Troubled BlackRock affiliate to liquidate

From left: 1330 Avenue of the Americas, 527 Madison Avenue (Source: PropertyShark). The buildings were part of a portfolio of Anthracite loans on which BlackRock lost millions last year.

Struggling real estate investment trust Anthracite Capital filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation yesterday, the company announced. As Crain’s reported, the BlackRock affiliate, which made real estate loans and bought debt from other lenders, defaulted on its debt and was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange just a few months ago. Shareholders are not expected to recover anything, and any value recovered by unsecured creditors “would be minimal,” the firm said in a statement. BlackRock, a publicly-traded asset management firm based in Midtown, said last year that it expected to lose $53.2 million on two Anthracite loans for five present and former Macklowe Properties office buildings, including 1330 Avenue of the Americas, which Macklowe has since lost to foreclosure, and 527 Madison Avenue, which Macklowe sold. Richard Shea, Anthracite’s president and chief executive, is a managing director at BlackRock. TRD