From left: Hotelier Andre Balazs, Neil Gronowetter, chairman of Multifamily Investor and 5 Beekman Street

An independent Manhattan broker who says he brought famed hotelier Andre Balazs to buy the 10-story building 5 Beekman Street in Lower Manhattan, claims that the sellers Bonjour Capital and Chetrit Group are refusing to pay him a 1 percent commission, a lawsuit filed in New York State Supreme Court yesterday shows.

The broker, Neil Gronowetter, chairman of his single-broker shop Multifamily Investor, says in July 2010 he introduced Balazs to representatives of Bonjour Capital, who promised him verbally that he would receive a 1 percent commission, the lawsuit says.

Balazs is reportedly in contract to buy the 128,000-square-foot property built in 1883, which Bonjour and the Chetrits planned to convert to a 200-room hotel after buying it for $61 million in 2008. [more]

RXR Realty CEO Scott Rechler and 620 Sixth Avenue

RXR Realty will take control of 620 Sixth Avenue from a partnership of Joseph Chetrit, Yair Levy and Charles Dayan in a deal that values the building at about $500 million, the Wall Street Journal reported. The partnership paid $290 million for it in late 2005, and will retain a minority stake. Douglas Harmon of Eastdil Secured marketed the property for the owners.

The seven-story, 700,000-square-foot, 114-year-old building at 19th Street is 80 percent occupied and home to big-box retailers TJ Maxx and Bed Bath & Beyond. RXR CEO Scott Rechler said the building will generate enough income to cover debt payments beginning next year. Rechler said he was attracted to the building because of its unique appearance and its “Silicon Alley” location — home to the city’s growing tech sector. [more]

A partnership of Joseph Chetrit, Yair Levy and Charles Dayan is looking to unload 620 Sixth Avenue, and according to the Observer, the nearly 800,000-square-foot mammoth anchored by Bed Bath & Beyond could fetch around $500 million in a sale. The landlords purchased the Chelsea property for $289.8 million in 2005, taking out a $235 million mortgage that they nearly defaulted on in the years following. But if recent blockbuster sales in the area are any indication ($900 million for the Starrett-Lehigh Building and $2 billion for 111 Eighth Avenue), it looks like they have a good chance of cashing in. For a buyer, the building appears to have significant upside, to boot. There are 250,000 square feet of additional development rights atop the existing structure, plus 75,000 square feet at an adjacent site that is zoned to allow for hotel development. [more]

Developer Joseph Chetrit just won a round in his court battle with Bonjour Capital’s Charles Dayan over the future redevelopment of the Temple Court at 5 Beekman Street, the Post reported. Chetrit had to lay out both his and Dayan’s share of additional funds to extend and reduce their mortgage commitment to just over $20 million from about $53 million. Now, a judge has ordered Dayan to pay, and Stephen Meister, Chetrit’s lawyer, said he will start enforcing the judgment, which is worth about $2.55 million. Dayan said he disagrees with the court ruling and intends to appeal. [Post, 6th item] [more]

5 Beekman Street

Developer Jacob Chetrit filed a $50 million lawsuit against Bonjour Capital’s Charles Dayan, alleging the investment partner reneged on a deal to pay off a defaulted construction loan after the lender filed to for [more]

5 Beekman Street

Developer Jacob Chetrit filed a $50 million lawsuit against Bonjour Capital’s Charles Dayan, alleging the investment partner reneged on a deal to pay off a defaulted construction loan after the lender filed to for [more]

201 West 92nd Street (source: PropertyShark)

A New York State Supreme Court Judge approved a request by Istar Financial to appoint a receiver at an Upper West Side tenement complex owned by Adorama investor Mendel Mendlowits, who is facing foreclose proceedings at the properties.

Judge James Yates ordered attorney Peter Weiss to take over as receiver of the rental buildings while the foreclosure works its way through the courts.

The judge further ordered that Walters & Samuels, a Manhattan-based property management firm, oversee the properties. Istar, a Manhattan-based commercial real estate lender, filed suit earlier this month to foreclose on the site at 201 West 92nd and 200 West 93rd, after Mendlowits allegedly defaulted on a $46 million mortgage, failed to pay $329,950 in taxes and signed a commercial lease for a pet shop without the prior consent of the lender. [more]

Owners of 620 Sixth Avenue (left, source: PropertyShark) removed a parcel (see red box on image on red) once covered by a $235 million mortgage.

Top real estate investors including Yair Levy and Joseph Chetrit are close to defaulting on a $235 million loan on the Bed Bath & Beyond building in Chelsea, a recent lawsuit by an SL Green affiliate says. But to preserve some value in their holdings, the owners transferred a vacant slice of the building’s lot to another entity they own without SL Green’s consent, the court filing says. “With a payment default looming and foreclosure proceedings inevitable, [the owners] sought to convey away a necessary and valuable piece of lenders’ collateral to obtain an unfair advantage in future negotiations, in blatant and egregious violations of the bargains struck by the parties to the loans,” the lawsuit by Green Loan Services, an affiliate of SL Green, says. Developers Levy, Chetrit and Charles Dayan are investors in an entity called CF 620 Owner One LLC, which bought the property at 620 Sixth Avenue between 18th and 19th streets in December 2005 for $289.8 million, city property records show. [more]

A California-based bank has filed to foreclose on a $45.7 million
acquisition loan made to a partnership that includes developers Jacob
Chetrit and Charles Dayan, who planned to convert an 1883 office
building near City Hall into a luxury hotel. The partners bought the landmarked 10-story building at 5 Beekman Street at Nassau Street in March 2008 for $61 million,
taking out the loan from Pacific National Bank at the same time,
according to the foreclosure lawsuit filed by the lender August 4 in
New York State Supreme Court. The bank filed the foreclosure after the borrowers failed to make their July mortgage payment, the suit says. [more]