Fordham Landing in Bronx Files For Bankruptcy

Igal Namdar, Gary Segal and Brad Zackson are locked in a fight for control of a megaproject that was set to bring 5,000 affordable housing units to the Bronx.

Dynamic Star’s Segal and Zackson have squared off with Namdar, with Segal accusing the investor of “brazen acts of treachery” in seeking to push out the partners by acquiring a defaulted loan and attempting to foreclose on the property.

Now, Segal filed a new bankruptcy to keep the reins on the highly ambitious, but yet to be realized, project.

Segal recently put entities controlling Fordham Landing’s two phases into bankruptcy, halting the foreclosures and sending the heated legal battle into federal court. PincusCo first reported on the bankruptcies.

This is Dynamic Star’s second attempt at bankruptcy to thwart foreclosure by a lender with close ties to Namdar. The firm has also unsuccessfully sought to expel Namdar from the partnership.

In December, Zackson put Dynamic Star into bankruptcy after Brooklyn-based lender Cremac Asset Management alleged the developer had defaulted on a $55 million and a $18.9 million loan, and initiated a non-judicial foreclosure.

The bankruptcy was dismissed in February and the foreclosure process started for both planned phases of the megadevelopment.

But on March 16, a New York State Court judge ruled that Namdar could not block the bankruptcy.

One day before the foreclosure auction was scheduled, Dynamic Star filed for bankruptcy again.

At the heart of the dispute is Segal’s allegation that Namdar is the “puppet master” pulling the strings for the lender. Through bankruptcy, Segal said Dynamic Star will seek to refinance or find a new investor to restart the project.

At stake is one of, if not the largest, new affordable housing developments in New York City in decades.

Fordham Landing was set to be built in two phases. In the north phase, Dynamic Star planned to construct a 2.7 million-square-foot development with 4,000 units of affordable housing, along with office and retail. In the south, the project consisted of over 900 units of affordable housing.

In 2025, the developers were awarded $55 million from New York State to help with site infrastructure.

Namdar of Great Neck, New York, is best known for his acquisitions of lower-tier malls across the U.S. But he’s attempting to use this same strategy with offices, buying Class B office towers in New York City and Chicago. Namdar joined the project in early 2022 along with Gorjian Acquisitions.
Dynamic Star paid $31.5 million for one parcel in 2019. In 2021, the firm bought another part of the site for $21 million. Under current plans, the megaproject stands to become the largest real estate project since Hudson Yards.