Courts roundup: $8M Gowanus pre-foreclosure, $9M Joel Schreiber suit, $4.6M bankruptcy

$8.3M pre-foreclosure on Gowanus industrial weeks after $36M judgment: Cathay Bank filed a pre-foreclosure action against the owner of a 99,500-square-foot industrial property at 255 Butler Street in Gowanus, which is an affiliate of the Akkad family, weeks after Sam Boymelgreen won a $36 million judgment. The Akkad family’s 255 Butler LLC as landlord signed a 49-year ground lease with Sam Boymelgreen in March 2013, valued at $7 million. Boymelgreen sought to bring WeWork to the building, but, according to The Real Deal, the Akkads wanted to cut him out of the deal, and years of litigation ensued resulting last month in a $36 million award to Boymelgreen.
The industrial building in Gowanus has 99,500 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 200 feet and is 200 feet deep with a total lot size of 37,500 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is M1-4 which allows for up to 2 times floor area ratio (FAR) for manufacturing The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $10.7 million.
According to the Cathay Bank complaint, “On or about November 15, 2013, Cathay agreed to make a certain loan to Borrower in the total amount of $11,000,000… Borrower breached and defaulted under the terms of the Loan Documents by reason of Borrower’s failure to pay the monthly payment of principal and interest due under the terms of the Note on April 1, 2023 when due or within the applicable ten (10) day grace period (the “Payment Default”). On April 17, 2023, Cathay sent a letter to Borrower (the “Acceleration Letter”) which, inter alia, notified Borrower that: (a) an Event of Default has occurred under the terms of the Loan Documents by reason of the Payment Default; (b) Cathay has elected, effective as of April 17, 2023, to declare all amounts due and to become due under the terms of the Note (collectively, the “Obligations”) to be immediately due and payable…” LINK
Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page and link to DOB NOW portal.

Private lender says Joel Schreiber owes $9M: A private lender, Berry Enterprises USA, which sold a large Williamsburg property to an affiliate of Joel Schreiber’s Waterbridge Capital in 2015 for $92 million, alleges Schreiber has not repaid a 2016 loan totaling $9 million despite a request for repayment. The entity Berry Enterprises USA is affiliated with the Sosa-Marantz family which sold the parcel to Schreiber. The Williamsburg parcel, at 103 North 3rd Street and 188-190 Berry Street, is not involved in this litigation and is now controlled by LENY Equities.
Schreiber has not responded in court filings. Court documents are the position of one party and are not necessarily accurate or complete.
Dagan LaCorte, a member of the entity Berry Enterprises USA, according to the complaint, was described as a broker on the April 2015 sale in an article at the time in The Real Deal.

According to the complaint, “In September 2016, Berry loaned JS [the Schreiber entity] the amount of $9,000,000 … On September 30, 2016, in connection with the Loan, [Schreiber] executed a promissory note, which was subsequently amended, in favor of Berry.”  The complaint alleges Schreiber has not repaid the loan or followed the terms of loan as amended.  LINK

$4.65M bankruptcy for 32-unit walkup in Mott Haven: The entity 502 E. Jed Realty Corp., which owns the 32-unit walkup at 231 Brook Avenue in Mott Haven, the Bronx, filed for bankruptcy protection to halt a $4.65 million pre-foreclosure suit filed by lender NPL Fund in December 2022.  818433/2022E NPL Fund bought the loan in July 2022.

An affidavit accompanying the chapter 11 filing, from Flora Montiel, vice president, states the company expects revenue of $53,086 in the next 30 days and expects expenses in that period of $43,457. The walkup building with 32 residential units in Mott Haven has 25,460 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 65 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 6,520 square feet. The zoning is R6 which allows for up to 2.43 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $1.8 million. LINK
Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page and link to DOB NOW portal.