From left: James Kuhn, president of Newmark Knight Frank, 2 Pinehurst Ave., 12 Pinehurst Ave., 4101 Broadway and 4117 Broadway

Vantage Properties and New Jersey-based Normandy Real Estate are facing a $37 million foreclosure suit from Dallas-based Lone Star Funds, for allegedly defaulting on a portfolio of four apartment buildings in upper Manhattan.

The loans were backed by rental buildings at 2 Pinehurst Avenue, 12 Pinehurst Avenue, 4101 Broadway and 4117 Broadway, that the developers originally acquired in 2007. Anglo Irish Bank, one of the largest and most active real estate lenders in Europe during the boom, made a $37 million loan to the developers and amended the loan in 2009, adding personal guarantees by top executives. [more]

1511-1521 Sheridan Avenue

Landlord Normandy Real Estate Partners and managing agent Colonial Management Group have been denied permission to raise rents at a Bronx housing complex at 1511-1521 Sheridan Avenue by the Division of Housing and Community Renewal, a triumph for tenants of the complex who organized their efforts to fight the hike early last year.

The more than 100 tenants, who grouped together to challenge the landlord’s request in April, claimed that Normandy had not made the improvements to the building that it was claiming in its application; the buildings still had roof leaks, broken elevators, defective electrical wiring and broken security cameras, they said. They also enlisted the help of non-profit tenant advocacy group Community Action for Safe Apartments and lawyers from the Urban Justice Center to file a letter of opposition with the Division of Housing and Community Renewal. [more]

If you think that the commercial leasing velocity has slowed down in
Manhattan, all you have to do is look across the Hudson River to New
Jersey and see an office leasing market that has been on life support
for the past few years. According to a recent report issued by CB Richard Ellis on the New
Jersey office market, leasing velocity continued to decline in the
first quarter of this year, asking rents slipped and availability rates
increased from last quarter, closing at 20.43 percent, the first time
the market has hit 20 percent since 2004. In a conference call with analysts, Mack-Cali Realty, one of the
largest owners of office space in New Jersey, noted that rents rolled
down during the quarter by about 6.1 percent compared to the fourth
quarter of 2008. In its core markets, North and Central New Jersey, the
company had roll downs of 6.4 percent and 7.5 percent respectively. [more]