Michael Miller, the president of the New York County Lawyers Association, has been named the receiver in the foreclosure case brought by Anglo Irish Bank against the 23-story Rector Square condominium building at 225 Rector Place in Battery Park city by New York State Supreme Court Judge Joan Madden.
The judge named Mr. Miller the receiver Friday, but an article in today's edition of therealdeal.com by David Jones said that Mr. "Miller took a few days to accept the appointment, citing the complexity of the case and the poor conditions at the building." It quoted him as stating that he was "just blown away by the conditions," adding that "It's just hard to believe that people were living in a building with no intercom, as a basic safety concern."
The building was erected in 1986 by Related Companies and designed by Sampton Gruzen Steinglass and it was acquired in 2006 for $165 million by Yair Levy. The transaction that also included Columbus Green, a rental building that was converted to a condominium known as Park Columbus at 101 West 87th Street.
A previous article by Mr. Jones said that Mr. Levy shut down the sales office and stopped construction at Rector Square several weeks ago and that he stopped construction at Park Columbus earlier this month. Mr. Jones had reported that Mr. Levy "originally financed the deal through a $943 million commercial mortgage-backed security led by Lehman Brothers, which included several other high profile condo loans, including a loan for 25 Broad Street." The article said that Anglo Irish Bank, Fortress Investment Group and Drawbridge Special Opportunities Fund filed a complaint last week in the New York State Supreme Court against Mr. Levy alleging that he failed to pay $631,158 to the Battery Park City Authority and missed all but one monthly payment of $150,000 since last July. According to the lawsuit, the article continued, "Levy owes $117.3 million, plus $662,894 in accrued interest."
The Anglo Irish law suit indicated that 72 of the building's 304 units have been sold, but the sales office was shut last month.
Related had received tax breaks when it erected the building in exchange for making 20 percent of the units available for moderate-income tenants and in 2002 Related extended that protection to the year 2019 as an inducement for people to stay in the building after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 as it was one of the closest in Battery Park City to Ground Zero.
After paying off a mortgage of the Housing Finance Agency, Mr. Levy argued that the provision of rent controls for the moderate-income units no longer applied. While most of the market-rate tenants in the building vacated as their leases expired, the tenants in the moderate-income units remained.
New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer prevailed on Mr. Levy to continue the affordable rent protects for tenants remaining in the building. The market-rate tenants in the other units have vacated as their leases expired.
Mr. Miller said he wanted to make sure he would have the resources available to fix the problems at Rector Square and he told Mr. Jones that lawyers for the senior lender, Anglo Irish Bank, promised to provide $2 million to complete construction of the building's common areas. Mr. Miller said he will demand that Levy be liable for common charges on the unsold units at Rector Square, however attorneys for Levy said that he has no money, according to Mr. Miller and other officials, Mr. Jones's article maintained.
Several buyers in the building had recently filed complaints with the New York State Attorney General's Office that the parts of the building were being used as Marriott ExecuStay hotel rooms and that some apartments were being used for college dorm rooms.
The judge named Mr. Miller the receiver Friday, but an article in today's edition of therealdeal.com by David Jones said that Mr. "Miller took a few days to accept the appointment, citing the complexity of the case and the poor conditions at the building." It quoted him as stating that he was "just blown away by the conditions," adding that "It's just hard to believe that people were living in a building with no intercom, as a basic safety concern."
The building was erected in 1986 by Related Companies and designed by Sampton Gruzen Steinglass and it was acquired in 2006 for $165 million by Yair Levy. The transaction that also included Columbus Green, a rental building that was converted to a condominium known as Park Columbus at 101 West 87th Street.
A previous article by Mr. Jones said that Mr. Levy shut down the sales office and stopped construction at Rector Square several weeks ago and that he stopped construction at Park Columbus earlier this month. Mr. Jones had reported that Mr. Levy "originally financed the deal through a $943 million commercial mortgage-backed security led by Lehman Brothers, which included several other high profile condo loans, including a loan for 25 Broad Street." The article said that Anglo Irish Bank, Fortress Investment Group and Drawbridge Special Opportunities Fund filed a complaint last week in the New York State Supreme Court against Mr. Levy alleging that he failed to pay $631,158 to the Battery Park City Authority and missed all but one monthly payment of $150,000 since last July. According to the lawsuit, the article continued, "Levy owes $117.3 million, plus $662,894 in accrued interest."
The Anglo Irish law suit indicated that 72 of the building's 304 units have been sold, but the sales office was shut last month.
Related had received tax breaks when it erected the building in exchange for making 20 percent of the units available for moderate-income tenants and in 2002 Related extended that protection to the year 2019 as an inducement for people to stay in the building after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 as it was one of the closest in Battery Park City to Ground Zero.
After paying off a mortgage of the Housing Finance Agency, Mr. Levy argued that the provision of rent controls for the moderate-income units no longer applied. While most of the market-rate tenants in the building vacated as their leases expired, the tenants in the moderate-income units remained.
New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer prevailed on Mr. Levy to continue the affordable rent protects for tenants remaining in the building. The market-rate tenants in the other units have vacated as their leases expired.
Mr. Miller said he wanted to make sure he would have the resources available to fix the problems at Rector Square and he told Mr. Jones that lawyers for the senior lender, Anglo Irish Bank, promised to provide $2 million to complete construction of the building's common areas. Mr. Miller said he will demand that Levy be liable for common charges on the unsold units at Rector Square, however attorneys for Levy said that he has no money, according to Mr. Miller and other officials, Mr. Jones's article maintained.
Several buyers in the building had recently filed complaints with the New York State Attorney General's Office that the parts of the building were being used as Marriott ExecuStay hotel rooms and that some apartments were being used for college dorm rooms.
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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