Sapir’s failing mental health revealed in court


Tamir Sapir and William Beaver House

Tamir Sapir, the embattled billionaire developer who heads the Sapir Organization and helped develop the Trump Soho building, has been suffering from aphasia, a “deteriorating mental condition,” since 1998, which has left him unable to do much more than smile and sign his name, according to his attorney Stephen Meister, in court documents obtained by Curbed. The illness was revealed earlier this month in court proceedings over a $130 million suit which The Real Deal first reported in May. Tamir is being sued by GSO Re Onshore, a fund controlled by the Blackstone Group, over an unpaid loan used to develop the Andre Balazs-designed William Beaver House condominium in Lower Manhattan.

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Sapir said that he was tricked into amending the loan and making guarantees that helped the debt spiral out of control, Meister said. Due to Sapir’s condition, Tamir’s son, Alex, has reportedly been controlling the Sapir Organization for the last few years. The elder Sapir’s health condition was kept a secret to prevent lenders from acting in a “predatory manner” to swoop in and damage the company, Meister added.

The Sapir Organization also faces litigation from commercial real estate brokerage Rosenhaus Real Estate, which claims the developer failed to pay commissions at its 260-261 Madison Avenue office complex in Midtown and its former office tower at 100 Church Street near the World Trade Center site, which The Real Deal reported two months ago. [Curbed]