohebshalom. The firm takes it name from the color associated with breast cancer advocacy, and was named in honor of Richard's high school history teacher, who died of the disease in 1997.