Keith Larsen, The Real Deal, July 08, 2021
For years, New York condo developer HFZ Capital Group denied any ties to one of the world’s most successful and notorious investors: diamond magnate Beny Steinmetz
Steinmetz, sources told The Real Deal in 2016, was a major backer of HFZ’s projects, including the XI, its twisting High Line condo project in West Chelsea.
An organization chart attached as an exhibit in a lawsuit against HFZ shows that “Benny [sic] Steinmetz and Family Trusts” had a 60 percent interest in the company that ultimately controlled the condo conversion of the Belnord in 2015. It showed that Steinmetz’s family trust controlled 100 percent of an entity called Tarpley Belnord Corp, which controlled 60 percent of Belnord Partners LLC, the developer entity that is converting the historic rental at 225 West 86th Street into condos.
“The Belnord was set to be one of HFZ’s most high-profile projects. The company bought the building from Extell Development for $575 million in 2015. It began converting its 200-plus rental units into condos, projecting a total sellout of $1.35 billion. In 2018, Westbrook Partners took a stake in HFZ Capital Group’s redevelopment of the Belnord, by converting the debt it owns on the property into equity.”
