A&E Finally Takes Full Control of UES Rental Building

More than two years after Douglas Eisenberg’s A&E Real Estate originally agreed to purchase the majority of an Upper East Side rental building from the Soloviev Group, A&E finally closed this week on the whole thing.

A&E paid $116.5 million to purchase the 179-unit Rivers Bend building at 501 East 87th Street, PincusCo reported. Stefan Soloviev’s sale price works out to $547,000 per unit.

“We are pleased to complete this complex transaction, which required a collaborative approach by both parties over the past year,” Eisenberg said in a statement.

The “collaborative” appeared more combative at first.

In late 2023, Soloviev sued A&E, alleging it tried to sell a majority stake of the building to Eisenberg’s firm, which would have then assumed the same stake in the $60.5 million of debt Soloviev had at the building.

Soloviev claimed A&E wrongly backed out of the sale — allegedly agreed to in February 2023 — and alleged the presence of asbestos; Soloviev claimed Eisenberg was trying to back out of the deal because he couldn’t finance the acquisition.

That sale was supposed to close in April 2023, only to be repeatedly pushed back. A day before the scheduled closing of the $121 million deal, A&E allegedly terminated the deal, claiming it received no approval to assume its share of the debt and citing the asbestos as grounds for backing out.

That drama appears to be behind the two sides, as A&E picked up a 100 percent interest in the property. It’s also assuming the $60 million Freddie Mac loan while financing the rest of the deal with its own equity, according to the Commercial Observer. A&E plans to invest further in the property.

The 22-story luxury building, situated near Gracie Mansion, was developed by Soloviev founder Sheldon Solow in the 1960s. Today, the building includes a parking garage, a rooftop terrace with a glass-encased indoor swimming pool, a fitness center, wood-burning fireplaces and 24-hour doorman service.

A&E recently put the 413-unit Holland complex on the Upper West Side up for sale, The Real Deal reported. The multifamily landlord is looking for a price around $200 million, about a third less than the $287 million the company paid seven years ago, reflecting how the 2019 rent laws are hindering the value of rent-regulated properties.

A&E is also facing foreclosure on a 3,500-unit spread across Harlem, Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx. A spokesperson told TRD last month that the company was in negotiations with its lenders and planned to resolve the issue within 45 days.

— Holden Walter-Warner