Commercial and residential landlord Fisher Brothers placed a $48 million bid in Bankruptcy Court to buy the Upper West Side apartment building Park Columbus where embattled developer Yair Levy failed in his effort to convert the rental property to condominiums.
The 95-unit apartment building at 101 West 87th Street at Columbus Avenue, constructed by the Related Companies in the 1980s, is being sold in Manhattan federal Bankruptcy Court.
An entity called 101W 87th LLC made the so-called stalking horse bid of $48 million, Manhattan federal Bankruptcy Court records show. A source who declined to be identified but has knowledge of the deal said Fisher Brothers, the long-time real estate family, controlled the bidding entity. The property has loans valued at $52.6 million, city records show.
The bid is used to mark the official lowest price for the asset in the bankruptcy sale. Other qualified bidders have until Dec. 3 to sign up to participate in the Dec. 8 auction, Manhattan federal Bankruptcy Court records show. Participants, including Fisher Brothers, may increase their bids at the auction.
The next highest bid has to be $48.5 million, and each subsequent bid needs to be $250,000 higher than the previous, court records say.
The sale is being marketed by Adam Spies and Douglas Harmon, both senior managing directors at commercial advisory firm Eastdil Secured.
Levy and his YL Real Estate Developers bought the property in 2005 for $42.5 million from Related in a package that also included Rector Square at 225 Rector Place at South End Avenue. Unsold units at Rector Square are scheduled to be sold Nov. 17 at a foreclosure auction.
Levy had trouble moving forward with construction at Park Columbus, and work stalled early last year. In September 2009 Levy filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy at that site. In a foreclosure process, he lost the property in March to lender Garrison Investment Group, city property records show.
Garrison Investment Group and Eastdil declined to comment. Fisher Brothers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In September, the Post reported that Fisher Brothers and Ofer Yardeni’s Stonehenge Group were vying to buy the property.