Courts roundup: $61M Times Square hotel foreclosure; Vornado sues to eject Chinese developer

Courts roundup for April 21, 2021: No bankruptcies of interest and one large commercial foreclosure.

The filings are the positions of one party in the dispute and may or may not be accurate or complete.

Lender files foreclosure on $61M loan on Cambria Times Square: An anonymous lender which bought a $61 million note secured by Concord Hospitality’s Cambria New York Times Square at 30 West 46th Street. The lender is foreclosing on a $61 million note secured by the Cambria New York Times Square. According to the hotel website, the hotel is closed.  The lender bought the $61 million note on March 25, 2021, from United Overseas Bank. The owner, Concord Hotels, bought the building in 2013 for $30 million. The signatory for the new lender was Gregory A. Weingart, an attorney with the Pittsburgh office of the law firm Eckert Seamans. Weingart was also the signatory for the purchase of the hotel at 140 West 28th Street last fall. The complaint says, “Borrower failed to make the real estate tax payment for the Project that was due on July 1, 2020. By letter July 3, 2020, Original Lender notified Borrower that Borrower was in default of Section 8.2 of the Loan Agreement and reserved its rights under the Loan Documents.” LINK

Vornado seeks to eject Chinese developer as office tenant: Vornado Realty Trust filed a suit seeking back rent and other costs totaling $1.1 million from tenant Hongkun. Hongkun is an affiliate of the Beijing-based Hongkun Group, a multi-national real estate developer. According to the complaint, “Landlord served Tenant with a Three (3) Business Day Notice of Termination “(“Notice of Termination”), dated March 17, 2021, in which Landlord advised Tenant that (a) Tenant had failed to timely pay rent and additional rent due under the Lease; (b) Tenant failed to cure its default set forth in the Notice to Cure by paying the amount owed to Landlord on or before the Cure Date; and (c) the Lease would terminate on March 25, 2021 (the “Termination Date”). Pursuant to the terms of the Lease and Notice of Termination, the Lease and tenancy created thereby terminated on the Termination Date. To date, Tenant has refused to vacate and surrender the Premises to Landlord in accordance with the Notice of Termination and the Lease; and continues to holdover in possession after the termination of the Lease without Landlord’s consent.” Vornado is represented by Joshua Kopelowitz of Fox Rothschild LLP. LINK

Waterman seeks $322K in back rent from Pret A Manger: According to the complaint, “This is an action for breach of a now expired commercial lease by defendant Pret A Manger (USA) Limited (“Tenant”). This action additionally seeks ejectment of Tenant from the formerly leased premises and use and occupancy for the period that Tenant holds over in possession past the expired lease term.” The suit continues, “Paragraph 2 of the Confirmation of Rent, the Lease required Tenant to pay Landlord monthly fixed rent for the Premises for the period of December 1, 2017 through November 18, 2020, was at the rate of $39,187.50 per month, and fixed rent for the Premises for the period of November 19, 2020 through November 30, 2022, was at the rate of $42,714.38 per month.” LINK