From left: Winston Fisher, a partner with Fisher Brothers, Park Columbus and Doug Harmon of Eastdil Secured

A joint venture between Fisher Brothers, BlackRock and a California pension fund won the 95-unit Upper West Side apartment building Park Columbus with a bid of $48 million in a bankruptcy auction this morning.

In March, embattled developer Yair Levy lost the building located at 101 West 87th Street that he had tried to convert to condominiums, in foreclosure to Garrison Residential Funding. The mortgage and other debts totaling $52.6 million will be wiped out once the closing occurs, court records show.
Fisher Brothers, a major Midtown-based commercial and residential property owner, partnered with investment firm BlackRock and California State Teachers Retirement System, to place the minimum bid in November. Winston Fisher, a partner with Fisher Brothers, declined to comment. [more]

Larry Silverstein and 575 Lexington Avenue

While he’s been facing his share of woes at the World Trade Center site, the drama has now moved uptown for developer Larry Silverstein. His building at 575 Lexington Avenue on the corner of 51st Street is facing imminent default, according to Crain’s, as the $325 million loan that he and the California State Teachers Retirement System jointly hold was transferred to a special servicer today. A Silverstein Properties statement said that the company requested the transfer as a part of ongoing negotiations between the lender and the loan holders.