$8M Chinatown bankruptcy, $8M Washington Heights bankruptcy
44 Bowery (Credit - Cyclomedia)
$8M Chinatown bankruptcy: Owner Grace Chen filed a petition in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Brooklyn, which claims the mixed-use building at 44 Bowery in Chinatown is worth $8 million and has debts of $4.9 million, but is set for an auction tomorrow in Manhattan. This filing will halt that scheduled auction. The case is 1-23-44458-ess.
The lender Emigrant Funding Corp. on September 7, 2021, filed a $2,750,000 pre-foreclosure action in Manhattan, index number 850215/2021. A notice of sale was posted with an auction date of December 6, 2023, at 60 Centre Street with the approximate amount of judgment at $4.1 million.
The mixed-use building with 3 residential units in Chinatown has 4,500 square feet of built space and 2,380 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 6,880 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 16 feet and is 120 feet deep with a total lot size of 2,000 square feet. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $1.4 million.
Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page.
$8M Washington Heights bankruptcy: Property owner Nancy J. Haber’s father acquired the property with 20 rental units and two commercial units at 651 West 169th Street in Washington Height in about 1939, but under pressure from lender Namdar Realty Group, she is seeking to sell the property. The case is 23-11924-jpm.
Haber estimates the rental building is worth about $8 million and has secured and unsecured debts of about $6.7 million, including the loan in default held by Namdar Realty Group through the entity 651 West 169th Lender LLC. The property is the subject of two court cases including that loan. Haber says in the bankruptcy petition that the property fell into default because of Covid with a rise in vacancies and rent delinquencies. The property currently generates annual revenues of about $670,000, and the goal of the bankruptcy is to hire a broker and sell the property which she estimates is worth about $8 million.
The elevator building with 20 residential units (the city shows 22) and two commercial units in Washington Heights has 19,380 square feet of built space and 5,656 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 25,037 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 51 feet and is 80 feet deep with a total lot size of 4,159 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R8 which allows for up to 6.02 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $2.5 million.
According to city public data, the property has received four DOB violations, $3,125 in ECB penalties, five housing violations, and $5,255 in OATH penalties in the last year.
The property was involved in two lawsuits over the past two years. The highest value suit was a $4 million commercial foreclosure concerning a loan filed on October 13, 2022, by Namdar Realty Group against Nancy J. Haber.
Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page.