Lender takes control, plans luxury condo at 5 Franklin Place

The lender at a Tribeca residential condominium at 5 Franklin Place, between White and Franklin streets, has taken control of the development site after successfully bidding at a foreclosure auction earlier today, attorney Mitchell Hill of law firm Troutman Sanders told The Real Deal.

Franklin Lender LLC, an entity that is owned and controlled by Israeli property firm Fishman Holdings of North America, was the only bidder and paid slightly less than the mortgage lien of $47 million, said Yehuda Mor, executive vice president of Fishman. “We are planning to build a high-end residential condo at the site,” he said.

The 18,747-square-foot property was previously acquired for $36.6 million in 2006 by an LLC called Franklin Place, and controlled by Madison Avenue-based developer Sleepy Hudson, which had intended to construct a 20-story 55-unit condo. Development stalled during the recession and the site was put back on the market for $19.5 million, but never sold. Franklin Place LLC completed part of the foundation and the initial lower-floor structure.

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Mor said it was too early to specify the size of the building or number of units at the condo, or when construction would start.


The Real Deal
reported in 2009 that Franklin Place LLC was sued by the building’s exclusive marketing team, Corcoran Sunshine Margeting Group, over unpaid expenses.

Franklin Place LLC was not immediately available for comment.

Fishman also controls a five-story building at 71 Reade Street and 950 Second Avenue, a development site that can accommodate up to about 80,000 square feet of residential space, which it bought for $25 million earlier this year.