Soho Properties is an American,

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-based

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

investment and development firm. It was founded by

Sharif El-Gamal Sharif El-Gamal (born December 23, 1973) is an American real estate developer. He is the chairman and chief executive officer of Soho Properties, a Manhattan-based real estate company. El-Gamal came to international attention in 2010 for his role ...

in 2003.

Management

is the chairman and chief executive officer of Soho Properties. He founded the firm in 2003. His partners in the company include his brother Sammy El-Gamal and Nour Mousa.

Properties

45–51 Park Place

Park51

In July 2009, Soho Properties purchased the building and property at 45–47 Park Place. In 2009, Soho Properties took over

Con Edison Consolidated Edison, Inc., commonly known as Con Edison (stylized as conEdison) or ConEd, is one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the United States, with approximately $12 billion in annual revenues as of 2017, and over $62 b ...

's 99-year lease of 49–51 Park Place. In February 2010, Soho Properties informed Con Edison that it sought to exercise the purchase option on the lease and the two entered protracted negotiations. The development was envisioned as a 13-story

Islamic Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the mai ...

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Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...

. The developers hoped it would promote

interfaith dialog Interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religion, religious traditions (i.e. "faiths") and/or spirituality, spiritual or humanism, humanistic beliefs, at both the individual ...

ue within the greater community. Due to its proposed location two blocks from the

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, it was widely and controversially referred to as the "Ground Zero mosque". In August 2011, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' reported that El-Gamal was quietly proceeding with efforts to move Park51 forward, embracing a "slower, more deliberate and more realistic approach" than before. In April 2014, however, El-Gamal announced Soho's plan to demolish the 45–51 Park Place properties. The current plans for the Park51 site include a three-story museum of Islamic culture.

45 Park Place

In May 2016, Soho Properties announced that it had secured $219 million in construction financing for 45 Park Place, a 43-story luxury condominium development. The financing structure, involving banks from the Middle East,

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and

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, is Sharia-compliant. El-Gamal said, "Essentially, it's the largest syndicated Sharia-compliant construction loan in

." Construction at 45 Park Place is currently underway. A groundbreaking ceremony was held at the site on June 2, 2016. The tower was initially expected to be completed in 2018. However, as of March 2023 the tower remains unfinished and subject to a Stop Work Order from the NYC Department of Buildings dating from 2019 due the contractor of record withdrawing from the project. Adjacent to 45 Park Place at 49–51 Park Place, Soho Properties is constructing a three-story museum and sanctuary designed by architect

Jean Nouvel Jean Nouvel (; born 12 August 1945) is a French architect. Nouvel studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and was a founding member of ''Mars 1976'' and ''Syndicat de l'Architecture'', France’s first labor union for architects. He has ob ...

560 7th Avenue

Soho Properties and MHP Real Estate Services purchased the

Parsons School of Design Parsons School of Design, known colloquially as Parsons, is a private art and design college located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhatt ...

at 560 Seventh Avenue in 2014 for $62.3 million. In 2015, the same partnership purchased 19,772 square feet of unused air rights from the

Neil Simon Theatre The Neil Simon Theatre, originally the Alvin Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 250 West 52nd Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, the theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was built for A ...

for $8.9 million to build a 238-room Dream Hotel at the 560 Seventh Avenue site. In November 2017, it was reported that Soho Properties, in partnership with MHP and Flintlock Construction Services, is in late-stage negotiations to build New York City's first

Margaritaville "Margaritaville" is a 1977 song by American popular music singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett from the album ''Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes''. This song was written about a drink Buffett discovered at Lung's Cocina del Sur restaurant ...

hotel and restaurant at the site.

31 West 27th Street

In November 2009, Soho Properties purchased a 12-story office building located at 31 West 27th Street for $45.7 million. El-Gamal said, "We just bought it for the income. It's got great long-term leases, and the financing was really attractive. We have five years at a very attractive interest rate, and it's probably the best B building in this submarket." Soho Properties purchased it from the Witkoff Group, which had purchased the building in 2006 for $31.5 million. Soho Properties sold the property to the San Francisco-based Walnut Hill Group in 2012 for $65 million.

Coronavirus outbreak and bankruptcy

The production of Soho Properties takes a break amid the partial construction ban in New York, as does the CEO of the company, Sharif El-Gamal, as he recovers from the virus, published last week in The Real Deal. El-Gamal infected 60% of his staff with

coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the com ...

shortly before the shelter-in-place order by the governor of New York. Although he's on the mend now, El-Gamal told TRD he'd been struggling with some severe symptoms, like intense fatigue. On July 9, 2023, after the failure of the Margaritaville Times Square hotel that opened in 2021, Soho Properties and the Margaritaville hotel filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whe ...

. On August 11, 2023, Soho Properties filed for a second Chapter 11 bankruptcy for another one of its properties, 560 Seventh Avenue Owner Primary.

References

External links

* {{official, http://www.sohoproperties.com/ Real estate companies of the United States Real estate companies established in 2003 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2023 Companies based in New York City