Petra to sell foreclosed Jasper condo

Real estate investment firm Petra Capital Management, which took control of an unfinished Ismael Leyva-designed condominium conversion in Murray Hill in October, has found a buyer for the property, the Jasper at 114 East 32nd Street, sources with knowledge of the deal told The Real Deal today.

Petra, which loaned $95 million to developer and Harch Group founder Harry Jeremias for the Jasper in 2007 and later filed to foreclose when Jeremias defaulted, signed a contract with a purchaser who was “not local,” one source said, while another speculated that the buyer was a Turkish company seeking to convert the property to an extended stay hotel. The sale price is $55 million, the source said.

A person who answered the phone at Petra declined to comment on the sale of the 17-story property, citing legal issues since the deal is not in its finished stages.

“The transaction is still being negotiated, “she said, before hanging up abruptly, “and is not up for discussion right now.”

As The Real Deal previously reported, the Jasper, which was acquired by Jeremias from Parklex Associates in May 2006 for $53 million, opened with a bang soon after, with the developer claiming more than 40 contract signings in the first several months of sales. Sales Prices ranged from $795,000 for a 591-square-foot studio to $2.9 million for a 1,594-square-foot, three-bedroom unit, according to Streeteasy.com.

By November 2008, however, the conversion of the 80-unit building was halted; the developer cited slow sales and millions of dollars in cost overruns.

Petra reportedly hired the capital markets team at Jones Lang LaSalle to market the 80-unit building. The team did not respond to requests for comment and Jeremias was not immediately available to comment.