Newsday du lieu suivant : New York, New York • 66

BUSINESS Auction Off Again Philippines requests Crown Bldg, delay PROPERTIES New Cable Pact Near By Elizabeth Sanger Today is the deadline for Cablevision Systems Corp. and ESPN Inc. to reach a new contract, or the 24-hour sports network could be pulled from Cablevision 's systems, which Berves 1.5 million U.S. subscribers. The contract expired Jan.

31, but the companies agreed to extend the pact until today. Cablevision spokesman David Carey and ESPN spokeswoman Rosa Gatti both said they expected an agreement to be reached today. On Tuesday, Gov. Mario Cuomo signed a bill that gives the states cable television subscribers new protections, including refunds for programing that a cable operator advertises and later removes or makes more expensive. Should ESPN be withdrawn from Cablevisions systems, it could be the first test of the legislation.

At issue is how ESPN will be carried on Cablevisions systems. ESPN insists on being a basic or expanded basic service. In New York City, however, Cablevision has placed ESPN in a package that costs $25.95 a month, and ESPN has said it doesnt consider that package to be basic service. In a similar case in 1988 and 1989, most of Cablevisions 750,000 New York-area subscribers didnt get Madison Square Garden Network for 10 months, while the companies argued whether the channel should be a basic or pay service. MSG wanted to be basic, Cablevision wanted it to cost extra.

In the end, Cablevision got its v-ay, in most cases. Spinola explained. But in the case of renovations, higher assessments which mean higher taxes get passed through to tenants take effect right away. Those investments would be made earlier, of-tener and sooner if there was a phase-in, Spinola Baid. The board may also support a downtown bus terminal and the expansion of Btate J-51 tax abatements for old downtown commercial buildings that are converted to residences.

Deputy Mayor Sally Hernandez-Pinero said shes awaiting the boards proposals. Owners of two new Manhattan buildingB signed exclusive agency agreements this month, giving their brokers the sole right to represent those buildings to prospective tenants. Edward J. Minskoff Equities named Wilrock National Inc. to handle its 34-story tower at 1325 Ave.

of the Americas, where Wilrock recently arranged a 92,000 square foot lease with Orion Pictures. The building is behind the New York Hilton on West 53rd Street. Rockrose Development Corp. named Barry Gosin of Newmark Co. to handle its 60-story Carnegie Hall Tower, where no leases have yet been signed.

Its adjacent to the famous concert hall. For the second time this month, the auction of the Crown Building one of four valuable Manhattan properties linked to former Philip pines leader Ferdinand Marcos has been canceled. The prestigious beaux arts tower at the southwest corner of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street was to go on the block in a court-ordered auction today, with the minimum bid Bet at $100 million. But two issues raised by title insurers and prospective bidders caused the Philippine government one of four claimants to the tower to ask U.S. District Court Judge Pierre N.

Leval to postpone the sale. Jeffrey J. Greenbaum, a lawyer representing the Philippine government, said one issue concerns the foreclosure of a second mortgage on the property, held by a Swiss bank as a trustee for a Lichtenstein company allegedly controlled by Saudi businessman Adnan Khashoggi. It isnt clear whether that companys interest was properly dealt with in the foreclosure. Because of that question, title insurers had raised some questions about whether they would insure the building, alarming potential buyers, Greenbaum HOT Ja Barbara Selvin said.

Khashoggi, the Philippines, the U.S. government and New York developers Joseph and Ralph Bernstein all claim to be the Crowns rightful owner. The second problem concerns an old lease that would-be owners feared would divert income because of some unusual clauses, Greenbaum said. Sources said a new date for the auction is at least a month away. The Real Estate Board of New York is working up proposals that would expand city tax abatements and other incentives to lower Manhattan, where the real estate market has been hurt by contraction in the financial-services industry.

Board president Steven Spinola said the ideas under consideration include greater availability of cheap upstate power to large-scale electricity users such as brokerage houses with computerized trading operations and the phase-in of higher assessments related to renovations of outdated buildings. When a building is sold or simply reassessed by the city, any increase in taxes is phased in over five years, Next Generation Mall Planned for LI By Dottie Enrico Retailer Alan Fortunoff and the U.S. arm of an Australian development company announced plans yesterday for a three-level, $250-million regional shopping mall in Westbury, L.I., that would include Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom department stores as anchors. The 49-acre Long Island Galleria also would have an expanded FortunofT store as an anchor. A fourth mqjor store is envisioned for the mall, but officials of Westfield the developer, said they do not have a tenant.

