W Financial President Gregg Winter and 20 Bayard

After settling a two-year-old bankruptcy case at 20 Bayard in Williamsburg, senior lender W Financial Fund has sold the unsold shares, which include 37 vacant apartments, to Brooklyn investment firm Fortis Property Group for $25 million, according to the lender.

After settling the bankruptcy case with developer Isaac Hager, president of North Development Group, the lender was planning to take over the project, but was blown away by an unsolicited offer from Fortis.

“The idea was that we would own the remaining apartments,” W Financial President Gregg Winter said. “At last second as we were preparing to close a week and a half ago, we were approached by [Fortis], [who was] fervently interested in buying our interest.” [more]

From left: Steven Spinola, president of the REBNY; Eric Anton, executive managing director at Eastern Consolidated; Debra Shultz, managing director at Manhattan Mortgage; David Heiden, a principal at W Financial and Barry Sternlicht, chairman and CEO of Starwood Capital Group

As the debt ceiling debate nears a critical juncture in Washington D.C., real estate executives in New
York are concerned that absent a final resolution, the fragile recovery will be short circuited by a sudden
spike in interest rates.

Steven Spinola, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, the 12,000-member trade organization,
said the industry’s main concern is the impact a debt ceiling default could have on projects financed
with tax exempt bonds.

“If there is no agreement and our credit rating goes down, what will that do to interest rates?” Spinola
said. [more]

From the June issue: In the easy lending climate of recent
years, it seemed almost anyone, no matter how much money they had in their bank
account, could become a real estate developer. But in the post-boom
world, lenders are hinging much of their decision-making on something
that was previously off-limits: a developer’s personal wealth. Real
estate financial experts say sponsors now must display evidence of
tremendous riches to qualify for a loan, as lenders examine everything
from borrowers’ cars to their vacation homes and their kids’ college
tuitions. As a result, real estate development has transformed from a
great equalizer, an industry offering opportunities for a wide range of
entrepreneurs, to the exclusive province of the rich and famous. [more]