Community Forum for Extell's Riverside Center

HUD Probes Extell: the Comments

My previous post describes a HUD probe (finally!) into Extell's truly outrageous behavior regarding the Rushmore development in Riverside South, the same general area in which they currently are seeking City permission to build Riverside Center.

The original article on which the post was based appeared in the Real Deal on Feb 4. Last time I looked, a total of 42 comments had already been made, a HUGE number on an article of such narrow interest. Apparently there is a deep vein of feeling on this subject, which under the circumstances is completely understandable. Many of the comments are understandably cynical and negative, and a few are obvious, pathetic attempts to cover itself by Extell. Here are a couple samples, but by all means, scan them all yourself:

If you take a close look at Extell and the people that run the place ------Gary Barnett, Raizy Haas (preceded by Lela Goren), is it any wonder that an underhanded event took place...

Can anyone say tip of the iceberg?

I wonder how long it will take the AG to fail a decision. So far they have been very lenient with Extell....

Andrew Cuomo gets over $100K for his political campaign from Extel, of course he is going to be lenient.

How come The Carlyle Group was left out of all this? They're the co-sponsor and big money behind everything, right?

HUD Probes Extell over Riverside South Development

Gary Barnett's Extell Development Corporation (with their backers, the Carlyle Group) are in the middle of a major push to develop two whole blocks of prime land adjacent to the Hudson River. It is the last major undeveloped portion of the Riverside South tract. They call their development Riverside Center. While the design has some attractive aspects, it violates basic tenets adhered to by City Planning and the terms of the agreement with the community that is legally attached to the land.

Before New York officials cave in to the pressure that Extell must be exerting on them to break the rules and let Extell build the development as proposed, wouldn't it be wise to consider what kind of developer Extell is? How have their other developments worked out? Do they play by the rules, or do they throw money around to persuade officials to violate them for the benefit of Extell and its investors?

An amazing article appeared a couple days ago that reveals that HUD is probing Extell's handling of one of their other buildings on the RIverside South site, the Rushmore.

(Pictured above are AG Andrew Cuomo, HUD Sec'y Donovan, and the Rushmore.)

Here is the opening of the article:

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has launched an investigation into the Rushmore condominium, amid allegations that the lawyers for the developer, Extell Development, held previously undisclosed meetings with state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office to prevent existing buyers from backing out of their apartment contracts.

Please read the whole article. Before you make any decisions permitting Extell to start a new development that, even from the beginning, violates many agreements and principles, please, NYC officials, consider the whole picture!