From left: Sheldon Solow and 9 West 57th StreetDeveloper Sheldon Solow has obtained a $625 million loan on 9 West 57th Street from Deutsche Bank, which beat out AIG and JPMorgan Chase to provide financing for the trophy property, Bloomberg News reported.

The loan refinances debt set to mature in February that Solow took out at the height of the bubble in 2007. About $55 billion of property loans are set to come due in 2012, and $19 billion of them were originated at the height of the bubble. But most of them will struggle to refinance, Standard & Poor’s predicted, as property values have decreased about 42 percent from the peak.

In this case, several parties competed for Solow’s refinancing because of the location and prestige of the building, exemplifying the demand for prime buildings, Bloomberg said. [more]

AIG is seeking more than $10 billion in damages from Bank of America alleging the bank misrepresented the quality of mortgages it sold to investors, Reuters reported. It could be just the first of several suits the insurer, which received a $182.3 billion taxpayer bailout, files against banks that sold it soured mortgages. AIG lost $28 billion of investments with BofA and its Countrywide and Merrill Lynch units.

A BofA spokesperson denied the allegations, pointing the finger at AIG as “an informed, seasoned investor” that “recklessly chased high yields.” [more]

Queens-based Vantage Properties has closed on its acquisition of six multi-family properties that comprise AIG’s Central New Jersey multi-family portfolio, for $241.5 million, the company announced today. Investment firm Angelo, Gordon & Co. acted as an equity partner in the transaction, which involved 2,200 units in Plainsboro, Neptune, Long Branch, Matawan and South River. The purchase was previously reported, but with today’s announcement comes news that Vantage immediately flipped three of those buildings and will launch a new subsidiary as part of the transaction.  — Adam Fusfeld [more]

As expected, the Landmarks Preservation Commission made 70 Pine Street a city landmark today, and the long-awaited designation didn’t come without the requisite celebrations. In the words of Commissioner Margery Perlmutter, the Art Deco Financial District tower that most recently served as the headquarters of the American International Group is “our other Chrysler and Empire State building.” Or, as Robert Tierney, chairman of the LPC, put it: “This building defies words.” The 66-story building, now mostly vacant, was originally built as the headquarters of the Cities Service Company (now Citgo). It is among Lower Manhanttan’s tallest skyscrapers. – Sarabeth Sanders

Are things are looking up again for Robert Willumstad? The former finance executive had a brief, but rough go of it as CEO of the American International Group in the three months preceding its $85 billion government bailout in 2008, turning down an eight-figure severance package upon his departure.

And more recently, in last month’s HBO premiere of “Too Big to Fail,” the adaptation of Andrew Ross Sorkin’s financial meltdown tome, Tom Mason portrayed his rapid rise and fall at the flailing insurance giant before a scrutinizing audience. But nine days later, the Bay Ridge-born Willumstad proved that, maybe, he’s still got it. According to city records, he closed June 1 on a $2.2 million duplex co-op at 114 East 72nd Street, just off of Park Avenue. [more]

Developer Vantage Properties has partnered with investment firm Angelo, Gordon & Co. in a $245 million, 2,200-apartment buy in Plainsboro, N.J., marking one of the biggest apartment sales ever in the tri-state area, according to the Wall Street Journal. The portfolio of rental units, located near Princeton, N.J., is being sold by insurer AIG, which bought up the properties from developer Kushner Companies in 2007. The deal comes amidst a bullish outlook for multi-family properties nationwide — with vacancy rates dropping and opportunities for new development limited, more investors have been pursuing existing rental apartment buys, experts say. [more]

70 Pine St, Young Woo of Youngwoo & Associates

As 70 Pine Street heads to the Landmarks Preservation Commission for recognition of its historic past, the future of the 66-story Art Deco skyscraper is up in the air. According to the Post, a plan to convert the former American International Group building’s upper portion into high-end condominiums while keeping the lower portion of the building as offices has been scrapped by the new owners of the tower, who purchased it, along with the adjacent 72 Wall Street, for $150 million from American International Group in 2009. Those owners are a group led by Korea’s Kumho Investment Bank — not, as previously reported, New York developer Young Woo, of Youngwoo & Associates, who was previously believed to have bought the properties with some equity from KIB. In fact, KIB now says its group owns 100 percent of 70 Pine Street and that Woo is “just part of the [group of] advisers” created to manage the building. Comments

70 Pine St, Young Woo of Youngwoo & Associates

The 66-story Art Deco tower at 70 Pine Street, the former American International Group tower where developer Youngwoo & Associates is planning a partial condominium conversion, is going up for landmarking. According to the Post, the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission will hold a public hearing next month on the skyscraper, which was built by Clinton & Russel, Holton & George in 1932 and is currently the tallest building in Lower Manhattan. Peers of 70 Pine, like the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building and Donald Trump’s 40 Wall Street, all enjoy protection as landmarks, meaning any changes to their structures must be first approved by the LPC. [more]

Coca Cola executive Charles Holleran has purchased a $1.125 million co-op at 1010 Third Avenue on 61st Street on the Upper East Side. Holleran and his wife, Kathryn, a managing director at AIG, have purchased the unlisted spread from Jonathan Popper, of Morgan Stanley, and his wife, Karla Popper, a venture capitalist. [NYO]

SouFun Holdings, a Chinese property website based in Beijing, plans to spend $46 million to acquire a former training center of American International Group in Manhattan, with the purchase expected to be completed in the first half of 2011. The training center includes a 250,000-square-foot building at 72 Wall Street, one of a pair of adjoining AIG properties purchased last year by Youngwoo & Associates and Korea-based Kumho Bank. In 2009, Youngwoo and Kumho paid $150 milliion for 72 Wall and neighboring 70 Pine Street. SouFun, which has 65 offices in China, said it will partner with selected universities and colleges in the U.S. to train its expanding management, staff and clients in the former AIG center. [China Knowledge]