Istar Financial filed suit January 14 in New York State Supreme Court to foreclose on a $46 million mortgage on the six-story apartment buildings at 201 West 92nd Street and 200 West 93rd Street that had been bought by Mendel Mendlowits from Kent Swig in 2008.
The two buildings occupy the entire west blockfront of Amsterdam Avenue between 92nd and 93rd Streets and had been acquired by Swig Equities of which Mr. Swig is a principal from Forest Hills Associates LLC of which Carla Bell.
The apartment buildings are separated above the first floor in the middle of the block where opposing north and south facades feature fire escapes. These two beige-brick buildings containing a total of 134 units of which 68 are one-bedroom units, 56 are two-bedrooms and 10 are three-bedroom units.
Swig Equities filed plans with the Department of Buildings July 27, 2005 to enlarge both buildings by adding 9 stories. The plans were approved March 31, 2006 and called for constructing the 9-story editions to each building by extending existing elevators and interior stairs,.
The plans were submitted by Alfredo G. Carballude of CMA Design Studio, PC, the firm that also designed somewhat similar additions adding 40 units to 203 West 90th Street.
According to Swig Equities's website, the property at 201 West 92nd Street was erected in 1922 and had about 150,000 square feet of unused air rights, "which could be utilized to create spectacular apartments, with partial park views."
According to an article today by David Jones at therealdeal.com, Mr. Mendlowits's family, which owns Adorama, a well-known photography store in Manhattan, acquired after Mr. Swig was sued for defaulting on his original mortgage loan in 2008. The article said that Mr. "Swig, Yair Levy and Charles Dayan originally acquired the 134-unit tenement complex in 2005, with controversial plans to build 56 condo units on top of the two existing six story buildings."
According to the article, the lawsuit claimed that Mr. Mendlowits failed to pay Istar's $46 million mortgage loan when it came due July 1, 2009 and Istar said that he also owed $329,950 in delinquent taxes and claimed that a June 19, 2009 lease with Playground Pups in one of the buildings was signed without the prior consent of the lender.
Mr. Swig "put the building up for sale in early 2007, hoping to get $90 million, but later dropped the asking price to $72 million and sold the project for $61 million in June 2008, about six months after Istar filed to foreclose on the property," the article maintained, adding that "After the sale, Istar worked out a deal to cut the original loan balance from $52.5 million down to $46 million, however Mendlowits incurred interest, late fees and other charges, bringing his loan balance up to $53.5 million."
The two buildings occupy the entire west blockfront of Amsterdam Avenue between 92nd and 93rd Streets and had been acquired by Swig Equities of which Mr. Swig is a principal from Forest Hills Associates LLC of which Carla Bell.
The apartment buildings are separated above the first floor in the middle of the block where opposing north and south facades feature fire escapes. These two beige-brick buildings containing a total of 134 units of which 68 are one-bedroom units, 56 are two-bedrooms and 10 are three-bedroom units.
Swig Equities filed plans with the Department of Buildings July 27, 2005 to enlarge both buildings by adding 9 stories. The plans were approved March 31, 2006 and called for constructing the 9-story editions to each building by extending existing elevators and interior stairs,.
The plans were submitted by Alfredo G. Carballude of CMA Design Studio, PC, the firm that also designed somewhat similar additions adding 40 units to 203 West 90th Street.
According to Swig Equities's website, the property at 201 West 92nd Street was erected in 1922 and had about 150,000 square feet of unused air rights, "which could be utilized to create spectacular apartments, with partial park views."
According to an article today by David Jones at therealdeal.com, Mr. Mendlowits's family, which owns Adorama, a well-known photography store in Manhattan, acquired after Mr. Swig was sued for defaulting on his original mortgage loan in 2008. The article said that Mr. "Swig, Yair Levy and Charles Dayan originally acquired the 134-unit tenement complex in 2005, with controversial plans to build 56 condo units on top of the two existing six story buildings."
According to the article, the lawsuit claimed that Mr. Mendlowits failed to pay Istar's $46 million mortgage loan when it came due July 1, 2009 and Istar said that he also owed $329,950 in delinquent taxes and claimed that a June 19, 2009 lease with Playground Pups in one of the buildings was signed without the prior consent of the lender.
Mr. Swig "put the building up for sale in early 2007, hoping to get $90 million, but later dropped the asking price to $72 million and sold the project for $61 million in June 2008, about six months after Istar filed to foreclose on the property," the article maintained, adding that "After the sale, Istar worked out a deal to cut the original loan balance from $52.5 million down to $46 million, however Mendlowits incurred interest, late fees and other charges, bringing his loan balance up to $53.5 million."
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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