NEW YORK | 520 5th Ave | 1,000 FT | 76 FLOORS

[sbarn]

New design! Taller!!

[The Best Forumer]

Originally Posted by PeterQM

First Full Look at SMI /Ceruzzi's Planned Fifth Avenue Supertower
December 20, 2016








More photos and info in the post here.

It looks nice... but in the bottom pic... where is it?

[chris08876]

Just the latest permit activity via DOB:

122246499-01-AL A3 - ALT3 04 04/17/2018 10/01/2018 ISSUED CLAIRE MILDRED

*

Job No: 122246499 Fee: STANDARD
Permit No: 122246499-01-AL Issued: 04/17/2018 Expires: 10/01/2018
Seq. No.: 04 Filing Date: 04/17/2018 RENEWAL Status: ISSUED
Work: Proposed Job Start: 12/04/2015 Work Approved: 01/14/2015
ALTERATION TYPE 3 - SOE
SUPPORT OF EXCAVATION WORK FILED IN CONJUNCTION WITH APPROVED NEW BUILDING
APPLICATION # 121323923.

Use: R-2 - RESIDENTIAL: APARTMENT HOUSES Landmark: NO Stories: 71
Review is requested under Building Code: 2008
Adding more than three stories: No
Removing one or more stories: No
Performing work in 50% or more of the area of the building: No
Demolishing 50% or more of the area of the building: No
Performing a vertical or horizontal enlargement adding more than 25% of the area of the building: No
Mechanical equipment other than handheld devices to be used for demolition or removal of debris to be used: No
Approved work includes concrete: No
Concrete work has been completed: No
Requesting concrete exclusion now: No
Work includes 2,000 cubic yards or more of concrete: No

[JMKeynes]

I hope that this is the first of several new buildings between 44th and 47th. That three block stretch is the worst part of Fifth.

[NYguy]

https://therealdeal.com/issues_artic...rties-profile/

Ceruzzi Properties’ retreat from risk
More than a year after the sudden loss of its CEO, the development company is rejiggering its Manhattan strategy


By Will Parker and Konrad Putzier
November 01, 2018

The first indication of Ceruzzi Properties’ new strategy came over the summer, when word spread that the company was searching for a development partner to take control of the $500 million mixed-use project 520 Fifth Avenue.

Ceruzzi and its partner Shanghai Municipal Investment had bought the Midtown site for $275 million in 2015, with plans to build a 71-story hotel and condo tower. SMI owned 94 percent of the site, according to sources. Ceruzzi owned the rest and was set to take charge of development.

But following Lou’s death, the company decided it couldn’t handle the development by itself in addition to its two other projects, 138 East 50th Street and 147-151 East 86th Street, also known as 1289 Lexington. Over the summer, it held talks with Zeckendorf Development and Gary Barnett’s Extell Development, among others, but had yet to pick a development partner at the time of publication.

At Ceruzzi, no one denies that 520 Fifth was Lou’s project, and that the other executives might have never pursued it without him.

“It was his company, it was his money,” Hooper said. “So if he wanted to take a risk, he didn’t have to come and ask anybody’s permission to do it. As president, I feel the weight constantly that it’s not my money.”

[Zapatan]

That's unfortunate to hear, but it sounds like Extell could be getting involved? That's potentially exciting.

[NYguy]

Maybe a better design can come out of a new partnership. But with plans ready to go, maybe not.

[NYer34]

This whole episode is the sort of sad farce that characterizes too much of NY's built environment.

1. One of the city's worst property owners - Thor Equities / Joe S(h)itt - buys 520 Fifth Avenue, a fantastic, 100-year-old building that in any sane city would be landmarked
2. Despite being an extravagant, beautiful, historic high-rise full of tenants and thriving commerce, 520 Fifth is razed to dust by Joe S(h)itt
3. Meanwhile a craptacular architectural choad - a 2-story glass taxpayer that heralded in all the miserable modernism we've been choking under for 60+ years - sits across the street and gets landmarked
4. Joe S(h)itt turns the rubble into, at various times, a trash-and-rubble-strewn lot; an embarrassing, paved-over ghetto trinket stand; and a paved-over, fenced-off lot
5. Joe S(h)itt s(h)itts a brick and can't even develop the property
6. Future of the site now unclear
7. But, hey, Joe S(h)itt destroyed a perfectly functional, beautiful, historic property so we can have 10-20 years of a roped-off, paved-over lot. Shazam!

