The developers of the Upper West Side’s Apthorp condominium are planning to withdraw their lawsuit against Anglo Irish Bank, according to documents filed in New York state Supreme Court this past Friday, and will allow the lender to sell the property’s troubled $385 million building loan to Dallas-based Loan Star Funds.

Anglo, the senior mortgage lender at the troubled condo, at 2211 Broadway, blasted the developers, led by Africa Israel USA and Broadwall Management, in a proposed order submitted to Judge Jeffrey Oing, detailing what it considers numerous attempts by the building sponsors to squirm out of their crumbling lawsuit, which sought to block the bank from selling the senior mortgage.

“Plaintiff’s current effort to dismiss this case in its entirety suggests that Anglo’s contention that this is a strike suit may well be correct,” Anglo Irish lawyers wrote in the proposed order. [more]

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and the Apthorp

The developers of the Apthorp condominium, who filed suit earlier this month to block Anglo Irish Bank from selling the property’s $385 million mortgage loan, previously told state regulators that the potential loan sale would have no impact on them or the property, according to documents obtained by The Real Deal.

In February, the Apthorp developers — led by Africa Israel — disclosed in a filing with Attorney General Eric Schneiderman that it was “not in default” on the mortgage, but there was a possibility that Anglo Irish “may sell the loan, however this would have no effect on the sponsor or the building.”

That disclosure stands in stark contrast to the language used by the developers in Sept. 12 suit against Anglo Irish, where they warned that the sale would violate a 2010 loan restructuring deal and would potentially harm the conversion. [more]

A fresh dispute is heating up for control of 103-year old landmark property the Apthorp, the Wall Street Journal reported. Developer Africa Israel USA and the building’s other owners are threatening to exercise a right in their loan agreement to block a sale of the $260 million mortgage on the property by Anglo Irish Bank to Lone Star Funds.
Private equity firms Lone Star, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase triumphed in a battle for Anglo Irish’s $9.5 billion portfolio of U.S. commercial real estate loans last month. Lone Star took pools of non-performing and sub-performing loans worth around $5 billion, including the Apthorp mortgage.

The ownership is preparing to take legal action, the Journal said, but the matter may still be worked out. [more]

From the September issue: In its eight years of publication, The Real Deal has covered the real estate industry in a city that’s been transformed by a massive building boom, was crippled by the subsequent bust, and is now in the midst of a tentative recovery.
The compendium of stories we’ve written runs the gamut from the record-setting building and apartment purchases during the boom, to the toppling of mega-developers during the bust, to new entrepreneurs trying to get into the real estate game during today’s fragile recovery. This month, for the anniversary of our 100th issue, we bring you some of the most compelling stories we’ve tracked in these pages, many of which have unfolded and evolved over time, much as the magazine itself has. And watch the video below to see The Real Deal Publisher Amir Korangy talk about the special process for creating the unique 100th issue cover.
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From left: Anglo Irish buildings the Apthorp in New York and the
Mandarin Oriental in Boston

Private equity firms Lone Star Funds, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase have triumphed in the battle for Anglo Irish Bank’s $9.5 billion portfolio of U.S. commercial real estate loans, sources told the Wall Street Journal. Lone Star took pools of non-performing and sub-performing loans worth around $5 billion, while Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase are to purchase pools of performing loans, worth $3 billion to $3.5 billion and $1 billion to $1.5 billion respectively.
Anglo Irish reportedly raised an amount within its broker’s early price guidance of $7 billion to $8 billion, the Journal said.

The sales are expected to close in October. The offering includes loans backed buildings from Manhattan — including the Apthorp at 390 West End Avenue — to Beverly Hills, Calif. Wells Fargo also won an auction for Bank of Ireland’s $1.4 billion U.S. commercial real estate loan portfolio, earlier this month. [WSJ]

The Apthorp’s retail space

Travel accessory retailer Tumi has signed a lease for 1,000 square feet on the ground floor of the Apthorp, and will open there next fall, the Apthorp’s sponsor announced. The cost and length of the lease were not disclosed. The retail condominium in the building at 390 West End Avenue was purchased by William Friedland for $37 million in February, and already lists JPMorgan Chase and the Apthorp Pharmacy as tenants. Another space of about 2,500 square feet remains available. Robert K. Futterman Associates Managing Director Beth Rosen, Executive Vice President Karen Bellatoni and Lynne Bremer of Fandel Retail Group represented Tumi in the transaction, while Friedland completed the deal without outside representation. TRD [more]

