From left: The Real Deal’s top stories include best and worst deals, the profile of one-time real estate big wig Michael Shvo, and news on the Setai

The most popular stories on The Real Deal Web site from 2009, based on the number of page views, run the gamut from a collection of the best and worst deals since the crunch, to a profile of the boom-time marketing wunderkind Michael Shvo, to the breaking news that the Setai joined the number of city projects releasing buyers from their contracts.

Here are the top 10 stories of the year:

1. Finding a bottom in Brooklyn
2. The best and worst deals
3. Where in the world did Shvo go?
4. Setai condo buyers granted right to cancel contracts, get deposits back
5. New York could see a double dip in residential market
6. ‘Vornado Tornado’ gets ready to land
7. Where are buyers backing out?
8. Fortress buys Sheffield57 at auction for $20M
9.The tallest green condo shoots
10. SL Green battles Levy, Chetrit in Chelsea [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.”

From left to right: Kent Swig, Yair Levy, Harry Macklowe and Aby Rosen could be personally liable to lenders.

From the November issue: Contrary to popular belief, commercial lenders did not throw out all of their standards in the recent cycle of easy credit.
When developer Aby Rosen structured his $133 million loan for the
acquisition and development of the Shangri-La hotel at 614 Lexington
Avenue in April 2007, the mortgage document included a personal
guaranty to cover losses in the event of a default. Similarly, when Kent Swig negotiated $49 million in loans with
Lehman Brothers Holdings to develop a hotel and condo project at 45
Broad Street in the Financial District in 2006 and 2007, the bank
demanded a similar guaranty in the mortgage documents.
And other big-time borrowers such as developer Yair Levy and
investor Steven Elghanayan have made the same types of commitments to
convince banks to make loans on their projects. [more]

Developer Kent Swig was denied a motion to reargue or stay enforcement of a $32 million judgment by Square Mile Structured Debt yesterday. New York State Supreme Court Judge Bernard Fried ruled that Swig failed to prove any legal errors that would allow him to reopen or delay the case. The judgment was issued against Swig after he defaulted on a $28 million personal loan from Square Mile that was used to help develop the troubled Sheffield57 condominium near Columbus Circle. Fried denied the motion despite allegations that Swig was denied access to critical documents and that Square Mile misrepresented key facts to Swig. Fried ruled that the only way to issue a stay would be if the court “overlooked or misapprehended the facts or the law.” The ruling will likely provide further hardship for Swig and his considerable number of real estate assets, which include Swig Equities, the real estate development firm, Helmsley-Spear, the commercial real estate firm previously owned by Harry Helmsley and Terra Holdings (where he is co-chairman and co-owner), the parent company of Brown Harris Stevens and Halstead Property. [more]

German-based lender Deutsche Bank is suing to recover $11.3 million in personal loans it gave to developer Kent Swig at the height of the market. In the lawsuit — which was filed on Thursday in New York State Supreme Court — Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas claims Swig borrowed $6.8 million in March 2007 in two separate loans and borrowed another $5 million in October of that year. But, according to the suit, the embattled developer defaulted after paying back only a small portion of the loan with $11.3 million still outstanding. The bank may, however, have to get in a long line of creditors seeking money from Swig, president of development firm Swig Equities. He is fighting creditors on a number of fronts and last month threatened to file for personal bankruptcy if a $28 million judgment tied to Sheffield57 was enforced. [more]

From the October issue: As the real estate industry scrambles to unwind billions of dollars in
distressed inventory, a number of high-profile deals are stuck in
neutral as lenders battle it out with each other to see who will get
paid and who will be left holding the (empty) bag. While creditors often turn on each other during a workout, the massive
number of securitized loans with multiple lenders and third-party
servicing firms managing the funds is creating a level of complexity
that may take years to sort out, analysts said. Unlike the previous downturn in the 1990s, the majority of large deals
during the recent real estate boom were made using securitized loans –
or at least loans with large syndicates, or groups of lenders sharing
the burden of a single loan.

Developer and Terra Holdings Co-Chairman Kent Swig, has filed suit against an asset management firm for withholding nearly all of his compensation after a restraining order was issued to enforce a multi-million dollar judgment by Square Mile Structured Debt. Swig filed suit Sept. 24 against Manhattan-based Properties Asset Management Services in New York State Supreme Court, alleging the firm is withholding his compensation after Square Mile sent a subpoena requesting information about Swig’s salary and other compensation at Terra. No information was immediately available on the current amount of Swig’s compensation. [more]

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]

Yair Levy, 225 Rector Square

Anglo Irish Bank filed a motion in New York State Supreme Court earlier this month to complete foreclosure proceedings against Rector Square developer Yair Levy and place the troubled Battery Park condominium conversion on the auction block for sale to a new investor. Anglo Irish originally filed suit in February alleging that Levy defaulted on a $165 million mortgage loan to convert the 304-unit rental building at 225 Rector Place, and failed to pay millions of dollars in contractor’s fees, common charges and PILOT payments to the Battery Park City Authority, which controls the ground lease under most, if not all, Battery Park buildings. Levy later tried to preempt the foreclosure suit by filing a countersuit in Nassau County, where he resides, alleging that Anglo Irish forced his property into default by holding up construction dollars. That case was later consolidated into the foreclosure suit filed by Anglo Irish.  More

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