search

The Real Deal Logo

Trending

Whole new world: How NYC values 421a, 485x sites nowWhole new world: How NYC values 421a, 485x sites nowNYCB loan defaults surge 400% as rent-stabilized buildings bleedNYCB loan defaults surge 400% as rent-stabilized buildings bleedSherwood Equities looks to sell Times Square retail for $90MSherwood Equities looks to sell Times Square retail for $90MSF’s Parkmerced apartments plagued by crime, vermin, squatters, debtSF’s Parkmerced apartments plagued by crime, vermin, squatters, debt
Commercial
New York

Abraham Leifer sued by lender over unfinished Brooklyn apartments

Suit claims $66M in unpaid mortgages for Windsor Terrace project

Abraham Leifer Sued By Lender Over Brooklyn Apartments
Aview Equities CEO Abraham Leifer and 57 Caton Place in Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn (Getty, LinkedIn/Abraham Leifer, Google Maps)

Brooklyn-based developer Abraham Leifer is facing at least his third lawsuit this year after a lender claimed unpaid mortgages at an unfinished Brooklyn apartment project. 

Lender Parkview Financial filed a lawsuit this week in Brooklyn Supreme Court against Leifer’s Aview Equities over mortgages at 57 Caton Place totaling $66 million, Crain’s reported.  

The suit was first reported by PincusCo.

Aview defaulted on the three loans backed by the 131-unit apartment building in April, Parkview claims in the suit. The lender is aiming to take control of the partially completed project, requesting the court to appoint a receiver to collect rents and profits ahead of a potential sale.

Leifer acquired the site in 2014 for $7.2 million. His planned 130,000-square-foot development on the site is supposed to stand 95 feet tall with ground-floor retail space and underground parking.

Aview did not return a request for comment from Crain’s.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

The lawsuit caps off a bumpy year for Leifer, with numerous problems popping up at his projects elsewhere in the city.

In June, he filed for bankruptcy to allow for a sale of 291 Livingston Street, a 21-story hotel project in Downtown Brooklyn. The project was nearly complete at the time, but lender Acres Capital was itching to foreclose, alleging the hotel’s ownership group defaulted on a $29.7 million mortgage.

Read more

In March, Merchants Bank filed a lawsuit against the developer seeking to foreclose on a nine-story apartment conversion project at 19 West 55th Street in Midtown Manhattan. Merchants alleged Leifer failed to repay the balance of a $36.7 million loan, on top of other defaults.

Leifer planned to expand the original 34,000-square-foot building he purchased from Salim Assa for $50 million in 2018. But he ultimately called off the vertical extension of the property and retained Serhant broker Bernadette Brennan to sell the property, marketing it for $42 million.

— Holden Walter-Warner

Companies and People
Aview EquitiesParkview FinancialAbraham Leifer
Tags
ForeclosureReal Estate Finance