Henry T. Sloane mansion at 18 East 68th Street

After drifting on the market since it was first listed in 2008, the Henry T. Sloane mansion at 18 East 68th Street, between Madison and Fifth avenues, is hitting the auction block June 22, according to the New York Times.

The residence, which boasts more than 30 rooms and Beaux-Arts touches, has been bounced back and forth between brokerages and the asking price has gone from $64 million to the current asking price of $37.9 million. If the mansion had sold for $64 million in 2008, it would have been the most expensive single residence sold in New York’s history.

The current owner, an investment group managed by banker Joseph Ingrassia, has defaulted on more than $28 million in loans. The group bought the property for $20 million from an owner listed under a limited liability company. That company purchased it for $7.6 million in 2003.
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Oak Lane Country Club (courtesy of: Tranzon)

Tiger Woods’ struggles aren’t the only thing putting a damper on golf’s success. According to the Wall Street Journal, players continue to abandon the sport and that has reverberated to the real estate auction market, as a 180-acre golf club, with an 18-hole course, eight tennis courts and three swimming pools in Woodbridge, Conn. is set to be auctioned May 10. The Oak Lane Country Club is down to about 200 members and with nearby clubs competing on price there wasn’t enough revenue to support the club, according to the Tranzon Integrated Property Group auction house, and it was about to default on its mortgage. [more]

Bid on the City, a Manhattan-based online real estate auction company, is slated to launch in Miami this week, the company announced today. The company said it expects to have the site go live tomorrow. Bid on the City, which was founded in April 2009, launched in the Hamptons in January 2010 for rentals. The Miami site will feature both sales and rental listings (note: correction appended). Vlad Sapozhnikov, general manager of Bid on the City, said that he saw a specific need for this expansion. “Today’s economic climate has created a demand for a fast, efficient and transparent way to rent and sell property,” Sapozhnikov said. TRD [more]

Rector Place and Yair Levy

Embattled developer Yair Levy and his son-in-law Daniel Deutsch are facing a $20 million lawsuit from unit owners at the Rector Square condominium, alleging they failed to complete construction and pay common charges as well as illegally converted funds at the property, all before the building was foreclosed on by Anglo Irish Bank.

The suit, filed Dec. 13 in New York State Supreme Court, claims that residents of the 304-unit building, at 225 Rector Place, have been unable to refinance, sell or get approval for any financial transactions at the building due to Levy defaulting on nearly $165 million in loans at the building, which led to the 2009 foreclosure. [more]

From left: Andrew Cuomo, Rector Square and Yair Levy

A state Supreme Court judge ruled today that Attorney General Andrew Cuomo can proceed in his civil suit against developer Yair Levy, who is facing banishment from future condominium unit sales after he allegedly misappropriated millions of dollars from the Rector Square reserve fund.

Cuomo sued Levy, alleging that the man formerly known as the “condo king” illegally withdrew $1.6 million in reserve funds at the 303-unit building in Battery Park City, and signed over checks to family, while using the money to pay credit card bills at Macy’s and Verizon Wireless.
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Rector Square and Yair Levy

Anglo Irish Bank acquired unsold shares of Rector Square, the troubled Battery Park City condominium, during a public auction at the New York state Supreme Court this afternoon, with a winning bid of $82.75 million.

Anglo Irish, the senior lender at the 304-unit building at 225 Rector Place, plans to resell the building to new investors, according to the bank’s attorneys, who explained that the bank wanted to make sure the property had stable ownership going forward.

“The bank invested so much in [the building] that it’s interested in seeing that the building finds a good home,” said Herrick Feinstein attorney Chris Sullivan, who represented Anglo Irish in its foreclosure case against the property. [more]

Images from the Clocktower Close building in Norwalk

Nine condo units in the Clocktower Close building in Norwalk, CT are hitting the auction block April 17, according to real estate auction firm Sheldon Good & Company, which is handling the sale. Lawrence Samberg, managing director with Sheldon Good & Company said he anticipates that the one-day event will complete sales at the residential building. “It clearly benefits parties on both sides of the auction, purchasers and sellers alike,” Samberg said. “[The] auction will allow owners to complete… [the] sales program in a single day.” The Clocktower Close building, which is protected under the National Registry of Historic Places, contains 132 units, ranging from studios to two-bedroom homes. TRD [more]

The cooperative apartment of convicted fraudster Alberto Vilar in a building just north of the United Nations had the highest lien of any New York City apartment scheduled for auction in 2009, according to PropertyShark.com. The top five apartments in New York City scheduled for auction in 2009 by PropertyShark.com (see chart below) were ranked by the amount of the lien placed on the unit. Vilar was the owner of a sprawling apartment at 866 United Nations Plaza, which includes a series of units. A lien can be a first or second mortgage or any other lien that passed the judgment stage. The other apartments were in Greenwich Village, Midtown, Carnegie Hill and the Upper West Side. PropertyShark.com’s complete list of properties up for auction last year is not yet available. TRD

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SL Green is poised to take over 100 Church Street

Manhattan commercial property landlord SL Green Realty is positioned to take ownership over 100 Church Street, a Financial District office building that has struggled to retain tenants, the Wall Street Journal reported. The firm has long been the assumed future owner of the building — with the building’s January auction on the horizon, industry experts say other investors are unlikely to outbid SL Green. The group, which took control over 100 Church Street after the Sapir Organization defaulted on its loan in August, is one of the building’s biggest lenders and is angling to protect its investment, according to Michael Knott, an analyst with Green Street Advisors. “This is a situation where [SL Green] will have to put in some capital and work some leasing magic to salvage their total investment,” Knott said. According to him, the plan to acquire the building “is a lot better than just foreclosing and selling an empty building.” [more]

In the down residential market, New York City developers are catching auction fever. The Solaria condominium in the Bronx’s Riverdale neighborhood is the latest new building in the region to use an auction to spur interest — the Saffron condo in Jersey City recently used an auction to kick off sales and Greenpoint’s the Locale sold off units at auction earlier this month for 44 percent below asking — hosting an auction yesterday afternoon. The tactic seemed to pan out well for both buyers and Arc Development, which has been struggling to move units. By the auction’s end, 54 condos sold, with the average winning bids hitting 35 to 45 percent below what the asking prices were on the units. [Crain's] and