Purchasers of condominium apartments at 22 Renwick Street were given 15 days to rescind their purchase contracts according to a February 17 amending to the building's offering plan that was obtained by therealdeal.com
Last November, the developer, Renwick Street Associates, filed an amendment that stated that buyers could rescind their purchases if a temporary certificate of occupancy for at least 50 percent of the units in contract had not been issued by January 31, 2010.
According to an article today by Candace Taylor at therealdeal.com, the certificate was not filed in time.
The offering plan for 22 Renwick Street, which is between Spring and Canal Streets and was designed by Philip Johnson Alan Ritchie Architects, was declared effective in February 2009, with 14 of the 19 residential units in the building sold, the article said, adding that "purchase prices ranged from $1.2 million to $1.8 million."
"A growing number of new developments, including Linden78, One Madison Park and the Setai," the article maintained, "are being forced to offer their buyers so-called right of rescission in the real estate downturn, often due to construction delays. By law, if the sponsor does not close at least one unit in the building within a year of the date it had originally projected for the commencement of the condo - known as the 'outside' date - all of the buyers must be offered the right of rescission."
Within a few months, however, "a number of buyers filed disputes with the AG's office alleging that the sponsors, Orange Management and Helix Partners, missed the June 2009 outside date," the article continued, adding that some buyers "claimed that in order to meet the deadline, the sponsors pushed through a sham sale of a commercial unit to a business associate, who agreed to close without a TCO."
Andrew Bradfield, a principal at Orange Management, did not return phone calls for comment. Last spring, he told The Real Deal that while the sponsors knew the buyer of the commercial unit, it was a bona fide sale. The principals of Helix Partners - Matthew Brown, William Lozito and Joseph Lozito - declined to comment.
Last November, the developer, Renwick Street Associates, filed an amendment that stated that buyers could rescind their purchases if a temporary certificate of occupancy for at least 50 percent of the units in contract had not been issued by January 31, 2010.
According to an article today by Candace Taylor at therealdeal.com, the certificate was not filed in time.
The offering plan for 22 Renwick Street, which is between Spring and Canal Streets and was designed by Philip Johnson Alan Ritchie Architects, was declared effective in February 2009, with 14 of the 19 residential units in the building sold, the article said, adding that "purchase prices ranged from $1.2 million to $1.8 million."
"A growing number of new developments, including Linden78, One Madison Park and the Setai," the article maintained, "are being forced to offer their buyers so-called right of rescission in the real estate downturn, often due to construction delays. By law, if the sponsor does not close at least one unit in the building within a year of the date it had originally projected for the commencement of the condo - known as the 'outside' date - all of the buyers must be offered the right of rescission."
Within a few months, however, "a number of buyers filed disputes with the AG's office alleging that the sponsors, Orange Management and Helix Partners, missed the June 2009 outside date," the article continued, adding that some buyers "claimed that in order to meet the deadline, the sponsors pushed through a sham sale of a commercial unit to a business associate, who agreed to close without a TCO."
Andrew Bradfield, a principal at Orange Management, did not return phone calls for comment. Last spring, he told The Real Deal that while the sponsors knew the buyer of the commercial unit, it was a bona fide sale. The principals of Helix Partners - Matthew Brown, William Lozito and Joseph Lozito - declined to comment.
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
6sqft delivers the latest on real estate, architecture, and design, straight from New York City.
