Lehman Brothers Holdings has beaten out Sam Zell and acquired the last remaining 26.5 percent stake in Archstone for $1.58 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported, giving it complete ownership over the massive apartment portfolio. The failed bank is buying the stake from Bank of America and Barclays, which partnered with Lehman to acquire Archstone in 2007 for $22 billion. The deal values the portfolio at $17 billion. [more]

From left: 230 Park Avenue and 237 Park Avenue (credits: PropertyShark)

Just two weeks after L&L Holdings requested proposals for Park Avenue’s first new office tower in three decades, speculation is growing that a second new tower could rise on the avenue. According to the New York Post, now that Lehman Brothers Holdings has full control over 237 Park Avenue it is considering building a new tower on the property, near 45th Street. [more]

From left: Mark Slama, of Windels Marx Lane & MIttendorf, 25 Broad Street and 627 Greenwich Street (credit: PropertyShark)

Despite much anticipation from the real estate community, two large foreclosure auctions taking place today at 60 Center Street drew little excitement. Both properties — 25 Broad Street and 627 Greenwich Street — returned to lenders Lehman Brothers Holdings and Royal Bank of Scotland, respectively. [more]

Sam Zell, Chairman of Equity Residential

Equity Residential’s purchase of a stake in apartment builder Archstone was blocked by the estate of Lehman Brothers Holdings, as Lehman exercised the option to match the bid, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Equity, run by Sam Zell, offered $1.33 billion for 26.5 percent of Archstone, a major competitor of Equity’s. Lehman’s purchase is half of the position in Archstone owned by Bank of America and Barclays and brings its total stake in Archstone to 73.5 percent.   [more]

From left: Kent Swig, the site at 45 Broad Street and a rendering of Nobu Hotel and Residences

Lehman Brothers Holdings is expected to take control of a Kent Swig development site at 45 Broad Street at a foreclosure auction scheduled for next month.

Swig’s Swig Equities lost control of the site after Lehman filed to foreclose in 2009; the site was then put in the hands of a court-appointed receiver. Swig is named in the foreclosure suit, along with various organizations that have filed liens against him.

Among the other defendants are Langan Engineering & Environmental Services, New York State Department of Taxation and Finance and other tenants, occupants, contract parties, lien-holders and others that may claim an interest in the property. The lien amount is $72.5 million in total. The auction will take place Nov. 16, according to PropertyShark.com. [more]

25 Broad Street

Kent Swig’s former mammoth office building at 25 Broad Street may have finally come back to life as a 305-unit rental property thanks to Lehman Brothers Holdings, the Wall Street Journal reported, after 80 percent of the 90 available units were rented in just two months.
With applications under review for the remaining units, more are now under renovation, the Journal said.
The project offers 305 one- and two-bedroom units, with 35 different floor plans and rents starting at $3,133 and $5,205 per month, respectively. 

Lehman took over the building after Swig defaulted on his mortgage in 2009. Swig paid $262.5 million to buy the former office property in 2005.

Swig had previously intended to transform it into a luxury condominium building. [more]

Having just leased the first 10 apartments at 25 Broad Street last month, Lehman Brothers Holdings lives on and is looking to make some profit from prime New York properties, and perhaps pay off some creditors, according to the New York Observer.
Set to update a bankruptcy court on plans next week, Lehman has apparently shifted its tactics. The firm is moving to sell its share of key Manhattan assets such as the old International Toy Center at 200 Fifth Avenue and 1107 Broadway, and is quietly considering a new development at 235 West Broadway in Soho, the Observer reported. [more]

The estate of Lehman Brothers Holdings has taken control of the 169,664-square-foot On the Ave Hotel at 2170-2178 Broadway at 77th Street for $191 million, a spokesperson for the estate confirmed. “The strategy of the estate has been to maximize the value of its properties — not to fire sale them,” she said.

According to Real Estate Weekly, Lehman has been involved with the property for at least a decade, having had a $31.7 million mortgage in 1997 with a previous owner. The estate’s path to obtaining control was not immediately clear. There was no recent lis pendens filed against the building, according to PropertyShark.com’s records, but the sale may have been a deed in lieu of foreclosure. [more]

The Lehman Brothers Holdings estate is looking to unload its 90 percent equity stake in the former International Toy Center building at 200 Fifth Avenue, the Wall Street Journal reported. The bank bought the 800,000-square-foot property in partnership with L&L Holding for $480 million in May 2007, after which its value plunged to below the value of the $390 million mortgage. But with the Manhattan office market on the rebound, and several big-name tenants — including Eataly and Tiffany & Co. — now in place, the property is again worth more than the debt, and Lehman, which has been holding on to many of its real estate assets on the assumption that the market will eventually improve, is now ready to sell. [more]

Kent Swig and 25 Broad Street

Kent Swig’s stalled condominium conversion project at 25 Broad Street is back in action as a rental building. A court-appointed receiver has tapped developer LCOR to put the 20-story building back on the market, and according to the Wall Street Journal, the leasing office opens today. The project offers 305 one- and two-bedroom units, with 35 different floor plans and rents starting at $3,133 and $5,205 per month, respectively. There are also hefty concessions: one month’s free rent, plus the elimination of broker fees for renters who sign on for one or two years. [more]