The hearing marks the end of a weeks-long battle, with Joel Weiner’s Pinnacle and Summit on one side and Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s government and tenants on the other. The latter group tried unsuccessfully to stop, pause, and delay the sale, hoping for a tenant-aligned bidder or concessions from Summit.
The result was another stop-and-start dispute elsewhere in New York court.
Three of New York’s biggest real estate players started the week preparing for the foreclosure auction for controlling entity Worldwide Plaza, scheduled for January 15.
SL Green and RXR threw a spanner in the works on Tuesday when the companies filed suit to block the sale. The companies alleged that the proposed auction was designed to slow bidding and steer the assets to Gary Barnett’s Extell Development, amounting to a “sham” designed to wrest control of the Midtown office complex without a fair, competitive process.
On Wednesday, a judge in Manhattan halted the UCC sale. The decision postpones the auction until January 29 and the current ownership structure will be maintained for the time being.
New York may have been experiencing a winter chill this week, but real estate news arrived quickly and timely. Here are some of the other big stories of the week.
Mamdani’s housing czar on rent freezes, bad landlords and striking balance between pro-development and pro-tenant agendas
The real deal spoke with Leila Bozor, the newly appointed deputy mayor of housing and planning. She said the government is prioritizing an aggressive push for new housing development and enhanced tenant protections, including with the relaunched Office to Protect Tenants.
Rents in Manhattan reach second highest ever
December added to Manhattan’s streak of record rents. The average rent for a market-rate lease in Manhattan was $4,720, the second-highest figure ever, according to a new report from Miller Samuel for Douglas Elliman.
The arbitrator finds that the self-dealing developer is owed $22 million
New York developer Mitchel Maidman was ordered to pay $22 million in damages after his former partner, Ofer Resles, accused him of using proceeds from penthouse sales for personal gain, despite their 50/50 ownership agreement.
Rihanna’s hopeless shopping spot
Rihanna didn’t put it in work, work, work, work, work, work at 182 Flatbush.
There have been signs of progress non-existent beyond a sign reading ‘Savage x Fenty Signature Script Collection’, seen at the location in 2024. Unfortunately, no one obtained a permit for the advertisement, resulting in an ECB violation.
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