MANHATTAN — Rudin Management, which has closed on the purchase of nine buildings formerly part of St. Vincent's Hospital, announced Monday that a new partner is involved in its plan to re-develop this swath of Greenwich Village.
Global Holdings, a company of real estate developer Eyal Ofer, has signed on to the project, Rudin Management said in a statement.
“We are proud to be part of a project that will result in so many benefits to the local and citywide community,” Ofer, who was a co-developer of the luxury apartments at 15 Central Park West, said in the statement.
Rudin Management remains the managing member of the partnership, the statement said.
A March 2011 Forbes.com list of billionaires ranked Ofer's father — Sammy Ofer, who died in June — as the richest person in Israel and the No. 79 richest person worldwide and estimated his family's worth at $10.3 billion.
The Ofer family drew media attention in May when the State Department imposed sanctions on a company it identified as the Ofer Brothers Group for selling a tanker to Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines.
The Ofer family, which has no company called Ofer Brothers Group, denied all accusations.
On Sept. 13, the State Department issued a "clarification" stating that the trade sanctions list should have instead targeted three companies affiliated with the Ofer family.
"Our intent was to sanction the specific entities in the Sammy Ofer shipping organization that were responsible for providing a tanker to Iran," the statement said.
Ofer Holdings Group Ltd., one of the family's companies, said it had no controlling interests in these three companies.
"Ofer Holdings Group Ltd. had no involvement with the sale of the Raffles Park tanker to Iran and has never owned, controlled or influenced Tanker Pacific Management (Singapore) Pte, Ltd. or any other entity sanctioned by the U.S. State Department," the company said in a Sept. 13 statement.
Pending approval by multiple city bodies through the Department of City Planning's land use review procedure, Rudin Management expects construction on a new medical center to begin in the second quarter of 2012, according to the statement.
A 24-hour emergency department, imaging center and outpatient surgery facility are expected to open in 2014. New residences, a 15,000-square-foot park and a new elementary school are scheduled to open later that year.
