therealdeal.com – The founder and CEO of Soho Properties is fresh off a $219 million financing round that allows him to build 45 Park Place, a luxury condominium in Tribeca. It’s a scenario few saw coming: A sponsor new to the condo development game, in direct competition with blue-chip projects, at a site referred to in some circles as the “Ground Zero mosque.”

And yet El-Gamal finds himself flush at a time when many of his seasoned compatriots are struggling to convince banks that the high-end market is just fine, that concerns of oversupply are overblown, and that their projects are worth betting on.