Clarett, Goldman Lose Control of Forte
Not everything Goldman Sachs touches turns to gold. A multi-million-dollar bet on the Fort Greene condo market appears to have backfired, with the Crain’s report yesterday that control of the Forté Condos at 230 Ashland Place would shift from Goldman, the 75 percent equity holder, and The Clarett Group, the developer, to the lender, Eurohypo…
Not everything Goldman Sachs touches turns to gold. A multi-million-dollar bet on the Fort Greene condo market appears to have backfired, with the Crain’s report yesterday that control of the Forté Condos at 230 Ashland Place would shift from Goldman, the 75 percent equity holder, and The Clarett Group, the developer, to the lender, Eurohypo Bank, which is into the project for $41 million. (Prudential Real Estate Investors also has a small equity stake.) Clarett is proud to have delivered such a beautiful, high quality property—on time and on budget—to enhance the skyline and contribute to the renaissance of downtown Brooklyn, the developer said, in a statement. Unfortunately, the sales market in Brooklyn has not been as strong as Forté itself. A last-ditch marketing makeover by The Developers Group in recent months as well as behind-the-scenes efforts to sell blocks of apartments apparently weren’t enough to save the equity investors, as the project was less than 40 percent sold after two years on the market. Clarett’s nearby project on Lawrence Street, the 51-story Brooklyner, is still expected to begin renting early next year.
Goldman Sachs’ Brooklyn Condo Bet Sours [Crain’s] GMAP
Thank you Mista IronBalls.
Hey the mess is here, we might as well as try and fix somethings. We have to deal with the situation thoughfully and directly.
In the late 1920’s when The Griffin was completed it was too big, too modern and the wrong style for the area. But as the building aged, as the trees around it grew in it has become an attractive part of Fort Greene’s Lafayette Avenue streetscape.
Perhaps if the storefonts of Forte were occupied, if the neighboring parking lots were filled with better scaled buildings, if the plaza was less ‘1970’s late modern corporate’ and more residential in scale and more functional for the families that one day might live there perhaps Forte would become a new Griffin and not just a symbol of how communities get sh*t on by bad developers and poorly written zoning codes.
i crap bigger than jerky city.
dave – how is CDS on an equity position possible? C is for credit. also, when is the last time REITs traded on fundamentals?
FloatingWorld has some good ideas.
i kinda assumed it wasn’t the only thing you owned, Pete, I was probably being a bit dramatic to make a point. 🙂
What’s your price target??? Think you’re getting greedy???? LOL
It’s so deliciously Dickenesian that his name describes him so aptly.
Bill Gross just bought a $23 MM mansion on an island in Newport Beach. they will tear down the house and built a more contemporary home.
it is the 1 individual stock I own. not only thing. and not that much of it. and bought at $7.50.
There’s not one person out there who can tell you what GE is going to earn this year, 2010 or 2011. If you want to buy a call on the economy there are much better ways of doing it.
In fact Pete, it is the potential problems that GE may have that I can see as the only event that might make What’s prediction of a collapse in 3 months look like it may have some truth to it. It would however only be a collapse in paper assets, not the real economy.
Pete…never, ever, ever own just one stock, no matter how strong your convictions. This is Rule #1 as a fiduciary and it would apply equally to any individual. You really put yourself at huge risk by owning only one stock.