Bluestone Group buys note on French artist’s loft in Chelsea

From left: Artist Bernar Venet, 117-119 West 21st Street (source: PropertyShark) and Eli Tabak of Bluestone

Downtown-based distressed property buyers the Bluestone Group yesterday acquired the nonperforming note on a Chelsea building owned by French artist Bernar Venet, at 117-119 West 21st Street, the company said in a statement to The Real Deal.

The approximately 20,000-square-foot vacant loft building between Sixth and Seventh avenues is next to the Indigo Condominium at 125 West 21st Street, where this month lender Capital One was marketing the note on a retail condominium owned by the Alrose Group.

Some of Venet’s work is included in the collection of the prestigious Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Gallery in Washington, D.C. Venet was born in France in 1941 and moved to New York City in 1966.

City property records show the $5.5 million note was held by Brooklyn Federal Savings Bank. Eli Tabak, a principal at Bluestone, would not disclose the purchase price. A spokesperson for the bank was not immediately available for comment.

The company has acquired 22 notes valued at more than $80 million over the past two years, Tabak said. The firm intends to commence foreclosure proceedings at 117-119 West 21st Street, but Tabak would not comment on plans for the building. The property has development rights for 32,614 square feet, figures from PropertyShark.com show.

“We like the collateral and are comfortable with its value,” Tabak said.