It’s a real-estate mystery: In a city where studios sell for millions, why are more than a dozen prime Manhattan properties going to waste?
Frank and Michael Ring inherited 15 office buildings worth $500 million after their father died. But instead of cashing in on the family fortune, they’ve left most of the valuable real estate vacant.
The empire, mainly buildings in and near the Flatiron District, was put together by Leo Ring. When he died in 1988, Frank became the portfolio’s manager. Each brother owned a 50 percent stake, but they could never agree on what to do with the properties.
Little is known about the Ring Brothers, who live in multimillion-dollar co-ops on the Upper East Side.
Frank’s management firm, F.M. Ring Associates, is headquartered at 212 Fifth Ave., a mostly vacant, 21-story tower overlooking Madison Square Park. An employee told The Post that Frank, 67, would accept questions only via fax.
Michael, 71, is chairman of financial firm The Broadsmoore Group. When reached by phone, he told The Post he wouldn’t speak unless he was paid. “My time is worth $5,000 an hour,” he said. “If you don’t have it, I’m not going to talk.”
But what is known by real-estate sources is Frank’s refusal to even speak to anyone interested in buying any of the proprieties.
In 2011, Michael apparently had enough of Frank’s eccentric management. He agreed to sell his half stake to investor Joseph Tabak for $112 million. Then Michael had a change of heart and tried to back out. An arbitrator ruled in Tabak’s favor a year later.
Tabak, who had only put down a $10 million deposit, apparently tired after the court fight. In June, real-estate giant Extell Development paid him $74 million for Michael’s interest.
Then Extell, the firm behind Midtown skyscraper One57, among other projects, took Frank to court to force him to sell his share, as well.
Frank has tried to stop the transfer of Michael’s stake by filing a “confession of judgment” in state Supreme Court, claiming their father’s estate owes F.M. Ring Associates nearly $500,000.
Michael is asking a judge to vacate Frank’s motion. “My brother . . . does not manage the property in a conventional or transparent manner, to say the least,” he said in a July 15 affidavit.
Extell argues that the properties are poorly managed by Frank and that they should be partitioned among the owners. But because the structures cannot physically be divided, a judge will likely order an auction.
Frank Ring already has lost the court battle for a 16-story office at 251 Park Avenue South. The 100,000-square-foot high-rise, which is 70 percent vacant, is headed for auction sometime after Nov. 1. The sale was supposed to occur Oct. 9 but was mysteriously rescheduled.
Extell then plans to fight for the other 14 buildings.
Most Ring properties are inexplicably empty. A 12-story office building at 157 W. 23rd St. has been vacant for 30 years, according to one complaint filed with the Department of Buildings.
Commercial broker Eric Anton said the Rings could collect up to $60 per square foot in rent if they renovated the property. That’s more than $4 million lost each month on one 68,000-square-foot building alone.
“It’s really a mystery to most of the broker community,” one Midtown broker told The Post. “I always knew not to reach out to them. I knew it was a waste of time.”