Sales of condominium apartments have been halted at the Sheffield57 project just to the west of the Hearst Building that is on the southwest corner of Eighth Avenue and 57th Street.
The brown-brick, 50-story apartment tower at 322 West 57th Street has a driveway that goes to 56th Street and it overlooks the gardens at the Parc Vendome complex to the west. It was erected in 1978 by Hyman Shapiro and Alan Friedberg and it created a public plaza further to the west on the same block at Ninth Avenue that the developers had hoped would be connected to their tower through the gardens of the Parc Vendome enclave in between.
The sales were halted because the New York State Attorney General's office determined that its offering plan had expired, according to an article today by David Jones at therealdeal.com
The article maintained that "sources" said that the building "has millions of dollars in mezzanine debt coming due this month, and is actively trying to refinance the building." "Analysts," the article continued, "say that with less than half the building's project 587 apartments sold, lenders will be reluctant to finance a building with so many fundamental challenges."
The building, which had more than 850 apartments and was most notable for having a paddle-tennis court on its roof, was acquired for about $418 million in 2005 by Yair Levy, the founder of YL Developers, Serge Hoyda, the president and CEO of S&H Equities (NY) Inc., and Kent Swig. Last year, Mr. Levy was said to have hit Mr. Swig, an owner of numerous major properties in Lower Manhattan who also has interests in the Brown Harris Stevens and Halstead Property residential brokerages, in the shoulder with an ice bucket.
Last November, Mr. Swig refinanced the project with a $104.7 million loan from KeyBank but a group of tenants began a lawsuit against the sponsors charging harassment and another group of owners of condos in the building brought a lawsuit claiming that Mr. Swig failed to pay some common charges and some contractors placed mechanic's liens on some apartments.
Mr. Jones's article said that "Courtney Puckett, a receptionist at the Sheffield57 sales office, confirmed that sales were suspended due to the attorney general order, and added that the sponsor hoped to resolve the issue in a couple of weeks with a new amendment." The article, however, also quote a "spokesperson for Swig" who said "we'll have no further comment."
The brown-brick, 50-story apartment tower at 322 West 57th Street has a driveway that goes to 56th Street and it overlooks the gardens at the Parc Vendome complex to the west. It was erected in 1978 by Hyman Shapiro and Alan Friedberg and it created a public plaza further to the west on the same block at Ninth Avenue that the developers had hoped would be connected to their tower through the gardens of the Parc Vendome enclave in between.
The sales were halted because the New York State Attorney General's office determined that its offering plan had expired, according to an article today by David Jones at therealdeal.com
The article maintained that "sources" said that the building "has millions of dollars in mezzanine debt coming due this month, and is actively trying to refinance the building." "Analysts," the article continued, "say that with less than half the building's project 587 apartments sold, lenders will be reluctant to finance a building with so many fundamental challenges."
The building, which had more than 850 apartments and was most notable for having a paddle-tennis court on its roof, was acquired for about $418 million in 2005 by Yair Levy, the founder of YL Developers, Serge Hoyda, the president and CEO of S&H Equities (NY) Inc., and Kent Swig. Last year, Mr. Levy was said to have hit Mr. Swig, an owner of numerous major properties in Lower Manhattan who also has interests in the Brown Harris Stevens and Halstead Property residential brokerages, in the shoulder with an ice bucket.
Last November, Mr. Swig refinanced the project with a $104.7 million loan from KeyBank but a group of tenants began a lawsuit against the sponsors charging harassment and another group of owners of condos in the building brought a lawsuit claiming that Mr. Swig failed to pay some common charges and some contractors placed mechanic's liens on some apartments.
Mr. Jones's article said that "Courtney Puckett, a receptionist at the Sheffield57 sales office, confirmed that sales were suspended due to the attorney general order, and added that the sponsor hoped to resolve the issue in a couple of weeks with a new amendment." The article, however, also quote a "spokesperson for Swig" who said "we'll have no further comment."
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
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