When unhappy buyers started agitating to get out of their contracts at 80 Riverside Boulevard's twin-towered Rushmore, they argued that Extell hadn't met the September 2008 closing date promised in the condo's offering plan. Extell seemed like it wouldn't budge, claiming the date was just a typo and the lawyers should have written "2009" instead. But behind the scenes, word was the developer was willing to negotiate with unhappy buyers. They were offered up to 25 percent off, and sales closed last fall showed some sizable (and uncharacteristic for boom-time Extell) discounts. But any quiet dealing seems to have been for nothing, because the state attorney general has now ruled that Extell must release 41 buyers from their contracts.
A Crain's source says the developer will have to return $14.5 million worth of down payments and will lose out on about $105 million in apartment sales. Then there's the added blow of lower prices whenever the apartments sell to buyers who actually want them. Will this go down as the most costly typo in New York real estate history? Even the biggest apartment on the Upper West Side isn't asking enough to make up for the loss.
· Extell told to release 41 buyers from condos [Crain's]
· Rushmore coverage [Curbed]
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