Developer Stephane Boivin, who is developing a mixed-use condominium project on the site of a Soho townhouse that belonged to the Beastie Boys’ Adam Horovitz, is facing a $5.6 million foreclosure suit by an investment firm that claims he demolished the property without permission.
Silo Capital, a Stamford, Conn.-based private equity fund, alleged that Boivin, operating through a firm called Nordica Soho, improperly demolished 186 Spring Street, which was used as collateral for a loan along with the adjacent two-story property at 182 Spring Street.
The lender, in a May 21 filing in New York State Supreme Court, requested a temporary restraining order to block the developer from demolishing the second building, between Thompson and Sullivan streets. A judge set oral arguments in the case for June 27.
Silo claimed that Boivin had stopped making monthly interest payments on the loan, leaving a principal balance of $6.2 million, plus default interest at a rate of 24 percent. Additionally, Boivin purchased 186 Spring with funds from Silo, and was supposed to obtain construction financing to “take out” Silo before moving ahead with the project, according to court documents. But he allegedly failed to do so.
Boivin acquired 182 Spring in April 2011 for $10.1 million and said at the time that he planned to develop the property into a mixed-use project with five floors of condos, two stories of retail and an ambulatory care facility, as The Real Deal reported. About a year later, he purchased the historic 186 Spring from Horovitz for $5.5 million, telling The Real Deal that it would be used for personal use.
The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation fought vehemently to have 186 Spring, built in 1824, approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. But the agency rejected the effort on the grounds that the property did not retain enough of its original features to be considered.
The owners of 182 Spring filed a separate $10 million breach of contract suit against Boivin this past December, alleging misappropriation and conversion, court records show.
Lawyers for the developer, the lenders and the remaining owners were not immediately available for comment. Officials at Silo Capital and Boivin were not immediately available for comment.