Lehman looks to revive Swig’s 25 Broad

Kent Swig and 25 Broad Street

Lehman Brothers Holdings is seeking approval from the judge handling its bankruptcy case to restart Kent Swig’s stalled condominium conversion project at 25 Broad Street and turn the building into rental apartments. According to Bloomberg News, the bank said in a court filing that it plans to foreclose on both the conversion and on an adjacent development parcel at 45 Broad Street, and wants to invest $25 million to finish the job. Lehman has already poured $39.9 million into 25 Broad Street since Swig defaulted in 2009. As part of completing the 281-unit project, the bank would demolish the building’s south wing and transfer its 64,000 square feet of development rights to 45 Broad in order to attract potential buyers for the latter parcel. In the filing, the bank said it “expects to prevail” in the foreclosure at 25 Broad after the third quarter, and that completing and leasing the units there would help to cover the cost of building operations. Rose Associates already has 25 Broad, which Swig had once dubbed the Exchange, listed on its website as a “new rental building available” beginning in June. [Bloomberg]