$10.7M pre-foreclosure filed at Ashkenazy Lincoln Square building

Valley National Bank filed a pre-foreclosure action against the tenant-in-common owners of the office and retail building at 2067 Broadway in Lincoln Square, Manhattan, who in 2014 borrowed $11.6 million secured by the property. The current outstanding debt was $10.7 million, according to the filing. LINK

The owners, entities affiliated with Ashkenazy Acquisition and ASG Equities, bought the building April 11, 2014, for $20 million and borrowed $11.6 million to finance the purchase. They are engaged in a legal dispute related to this building. The Real Deal reported on this pre-foreclosure filing yesterday.

Court filings are the positions on one party and are not necessarily accurate or complete.

According to the complaint, “On April 11, 2014, Oritani Finance Company (“Oritani Finance”) loaned Borrowers the principal sum of $11,600,000…Borrowers failed to pay required principal and interest payments due and owing under the Loan Documents to VNB on June 1, 2022, and each month thereafter (the “Default”). By letter dated July 27, 2022, VNB provided notice to Borrowers and Guarantor of Borrowers’ default and made demand for payment in full As a result of Borrowers’ Default under the Loan Documents, Borrowers are indebted to VNB in the aggregate principal amount of $10,658,399.81, together with accrued and unpaid interest, default interest, late charges, event fees, prepayment consideration, escrow advanced, and such other costs and expenses as set.” Ben Ashkenazy is a party to a non-recourse guaranty and a debt service shortfall guaranty, according to the complaint.

The 2067 Broadway parcel has frontage of 32 feet and is 88 feet deep with a total lot size of 3,075 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is C4-6A which allows for up to 3.4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 10 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $4 million.

The office building in Lincoln Square has 20,790 square feet of built space and 9,963 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 30,750 square feet according to PincusCo analysis of city data.

The 20,790-square-foot property generated revenue of $878,214 or $42 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

According to city public data, the property has received two DOB violations, $53,750 in ECB penalties, and $53,800 in OATH penalties in the last year.

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of nine of the 30 commercial properties representing 152,227 square feet of the 638,125 square feet. The largest owner is Dominique Olbert, followed by Brusco Group and then Marc Wigder. On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 35,764 square feet. The largest is a 19-unit, 30,504-square-foot R-2 building developed by Scott Shnay with plans filed December 7, 2017 and permitted August 6, 2019. The second largest is a two-unit, 5,260-square-foot R-3 building developed by Mary Margaret Chan with plans filed November 19, 2020 and it has not been permitted yet.

Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page and link to DOB NOW portal.