[chris08876]

Ceruzzi looks to bring Madison Equities in on 520 Fifth condo project

ollowing the sudden death of developer Lou Ceruzzi last year, executives at his firm scrambled to come up with a direction for the company that bears his name.

Now, Ceruzzi Properties is negotiating to bring on a development partner for its most ambitious development – the $500 million project at 520 Fifth Avenue where they’ve spent the past few years struggling to develop a condo tower with partner SMI USA.

Robert Gladstone’s Madison Equities is in late-stage talks to join the project, sources told The Real Deal.

A spokesperson for Ceruzzi Properties declined to comment, and Gladstone did not respond to requests for comment.

Ceruzzi Properties, headed now by president Arthur Hooper, has been search for several months for a development partner. And the negotiations shine a light on some troubles with the project.

For starters, Ceruzzi and SMI bought the site at the height of the city’s investment-sales market in 2015 for $275 million from Thor Equities. But the condo market has fallen off precipitously since then, and many in the market feel much of the land’s value has eroded to the point where it’s wiped out the project’s equity, according to one source familiar with the site.

The land is not worth more than the $200 million bridge loan the sponsors got from Mack Real Estate Credit Strategies in the summer of 2017, the source said.

To further complicate matters, Ceruzzi Properties has very little equity in the deal, and is intent on holding onto its development fees. Earlier this year, Ceruzzi Properties and its partner were in talks with several developers to join the project, including Extell Development, Zeckendorf Development and HFZ Capital.

But those developers balked at letting Ceruzzi Properties hold onto the lucrative development fees, sources told TRD. So the company went with Madison Equities, which agreed to split the fees with Ceruzzi.

=====================
TRD

[JMKeynes]

[chris08876]

Checking In On Ceruzzi Properties’ Planned 76-Story Skyscraper At 520 Fifth Avenue, In Midtown Manhattan

Set to rise at the northern corner of Fifth Avenue and West 43rd Street, 520 Fifth Avenue is likely to be the first skyscraper along Fifth Avenue to top the 900-foot mark. The project will rise in the heart of Midtown, one street away from the eastern end of Bryant Park. The glass-enclosed tower will have 76 floors and stand 920 feet to its pinnacle. Handel Architects is the architect, and Arthur Hooper of Ceruzzi Properties will be developing in conjunction with SMI USA.

While work has not yet kicked off at 520 Fifth Avenue, things appear more promising for this site than the others already profiled by YIMBY involving China-backed developers. In this case, that is SMI USA. The Real Deal reported late last month that Madison Equities might be brought into the $500 million dollar project. Ceruzzi has been looking for additional development partners since purchasing the Midtown in 2015 for $275 million from Thor Equities.

As seen in photos from YIMBY’s recent visit, excavation work has remained on hold after machinery appeared on-site back in 2017. The lot held flea markets for a time several years ago, but the latest news regarding Madison Equities’ involvement is hopefully a sign they will not return.

Renderings of the project show a three-story retail section at the base, with large floor-to-ceiling glass walls facing Fifth Avenue and West 43rd Street. The building’s podium takes up the entire lot before yielding to a tapering tower enclosed in a glass facade. Residents and hotel guests will enter the building from West 43rd Street.

nside, there will be around 171,000 square feet of residential living space, with 145 units measuring around 1,300 square feet apiece. There will also be a hotel spanning 21 floors, with 208 rooms spread among 175,000 square feet. The retail base is planned to cover about 35,900 square feet.

While the design has changed several times in the past, the rendering seen on the green construction fence today matches the above, and shows the top of the tower designed with a multiple-sloped roofline and chamfered corners.

A completion date for 520 Fifth Avenue has not yet been confirmed. But with Madison Equities’ hopeful involvement, the site may be one of the few high-profile projects not yet off the ground in Manhattan to soon get underway.

