Jacob Chetrit’s Chetrit Organization could lose two of its downtown properties to foreclosure.
LoanCore Capital Credit sued Chetrit, alleging the developer defaulted on almost $200 million in loans tied to his properties at 1 Whitehall Street and 428 Broadway. The Connecticut-based asset management firm is calling for the forced sale of the buildings to pay off the debt, according to two separate lawsuits filed on Monday.
Chetrit and a lawyer for LoanCore did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Chetrit bought the 21-story office building at 1 Whitehall in 2019 for $181.5 million from longtime owner the Rudin family and took out a $148.6 million mortgage, according to property records. But Chetrit stopped making loan payments on the Financial District tower in July 2023, according to the lawsuit, which was first reported by Crains.
At 428 Broadway, a six-story Soho building with office and retail space, Chetrit took out a $60 million mortgage from LoanCore in 2020. The outstanding principal was reduced to $50 million in an amended loan agreement the next year. But Chetrit failed to repay the loan and LoanCore sent him a default notice in August 2023, the suit alleges.
The Soho building, known as the Suspenders building, is near two other troubled mixed-use properties owned by Jacob Chetrit. The $77 million loan backed by 427 Broadway and 459 Broadway was transferred to special servicing in February, after Chetrit failed to make a debt payment — even though the buildings were 100 percent occupied.
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Things aren’t as rosy at 428 Broadway, where the entire building appears to be vacant, according to CoStar data.
About 60 percent of the 366,000 square foot Class B office building at 1 Whitehall Street is occupied, according to CoStar. The largest tenant, nonprofit LifeSpire, is located relocating, according to Commercial Observer.