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Court permits Trevor Davis to sell condos at 1055 Park Avenue
A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge yesterday approved a plan by developer Trevor Davis to resume selling
apartments at his troubled condominium project, 1055 Park Avenue, on the Upper East Side.
The ruling by Judge Shelley Chapman should help resolve more than six months of legal battles between Davis and his lenders, who were about to foreclose on the troubled condominium in late December, when Davis suddenly filed for personal bankruptcy protection.
“It should help him resolve some of his financial problems and probably come out of Chapter 11,” attorney
Scott Markowitz told The Real Deal.
When asked if the agreement would help get Davis closer to resolving the bankruptcy, Davis told The Real
Deal, he “certainly hope[s] so.”
Chapman ordered Davis to close the sale of five of his six apartments, which are currently under contract,
by June 14th, which would generate $19 million in proceeds. Those funds must initially be used to pay off
the $18 million debt he owes his senior lender, an entity called 1055 Park, controlled by Austrian investor
Andreas Badian.
The remaining $937,000 from the first five units must be used to pay off expenses. Davis was ordered to
enter a contract for the sixth and final apartment by June 10, and close by June 14.
That deal that is expected to generate $5 million in proceeds, of which $4.5 million must be used to pay
off Zimco, a Manhattan-based real estate firm led by Mikhael Kurnev, a former executive at Coalco, the
developer of the Element condominium.
Court documents identified the buyer of the final apartment as Drew Greenwald. Greenwald was not
immediately available for comment.
As The Real Deal previously reported, Davis reached an agreement with New Valley, the 50 percent owner
of Prudential Douglas Elliman, to refinance the property, contingent on the simultaneous closings of units
at the building. Markowitz said the five initial apartment sales — all cash — are scheduled to close this
weekend.
Should Davis work out this deal, he still has several other financial hurdles to unravel, including a
contentious divorce proceeding from his wife Diane, a lawsuit for back rent at his 860 Lexington Avenue
office and a lawsuit for his family apartment at the Empire Condominium at 188 East 78th Street.
In addition, Davis has a multi-million farm in Putnam county that is cross-collateralized with his properties
here in New York. He said in court papers that he was trying to market the farm, but has limited options on
that property. Davis also has property on the island of Anguilla.
Lawyers for Davis’ lenders were not immediately available for comment.