Mickey Rourke tours the Apthorp at 2211 Broadway

Oscar-nominated actor Mickey Rourke has been wrestling with options at the Apthorp, the storied Upper West Side residential building at 2211 Broadway, a broker source has told The Real Deal.
Rourke, who currently lives Downtown, toured approximately four units in the building with his girlfriend, Anastasia Makarenko, a Russian model, during an impromptu mid-day visit last week. Although Rourke’s stated price range is around $2 million, the source told The Real Deal that he looked at two-bedroom and one-bedroom convertible units that had asking prices ranging between $3 million and $4 million. An on-site sales representative reportedly led the tour, which was not pre-arranged, according to The Real Deal’s source, who described Rourke as doting and sweet to his girlfriend. [more]

Lev Leviev, head of Africa Israel, and the Apthorp

A state Supreme Court judge ruled Monday against the owners of the famed Apthorp condominium on the Upper West Side, blocking a proposed monthly rent increase of about $37 per apartment. The owners wanted to overturn an earlier denial by the state Division of Housing and Community Renewal of their effort to recoup $2.9 million in capital improvements with the hike. Judge Alice Schlesinger ruled that the ownership group, led by Africa Israel Corp. and Mann Realty Associates, failed to provide evidence that new electrical wiring in the 163-unit building had been properly installed and documented.
The case stemmed from a so-called major capital improvements request from the building’s previous owners.
“The tenants won a well-deserved victory when Judge Schlesinger correctly upheld the DHCR denial of the electrical MCI because of the owner’s failure to provide DHCR with the required documentation,” said attorney David Hershey-Webb, who represented the tenants.
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From left: Matt Damon, the Apthorp, 271 Central Park West (Source: PropertyShark), 535 West End Avenue

(Updated 5:34 p.m.): Matt Damon may play ultra-stealth Jason Bourne on the silver screen, but when it comes to his New York City apartment search, he couldn’t be more on-the-radar. The actor, who currently resides in a rental unit at the Belnord, at 225 West 86th Street, and has been reportedly looking up and down Central Park West and Fifth Avenue in recent months, was spotted apartment-hunting all over the neighborhood again this weekend. Broker sources confirmed to The Real Deal that he is looking for a permanent abode in the $12 million range. This weekend’s tour included veteran broker Agnes Nolan’s penthouse duplex at 271 Central Park West, currently on the market for $13.9 million, and apartments at both the Apthorp and, as recently as today, at Extell Development’s 535 West End Avenue, according to the sources. He was seen taking a second look at the 535 West End Avenue unit today. Damon, who also owns a loft on Lafayette Street, has been working with a number of brokers on his well-documented search. Previously reports have pegged him at the Beresford, the Majestic, 1010 and 1030 Fifth Avenue, as well as at Adam Gordon’s 26 West 76th Street townhouse, which the Post reported today has since sold to Avis rent-a-car billionaire Henry Silverman for $19.3 million.
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The Apthorp and Dolly Lenz

High-end broker Dolly Lenz is quietly showing the apartment of developer Maurice Mann at the Upper West Side condominium conversion project the Apthorp, with a price tag of more than $12 million, sources said.
Lenz has been giving tours of Mann’s apartment, unit 2C, in the building at 390 West End Avenue between 78th and 79th streets, which the embattled developer recently vacated, the sources said.
Lenz had no comment and messages left with Maurice Mann’s office were not returned.
Mann, general partner of investment and management company Mann Realty Associates, led a group of investors that purchased the Apthorp in 2007 for $426 million with the intention of converting it to condominiums. Mann was replaced as managing partner by Africa Israel, however the Feil Organization is the managing agent at the building. Mann and his company were sued in New York State Supreme Court in November 2009 for allegedly not paying $400,000 in commissions to the Manhattan brokerage Blue Rock Properties, that helped arrange financing for the acquisition. TRD [more]