From left: Yair Levy, Rector Square and 620 Sixth Avenue

Rector Square condominium this past Friday obtained a temporary restraining order on the $500 million sale of the Chelsea building home to Bed Bath & Beyond and other real estate assets connected to Yair Levy, in order to collect on a $7.4 million judgment against the embattled developer.

The suit, filed Dec 16 in New York state Supreme Court, alleges the Levy sold off or illegally transferred his real estate holdings after a court found that he illegally raided the Battery Park building‘s reserve fund.

In June, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman banned Levy from selling real estate in New York after a judge ruled that he illegally spent Rector Square reserve fund money on personal expenses. [more]

From left: Yair Levy, Rector Square (source: PropertyShark) and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman

A state Supreme Court judge has ordered developer Yair Levy to pay $7.4 million in restitution to the Rector Square condominium and permanently banned him from selling real estate in New York state.

Judge Joan Lobis found last month that Levy defrauded the Battery Park City condo conversion, spending millions of dollars in reserve fund money on illegal personal and general business expenses, including charge card accounts, mobile phone bills and writing checks to family members.

The judgment permanently bans Levy from selling condos or co-op projects in New York state, virtually ending a career lasting more than 30 years in the U.S. [more]

From left: Rector Square, YL Real Estate Developers’ Yair Levy and Justin Metz, a managing principal with Related Companies

[Updated: 11:53 a.m., Jan. 24, 2011] Related Cos. today closed the long-anticipated acquisition of Rector Square, the Battery Park City condominium that was foreclosed on by Anglo Irish Bank, for $82.8 million, The Real Deal has learned.
Anglo Irish bought the unsold shares of the condo at a November auction of the 304-unit building at 225 Rector Place for the same amount of money, and sold the property to Related, which had been managing the property for nearly one-and-a-half years after the lender filed to foreclose on former developer Yair Levy.

“Rector Square is an asset that we were very familiar with, having initially developed the property and later served as managing agent for the receiver,” said Justin Metz, managing principal at Related. “We look forward to bringing new resources to the development and maximizing value for both our partners and existing owners.” [more]

Rector Place and Yair Levy

The Related Companies will take over the unsold units and commercial space at Yair Levy’s Rector Square condominium for $82.8 million next week, sources told Crain’s. Anglo Irish Bank, the project’s largest lender, took control of the property for the same price at a foreclosure auction in November in which Anglo, owed around $135 million, was the only bidder. Related has been widely expected to eventually take the reins as the company has been managing the Battery Park City property, at 225 Rector Place, under a receiver since last year. [more]

Panel, from left: Eric Anderson of Tamarkin Anderson, Tom Nolan of the Radco Companies, Eric Anton of Eastern Consolidated, Garrett Thelander of Anglo Irish Bank, Avi Banyasz of Westbrook Partners and moderator Robert Knakal of Massey Knakal Realty Services (credit: Marc Becker)

After a couple of years of extending and pretending, Anglo Irish Bank is beginning to find that a [more]

Rector Square and Yair Levy

Anglo Irish Bank is scheduled to auction off Rector Square, the converted condominium building by developer Yair Levy, Nov. 17, after a state Supreme Court judge approved a final judgment last Thursday. Anglo Irish foreclosed on the Battery Park City building at 225 Rector Place after Levy defaulted on more than $117 million in loans in 2009. The building has operated under a receiver since March 2009, and industry experts [more]

Related is seen as the likely buyer of the discounted apartments

Rector Square and Yair Levy

Anglo
Irish Bank plans to auction the unsold 230 apartments of Rector Square,
the foreclosed Battery Park City condominium conversion, in a bulk sale
in September, with s [more]

Rector Square and Yair Levy

(Updated: 5:10 p.m. with comment from Yair Levy and YL Rector Street LLC)
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo filed suit against embattled developer
Yair Levy for $7.4 million, alleging he underfunded and illegally
withdrew millions of dollars from the reserve fund at the Rector Square condominium in Battery Par [more]

Sean FitzPatrick, former chairman of the Anglo Irish Bank, was arrested yesterday on charges of alleged financial fraud. FitzPatrick, one of Ireland’s most visible financial executives, has been accused of fiscal impropriety in the past. FitzPatrick left his post as Anglo Irish’s chairman in December 2008 amid allegations that he had concealed personal loans, valued at tens of millions of dollars, from shareholders. On this side of the Atlantic, Anglo Irish has made waves in the New York City real estate world. After buying big during the boom years, the bank saw its investments flounder in the financial downturn. In January 2009, the bank filed to foreclose on developer Yair Levy’s $165 million mortgage on Rector Square, a 304-unit residential development at 225 Rector Place in Battery Park City.

Yair Levy and Park Columbus condominium at 101 West 87th Street on the corner of Columbus Avenue

Garrison Special Opportunities Fund, a Manhattan-based hedge fund, alleges that developer Yair Levy threw his stalled Park Columbus condominium project at 101 West 87th Street into Chapter 11 the night before a scheduled Sept. 10 auction to foreclose on a defaulted $20 million mezzanine loan, according to a U.S. Bankruptcy Court filing obtained by The Real Deal. On Sept. 8, Levy filed to get a temporary restraining order in New York State Supreme Court blocking the foreclosure auction. Garrison officials allege in the filing that Levy failed to come up with a $20 million deposit the following day as demanded by Judge James Yates, in order to block the sale. After failing to produce the deposit, the filing alleges that Levy threw his YL West 87th Street Holdings entity into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, one night before the scheduled Sept. 10 auction. Garrison officials called the bankruptcy filing “a sham” and urged a U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge to lift an automatic “stay,” allowing it to move forward with the foreclosure auction, which would effectively sell the stalled project to a new owner. [more]