Condos planned for distressed UES parcel

Investment firm Minuit Partners has ponied up $8.5 million for the discounted debt on a distressed Upper East Side development site on the corner of First Avenue and 89th Street and is planning to take control in a foreclosure. According to the Wall Street Journal, Minuit would hold onto the property, on which three small walk-up apartment buildings currently sit, until the market improves, at which point it will build a condominium tower there of at least 100 units. Minuit, founded by two former executives at Madison Capital, will first attempt to work out a deal with current owner Uri Foxbrunner, who owed more than $13.5 million in debt on the properties at 1711 First Avenue, 1713 First Avenue and 354 East 89th Street to Brooklyn Federal Savings Bank, said Jason Enters, one of the founders. But a deal seems unlikely, Enters said, and Minuit will move forward in its plan to take control regardless. Enters estimated that the market would be ready for development in three years’ time, and until then, the company would invest around $300,000 in minor improvements to the apartments and stores in order to lease them out in the interim. [WSJ]