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Lawsuit over debt haunts effort to sell retail condo at 808 Broadway

Lender alleges $12.5M owed at address home to Halloween Adventure

808 Broadway, Home of Halloween Adventure (Wikimedia/Beyond My Ken, iStock)
808 Broadway, Home of Halloween Adventure (Wikimedia/Beyond My Ken, iStock)

UPDATED Oct. 13, 2021, 5:30 p.m.: It’s looking like a not-so-happy Halloween for a downtown costume shop’s landlord.

After putting the retail condo at 808 Broadway — which houses iconic costume store Halloween Adventure — on the market, the landlord is being sued by special servicer Rialto Capital Advisors over debt on the property.

The landlord owes $12.5 million in principal on a mortgage loan, according to a complaint filed in Manhattan Supreme Court Friday. Marc Beige, the former owner of Rubie’s Costume Company and guarantor of the loan, was notified of the default last November, according to the suit.

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An LLC tied to Beige bought the retail condo in 2017 for $25 million. Now it’s on the market asking $15.95 million.

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The Long Island-based costume company has faced financial difficulties throughout the pandemic. In October of last year, the 70-year-old firm emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy with a new ownership group that includes the Beige family, National Entertainment Collectibles Association founder Joel Weinshanker and investment firm Atalaya. The Beige family has since sold their stake in the company but maintained ownership of the retail condo, according to a source familiar with the situation.

Tenant Halloween Adventure announced in January that it would be closing permanently unless it could raise enough funds to make up for revenue lost during the pandemic. It managed to open this season. However, the store will close once the building sells, The Real Deal reported.

The condo at 808 Broadway spans 25,000 square feet, of which 18,000 is legal retail selling space — 10,000 on the ground floor plus an 8,000-square-foot lower level. The property also includes a 7,000-square-foot sub-basement space.

Rialto Capital Advisors did not respond to a request for comment.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misidentified Rubie’s Costume Company as the owner of the retail condo at 808 Broadway. While an LLC tied to Rubie’s then-owner Beige purchased the property in 2017, Rubie’s is a tenant.

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East VillageReal Estate LawsuitsRetail