Ziel Feldman agreed last month to pay a reputed $165 million in a bankruptcy auction for One Madison Park, the tall sliver apartment building at the foot of Madison Avenue on the south side of West 23td Street facing Madison Square Park.
According to an article in this week's edition of observer.com by Laura Kusisto, Mr. Feldman must present his final rescue plan for the tower to a bankruptcy court by early June, sources say.
"With a rare location in up-and-coming midtown south, an unfinished pool and health club, views down to the water (on both sides) and luxury pre-Lehman finishes in every unit," the article continued, "One Madison Park should be one of the city's most desirable properties. The arithmetic is nonetheless fiscally suicidal: millions in renovations in addition to the $165 million sales price; dozens of pending lawsuits; and an anticipated two-year wait before the tower is finally finished. To make a profit, Mr. Feldman would need to fetch $2,500 a square foot on average on the condo sales...."
"During the recession of the early 90's, the square-jawed native of Kew Gardens, Queens, a graduate of Queens College and Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, left his job as a successful real estate attorney. According to legend, within a few years, he amassed a staff of 20, who perched at $39 folding tables in a second-floor office on 42nd Street the size of a bachelor pad. Around that time, Mr. Feldman met Gary Barnett, who had made a fortune in the diamond trade. 'He was the experienced real estate guy,' Mr. Barnett said of his partner back then. The pair bought walk-ups, then elevator buildings, then, most notably, the Belnord, an aging Upper West Side dame near the Apthorp. 'We haven't been partners for quite a number of years,' Mr. Barnett said. 'But I wouldn't hesitate to do something else with Ziel.'"
"Mr. Barnett," the article continued, "went on to become one of the city's most powerful developers...,while Mr. Feldman remained comparatively small time. During the subsequent years, he would spar vigorously for assets that few cared about, such as the ambling, million-square-foot Herald Towers, which he won in a lawsuit. Almost no one noticed when a couple of years ago he notched a tiny boom-time coup with 823 Park Avenue, a completely refurbished pre-war condo with a mere 10 full-floor units."
"In other boom-time ventures," the article said, "Mr. Feldman also failed, sometimes spectacularly - for instance, on a South Carolina amusement park that he built for $400 million with a partner during the recent boom and then sold in bankruptcy court for just $25 million."
The article said that "Mr. Feldman has since November rolled the dice on the city's three riskiest developments: with backing from a range of Israeli investors, he's bought the infamous 'collapsed-crane project' on East 51st Street; the posh, lawsuit-riddled Setai condo conversion downtown; and now possibly One Madison Park."
According to an article in this week's edition of observer.com by Laura Kusisto, Mr. Feldman must present his final rescue plan for the tower to a bankruptcy court by early June, sources say.
"With a rare location in up-and-coming midtown south, an unfinished pool and health club, views down to the water (on both sides) and luxury pre-Lehman finishes in every unit," the article continued, "One Madison Park should be one of the city's most desirable properties. The arithmetic is nonetheless fiscally suicidal: millions in renovations in addition to the $165 million sales price; dozens of pending lawsuits; and an anticipated two-year wait before the tower is finally finished. To make a profit, Mr. Feldman would need to fetch $2,500 a square foot on average on the condo sales...."
"During the recession of the early 90's, the square-jawed native of Kew Gardens, Queens, a graduate of Queens College and Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, left his job as a successful real estate attorney. According to legend, within a few years, he amassed a staff of 20, who perched at $39 folding tables in a second-floor office on 42nd Street the size of a bachelor pad. Around that time, Mr. Feldman met Gary Barnett, who had made a fortune in the diamond trade. 'He was the experienced real estate guy,' Mr. Barnett said of his partner back then. The pair bought walk-ups, then elevator buildings, then, most notably, the Belnord, an aging Upper West Side dame near the Apthorp. 'We haven't been partners for quite a number of years,' Mr. Barnett said. 'But I wouldn't hesitate to do something else with Ziel.'"
"Mr. Barnett," the article continued, "went on to become one of the city's most powerful developers...,while Mr. Feldman remained comparatively small time. During the subsequent years, he would spar vigorously for assets that few cared about, such as the ambling, million-square-foot Herald Towers, which he won in a lawsuit. Almost no one noticed when a couple of years ago he notched a tiny boom-time coup with 823 Park Avenue, a completely refurbished pre-war condo with a mere 10 full-floor units."
"In other boom-time ventures," the article said, "Mr. Feldman also failed, sometimes spectacularly - for instance, on a South Carolina amusement park that he built for $400 million with a partner during the recent boom and then sold in bankruptcy court for just $25 million."
The article said that "Mr. Feldman has since November rolled the dice on the city's three riskiest developments: with backing from a range of Israeli investors, he's bought the infamous 'collapsed-crane project' on East 51st Street; the posh, lawsuit-riddled Setai condo conversion downtown; and now possibly One Madison Park."
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.
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