Elie Schwartz lists Lincoln Square penthouse for $19M

Troubled developer Elie Schwartz is selling his Lincoln Square penthouse. 

The CEO of Nightingale Properties, who is also at the center of federal fraud investigations, listed his apartment at 1 West End Ave. for $19 million earlier this week, Crain’s New York first reported. 

Schwartz’s home hit the market after a bankruptcy court judge last month ordered the developer to offload his properties to cover the cost of a multimillion-dollar settlement. Schwartz owes hundreds of investors for allegedly misappropriating funds meant for office deals in Atlanta and Miami Beach. 

Schwartz bought the 6,000-square-foot penthouse for $17.9 million in 2018. Unit PHA has four bedrooms, five bathrooms, a corner terrace and solarium. Amenities in the 42-story building, developed by Elad Group and Silverstein Properties, include parking, a fitness center and indoor pool. 

Douglas Elliman’s John Barnett had the listing. 

Last fall, Schwartz agreed to pay $55 million after he allegedly diverted funds raised through the crowdsourcing platform CrowdStreet to pay for two commercial deals. He’s accused of spending the money instead on credit card payments, watches and $12 million of First Republic Bank stock. 

The Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission are also investigating the developer’s alleged mishandling. 

Under the terms of the settlement, Schwartz agreed to pay investors back through quarterly installments, though he missed the second deadline at the end of March. His failure to come up with the $3 million prompted the judge’s decision to sell off his personal assets. 

Schwartz already listed his 11-bedroom estate in Englewood, New Jersey last year for $4.5 million, which he’s since reduced to $4.1 million. The developer, through an LLC, is also likely the owner of a Cobble Hill townhouse. 

Nightingale’s other commercial assets are also coming under fire. One of its lenders, Capstone Equities, foreclosed on its industrial buildings in Sunset Park last summer after the company allegedly defaulted on an $88 million loan. Last year, another lender at a building near Grand Central sued the company for failing to pay $30 million in loans. 

— Sheridan Wall