Real Estate Firm Allegedly Defaults on Midtown HQ

A little-known real estate company is facing a big problem at its Midtown Manhattan headquarters.

JPMorgan Chase filed a foreclosure lawsuit against Park Ridge International over an alleged loan default at 40 West 37th Street, Crain’s reported. The developer allegedly defaulted on a $16.8 million loan attached to the office property.

Park Ridge president Thomson Lee secured the loan from the bank a decade ago, according to records. Two years ago, he modified the debt, only to allegedly default on it by this March, when the bank provided notice. Park Ride allegedly owes $15.9 million, plus interest and fees.

Park Ridge acquired the property for $2.6 million in 1996, going on to renovate it less than a decade ago. Tenants at the 13-story building include Japanese restaurant Watami Sushi, psychologist’s office Behavior Therapy of New York, Spanish wine importer Aviva Vino and a showroom for sock manufacturer Royce Too. GS Blow Dry Bar inked a deal for 2,200 square feet at $90 per square foot last year, according to Traded.

Office rents at the building hang around $46 per square foot, according to CoStar. The property is 91 percent occupied.

What Park Ridge is up to is anyone’s guess. The company has no website to speak of and is almost never reported on. It did not respond to a request for comment from Crain’s.

But the firm isn’t alone in dealing with office distress in Midtown Manhattan.

In February, APF Properties lost a Midtown office building at 25 West 45th Street to its lender, Wells Fargo, at a foreclosure auction for $45.1 million. The foreclosure was filed after APF defaulted on $70 million in CMBS debt; the property was appraised at $55 million, below the $75 million in attached debt.

And last month, a pre-foreclosure suit was filed against the Parkoff Organization for the office building at 110 East 55th Street by an entity tied to construction company JT Magen, which holds the mortgage and claims the owner defaulted, owing $40.6 million in principal and interest.

Muddying the waters is that the 73,000-square-foot building is considered one of the final properties needed for Extell principal Gary Barnett’s massive development assemblage on Park Avenue and JT Magen has partnered with Extell on other foreclosure wins.

— Holden Walter-Warner