News
STARS ALIGN
June 6, 2011
 |
| Thursday, we joined over 900 attendees at the American Museum of Natural History’s Rose Center for Earth and Space for the 25th annual Jeffrey Modell Foundation gala, established by Vicki and Fred Modell in memory of their son Jeffrey, who died at 15 of pneumonia due to an underlying primary immunodeficiency disease. It honored L&L Holding Co CEO David Levinson, center, for his support and involvement in the foundation since its inception. Joining him were many friends and supporters, including CBRE Tri-State region CEO Mary Ann Tighe, wife Simone and son James, Massey Knakal chair Bob Knakal, and JLL New York region prez Peter Riguardi. David tells us that he’s optimistic L&L will be the new owners of 1107 Broadway, in addition to the success it’s had at 200 Fifth Ave (where Friday, Mario Batali’s Eataly rooftop brewery Birreria officially opened). |
 |
| David has supported the Jeffrey Modell Foundation since the beginning and never missed an event, Fred (right, with Capital Building Maintenance Corp chair Eric Francis, Fran Francis, and Vicki) tells us. But what makes David unique is that he doesn't just give a check, Fred says—he wants to know how JMF is helping children. Eric, one of the cofounders of the charity, says that the concept started on a beach towel by four men and their wives over two decades ago—now JMF helps provide newborn screening and bone marrow transplants as part of its dedication to early and precise diagnosis, treatments, and cures for more than 150 primary immunodeficiency diseases, which often go undetected because they appear as ordinary infections. PI disease affects as many as one million Americans and 10 million people worldwide, according to the foundation (read more here). |
 |
| Among the attendees: Newmark Knight Frank chair Jeff Gural, Studley capital transactions group head Woody Heller, Signature Bank associate group director Blerina Limaj, Alison Barlow, Studley director Matthew Barlow, and Signature Bank group director Alan Roth. |
 |
| Fried Frank partner Joshua Mermelstein (with Ackman-Ziff prez Simon Ziff) tells us he's “busier than ever” now that Brookfield Office Properties said it was moving forward with building the platform deck over the Hudson Yard rails, “a complicated transaction.” |
 |
| MKDA prez Michael Kleinberg and Vornado VP Mark Ambrosone are both busy on the design side of 280 Park Ave, where Broadway Partners and Investcorp executed a recap agreement with mezz debt holders SL Green and Vornado earlier this month. The transaction merged the parties’ equity and debt positions to form a new ownership structure for the 1.2M SF property and included funding for a $150M repositioning and re-tenanting program. MKDA will be working on the office interiors, and Mark tells us that ownership may renovate the lobbies of the building. |
 |
| And 700 attended the Building Trade Employers’ Association’s recent annual leadership dinner at Cipriani Wall Street, where BTEA contractors honored Silverstein Properties CEO Larry Silverstein for his role in the resurgence of the World Trade Center, one of the largest generators of construction jobs in NYC over the last decade. Honoring Larry, second from right, is BTEA CEO Lou Coletti, Port Authority of New York & New Jersey exec director Chris Ward, and Tishman Construction chair Dan Tishman. BTEA noted that the WTC is seen as a national symbol, and the site will not only rejuvenate the city but the entire US as well. |
 |
| This is the most delicious rendering of the World Trade Center we’ve seen yet, courtesy of Cake Boss. It was made especially for the dinner but brought down to Ground Zero the next day for the workers to gobble up. Congrats, Larry! |
