Two foreclosed Tribeca condominiums belonging to hip-hop executive Damon Dash went up for auction at Manhattan Supreme Court this afternoon, one sparking a bidding war and the other landing back in the hands of the lender. The two loft units, #3A/4A at 25 North Moore Street, also known as the
Atalanta, and #5F at 79 Laight Street, called the Sugar Warehouse, were
the subject of a 2008 foreclosure suit filed by Eastern Savings Bank.
Bids on the first, a 5,200-square-foot duplex at the Atalanta, began at
$5 million. Dash purchased the four-bedroom, four-bathroom spread for
$3.875 million in 2004 and tried unsuccessfully to sell it for $7.9
million in 2008 with the help of Brown Harris Stevens’ Wendy Maitland.

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The Tribeca duplex that belongs to hip hop mogul Damon Dash, former pal
of Jay-Z and co-founder of the pair’s Roc-a-Fella Records, is scheduled
for a 1 p.m. foreclosure auction tomorrow at the New York County
Courthouse, according to Manhattan Loft Guy. Dash bought the
5,200-square-foot spread in the Atalanta at 25 N. Moore Street for
$3.875 million in 2004. Dash had a $7.3 million loan out on the
property, along with another loft he owns at 79 Laight Street, but reportedly stopped making
his $78,500-per-month mortgage payments in January. The four-bedroom,
four-bathroom Atalanta unit being auctioned tomorrow, which Dash once
tried to sell for $7.9 million in order to pay off his debts, has
20-foot ceilings in the living room and large windows facing north and
south. [Manhattan Loft Guy via Curbed]

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The Tribeca duplex that belongs to hip hop mogul Damon Dash, former pal of Jay-Z and co-founder of the pair’s Roc-a-Fella Records, is scheduled for a 1 p.m. foreclosure auction tomorrow at the New York County Courthouse, according to Manhattan Loft Guy. Dash bought the 5,200-square-foot spread in the Atalanta at 25 N. Moore Street for $3.875 million in 2004. Dash had a $7.3 million loan out on the property, along with another loft he owns at 79 Laight Street, but reportedly stopped making his $78,500-per-month mortgage payments in January. The four-bedroom, four-bathroom Atalanta unit being auctioned tomorrow, which Dash once tried to sell for $7.9 million in order to pay off his debts, has 20-foot ceilings in the living room and large windows facing north and south. [Manhattan Loft Guy via Curbed]

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David Walentas’ Clocktower triplex in Dumbo

David Walentas’ 7,000-square-foot Clocktower building triplex in Dumbo — potentially Brooklyn’s priciest condominium unit ever
with an asking price of $25 million — has been yanked from the market
as the developer works out a possible rent-to-own deal with a
prospective taker, accordi [more]

From left: Jay-Z and Rev. Floyd Flake

Rev. Floyd Flake and rapper Jay-Z have each withdrawn themselves from Aqueduct Entertainment Group amid ongoing federal and state investigations into the group’s controversial and surprise selection as the developer for the new Aqueduct racino in Queens. Flake had just a 0.6 percent stake in AEG, worth $625,000, but his involvement had come under close scrutiny in recent weeks as documents related to his affiliated groups were subpoenaed in the federal probe. “Unfortunately, my ongoing participation in Aqueduct Entertainment has become a distraction that has taken me and my attention away from the community projects I created and nurtured,” Flake said in a statement. Jay-Z had a 2 percent stake in the project through Gain Global Investments Network. The departure of two of AEG’s most high-profile players came yesterday just after the group announced that it would pay the state $300 million by March 31 and break ground as soon as possible. According to sources, the deadline for AEG to submit all of its applications to the state was Tuesday at noon. Still, speculation is growing that the deal is falling apart and that Governor David Paterson is mulling over whether to cancel it within days. [Crain’s]

