From left: Winston Fisher, a partner with Fisher Brothers, Park Columbus and Doug Harmon of Eastdil Secured

A joint venture between Fisher Brothers, BlackRock and a California pension fund won the 95-unit Upper West Side apartment building Park Columbus with a bid of $48 million in a bankruptcy auction this morning.

In March, embattled developer Yair Levy lost the building located at 101 West 87th Street that he had tried to convert to condominiums, in foreclosure to Garrison Residential Funding. The mortgage and other debts totaling $52.6 million will be wiped out once the closing occurs, court records show.
Fisher Brothers, a major Midtown-based commercial and residential property owner, partnered with investment firm BlackRock and California State Teachers Retirement System, to place the minimum bid in November. Winston Fisher, a partner with Fisher Brothers, declined to comment. [more]

From left: Yair Levy, Eastdil’s Doug Harmon and 101 West 87th Street

Commercial and residential landlord Fisher Brothers placed a $48 million bid in bankruptcy court to buy the Upper West Side apartment building Park Columbus where embattled developer Yair Levy failed in his effort to convert the rental property to condominiums. The 95-unit apartment building at 101 West 87th Street at Columbus Avenue, constructed by the Related Companies in the 1980s, is being sold in Manhattan federal bankruptcy court.

An entity called 101W 87th LLC made the so-called stalking horse bid of $48 million, Manhattan federal bankruptcy court records show. A source who declined to be identified but has knowledge of the deal said Fisher Brothers, the long-time real estate family, controlled the bidding entity. The property has loans valued at $52.6 million, city records show. [more]

Homestate Properties office at 102-104 Fulton Street

A new sales and rental brokerage with ties to embattled developer Yair Levy has opened at 102-104 Fulton Street, the former home of now-defunct firm Homestead New York. And with a remarkably similar name — Homestate Properties — the new firm may be trying to piggyback on the success of its predecessor, which ceased operations in 2008 in the midst of the real estate downturn. The new firm is being run by Daniel Deutsch, Levy’s son-in-law and onetime business associate, and is headquartered in office space owned by Levy in the Fulton Chambers building, a nine-story building that Levy and partners converted to 14 condo units in 2004. After selling out Fulton Chambers, Levy retained ownership of commercial condos in the building, according to city documents, and leased space to sales and rental firm Homestead, founded by Eli Adahan and Danny Shamooil. Homestead had about 35 agents and three offices by the time it closed. Its co-founders, who are not involved in Homestate, have now moved on to other ventures. Levy himself may not be involved in the new venture, either. Homestate filed for incorporation with the Department of State in November 2009, according to the agency’s Web site, listing as its address Park Columbus at 101 West 87th Street — a stalled condo conversion, owned by Levy, which is now in foreclosure. But Homestate’s real estate license lists 102-104 Fulton Street as its headquarters, naming Deutsch as a salesperson and attorney Lior Aldad as the broker. [more]

A New York State Supreme Court judge shut the door on developer Yair Levy in the highly publicized foreclosure at Battery Park City’s Rector Square condominium.

Judge Joan Madden awarded summary judgment this afternoon to Anglo Irish Bank, which filed to foreclose after Levy’s firm defaulted on a $165 million mortgage loan. Madden rejected Levy’s arguments that the bank subverted the project by cutting off funding, and noted numerous defaults by Levy’s YL Real Estate, including improper withdrawals from the emergency reserve fund and “questionable” requests for construction money.

“Anglo further alleges that at least one contractor has accused YL of pocketing some of the loan proceeds and that YL embezzled most of the tenant reserve funds,” Madden wrote in her decision.

Levy himself filed suit in state Supreme Court, alleging the bank forced the project into bankruptcy by shutting off his construction funds.

Levy was not immediately available for comment, nor was YL Real Estate attorney David Segal. Christopher Sullivan, an attorney representing Anglo Irish Bank, was also not immediately available. [more]

Yair Levy and Park Columbus condominium at 101 West 87th Street on the corner of Columbus Avenue

The bankruptcy court of New York’s Southern District dished out another batch of bad news for embattled developer Yair Levy yesterday, ruling that the lender on Levy’s Park Columbus development at 101 West 87th Street could move forward with foreclosure proceedings, Crain’s reported. Levy had defaulted on the 95-unit condo’s $20 million loan last year, but the day before a September foreclosure auction was scheduled for the property, Levy filed for bankruptcy on the building and petitioned to block the auction. Despite the legal blow, Dan Deutsch, a representative for Levy from YL Real Estate Developers, said that Levy’s group will bring forward claims against its lenders. “We anticipated this might happen, but regardless, we are still pursuing damage claims against the banks,” Deutsch said.

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 Yair Levy is facing a bevy of fiscal nightmares, including a $100 million suit from 45 apartment owners at a Battery Park City condo conversion filed last month, making him one of the most troubled developers in New York City. While once considered the “condo king” of the city, Levy’s YL Real Estate Developers has come unraveled by poor project choices, according to a Crain’s profile, including Rector Square and Park Columbus. But while some of Levy’s developments, including the foreclosed condo conversion project Sheffield57, have proven irksome for Levy, he contends that many others face similar woes. “Everybody is in trouble,” Levy said, attributing his problems to “too many condo projects at the same time when the market collapsed.”

Yair Levy and Park Columbus condominium at 101 West 87th Street on the corner of Columbus Avenue

Garrison Special Opportunities Fund, a Manhattan-based hedge fund, alleges that developer Yair Levy threw his stalled Park Columbus condominium project at 101 West 87th Street into Chapter 11 the night before a scheduled Sept. 10 auction to foreclose on a defaulted $20 million mezzanine loan, according to a U.S. Bankruptcy Court filing obtained by The Real Deal. On Sept. 8, Levy filed to get a temporary restraining order in New York State Supreme Court blocking the foreclosure auction. Garrison officials allege in the filing that Levy failed to come up with a $20 million deposit the following day as demanded by Judge James Yates, in order to block the sale. After failing to produce the deposit, the filing alleges that Levy threw his YL West 87th Street Holdings entity into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, one night before the scheduled Sept. 10 auction. Garrison officials called the bankruptcy filing “a sham” and urged a U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge to lift an automatic “stay,” allowing it to move forward with the foreclosure auction, which would effectively sell the stalled project to a new owner. [more]

Developer Yair Levy has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Upper West Side condo conversion Park Columbus. YL West 87th Holdings, part of Levy’s YL Real Estate Developers, owes creditor Garrison Investment Group $20 million, according to the bankruptcy filing. The 95-unit Park Columbus, at 101 West 87th Street, has been troubled for months. In March, a subcontractor sued Levy for more than $700,000, alleging that he misappropriated funds for the building. Levy was also a partner in the failed Sheffield57 project. [more]