Turtle Bay foreclosure suit on $38M former Lehman loans
July 01, 2009 12:30PM By Adam Pincus
313-317 East 46th Street rendering
A Swedish bank that holds dozens of former Lehman Brothers Holdings notes is foreclosing on nearly $38 million in loans secured by one of those properties where developer Alexander Gurevich hoped to build a 75-unit condominium project near the United Nations, court papers show.
Swedbank AB sued Gurevich's East 46th Borrower in New York State Supreme Court June 26 to foreclose on the acquisition, building and project loans totaling $37.8 million, the filings show. The suit also names six construction-related firms that have filed a total of $4.675 million in mechanic's liens on the property.
In December, the loans on the planned 18-story condo at 313-317 East 46th Street between First and Second avenues in Turtle Bay were transferred from Lehman Brothers to Swedbank, an international lender based in Sweden, with offices in New York, the filing says. Progress at the site stalled last fall, and on October 31, the loan went into default, the complaint says.
Gurevich and Swedbank did not respond to requests for comment.
This is not the only former Lehman Brothers note held by Swedbank. In September 2008, Swedbank took over 69 Lehman Brothers loans secured by 55 properties valued in March at $1.35 billion, the bank's first quarter 2009 report says.
Swedbank was party to another foreclosure lawsuit filed this month. It joined with ING Real Estate Finance in suing an entity of Aby Rosen's RFR Holding that was to develop the Shangri-La Hotel New York at 610 Lexington Avenue, seeking repayment of $144.2 million in loans.
And Gurevich is in a dispute with another lender. In February, Alexander Gurevich sued Chinatrust Bank (U.S.A.) for $110 million, claiming the bank withheld advances on the building loan at a Borough Park, Brooklyn, condo project at 4102 13th Avenue.
The bank responded in court papers filed March 20 that the developer was in default on its $10.4 million loan.
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Comments
Anonymous
Not a good sign for the Alexander at 49th / 2nd.
Comment #1 Posted By: Anonymous 07/01/09
Anonymous
The Alexander is next to collapse. Gurevich runs his whole business on a shoestring.
Comment #2 Posted By: Anonymous 07/02/09
Anonymous
speaking of collapse, was this the crain collapse bldg?
Comment #3 Posted By: Anonymous 07/02/09
Ralph
hi I like to ask you if you know the of bank name thanks
Comment #4 Posted By: Ralph 07/03/09
Anonymous
No this was not the crane collapse bldg. I live right across the street and no crane ever fell. That happened like 8 blocks up from here. It's a shame this building was looking so beautiful and now it's a big chunk of cement, making our block so ugly.
Comment #5 Posted By: Anonymous 09/29/09