The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating Guggenheim Partners over some controversial California real estate deals.
The agency is looking into three transactions based in Los Angeles and a 2016 loan to BCBG Max Azria Group from ABS Capital, which two Guggenheim alums own, according to the New York Post. These deals include the sale of David Geffen’s Malibu compound to Guggenheim’s chief executive Mark Walter for $85 million and a $13.5 million mansion in Pacific Palisades where distribution executive Alexandra Court lives.
Court has been on leave from Guggenheim since June and has had an alleged personal relationship with Walter, which raised questions among employees and clients about her residence in the mansion. Her quick ascent to head of distribution also led to reported tensions between Walter and Guggenheim chief investment officer Scott Minerd.
In New York, Walter and real estate developer Frank McCourt are behind a $3 billion, 730,000-square-foot mixed-use project at 360 10th Avenue in Hudson Yards. Though the investors bought the site in 2014, it has yet to get off the ground. The vacant site is set to host musical performances in May, as part of a promotion of the cultural-arts space the Shed. [NYP] – Eddie Small