The stately Beresford is not the sort of building you associate with foreclosure. Not only because the Upper West Side co-op has attracted the likes of Jerry Seinfeld, Glenn Close and the recently ousted Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit, but also because single-name pre-war co-ops in Manhattan tend to learn more about prospective buyers than the FBI does about terrorists.
Indeed, Stuart Saft, chair of law firm Holland & Knight’s real estate practice in New York, has reportedly said previously that fewer than 10 New York City co-ops have been foreclosed on since World War II.
That list nearly grew to 11, after mortgage lenders scheduled a foreclosure auction for an eighth-floor apartment at the Beresford in December; owners Donald and Leila McCollum had $1 million in outstanding principal, reports show.
Now, the three-bedroom, three-bathroom apartment has sold for $6.6 million, to an undisclosed buyer, the sellers’ broker, Chandru Ramnani of RSNY Realty, told The Real Deal. The apartment was last asking $7.35 million, according to StreetEasy.
The McCollums’ lawyers convinced the lender, JPMorgan Chase, that a short sale did not make sense, Ramnani said, since the multi-million dollar asset had a lien of only $1 million against it. They were able to delay foreclosure proceedings until the sale went through last week, he said.
“They gave us some time to conclude the deal,” Ramnani said, but “the way [the bank] was dealing with this was totally out of line.”
The sellers had reportedly lived in the Beresford for decades. Their financial woes stemmed from the 2008 financial crisis, Ramnani said, adding that the owners were quite happy with how things worked out.
The apartment features a formal dining room that can accommodate 12 to 20 guests, a wood burning fireplace and 16 windows facing Central Park, according to the listing.