Harry Macklowe is suing fellow developer Kent Swig

Developer Kent Swig’s estranged in-laws filed suit in Manhattan Supreme Court, seeking repayment of $200,000 they claim to have loaned him in October 2009, the New York Daily News reported.

Swig was previously married to Elizabeth Macklowe, Harry’s daughter, but rumors began to swirl in March 2010 that the romance had gone south. According to an affidavit filed by Harry Macklowe’s lawyer, who was not named, he has been seeking repayment for the loan since March 2010. [more]

From left: Sierra’s Peter Braus, Kent Swig, 140 William Street (building photo source: PropertyShark)

A seven-story, roughly 40,000-square-foot vacant commercial building at 140 William Street once owned by real estate developer Kent Swig has begun seeking tenants for the first time since it changed hands, after sitting vacant for “several years,” according to Sierra Realty, the exclusive leasing brokerage for the Financial District property. The building, which Swig sold at a 53 percent loss in July when investor Chris Soukas snapped it up for $11.35 million, according to public records. [more]

Kent Swig

Kent Swig, the real estate developer whose Sheffield57 is considered one of the most troubled condo conversion efforts in New York City history, is rushing to form a real estate investment trust as a means of paying back the $50 million he owes lenders, according to Crain’s. The plan, which has reportedly been in the works for months, would involve grouping together a collection of Swig’s properties in the REIT, doling out shares to investors and then taking the REIT public. The only hitch, however, is that all of Swig’s creditors and lenders have to agree on the plan before it can be enacted — and the lenders are reportedly growing tired of the ongoing negotiations.
[more]

The once dominant commercial property firm Helmsley Spear, owned by embattled developer Kent Swig, is ending its third-party commercial brokerage operations to focus on managing its own assets and acquiring others, the company said in a statement. A division of Helmsley Spear is in negotiations to purchase “several” buildings, either commercial or multi-family, in New York City, a source at Helmsley Spear said. “We have identified the assets and we are in negotiations. We are past the point of due diligence,” the source said. “We just can’t announce what they are until the contracts have been executed.” In the company statement, it said, “Helmsley Spear looks forward to announcing several new investment acquisitions over the next 30 to 60 days.” [more]

Some of the most commented stories of the year include (from left): the Corcoran Group’s court appeal, the Marcus & Millichap sham sale lawsuit, the closure of Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy, and Kent Swig’s Square Mile woes

The most popular story of the year based on the number of comments it has received on The Real Deal Web site is Corcoran appeal of broker privacy ruling begins. The item is about the the beginning of oral arguments in the Corcoran Group’s appeal of a State Supreme Court ruling that found the firm took advantage of former broker Sarit Shmueli by accessing her client list after she was terminated from the agency. The article has generated 232 comments. The second most commented article is a follow-up story on the Corcoran-Shmueli case. The story, “Corcoran ruling upheld in appellate court,” addresses how the ruling against Corcoran was upheld, in what is considered a
landmark case that found agents — and not firms — to be in ownership
of their own client lists. The item received 197 comments. The third most popular story based on comment tally is a question The Real Deal posed to readers: “Who is the best real estate lawyer out there?” One hundred and sixty-one people submitted responses. See the full list of the most commented stories of the year, in order of popularity, here. [more]

Kent Swig and Sheffield57

An entity called OSS Real Estate Holdings paid $14.1 million for 11 upper-floor condominium units in the Sheffield57 condo conversion at 322 West 57th Street. The buyer went into contract for the units between the 33rd and 46th floors in April and closed July 21, city property records show. The apartments sold for $1,200 per square foot, an analysis of city records shows. The managing member of OSS Real Estate Holdings is Edward Campanella, president of the Midtown-based construction management firm MBI Group. Sheffield57 developer Kent Swig of Swig Equities has been battling both personal and corporate lawsuits. A spokesperson for Swig declined to comment and a representative for Campanella was not immediately available for comment. The largest unit is a 1,599-square-foot apartment, while the smallest were two units with 615 square feet each.

[more]

A New York State Supreme Court granted a $28.4 million judgment Friday
against developer Kent Swig after he defaulted on a personal loan from
a real estate investment firm led by investor Jeffrey Citrin for the
Sheffield57 condominium conversion. The case involved a $21.15 million personal loan that Swig took out in
July 2007 from the lender, Square Mile Structured Debt, to help fund
the conversion of Sheffield57, a luxury apartment building at 322 West
57th Street, which his company was converting from a rental tower. Swig had promised to convert the loan into an equity stake in
Sheffield57, but did not get an agreement from his lenders. Judge
Bernard Fried ruled that because it was a personal loan, Swig was still
on the hook for the money. “Furthermore, contrary to the defendant Swig’s assertion, the loan
agreement and note are instruments for the payment of money only,”
Fried wrote in his ruling. “This case does not involve a complex
financial transaction. The loan agreement establishes a discreet
obligation, and the note was, by its express terms, an absolute,
unconditional promise of payment by Swig.” [more]

The global recession and the credit crisis are having an effect on new
hotel construction throughout the U.S., especially in New York City.
Total projects under construction in the U.S. have fallen 20.1 percent
since last year, with a corresponding 27.2 percent drop in the number
of rooms, according to the June 2009 STR/TWR/Dodge Construction
Pipeline Report released exclusively to HotelNewsNow.com, a division of Smith Travel Research. [more]

Kent Swig

Citibank claims developer Kent Swig owes it $5 million from a defaulted
personal loan; a contractor filed suit against Joseph Moinian’s
development company for unpaid work; and embattled Bronx landlord
Ocelot Capital Group claims a former company official sold its secrets. Click here for the full story. [more]