Nordstrom, a Seattle-based chain, has not reached final agreement on its Galleria store, but allowed Westfield to use its name in making yesterdays announcement. Long Island needs a new generation of malls, said Fortunoff, president of the five-store retail chain that bears his name. The Long Island Galleria will be the linchpin in creating the areaB long-awaited downtown area. Despite generally favorable reactions by retail experts and financial analysts, the Galleria plan is certain to Bpark controversy because of potential impacts on traffic, water and air quality in centred Nassau County. Detailed plans will be reviewed by Hempstead Town and Nassau County officials.

Westfield officials said they hope to break ground within a year. Construction would take about two years, meaning the Galleria would not open until at least 1993, assuming it wins town and county approv-' al. The Galleria would target middle-income and high-income shoppers by offering stores with prices slightly lower than those at the Americana Shopping Center in Manhasset, but higher than nearby Roosevelt Field. Well be seeking the kinds of retailers for smaller mall shops youd find on Madison Avenue and in Europe and the Far East, said Fortunoff, who added ates a total of seven malls around the country. Nordstroms first Northeast store, scheduled to open in September in Paramus, also would be in a Westfield-owned center, the Garden State Plaza.

We have looked seriously at the I Long Islandl space, but nothing has been signed yet, said Chris Bridenbaugh, a Nordstrop spokeswoman. We have expressed an interest in Long Island and we continue to think it is a suitable market for Nordstrom's." Westfields plans show Nordstrom operating a store in the Galleria mall. The plan also calls for a $15-million refurbishment of FortunofTs 26-year-old store, which specializes in home furnishings and giflware. A retailer mix with the magnetism of Neiman. Nordstrom and FortunofT could attract shoppers from as far away as 35 to 40 minutes, said Barry Berman, a business professor at Hofstra University.

Most of the regional malls draw from a consumer base that is 10 to 15 minutes away. Some economists questioned the wisdom of planning a mqjor regional mall at a time when the Long Island economy is flat According to Pearl Kamer, chief economist of the Long Island Regional Planning Board, inflation-a4justed retail sales in Nassau and Suffolk were down 3.4 percent for the first 11 months of 1989, compared with a year earlier. Long Island clearly has a lot of empty retail space, said Irwin Kellner, chief economist at Manufacturers Hanover Trust Co. Retail sales are soil and tax revenues are below expectations. Long Island is simply over-mailed.

Experts agreed, however, that most of the malls on Long Island are behind the times. Most of the mqjor centers including Roosevelt Field and the Green Acres, Broadway, Walt Whitman and South Shore malls were built in the 1950s and early 1960s and were part of the first generation of U.S. shopping malls. Although all have been renovated, the Island lacks the dazzling, newer style of malls that can be found in other parts of the country. Los Angeles-based Westfield is owned by the Lowy family of Australia.

Westfield bought the Galleria site from Alan FortunofT for an undisclosed amount. For- Artist's rendering of the proposed mall. iY, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15. 1990 NY BUSINESSS7 malls east end. Neiman Marcus would be situated in the space presently occupied by the Fortunoff Backyard Store, which would be razed.

The LI store, together with our existing store in Westchester and a planned store in Paramus, will establish a strong Neiman Marcus presence in metropolitan New York, Richard A Smith, chairman and chief executive of the Neiman Marcus Group, said in a statement. Neiman operates 23 stores nationally and plans to he is contemplating opening a Fortunoff store in open 10 stores by 1995. Neiman Marcus Group also Japan and is negotiating with Japanese officials. operates the venerable Bergdorf Goodman store in i Fortunoff and -Westfield have Teceiyeda letter of i Manhattan, intent from the Neiman MaYttiB Group Nordstrom, meanwhile, i 140, 000-square-foot store that would anchor the i in shopping centers owned! by Westfield, which oper- leaseback arrangement..