From top: Blusetone principals Eli Tabak, Marc Mendelsohn and Ari Bromberg; from left: 1585 and 1589 East 172nd Street

[Updated 12:06 p.m. at Sept. 16 with buyer information] The real estate investment firm the Bluestone Group, which denied for months it would unload a six-building portfolio of once severely distressed Bronx properties, sold the package for $17.6 million, a source close to the deal said.

The sale closed yesterday as part of a bankruptcy case filed by the former ownership company BXP 1, controlled by investor Susumu Endo. The buyer was Anthony Gazivoda, owner of Gazivoda Realty, a prominent landlord in the Bronx Albanian community, an employee at Gazicvod said. Gazivoda himself was not immediately available for comment. Bluestone, led by principals Eli Tabak, Ari Bromberg and Marc Mendelsohn, purchased the defaulted notes on the six properties, with a face value of $13.15 million, for about $10 million in June 2010, according to city property records. [more]

Embattled landlord Sam Suzuki was released from Manhattan Detention Complex on
Friday after spending [more]

Bronx landlord Sam Suzuki, who was hauled off to jail June 24 after failing to address hundreds of building violations at his 1585 East 172nd Street property, was denied a request for stay and will remain behind bars at the Manhattan Detention Complex, more commonly known as the Tombs. On June 30, the Bluestone Group, which renovates troubled buildings, bought the debt on the 49-unit property, which is said to have a rotting roof, caved-in floors and a rat infestation. Suzuki, who runs Hunter Property Management, gained control of the Bronx River building last year after Ocelot Capital failed in the wake of the real estate downturn. Repair work has begun, and Suzuki has promised to have his team work 10-hour days to fix the violations. He had asked to be released in order to “crack the whip.” [NYDN]

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A housing court judge has issued a warrant for the arrest of an alleged Bronx slumlord who failed not only to correct the 663 open violations in one of his buildings, but also to show up in court, the New York Times reported. The landlord, Sam Suzuki, said he is just the manager of the 49-unit apartment building in question, at 1585 East 172nd Street, though property records suggest otherwise. It’s one of six buildings he picked up for $13.5 million in May 2009 from Ocelot Capital Group, the real estate investment group that notoriously abandoned 25 Bronx buildings, allowing them to fall into disrepair. At the time, Suzuki had already been managing 22 of those buildings through his company, Hunter Property Management. Tenants said conditions at the building only got worse after Suzuki took ownership. Conditions at his other five properties have also reportedly deteriorated. [NYT]

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A Midtown-based real estate investment firm is in negotiations to take control of the troubled RKO Keith’s Flushing Theater from Boymelgreen Developers by the end of the year. Venator Capital has agreed to purchase a $20 million note secured by the Flushing, Queens, property located at 135-27 Northern Boulevard from Doral Bank, said Sam Suzuki, a principal with Venator, ultimately giving the company full control of the theater. Investors affiliated with Venator are active in the Bronx as well, where they are in contract to buy 16 mostly rent-regulated apartment buildings owned by Ocelot Properties, after buying six earlier this year. The RKO Keith note purchase would be followed by a so-called friendly foreclosure in which Boymelgreen would sign over the deed to the new owner without a protracted court proceeding, Suzuki said. [more]