Courtyard at the Apthorp

Following months of legal maneuvering, a state Supreme Court judge has ruled that Anglo Irish Bank can finally sell the troubled mortgage loan backed by the Apthorp condominium on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

Judge Jeffrey Oing issued an order Nov. 29 finally allowing Anglo Irish Bank to move ahead with the sale of the $385 million mortgage loan to Dallas-based Lone Star Funds, but sources familiar with the negotiations say a final agreement was still being worked out to complete the deal.

The Apthorp loan, which has a remaining balance of $225 million. just before the suit was filed Sept. 13, was one of the largest in a group of $5 billion in troubled loans to be acquired by Lone Star. Anglo agreed to sell its entire $9.5 billion U.S. portfolio after the Irish government took over the troubled lender and agreed to sell off all of its non-core holdings around the world. JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo agreed to buy the remaining tranche of performing loans. [more]

Developer Maurice Mann and the interior and exterior of a penthouse unit at the Laureate

Maurice Mann, the original developer of the Apthorp condominium conversion, has purchased a penthouse unit at the Laureate, the Stahl Organization’s new luxury condominium at 2150 Broadway, for over $7 million, according to public records filed with the city today.

Mann closed on the 2,532-square-foot, three-bedroom residence at the Laureate on Nov. 18, according to records, with a price of $7.37 million. Though he was not immediately available for comment, a person who answered the phone at his office confirmed the purchase.

The unit, which boasts “a great room with extra large windows and a set of French doors that open to a Juliet balcony at the [front] of the building,” was last listed with Shlomi Reuveni, a broker and head of the Brown Harris Stevens Select team, for $7.7 million, according to Streeteasy.com. [more]

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and the Apthorp

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has shut down the sales office at the Apthorp, fined the developers $190,000 and ordered rescission for all contracted buyers following an investigation into misleading statements made to the AG months before they filed suit to block Anglo Irish Bank from selling their $385 million mortgage loan.
The Apthorp developers, led by Africa Israel USA and Broadwall Management, filed suit against the troubled bank Sept. 12, alleging the sale of the $385 million Apthorp loan would “adversely impact sales” and potentially “threaten the conversion project itself.”
[more]

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and the Apthorp

The developers of the Apthorp condominium, who filed suit earlier this month to block Anglo Irish Bank from selling the property’s $385 million mortgage loan, previously told state regulators that the potential loan sale would have no impact on them or the property, according to documents obtained by The Real Deal.

In February, the Apthorp developers — led by Africa Israel — disclosed in a filing with Attorney General Eric Schneiderman that it was “not in default” on the mortgage, but there was a possibility that Anglo Irish “may sell the loan, however this would have no effect on the sponsor or the building.”

That disclosure stands in stark contrast to the language used by the developers in Sept. 12 suit against Anglo Irish, where they warned that the sale would violate a 2010 loan restructuring deal and would potentially harm the conversion. [more]

The developers of the Upper West Side’s Apthorp condominium, led by Africa Israel, have filed suit against a state housing
agency alleging the building is suffering financially because an application to deregulate 45 rent-stabilized apartments has dragged on for more than nine months.

Apthorp Associates, in the April 4 lawsuit, alleges the New York State Division of Homes and Community
Renewal has sat on the application since June 2010, and urged the court to force the agency to make a
determination.

“DHCR’s delay in processing the proceedings has denied the petitioner an increase in its monthly cash
flow required for the preservation, maintenance and operation of the subject premises,” said Apthorp
attorney Daniel Roskoff, in the petition. [more]

Maurice Mann’s condominium conversion at 36 Gramercy Park East has crossed the 50 percent sold mark, with 19 of the 30 units available for sale in the building now either closed or in contract, according to Nest Seekers International, which is marketing the project. (The building has 51 units in total, but some are still occupied by rent-stabilized tenants.) Sales launched just under a year ago, and in March, the brokerage team increased prices by as much as 23 percent in response to what it described as high demand for the homes. Prices for the remaining units range from $1.325 million for one-bedrooms to $5.895 million for three-bedrooms. TRD [more]

Maurice Mann, the original developer of the Apthorp
condominium conversion, has filed a new lawsuit against his
former partners, alleging they reneged on an agreement to let him
buy an apartment at the building.

Mann, in a lawsuit filed Monday in New York state Supreme
Court, alleged that in 2009, his former development partners,
Apthorp Associates and Broadwall Management, agreed to sell
him apartment 2C at the building, but then refused and offered him
apartment 6A.
Mann initially agreed to buy the historic Apthorp at 390 West End
Avenue in 2006, and later brought in Africa Israel chairman Lev
Leviev as his partner in a record $426 million acquisition. [more]

The Apthorp and Dolly Lenz

High-end broker Dolly Lenz is quietly showing the apartment of developer Maurice Mann at the Upper West Side condominium conversion project the Apthorp, with a price tag of more than $12 million, sources said.
Lenz has been giving tours of Mann’s apartment, unit 2C, in the building at 390 West End Avenue between 78th and 79th streets, which the embattled developer recently vacated, the sources said.
Lenz had no comment and messages left with Maurice Mann’s office were not returned.
Mann, general partner of investment and management company Mann Realty Associates, led a group of investors that purchased the Apthorp in 2007 for $426 million with the intention of converting it to condominiums. Mann was replaced as managing partner by Africa Israel, however the Feil Organization is the managing agent at the building. Mann and his company were sued in New York State Supreme Court in November 2009 for allegedly not paying $400,000 in commissions to the Manhattan brokerage Blue Rock Properties, that helped arrange financing for the acquisition. TRD [more]

The year 2009 was a trying time to be a real estate broker, developer or investor, but it never lacked for news. In the aftermath of the financial crisis, the industry watched in awe — and sometimes horror — as residential sales ground to a virtual halt, condo projects stopped in their tracks, office rents shrank and retail stores disappeared. Buyers at buildings like 22 Renwick sued to get out of their contracts, and some were granted the opportunity to back out of their contracts. Meanwhile, an amazing cast of characters — from Kent Swig to Harry Macklowe to Lev Leviev — publicly fought for survival. There were also glimmers of hope, from the opening of the High Line in June to the expansion of Halstead Property into Connecticut to the sale of Former Lehman Brothers CEO Dick Fuld’s sale 16-room co-op apartment at 640 Park Avenue for $25.87 million, almost $5 million more than he bought it for two years ago. Click here to see The Real Deal staff’s picks for the stories that most altered the New York City real estate landscape in 2009. [more]

Developer Maurice Mann is facing a lawsuit for allegedly failing to pay $400,000 in commissions and fees to Blue Rock Properties, a Manhattan-based brokerage that in 2007, helped arrange financing for the acquisition of the Apthorp on the Upper West Side.

Mann, the general partner of Mann Realty Associates, led the investment group that acquired the landmark rental building, at 390 West End Avenue, for a record $426 million. Mann has since lost the role of managing partner at the Apthorp to Africa Israel, the Israeli real estate and diamond conglomerate led by billionaire Lev Leviev.

Leviev is currently awaiting word from the New York State Attorney General about whether he will declare the condominium plan effective, amid serious concerns about whether the developer was able to find enough buyers to make the building financially viable. [more]