Maurice Mann has agreed, "according to sources familiar with the negotiations," to resign as managing partner of the condominium conversion of the Apthorp apartment building on the full block bounded by Broadway and West End Avenues, 78th and 79th Streets, according to an article by David Jones in today's on-line edition of therealdeal.com.
The article said that the "sources said the move by Mann is in response to mounting pressure from the lenders and Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev. Leviev, who filed suit in December seeking Mann's ouster, is hoping that the resignation at the Apthorp, at 390 West End Avenue, will buy more time to prevent Apollo Real Estate from foreclosing on the property."
Mr. Mann is president of Mann Realty Associates, and the article said he will be "replaced at the Apthorp by Andrew Ratner, executive vice president of the Feil Organization, a Manhattan-based real estate developer and management firm, sources said."
The article quoted a source as stating that "There is an expectation that Apollo will give the new management an opportunity to take the project in the right direction and that if Mann signs the documents, [and steps down, that foreclosure will be staved off."
Mr. Mann and Mr. Leviev bought the famous landmark building in 2006 for $426 million and in 2007 planned to convert its 163 rental apartments to residential condominiums at about $3,000 a square foot.
Last November, the article said that Mr. Leviev "floated a plan to hire CB Richard Ellis to find a buyer for the Apthorp, with an asking price of $552 million, according to court documents," adding that Mr. "Mann's attorney Theodore Steingut told The Real Deal last month that no agreement to sell the building had been reached, as selling the building in the current market would have been 'suicidal.'"
In early December, the article continued, Mr. Mann "filed a $500 million suit in New York State Supreme Court, alleging that Apollo and Anglo Irish Bank were trying to force Mann to make a $23 million 'ransom payment' to bring the loan into balance as an excuse to seize the building," adding that Mr. Leviev, "a diamond merchant and real estate investor, filed an injunction in late December demanding that Mann appear before a rabbinical arbitration court, called the Beth Din of America."
The article said that the "sources said the move by Mann is in response to mounting pressure from the lenders and Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev. Leviev, who filed suit in December seeking Mann's ouster, is hoping that the resignation at the Apthorp, at 390 West End Avenue, will buy more time to prevent Apollo Real Estate from foreclosing on the property."
Mr. Mann is president of Mann Realty Associates, and the article said he will be "replaced at the Apthorp by Andrew Ratner, executive vice president of the Feil Organization, a Manhattan-based real estate developer and management firm, sources said."
The article quoted a source as stating that "There is an expectation that Apollo will give the new management an opportunity to take the project in the right direction and that if Mann signs the documents, [and steps down, that foreclosure will be staved off."
Mr. Mann and Mr. Leviev bought the famous landmark building in 2006 for $426 million and in 2007 planned to convert its 163 rental apartments to residential condominiums at about $3,000 a square foot.
Last November, the article said that Mr. Leviev "floated a plan to hire CB Richard Ellis to find a buyer for the Apthorp, with an asking price of $552 million, according to court documents," adding that Mr. "Mann's attorney Theodore Steingut told The Real Deal last month that no agreement to sell the building had been reached, as selling the building in the current market would have been 'suicidal.'"
In early December, the article continued, Mr. Mann "filed a $500 million suit in New York State Supreme Court, alleging that Apollo and Anglo Irish Bank were trying to force Mann to make a $23 million 'ransom payment' to bring the loan into balance as an excuse to seize the building," adding that Mr. Leviev, "a diamond merchant and real estate investor, filed an injunction in late December demanding that Mann appear before a rabbinical arbitration court, called the Beth Din of America."
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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