About a week after a spectacular auction, the sale of the famous “Flat Iron Building” in New York fell through. The winner of the auction – a man posing as Jacob Garlick who won the auction with a bid of $190 million after about an hour of bidding – had an initial deposit of $19 million The organizers of the auction informed the German Press Agency on Wednesday that the dollar was not handed over on time. This means that his right to purchase the Flatiron Building expires.
Now the bidder with the second highest bid can buy the building for this price, it said. This is real estate developer Jeff Gural, whose company previously owned part of the triangular building. Gural had bid $189.5 million before exiting. This sum would still be offset against his previous ownership share. If Gural refuses, there will be a new auction, the organizers said.
The first auction was ordered by a judge after a dispute broke out between the five previous owners about the future of the building. The real estate companies GFP Real Estate, Newmark, ABS Real Estate Partners and Sorgente Group together owned 75 percent of the building, with real estate developer Nathan Silverstein owning the remaining 25.
A total of eleven bidders had actively registered for last week’s auction. After the gavel fell, Garlick got on his knees and cried. Clapping and cheers could be heard from the audience. “We are honored to be the stewards of this historic building and preserving its integrity will be our life’s mission,” said Garlick, posing as an investment firm employee.
Gural later told the New York Times that he was “annoyed” by Garlick. “I never thought he would call to a high price. He just pushed the price up.” The building is not worth that much, and repair costs of around 100 million dollars are also expected. Numerous observers of the auction were also surprised, since Garlick had not yet appeared in the highly competitive New York real estate scene.
The triangular Flatiron Building is one of New York’s most popular attractions. The approximately 90 meter high building, which can also be seen in numerous films and television series, was opened in 1902 – at the intersection of Broadway, 23rd Street and Fifth Avenue in the middle of Manhattan. Up until a few years ago, Macmillan Publishers rented all 21 floors of the building. Since moving out, it has been empty and is currently partially scaffolded.
