From left: Pink Stone Capital’s Richard Ohebshalom, Meir Milgraum and David Goldban; 111 Washington Street (source: PropertyShark)
The Midtown-based real estate development firm Pink Stone Capital expects to
build a high-end residential rental tower with 54 floors at 111 Washington Street,
two blocks south of the World Trade Center site in the Financial District.
The approximately 430,000-square-foot high-rise will have about 500 units in a
mix of studios and one- and two-bedroom apartments, Meir Milgraum, director of
acquisitions for the firm, said. One or two large penthouses may also be includedd,
he added.
Pink Stone bought the defaulted $50 million note from New York Community
Bank in March. The bank lent parking
magnate Gerald Brauser and his company Term-Washington Street Garage the
money in 2006 to develop the property.
On July 1, Pink Stone acquired title for the site through a deed in lieu of
foreclosure, Milgraum said. Court records show the site includes the property at
105 Washington Street and 111 Washington Street, as well as air rights from four
other properties. Milgraum would not disclose the price paid, if any, for the deed.
The title transfer has not yet appeared on city property records.
In addition to the apartments, the tower at 111 Washington Street will have two
floors of retail with about 30,000 square feet of space.
The firm is interviewing architects and plans to hire one by the end of next week.
“We hope to be in the ground by next summer and complete construction by
2014,” Milgraum said.
The company plans to construct a one-story retail site at 105 Washington Street.
Pink Stone is an active note and property buyer over the past year. It bought
the note for 174 Nassau Street in Downtown Brooklyn on June 22, which has
development rights for approximately 100,000 square feet. In addition, the
company is constructing a 73-unit residential building with 21 stories at 3 West
36th Street and a new, 21-story hotel with 108 rooms at 250 Fifth Avenue, at
28th Street.
Pink Stone Capital was founded in 2010 and is led by CEO Richard
Ohebshalom, son of Empire Management’s Fred Ohebshalom. The firm takes it
name from the color associated with breast cancer advocacy, and was named in
honor of Richard’s high school history teacher, who died of the disease in 1997.