The last six apartments at the 12-story M127 condo — which had been on the brink of foreclosure after a failed sales attempt — sold out at a Roosevelt Hotel auction yesterday in a little more than an hour, according to the Wall Street Journal. It was the first successful auction by a Manhattan developer — Cardinal Investments — in over two decades, said Misha Haghani of Paramount Realty USA, who ran the event. More than 100 registered bidders attended, and winners paid an average of $840 per square foot for the apartments — a major discount. A 1,577-square-foot apartment sold for $1.24 million, 25 percent less than what a similar apartment fetched in 2008. Cardinal, which had sold only three units in the nine-unit building at 127 Madison Avenue in early 2008 and had nearly $9 million in debt on the property, yanked the remaining six homes from the market during the downturn. As The Real Deal reported last year, Cardinal was illegally renting those homes in the interim to short-term and extended-stay hotel guests. [WSJ]

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The last six apartments at the 12-story M127 condo — which had been on the brink of foreclosure after a failed sales attempt — sold out at a Roosevelt Hotel auction yesterday in a little more than an hour, according to the Wall Street Journal. It was the first successful auction by a Manhattan developer — Cardinal Investments — in over two decades, said Misha Haghani of Paramount Realty USA, who ran the event. More than 100 registered bidders attended, and winners paid an average of $840 per square foot for the apartments — a major discount. A 1,577-square-foot apartment sold for $1.24 million, 25 percent less than what a similar apartment fetched in 2008. Cardinal, which had sold only three units in the nine-unit building at 127 Madison Avenue in early 2008 and had nearly $9 million in debt on the property, yanked the remaining six homes from the market during the downturn. As The Real Deal reported last year, Cardinal was illegally renting those homes in the interim to short-term and extended-stay hotel guests. [WSJ]

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127 Madison Avenue

Reflecting signs of a turbulent market, property fund Cardinal Real Estate Investments will hold a one-day auction in June for the six remaining units in its nine-apartment building at 127 Madison Avenue, called M127, the New York Times reported. “There’s going to be some discount for this transpiring in an auction format,” said Kyle Ransford, a founder of Cardinal Investments. “But the upside for us is that it happens quickly.” Open houses will be held starting Memorial Day. On June 27, the rest of the apartments will be auctioned off at the Roosevelt Hotel, in an event organized by Paramount Realty USA. There is no minimum bid for the two-bedroom units, some of which have been listed for as much as $1.9 million, but there is a “suggested opening bid” of $599,000. In February of last year, The Real Deal reported that Cardinal Investments had been renting out unsold apartments in the M127, and in one of its other buildings on the Lower East Side. [NYT]

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From left: the Soho Grand Hotel, Tribeca Grand hotel and the Maritime Hotel are possible credit risks

The troubled hotel climate in Manhattan prompted securitized loan servicing firms to characterize five mortgages for hotels, including the Soho Grand, as potential credit risks last month. The move doubles the number of Manhattan hotels on so-called watchlists to 11. The largest loan is for a $195 million note covering both the Soho Grand and Tribeca Grand, which are both owned by Hartz Mountain Industries. The loan was put on the watchlist in part because the hotels do not generate enough cash to cover the debt service payments, its servicer report says. [more]