Rosen one step closer to foreclosure at 610 Lex

Aby Rosen and a rendering of the proposed hotel

Foreclosure is nearing on Aby Rosen and Michael Fuchs’ 610 Lexington Avenue development site, where they and their partners had planned to build a Shangri-La hotel tower. According to Crain’s, the group has failed in their attempt to re-argue a case they had lost, which clears the way for lenders ING Real Estate Finance and Swedbank AB to foreclose. In that case, they had argued that their obligation to repay their $130 million-plus loan should be suspended until market conditions improve, and alleged a conflict of interest between lender ING and ING Clarion, which was advising one of their development partners. Of course, many believe the developers will even now try to delay the foreclosure process further in the hopes that the market will improve and they’ll be able to pay back the mortgage, on which they defaulted in April 2009. [Crain’s]