========================
NYY

[NYguy]

https://commercialobserver.com/2019/...ebt-520-fifth/

Ceruzzi’s $233M Debt on 520 Fifth Ave Is in Default and Up for Sale

BY CATHY CUNNINGHAM AND MATT GROSSMAN
MAY 23, 2019

Mack Real Estate Credit Strategies is putting the $232.9 million non-performing debt on 520 Fifth Avenue up for sale, according to an offering document shared with Commercial Observer.

Mack provided the loan against the 425,688-square-foot development site to Ceruzzi Properties and SMI USA in June 2017. The developers had planned to build a 76-story mixed-use skyscraper that would have included condominium apartments, a hotel and street-level retail. But, the debt fell into default on its maturity date, Dec. 31 2018, and Mack has hired HFF to peddle the debt to the highest bidder, as per an investment memorandum shared with CO.

The debt consists of a $130 million senior mortgage as well as $70 million in mezzanine financing. The mezzanine position provides a new buyer with an opportunity to pursue a Uniform Commercial Code foreclosure as a legal remedy for payment, the memorandum states.

Including unpaid interest, Ceruzzi’s tab on the debt now amounts to $232.9 million, according to HFF’s offering. The floating interest rate at origination was LIBOR plus 7.65, and the addition of a 5 percent default premium means that debt continues to accrue additional interest at a rate of LIBOR plus 12.65 percent.

“After several months of good faith efforts to restructure privately, we are pursuing appropriate actions regarding the several payment and other defaults related to this asset,” a spokesman for Mack Real Estate told CO. “ We will continue to protect our investors, in accordance with our obligations, but we remain hopeful that the borrower will promptly fulfill its obligations.”

The loan’s default status presents investors with the option to modify its current terms, including the waiving of the default premium and/or any fees instead of extending the loan’s term.

The offering provides investors “the unique opportunity to acquire a non-performing loan of scale that is associated with a property poised for future development along Fifth Avenue, and [near] Bryant Park and Grand Central Terminal,” HFF said in its circular. The firm also noted that a buyer of the debt would have direct recourse against “a guarantor with significant holdings and liquidity.”

Ceruzzi and SMI bought the site, between West 43rd and West 44th Streets, for $275 million in 2015 from Thor Equities. The site is Manhattan’s last piece of undeveloped land along Fifth Avenue between 42nd Street and Central Park South. Under neighborhood zoning rules and including air rights from assigned lots, the site has a total buildable area of more than 350,000 square feet with no tower height limits.

Last year, the development duo was trying to bring on a third equity partner, The Real Deal reported at the time. Thor’s plans for the site had also called for a retail, hotel and residential tower, and the building could offer around 34,000 thousand square feet of storefront space along 85 feet of Fifth Avenue, a block north of the New York Public Library’s main building on West 42nd Street. The site is now appraised at $337 million, according to HFF, implying that the debt on the building is worth about 70 percent of the site’s value.

Indicative bids are due June 12, with best and final bids due June 19 and an anticipated closing of June 25. HFF’s Brock Cannon, Stephen Van Leer, Andrew Scandalios, Jeffrey Julien, Graham Stephens are leading the sale, the offering memo shows. Officials at HFF did not respond to a request for comment.

One source familiar with the sale said that if a reasonable bid is not received, a UCC foreclosure auction could be next on the agenda.

Officials at Ceruzzi were not immediately available for comment. SMI USA representatives did not return a request for comment.

[Hudson11]

Murmurs are that this project was Lou's baby. The chances of it being realized by Ceruzzi properties died with him.

[sbarn]

Sadly they tore down a few nice buildings for this tower. Now its a sad empty lot. I hope a worthy replacement is built soon.

[NYer34]

Originally Posted by sbarn

Sadly they tore down a few nice buildings for this tower. Now its a sad empty lot. I hope a worthy replacement is built soon.

Agree, it really sucks.

What kills me here is 520 Fifth was a GORGEOUS 100-year old Beaux-Arts tower. The sort of thing any city on earth - except for ours, which is ruled by scheming real estate tycoons - would landmark.

