Condo project facing foreclosure suit set to hit auction block

Six units at M127, a newly developed condo at 127 Madison Avenue between
30th and 31st streets, will be auctioned off Sunday afternoon, as The Real Deal reported last month. Five two-bedroom units are available, plus a 2,255-square-foot duplex penthouse. Developer Cardinal Investments decided to put the nine-unit development up for auction after its sales attempts failed, Crain’s said. After selling only three units in early 2008, the developer took the remaining six units off the market for a year during the recession. Last year, Cardinal Investments appeared to be illegally renting out the unsold condos in the building. The Bank of Smithtown filed a foreclosure action on the property, whose debt was valued at nearly $9 million. Sources told Crain’s that the auction was a way to help the firm work out its problems with the bank while avoiding lengthy litigation. The auction, the first of its kind in Manhattan, will be conducted by Paramount Realty at the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown.[Crain’s]