Entity tied to Brandon Miller’s Chelsea development project files for bankruptcy

An entity tied to a property owned by the late Brandon Miller of Real Estate Equities Corporation filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in federal court in New York on Thursday.

The company, Highline 118 LLC, is connected to 118 10th Avenue, a property that was at one time under development by Real Estate Equities, or REEC. The bankruptcy filing is by Douglas Teitelbaum. It comes just over a week after Miller’s sudden death at age 43.

Teitelbaum identifies himself in the bankruptcy filing as the manager of DIA Family Holdings. In January, Miller pledged his equity interests in the entity controlling the property to DIA, according to a UCC filing. This would give DIA the right to take over the LLC or potentially the property in the event of a default. 

The bankruptcy filing appears to be the first financial or legal document to emerge since Miller’s death.

Teitelbaum declined to comment. He was previously co-owner and manager at the Bay Harbour Management hedge fund and more recently founded Miami-based Homewood Capital, an investor in the e-cigarette company NJOY acquired by Marlboro parent Altria Group last year for $2.9 billion.

Miller had a number of office projects under development, including a boutique office building at 1 St. Mark’s Place and a seven-story office and retail building at 162-166 Bowery. 

His death has drawn attention in part because of his wife Candice Miller, a well-known influencer and luxury lifestyle blogger. 

REEC took over the ground lease for the 10th Avenue property, near the southern end of the High Line, in 2017 for $21 million and planned to build a 10-story office building on the site. 

But that plan never materialized. After demolishing the restaurant and bar on the property, REEC signed over the ground lease to Highline 118 LLC in 2019, an entity tied to GDS Development Management and Swedish real estate firm Klövern AB. Klovern said in a 2020 report that the start of construction had been pushed to the following year. A site safety plan from November 2021 listed Michael Kirchmann, CEO of GDS, as the contact for property owner Highline 118 LLC, and a record from a year later links Highline 118 to GDS as well. On Dec. 22, 2023, a tax document that must be filed within 30 days of a property transfer lists Brandon Miller as the buyer.

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But the site was still dormant and sprouting weeds in November, according to New York YIMBY. 

The Highline 118 LLC’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The next filings in the bankruptcy case are due in late July. 

Rich Bockmann and Keith Larsen contributed reporting.