Clockwise from top left: Nir Meir, Ziel Feldman and Ilan Rubenstein of
HFZ Capital Group; Ziel Feldman and Wendy Maitland and Reid Price of
Town Residential; Ziel Feldman and Elie Pariente, principal at Synergy New York
and Stuart Sussman of Core and William Bish of Corcoran Sunshine
Marketing

HFZ Capital Group head Ziel Feldman held a party on the rooftop of the Setai Wall Street last night, along with Elie Pariente principal at the building’s marketing firm Synergy New York, to celebrate its recent return to the market (see photos above). The Zamir Equities-developed project at 40 Broad Street in the Financial District was converted to a 159-unit condominium in 2009, but Zamir defaulted on the $147 million loan attached to the building in 2010. Attorney General Eric Schneiderman halted closings to investigate the financing situation and the building was taken off the market.

The financial trouble was preceded by construction turmoil that caused some initial buyers to back out of their contracts, and a lawsuit by the Setai Group brand alleging “substandard quality.” – Adam Fusfeld 1 Comment

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After taking a hiatus late last year, sales at the Setai Wall Street condominium are resuming with a 16 percent price cut and a new marketing team, Synergy New York. Crain’s reported the 159-unit condo conversion is about 60 percent sold, but the developer, Zamir Equities, agreed to lower the price to $750,000 for one-bedrooms, $930,000 for two-bedrooms and $1.2 million for penthouses “to match today’s prices.”

Setai Wall Street was at the center of financial problems last year, as Zamir defaulted on its $147 million loan, and the lender, Irish Anglo Bank, sold it to HFZ Capital Group and Acro Group for $80 million earlier this year. [more]

From left: Simon Elias, the Mark Hotel and Izak Senbahar

Dune Real Estate Partners has filed to foreclose on loans granted to the Alexico Group’s Mark Hotel at 25 East 77th Street by Anglo Irish Bank, according to public documents filed in State Supreme Court last month. Dune bought the loans earlier this year. Alexico’s Simon Elias and Izak Senbahar pledged the hotel and co-op building as collateral for a total of five Mark Hotel-related loans, all of which are now in default, according to the public foreclosure filing dated June 9. The loans include a pre-development one totaling $14 million in 2006, a building loan mortgage totaling approximately $60.78 million, dated 2007, a project loan totaling around $22.7 million, a $17 million supplemental building loan and a $6.3 million supplemental loan mortgage. All of these debts are accompanied by unpaid interest, late charges, protective advances, service fees and attorney 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]

Anglo Irish Bank has defended itself against a lawsuit filed by New York-based Fir Tree Partners, which sought to force the bank to honor its debt obligation. According to Bloomberg News, the bank argued that its acquisition of Irish Nationwide Building Society and its sale of a U.S. loan portfolio were “non-commercial, sovereign acts” forced by the Irish government. Fir Tree owns $200 million of notes the bank issued in the U.S., and filed the suit because it doesn’t want the bank to transfer any U.S. assets out of the country, for fear the debts won’t be repaid. [more]

Anglo Irish Bank filed a foreclosure suit against Assa Properties, alleging the Manhattan-based developer defaulted on an $18.5 million loan at commercial building 940 Eighth Avenue.

The four-story, 28,400-square-foot building, between 55th and 56th Streets, had been listed for sale since December 2010 at $29 million. The property is listed on the Eastern Consolidated website as in-contract; a spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.

According to the suit, filed April 25 in New York State Supreme Court, senior lender Anglo Irish consolidated several prior loans into a single note in November 2007, and set a maturity date of Nov. 18, 2009.
[more]

From left: Simon Elias, the Mark hotel, Izak Senbahar

Fillmore Capital Partners filed a $21.1 million suit against Mark hotel developers Simon Elias and Izak
Senbahar of the Alexico Group, alleging the two defaulted on a mezzanine loan at the Upper East Side
hotel.
The suit, filed Monday in New York State Supreme Court, claims the two developers guaranteed
repayment of a $25.8 million mezzanine loan from Dublin, Ireland-based Anglo Irish Bank in 2006, and
acquired by San Francisco-based Fillmore in May 2007.
The loan, amended in December 2007, allowed the developers to borrow up to $43.28 million and some
of the funds advanced towards the project, leaving a balance of $38.5 million, as of April 2009. Fillmore
says the borrowers waived their rights to make any claims against the lender, and agreed to guarantee
the lesser of $7.75 million or the unpaid balance of the loan.

[more]

Dune Real Estate Partners has agreed to pay $190 million for Anglo Irish Bank’s mortgage loan on the embattled Mark Hotel on the Upper East Side, the Wall Street Journal reported. The note, which had a face value of around $300 million, had several interested bidders, including Starwood Capital, in an offering that had been ongoing for months. Dune now plans to work with Alexico Group, the developer of the landmark, 84-year-old hotel, whose renovation and partial co-op conversion had landed the property in financial straits. Comments

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Developer Shahab Karmely and 443 Greenwich Street

Anglo Irish Bank and an Israeli investment firm are facing a $40 million lawsuit from developer Shahab Karmely, who alleges breach of contract and conspiracy after the Israeli firm foreclosed on his stake in a stalled Tribeca condominium project.

Karmely, owner of Kar Properties, filed suit in New York State Supreme Court last month against the bank and W-D Group, an Israeli firm led by investors Eitan Wertheimer and Ezra Dagmi. W-D, the mezzanine lender in the proposed 118-rooom hotel and 40-unit condo at 443 Greenwich Street, foreclosed on Karmely’s stake in the project after he failed to pay back a $20 million mezzanine loan. [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]