From left: Rector Square, YL Real Estate Developers’ Yair Levy and Justin Metz, a managing principal with Related Companies

[Updated: 11:53 a.m., Jan. 24, 2011] Related Cos. today closed the long-anticipated acquisition of Rector Square, the Battery Park City condominium that was foreclosed on by Anglo Irish Bank, for $82.8 million, The Real Deal has learned.
Anglo Irish bought the unsold shares of the condo at a November auction of the 304-unit building at 225 Rector Place for the same amount of money, and sold the property to Related, which had been managing the property for nearly one-and-a-half years after the lender filed to foreclose on former developer Yair Levy.

“Rector Square is an asset that we were very familiar with, having initially developed the property and later served as managing agent for the receiver,” said Justin Metz, managing principal at Related. “We look forward to bringing new resources to the development and maximizing value for both our partners and existing owners.” [more]

Rector Place and Yair Levy

The Related Companies will take over the unsold units and commercial space at Yair Levy’s Rector Square condominium for $82.8 million next week, sources told Crain’s. Anglo Irish Bank, the project’s largest lender, took control of the property for the same price at a foreclosure auction in November in which Anglo, owed around $135 million, was the only bidder. Related has been widely expected to eventually take the reins as the company has been managing the Battery Park City property, at 225 Rector Place, under a receiver since last year. [more]

Rector Place and Yair Levy

Embattled developer Yair Levy and his son-in-law Daniel Deutsch are facing a $20 million lawsuit from unit owners at the Rector Square condominium, alleging they failed to complete construction and pay common charges as well as illegally converted funds at the property, all before the building was foreclosed on by Anglo Irish Bank.

The suit, filed Dec. 13 in New York State Supreme Court, claims that residents of the 304-unit building, at 225 Rector Place, have been unable to refinance, sell or get approval for any financial transactions at the building due to Levy defaulting on nearly $165 million in loans at the building, which led to the 2009 foreclosure. [more]

From left: Andrew Cuomo, Rector Square and Yair Levy

A state Supreme Court judge ruled today that Attorney General Andrew Cuomo can proceed in his civil suit against developer Yair Levy, who is facing banishment from future condominium unit sales after he allegedly misappropriated millions of dollars from the Rector Square reserve fund.

Cuomo sued Levy, alleging that the man formerly known as the “condo king” illegally withdrew $1.6 million in reserve funds at the 303-unit building in Battery Park City, and signed over checks to family, while using the money to pay credit card bills at Macy’s and Verizon Wireless.
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Lender Anglo Irish Bank will cease to exist within a few months’ time, according to Ireland’s central bank. The bank’s “nameplate” will be removed in early 2011, as the lender is wound down as quickly as possible and its deposits are given a “comfortable home,” said Governor Patrick Honohan. According to Bloomberg News, the central bank today issued a statement saying that it’s working on a new restructuring plan for the bank, which will be filed to the European Commission by the end of January. Comments

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Rector Square and Yair Levy

Anglo Irish Bank acquired unsold shares of Rector Square, the troubled Battery Park City condominium, during a public auction at the New York state Supreme Court this afternoon, with a winning bid of $82.75 million.

Anglo Irish, the senior lender at the 304-unit building at 225 Rector Place, plans to resell the building to new investors, according to the bank’s attorneys, who explained that the bank wanted to make sure the property had stable ownership going forward.

“The bank invested so much in [the building] that it’s interested in seeing that the building finds a good home,” said Herrick Feinstein attorney Chris Sullivan, who represented Anglo Irish in its foreclosure case against the property. [more]

From left: Yair Levy, Eastdil’s Doug Harmon and 101 West 87th Street

Commercial and residential landlord Fisher Brothers placed a $48 million bid in bankruptcy court to buy the Upper West Side apartment building Park Columbus where embattled developer Yair Levy failed in his effort to convert the rental property to condominiums. The 95-unit apartment building at 101 West 87th Street at Columbus Avenue, constructed by the Related Companies in the 1980s, is being sold in Manhattan federal bankruptcy court.

An entity called 101W 87th LLC made the so-called stalking horse bid of $48 million, Manhattan federal bankruptcy court records show. A source who declined to be identified but has knowledge of the deal said Fisher Brothers, the long-time real estate family, controlled the bidding entity. The property has loans valued at $52.6 million, city records show. [more]

620 Sixth Avenue (source: PropertyShark)

SEIU 32BJ, the largest property services union in the country, has leased 245,000 square feet at 620 Sixth Avenue in a cost-saving move that will trim nearly $20 million from the organization’s annual budget, according to a press release. The union is ditching its current headquarters at 101 Sixth Avenue, where its lease is set to expire next year and where, the Wall Street Journal reported, it occupies around 400,000 square feet for almost $70 per square foot. The building workers union, which last month reached a last-minute contract agreement with the city to avoid a strike, will pay in the mid-$30s per square foot for its new digs. 620 Sixth Avenue is owned by a partnership between Charles Dayan and developers Joseph Chetrit and Yair Levy. TRD

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Yair Levy and 102-104 Fulton Street

Developer Yair Levy is facing a foreclosure suit from Bank of America after he allegedly defaulted on a $2.28 million loan backed by the commercial space at the Fulton-Chambers Condominium in Lower Manhattan.
Levy allegedly failed to make timely monthly payments since July 11, 2009, and got a second mortgage on the property for an entity called LawLand, without the prior approval of the lender, according to the complaint, filed March 8 in New York State Supreme Court. He also granted a “security interest” in the property to Sosana Levy, his wife, without prior approval of the lender, the complaint alleges.
Levy originally borrowed the money from UBS Real Estate Investments in November 2004, and signed a personal guarantee, according to the complaint. UBS later assigned the loan to LaSalle Bank National Association, which was trustee of a commercial mortgage-backed security LB-UBS series 2005-C1. The loan was scheduled to mature in December 2014. Bank of America bought LaSalle in 2007 for $21 billion, thus inheriting its loans. [more]

Sean FitzPatrick, former chairman of the Anglo Irish Bank, was arrested yesterday on charges of alleged financial fraud. FitzPatrick, one of Ireland’s most visible financial executives, has been accused of fiscal impropriety in the past. FitzPatrick left his post as Anglo Irish’s chairman in December 2008 amid allegations that he had concealed personal loans, valued at tens of millions of dollars, from shareholders. On this side of the Atlantic, Anglo Irish has made waves in the New York City real estate world. After buying big during the boom years, the bank saw its investments flounder in the financial downturn. In January 2009, the bank filed to foreclose on developer Yair Levy’s $165 million mortgage on Rector Square, a 304-unit residential development at 225 Rector Place in Battery Park City.