Menachem Stark’s Williamsburg rental to be bought for $52M

Meadow Partners acquiring late-landlord's building out of bankruptcy court

From left: Menachem Stark (Photo credit: Eli Wohl), 100 South 4th Street (Photo credit: PropertyShark) and Jeffrey Kaplan
From left: Menachem Stark (Photo credit: Eli Wohl), 100 South 4th Street (Photo credit: PropertyShark) and Jeffrey Kaplan

The Midtown-based investment firm Meadow Partners is set to purchase for $52 million a Williamsburg rental building developed by the late Menachem Stark and his partner Israel Perlmutter that would bring to a close a five-year bankruptcy process, federal court records show.

Meadow, led by managing partner Jeffrey Kaplan, will buy the seven-story building at 100 South 4th Street in Williamsburg. The rehabilitated loft building holds 73 apartments and four commercial units.

The prospective sale was firmed up yesterday with an order by Brooklyn U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Elizabeth Stong, affirming the agreement to sell the property to Meadow Partners. The final deed transfer is expected in several months, court documents indicate.

The deal is expected to repay all lenders’ claims against the property and provide money to equity owners including Perlmutter and Stark’s estate.

Under the plan, Meadow’s $52 million purchase price will pay Deutsche Bank’s secured claim of $40.8 million plus additional fees; $2.9 million plus additional amounts to a group identified only as Investors Team LLC, which holds a defaulted loan with a face value of $1.5 million; estate administration fees and taxes. Any money left over would be divided among Perlmutter and Stark’s estate.

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Kaplan declined to comment.

Stark and Perlmutter purchased the industrial building in 2006 for $9 million as one of dozens of properties they acquired during the last decade. But this project ran into financial trouble during the downturn and the first mortgage lender filed to foreclose on $29 million. The pair filed for bankruptcy in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Brooklyn in 2009 to protect their interest in the property.

The building has been under the control of a bankruptcy court trustee since January, after accusations by lenders of improperly removing money from a checking account associated with the project. The court trustee has identified $2.2 million improperly removed.

Stark, a father of seven, was found dead in a dumpster on Long Island on Jan. 3. Investigators arrested construction worker Kendel Felix in April and charged him with the kidnapping and murder of the landlord.