Courts roundup: Seller seeks to terminate Greenpoint sale to CW Realty, $4.1M bankruptcy, LES nonprofit fights foreclosure

Seller seeks to terminate $8M Greenpoint sale to CW Realty Group: The plaintiff and would-be seller, Kwong C. Chiu seeks to terminate a contract to sell a five-parcel, corner development site at 508-522 Graham Avenue in Greenpoint, Brooklyn for $8 million, to affiliates of CW Realty Group, according to a PincusCo analysis of the court filing.
Cheskie Weisz’s CW Realty Group filed plans in January 2020 for a 30-unit, five story building on the site. The complaint alleges no wrongdoing, just an effort to terminate the 2019 contract and have a deposit of $450,000 sent back to CW Realty Group. Chiu as the signatory for the two plaintiffs in loan documents, alleges the plaintiff entities and the defendant, an entity PincusCo research finds to be an affiliate of CW Realty Group, signed a contract of sale in 2019, and the CW Realty Group entity paid a $400,000 down payment and an additional $50,000 amount for construction, and Kwong C. Chiu now seeks to terminate the contract and return the $450,000 to CW Realty Group entity. Kwong C. Chiu bought the five parcels in 2007 for $3.2 million.

According to the complaint, “Upon information and belief, at all times relevant to this complaint Plaintiff is unable to tender marketable title to the Premises.” LINK

$4.1M bankruptcy in Bed-Stuy: Theodore Feldheim, written as Theordore Feldheim in the petition, is the owner of the seven-unit 476 Gates Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, and is seeking bankruptcy protection for the property, that has $3.8 million of secured debt from Normandy Capital Trust. Feldheim estimates the property is worth $4.1 million, and it has a secured debt of $3.82 million from Normandy Capital Trust. The lender filed a complaint in August 2021 seeking $2.6 million in a money judgment. The walkup building with seven residential units in Bedford-Stuyvesant has 4,870 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 20 feet and is 80 feet deep with a total lot size of 1,600 square feet. The zoning is R6A which allows for up to 3 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $881,000.  LINK

LES nonprofit facing $1.3M foreclosure sues note buyer: The nonprofit Sixth Street Community Center, Inc. alleges several assignments of a $1.3 million loan originated by Lakeland Bank in 2015 were fraudulent. Lakeland lent the nonprofit $750,000 in 2008 and then increased the debt to $1.3 million in October 2015. The bank initiated a foreclosure action in March 2021. 850041/2021  A court appointed referree found that no loan payments have been made since November 2020, and that the total amount owing as of early January 2023 was $1.27 million. According to city property records, Lakeland sold the note in March 2021 to an entity called JY Tangerous LLC, and the complaint alleges that was a fraudulent conveyance, even as two signatures from Lakeland executives appear on the Acris document. LINK

Correction: In a prior version of this post Cheksie Weisz’s surname was misspelled.