Lender alleges it loaned $12.5M to Somerset, seeks repayment
The entity Chaparral Investments alleges it holds a note memorializing a 2008 loan with an original principal of $12.5 million to Keith Rubenstein’s Somerset Partners, a major real estate owner based in Manhattan. The plaintiff alleges the loan was not repaid and with interest amounts to $27,071,371.
Somerset did not respond to a request for comment.
Court filings are allegations of fact as presented by one party and are not necessarily accurate or complete.
Somerset has not yet filed response papers.
Lawsuits over loans such as these may represent disputes over terms and not the ability to pay the alleged debt. The suit, nonetheless provides a window into how real estate investors borrow funds.
The plaintiff, a company located in Bermuda alleges Somerset has not repaid the loan despite notices including one from June stating Chaparral was seeking repayment. The original lender, Chaparral Holdings Limited, a British Virgin Islands company, assigned the loan to the entity Chaparral Investments. An individual from the advisory firm Groom Hill, based in Monaco and another at Balzane Services, with a Geneva address, were signatories for both entities on various documents. The loan was not tied to a specific property, according to the loan documents. Somerset owns a broad real estate portfolio including office such as 300 East 42nd Street and multifamily. It has also sold interests in significant New York City properties including 450 Park Avenue which it sold in 2014 for $575 million and two development parcels in the Bronx which it sold to Brookfield Properties for $165 million.