Involuntary bankruptcy filed at Soho Properties’ 45 Park Place; $4M bankruptcy in Greenwood
Courts roundup May 24, 2021: There were two bankruptcies of interest and no commercial foreclosures filed above $5 million.
Court filings are the positions of one party and are not necessarily accurate or complete.
Vendor files $9M+ involuntary bankruptcy for Soho Properties’ site: A storage vendor which claims it is owed more than $8.9 million along with other contractors including Ismael Leyva Architect who claim they have not been paid for work at Soho Properties’ condo tower at 45 Park Place, filed an involuntary bankruptcy petition in Delaware yesterday. The filing by storage company Permasteelisa North America and others halts the loan foreclosure case that the lenders of a $174 million construction loan filed against Sharif El-Gamal, his Soho Properties and contractors in March 2020. These contractors were defendants in that case because they had filed mechanic’s or other liens against the property, and the lender in its foreclosure case was asserting its own loan and additional interest and fees were superior to those liens. The attorney who made the filing was Daniel O’Brien of Venable’s Delaware office. The second-highest vendor in the bankruptcy action was S&E Bridge & Scaffold, with $739,858 in secured claims. Leyva had $93,571 in claims. Yimby included the building in a review of stalled projects, in November 2020.
Bankruptcy for 893 4th Avenue development in Greenwood: Developer Michael Uhr filed in the Eastern District of New York to place his development company 893 4th Ave Lofts LLC into bankruptcy protection yesterday. Uhr listed secured debts of $3.1 million to lender 5 Arch Funding, and $800,000 in unsecured claims to others, and assets of less than $50,000. The property is facing a foreclosure case in Brooklyn State Supreme Court. Uhr originally filed that case to stave off a UCC foreclosure by his lender, 5 Arch Funding. Uhr bought the building in December 2018 for $2.7 million, then borrowed from 5 Arch Funding. Uhr last year signed a deed transferring the property to another entity for $100,000, but the state court judge voided that transfer.