$34M pre-foreclosure suit filed against Acram in W. Village; $16M against SPI Holdings in Hell’s Kitchen
Lenders filed pre-foreclosure lawsuits on debt secured by New York City properties totaling more than $60 million on Friday. The largest was to foreclose on a $34 million loan secured by Acram Group’s retail condominium in the West Village. The second-largest was a $16 million loan secured by SPI Holdings’ Hell’s Kitchen buildings.
Court filings are the positions of one party and are not necessarily accurate or complete.
Pre-foreclosure filed on Acram Group’s $34M loan: J. Matthew Cassin and David Taylor of Acram Group bought the retail condo unit at the Atrium at 160 Bleecker Street in the West Village in December 2011 for $30.6 million, financed with an $18.5 million loan from Sovereign Bank. Their company then was known as JCM Holdings, and the acquisition included equity investor RWN Real Estate Partners, according to an article at the time. It is unclear if RWN is still involved. Neither RWN no any principals of that firm was mentioned in the litigation. Cassin and Taylor refinanced the condo unit in December 2017 with a $34 million loan originated by Deutsche Bank and securitized as Benchmark 2018-B1. The plaintiff, through special servicer LNR Partners which filed the complaint, alleges the total due on the $34 million loan is now more than $43.4 million. The plaintiff asserts the borrower did not make the September 2020 loan payment, and that in December 2020 the lender sent a notice of default, then on July 23, 2021, sent a notice of acceleration, alleging the purported defaults had not been cured. Acram’s website says the unit was sold in November 2018 but there is no indication of a sale in Acris. LINK
Pre-foreclosure filed on SPI Holdings’ $16M loan: Dennis Wong and SPI Holdings acquired the adjacent Hell’s Kitchen buildings 643 and 647 Ninth Avenue in 2013 for $25.5 million and financed the purchases with a $16 million loan originated by Goldman Sachs and then securitized into GS Mortgage Securities Corporation II Series 2013-GC13. Dennis Wong is a co-founder of SPI Holdings and is vice chairman of Steven Balmer’s LA Clippers. LNR Partners, which is the special servicer on the loan, filed the lawsuit. LINK
Fannie Mae sues Zalmen Wagschal for $8M: Fannie Mae filed two separate pre-foreclosure suits against Zalmen Wagschal on loans secured by three buildings. The larger suit was for $6.1 million secured by 867 Knickerbocker Avenue and 871 Knickerbocker Avenue LINK. The other suit was for $1.9 million secured by 634 Wilson Avenue. LINK