It was torn down.

Across the street is 510 Fifth Avenue, a 2-story glass box choad. It basically looks like every crappy bank branch isolated in a parking lot in a suburban shopping complex.

It's landmarked.

WTF.

[NYguy]

https://therealdeal.com/

Ceruzzi, SMI bring in new partner to try and save Fifth Ave development
Rabina Properties joins project as partners try to stave off foreclosure

By Rich Bockmann
May 30, 2019

Ceruzzi Properties and SMI have brought in a new partner on their troubled Midtown development project as they race against the clock to stave off a foreclosure.

Rabina Properties recently signed a joint-venture agreement to co-develop the planned 76-story mixed-use project just north of Bryant Park, a representative for the partnership told The Real Deal.

“Rabina’s going to be running this deal,” Ceruzzi president Art Hooper told TRD. “We’ll be codeveloping the deal, but we’ll be in the back seat to Rabina.”

Hooper added that Rabina put additional equity into the deal, but declined to comment on the dollar amount. A representative for Rabina was not immediately available to comment.

The new partnership is working with a lender to secure a loan to refinance the property, though time is short.

Ceruzzi and SMI USA are in default on the $200 million in debt that Mack Real Estate Credit Strategies provided the partners in June 2017. Late last week, Commercial Observer reported that Mack scheduled a foreclosure auction for the $130 million senior mortgage and $70 million mezzanine loan for July 1.

If the partners can secure financing to repay the loan — the balance of which now totals roughly $233 million with interest — they can repay Mack and head off the auction.

A representative for Mack declined to comment, though a spokesperson told CO last week that the company “remain[s] hopeful that the borrower will promptly fulfill its obligations.”

[NYguy]

https://nypost.com/2019/07/01/new-pa...ject-on-track/

New partnership puts long-stalled 520 Fifth project on track


By Steve Cuozzo
July 1, 2019

There’s new life for the long-stalled Midtown development site at 520 Fifth Ave., at East 43rd Street.

Rabina Properties just closed on a joint-venture partnership for the vacant corner lot in which it will take over the driver’s seat from Ceruzzi Properties and SMI, The Post has learned.

The 800-foot-tall tower will have more office space and less retail than originally planned, sources said.

The lot has been a vacant eyesore for several years. Ceruzzi and SMI had planned to build a tall and slender skyscraper, but the project stalled.

Partner Louis Ceruzzi’s death in September 2017 further delayed things.

Now, sources say, major-league New York developer Rabina has formally bought into the project in a deal described as a partnership restructuring and recapitalization.

Ceruzzi and SMI will remain part of the development team.

The agreement with Rabina was first reported in May by the Real Deal — but the deal wasn’t final until Monday.

Marcus & Millichap’s Eric Anton, who was said by sources to have brokered the joint-venture transaction, declined to comment.

A $232 million loan on the property to Mack Real Estate, which was in default, has been paid off as part of the new transaction and will be replaced with a new loan, sources said.

The empty lot at one of the city’s most valuable locations has long perplexed passersby as well as real estate insiders.

The roughly $600 million project is expected to differ somewhat from the original design. The tall, slender tower of 400,000 square feet will have lower-level retail but less than first planned; about 170,000 square feet of office space; and luxury apartments at the top.

[Skyy]

I'll take 800ft

[chris08876]

Hi, hi we're your local urbanists
Ah-huh
And have we got news for you
You better listen
Get ready, all you lonely parkinglots
And leave those NIMBYS at home
Alright
9 Dekalb is rising (uh rising), other cities getting low (oh low, girl)
According to all sources (what sources now), the street's the place to go (we better hurry up)
'Cause tonight for the first time (first time)
Just about half-past ten (half past ten)
For the first time in history
It's gonna start raining towers (start raining toweers)
It's raining towers, hallelujah, it's raining towers, amen
I'm gonna go out to run and let myself get
Absolutely soaking high
It's raining towers, hallelujah
It's raining towers, every facade

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Skyy

I'll take 800ft

800 ft is fine, not sure that would be the exact height though. But more about the design is what I would like.