Manhattan lender wants to force Soho developer into bankruptcy

A Manhattan real estate lender wants to push the developer of a Soho lot into involuntary bankruptcy, a fairly unusual development.

Churchill Credit Holdings filed a petition for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York to send 74 Grand Street Equities, the developer of 74 Grand Street, into bankruptcy, according to the Commercial Observer. Churchill claims the company owes it almost $14 million, more than the appraised $12.5 million value of the lot.

The site was supposed to house a residential condominium with four units that stands six stories tall and has ground-floor retail, but construction has stalled, and the site is still vacant.

There appears to be an ongoing ownership dispute over the lot, which could have triggered the bankruptcy move, Pioneer Funding Group co-managing partner Adam Stein-Sapir told the Commercial Observer.

“Normally when a developer is in distress and is not paying the senior lender, or the senior lender is worried about not getting repaid, the lender tries to foreclose on the property,” he said. “But in this [example], they filed an involuntary bankruptcy case. That’s unusual.” [CO] – Eddie Small