From the February issue:
Thirty years ago, the notion that the largely industrial area at the foot of the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges would one day command some of the highest prices in Brooklyn real estate might have seemed about as plausible as an elephant taking wing. Nowadays, of course, Dumbo is well established as one of Brooklyn’s most sought-after neighborhoods. So much so that it has weathered the real estate downturn better than Brooklyn as a whole — a reality that the few developers planning projects in Dumbo hope continues. In December, the publicly traded luxury home builder Toll Brothers closed on a parcel of land at 205 Water Street where the firm intends to develop a condo with approximately 70 units. Toll paid $8.6 million for the land and hopes to start building by the end of the year. “Dumbo is fairly unique within the Brooklyn market,” said David Von Spreckelsen, a senior vice president with Toll Brothers. “It’s really been holding value better than the other neighborhoods in Brooklyn, and if you look at [condo] resales they’re at really strong numbers.”  [more]

One Brooklyn Bridge Park is back on top in the race for the priciest condo in the borough. A 9,486-square-foot triplex in the 438-unit Brooklyn Heights building was recently snatched up for $8.495 million by the founder of an investment management firm, who purchased the unit through a limited-liability corporation to veil his identity. The spacious loft actually comprises six units of the original development’s plan: the buyer combined three two-bedrooms, a one-bedroom and two studios to create the space. A previous buyer, who walked away from a $600,000-plus deposit after the Lehman Brothers collapse in 2008, had already merged three of those units. One Brooklyn Bridge Park is roughly 30 percent sold. The most expensive Brooklyn condo in 2008 was a $7 million loft in David Walentas’ the Clock Tower Building, which is now back on the market for $8.5 million. But neither loft will have a fighting chance for the priciest prize if Walentas manages to sell the Clock Tower’s crown jewel this year, a triplex penthouse listed for $25 million. The unit, which features a four-sided glass-faced clock and birds-eye views of the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building, was recently eyed by the likes of Jay-Z and Ralph Lauren. [NYT]

Shawn Carter, also known as rapper and Rocawear clothing founder Jay-Z, has filed a suit against his lenders over a loan workout for a planned boutique hotel in Chelsea. In 2007, Jay-Z controlled a company that borrowed $52 million to purchase the property for his future hotel, according to a spokesperson for investment firm Highland Capital Management, one of two lenders named in the suit. The loan matured in August and is in default, and the rapper has since handed over the keys to Highland and co-defendant Nexbank SSB in a deed in lieu of foreclosure. However, Jay-Z is claiming the lenders are still attempting to collect funds in excess of what he and two other men had pledged when they guaranteed the non-principal obligations of their company on the 2007 loan. He is seeking a declaratory judgment that those obligations have been met, plus more than $3.7 million in damages for the interest and costs incurred while being held liable for the excess funds. “Highland Capital Management believes the claims asserted by Mr. Carter are meritless and will vigorously defend itself and intends to pursue the obligations owed to Highland’s investors,” the Highland spokesperson said. [Bloomberg]

The 76th-floor Time Warner Center penthouse that Jay-Z once rented for $40,000 per month is back on the market for $38 million with Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Raphel and Claudine De Niro. That’s $11 million more than what it sold for in 2007, when Todd Wagner, the dot-com era business partner of Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, purchased the four-bedroom, five-and-a-half-bathroom apartment for $27 million, or $5,596 per square foot, from telecom entrepreneur and real estate investor Michael Hirtenstein. Hirtenstein had bought it for $15.7 million but later had second thoughts about moving his 10-year-old daughter into the place. He rented the penthouse to Jay-Z instead before selling it to Wagner in what was, at the time, the highest price-per-square-foot ever paid for a Manhattan condo. [Curbed] 

Jay-Z and Ralph Lauren each recently checked out the crown jewel of Brooklyn apartments — a $25 million triplex penthouse at developer David Walentas’ 1 Main Street in Dumbo, the ClockTower Building. The four-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bathroom condo — featured in “Bamboozled” by Spike Lee — is located on the building’s 16th through 19th floors and the listing price is more than twice the highest amount ever paid for a Brooklyn home. The record purchase price thus far was an $11 million home in Gravesend. Through four giant glass-faced clocks, the apartment’s residents can enjoy bird’s-eye views of the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building. On the roof, there is a 400-square-foot “crow’s nest” deck. Raphael De Niro of Prudential Douglas Elliman has the listing. [Post]