Mickey Mantle's
The high-end Russian eatery Brasserie Pushkin is currently in negotiations to occupy the space of bankrupt Mickey Mantle’s on Central Park South, the New York Post reported. ATCO’s Dale Hemmerdinger, Mickey Mantle’s landlord, is reportedly trying to evict the 25-year-old restaurant, which is four months behind on rent. [more]
Ally Financial, a bank formerly known as GMAC, is likely to declare bankruptcy for its mortgage unit, ResCap, in the next three weeks, the New York Post reported. Ally CEO Michael Carpenter has worked to avoid bankruptcy, but sources told the Post that there are no further options. [more]
BGC Partners’ purchase of nearly all the assets of the bankrupt commercial brokerage Grubb & Ellis is set to close in the coming weeks, a statement released by the firm today said.
On Tuesday, a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge approved BGC’s purchase of Grubb, the California-based firm that filed for bankruptcy Feb. 20. [more]
After filing for bankruptcy, Grubb & Ellis sent letters to brokers and employees informing them they wouldn’t be compensated for commissions and other payments they were owed pre-bankruptcy. The New York Observer reported that more than 300 objections were filed by employees across the U.S. to prevent the court from approving the motion. [more]
Madison 92nd Street Associates, an affiliate of Madison Equities and owner of the Upper East Side Courtyard by Marriott at 410 East 92nd Street, has filed for bankruptcy protection in an effort to prevent a foreclosure sale of the property and is working with Westport Capital Partners to line up refinancing, Bloomberg News reported. The corporation listed assets of as much as $500 million and debt of as much as $100 million, according to the filing.
The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance holds the biggest unsecured claim of $679,581, Bloomberg said, and lender General Electric Capital, owed $74 million, has scheduled a foreclosure sale for Aug. 24. [more]
Once among the top construction firms in New York City, HRH Construction, the 86-year-old company that built Citigroup’s Midtown headquarters and many of Donald Trump’s metro-area projects, is now mired in bankruptcy court and fighting off allegations of fraud. Crain’s reported that HRH’s downfall began in the early 2000s during the construction of 2 Broadway, a building owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The project went $300 million over budget, thanks in part to HRH overbilling the construction costs, according to arbitrators who ordered the firm to repay $6.5 million in 2007. [more]
The foreclosure auction of a piece of defaulted mezzanine debt on the Flatiron District’s MAve Hotel at 62 Madison Avenue between 27th and 28th streets, was postponed today when the property’s developers filed for Chaper 11 bankruptcy, according to Crain’s.
Madison Hotel Owners, purportedly the public face of Joseph Ben Moha, the owner of Roxy Deli, and Benzion Suky, a principal at Livorno Properties, filed late last night, according to court documents. The developers have total liabilities of $9.3 million, the documents revealed. [more]
The auction of developer Yehuda Leib Puretz’s stalled Waterfront Commons mall site in Staten Island was canceled yesterday, a day after his firm filed the $90 million project into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The Brooklyn-based developer, who was planning the 380,000 square-foot mall in the Richmond Valley section of Staten Island near the Outerbridge Crossing, defaulted on a $21.5 million loan connected to the project after the economy stalled in 2008, sources said.
“It [was] largely just a factor of the economy,” said Andrew Boyle, a consultant on the project and COO of the Boyle Group, based in Malvern, Pa. [more]
Lehman Brothers Holdings has asked for permission in bankruptcy court to invest $255 million in Broadway Partners’ 237 Park Avenue, the 21-story office tower in which the liquidating bank already has a $437 million investment. Lehman loaned Broadway $1.23 billion to buy the property in 2007 and began negotiating a possible restructuring in August 2009, when it believed Broadway was in danger of imminent default on part of that loan. In a court filing today, Lehman said Broadway Partners is now selling part of its debt and that an additional investment by the failed bank “represents the best means of protecting [LBHI's] current investment…which could be potentially wiped out if a party other than LHBI buys the debt.” [Bloomberg]
Even in bankruptcy, General Growth Properties is feeling pressure from New York City officials to pony up $500,000 in back rent it allegedly owes for South Street Seaport, according to the Wall Street Journal. The city has filed a court claim demanding payment, but General Growth is disputing the city’s stance for as-of-yet unknown reasons and plans to file its response to bankruptcy court soon. [more]
