Yeshiva nears sale of 10 apartment buildings

University still cashing in assets in wake of Madoff swindle

501 West 184th Street and Richard Joel
501 West 184th Street and Richard Joel

The asset sale at Yeshiva University rolls on. The latest: the school is approaching a deal to hand off 10 apartment buildings near the Wilf campus at 185th Street and Amsterdam Avenue.

Several of the properties have been hit with violations over extremely hot water and mold. The pending sales provide “an infusion of cash that will be used to strengthen our financial position,” Yeshiva President Richard Joel said on the university website, as cited by the New York Daily News.

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The modern orthodox Jewish institution is still struggling financially after losing roughly $100 million to one-time trustee Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. Companies have liquidated their investments in the university’s debt, particularly after Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the paper to junk bond status in January, as previously reported. The school’s deficit was $105.9 million in 2012; $46.7 million in 2011; and $107.5 million in 2010.

In February 2013, Yeshiva sold two office buildings in Midtown South between Fifth and Sixth avenues, for a combined $115 million. The month after, the school sold another two office properties to a partnership of ClearRock Properties and Juster Properties for $87.5 million. [NYDN]Mark Maurer