JUNE 16, 2017
Kash Group Buying Morgans Hotel for Condo Conversion By: Ellen Cans
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ash Group, led by Shlomo Bakhash, in partnership with Shel Capital, is in contract to purchase the Morgans Hotel, with plans to convert it into a micro-unit condominium. As per The Real Deal, the fi ms are set to close next month on the hotel at 237 Madison Avenue, located between East 37th and 38th streets, in Murray Hill, NY. Th y will reportedly pay $41 million for the 17-story, 117-key, four-star hotel owned by Texas-based FelCor Lodging Trust. The price comes out to about $530 per square foot. Jeffrey Davis of JLL is brokering the deal. Kash along with Shel, which is headed by Rony Kravel and
Jonathan Bakhash, have confi med that they plan to launch the conversion immediately following the closing. Th y aim to create roughly 90 condo units on the high fl ors, a ground-fl or restaurant and three fl ors of either hotel rooms or corporate housing. The micro condo units will be an average 300 to 325 square feet in size with the average asking price ranging from $700,000 to $750,000. The plans include a triplex condo penthouse with an undetermined asking price. The real estate investment fi ms will be permitted to use 1,500 square feet of extra fl or area ratio (FAR) on the lot, expanding the property a tad to about 77,000 square feet. The midtown hotel, concocted by legendary designer Andree
The original Morgans Hotel
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orest City Realty Trust shareholders are expected to meet next week, after activist investor Land & Buildings threatened to call for a special meeting in order to reduce the Ratner family’s control over the Cleveland-based company, according to The New York Post. Kash along with Shel, which is The Post sources said that headed by Rony Kravel and if the hedge fund is successful Jonathan Bakhash, (pictured in calling the meeting, it could above) have confirmed result in bringing down all four that they plan to launch of the Ratner family members the conversion immediately following the closing from the company. The Ratner family, which Putman, was built in 1927. In includes Bruce Ratner— the 1984, hotelier Ian Schrager ren- head of the REIT’s New York ovated the hotel and reopened it office controlled the compaas the fi st-ever boutique hotel, ny that developed the New York and the fi st of the Morgans hotel Times Building and Brooklyn’s chain. In May 2016, Sam Nazari- Barclay’s Center, by means of an’s privately owned SBE Enter- super -voting A shares, reports tainment Group, which includes The Post. the SLS Hotels brand, final y won its bid to acquire the outstanding shares of the Morgans Hotel Litt believes that Forest Group Co. for $82 million. Thi City should truly become hotel was not part of that trans- independent of the Ratner action because in 2011, FelCor family and explore at the had purchased the Morgans and options of a sale, reports Royalton hotels from Morgans The Post. Hotel Group for a combined price of $140 million. Back in May, FelCor already announced But because of the pressure that it was in contract to sell the from Land & Buildings, Forest two hotels for $92 million total to City Realty Trust is breaking two different buyers. down its shares into a single class, says The Post. According to The Post, Land
By: Anat Ghelber
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Among New York City and New York State lobbying drives last year, real estate was a major contender.
It turns out New York City’s biggest lobbyers attempting to win influence with the city’s government are New York City’s largest landlord group. The Rent Stabilization Association of New York apparently spent up to $3.6 million trying to influence decisions on issues like property taxes and rent regulation.
used immoderate influence on the Rent Guidelines Board to keep rents from rising. The Rent Guidelines Board then made the decision to allow rents to rise as of this year. Rent Stabilization Association representatives didn’t return any calls for comments. Among New York City and New York State lobbying drives last year, real estate was a major contender. It’s estimated that both construction lobbyists and real estate lobbyists spent up to $35.7 million, making them the second highest spending industry lobbyists. The ninth highest spending lobbyer in 2016 was the New York State Association of Realtors, which spent up to
$1.3 million. The lobbying fi m Kasirer Consulting, who represent many real estate industries looking to win influence in their favor using lobbying, collected up to $10.4 million in 2016 as compensation for lobbying efforts and expenses doing so which were reimbursed. All told, lobbyists spent a grand total of $242.7 million at both state and local city levels last year. According to the aforementioned report by the Ethics Commission, this is about the same amount they spent in 2015 as well. However, Lobbyist fees have increased by 5.8% year over year to a total of $218 million as of 2016.
PAGE 7
Activist Investor Wants Bruce Ratner Ousted at Forest City Realty By: Gene Wilkenson
Landlord Group is Largest Lobbying Effort in New York City t turns out New York City’s biggest lobbyers attempting to win influence with the city’s government are New York City’s largest landlord group. The Rent Stabilization Association of New York apparently spent up to $3.6 million trying to influence decisions on issues like property taxes and rent regulation. Lobbying by the Rent Stabilization Association of New York has increased from $1.4 million spent on lobbying efforts in 2015 to more than double that this year, according to New York State’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics in a report they released this month. The Rent Stabilization Association’s lobbying endeavors are focused on property taxes, rent regulation, building safety and water rates, as reported by disclosures they filed with New York State. The organization were strong opponents of a halt in rent prices that lasted for a year in June of 2015 and June of 2016. In July of last year, they alleged in a lawsuit against the city that New York City’s mayor had
NEW YORK
The Jewish Voice
Forest City Realty Trust shareholders are expected to meet next week, after activist investor Land & Buildings threatened to call for a special meeting in order to reduce the Ratner family’s control over the Cleveland-based company
& Building’s Jonathan Litt said in April that there was too much nepotism within the Forest Realty board—a condition, he said, which led to bad deals and a struggling stock price. When the year ended, Dec. 6,—around the time when Forest City said it would do away with dual-class stock structure—the REIT’s shares were down 13 percent, reports Th Post. Most of the company’s poor deals have been attributed to Bruce Ratner, who is best known for constructing the
struggling Barclay’s Center and Pacific Park—formerly known as Atlantic Yards—said Th Post. Bruce Ratner, 72, is worth an estimated $400 million and recently divorced his wife of eight years, Pamela Lipkin, a plastic surgeon, reports The Post. According to The ost, Forest City, at present, is developing a 235,000 square-foot Roosevelt Island Building that will be a new campus for Cornell’s law students and is slated to be open in 2019. Litt believes that Forest City should truly become independent of the Ratner family and explore at the options of a sale, reports The Post. On Friday, Forest City is holding its annual meeting, where it is expected to collapse its two groups of shares into one, moving voting control out of the Ratner’s hands and into shareholders, said The Post. According to The Post’s sources, Land & Building will call for a special meeting next week, at which shareholders would vote to kick Ratner family members off of the board, and likely Bruce Rather out of the company. The Post reports that Forest City’s holdings in February were at $27 a share and that Forest City’s shares closed last Thursday at $24.13, up almost 10 percent in the last three weeks— and up drastically since Dec. 6.