Gloria Vanderbilt’s former Upper East Side mansion could be headed for the auction block.
The developers who purchased the heiress and fashion icon’s former home with plans to convert it to high-end condos have defaulted on their construction loan, court documents show. And now their lender is trying to foreclose on the property.
Ilan Bracha and Haim Binstock’s B+B Capital teamed up with Daniel Minkowitz’s Mink Development to buy the landmarked home for $19 million in 2014. The seller of the townhouse at 39 East 72nd Street was the Mangold family, which had owned the property since the 1960s. It was Vanderbilt’s childhood home. She died in June 2019 at age 95.
The partners secured a nearly $17 million construction loan from Madison Realty Capital to convert the home into three luxury condominiums. The state Attorney General’s Office approved their condo offering plan in 2018 with a projected sellout of $50 million.
But the developers haven’t put any units under contract, and they defaulted on their construction loan in late January when they failed to repay the balance of the mortgage, according to Madison Realty Capital’s lawsuit.
The lender filed to foreclose on the property in late March, just before the coronavirus pandemic shut down state courts and halted all foreclosure proceedings.
Bracha, Binstock and Minkowitz could not be immediately reached for comment. A representative for Madison Realty Capital declined to comment.
The project’s most-expensive unit is a 10-room, 5,700-square-foot penthouse with an asking price of $25 million according to the listing on StreetEasy.
Bracha and Binstock had founded the residential brokerage Keller Williams NYC, which they sold earlier this year after struggling financially.
Contact Rich Bockmann at rb@therealdeal.com or 908-415-5229