Lender takes back landmarked 70 Broad with $20M bid

The lender behind the Riverview Center at 70 Broad Street in the Financial District took control of the landmarked, five-story building with a $20 million credit bid, effectively acquiring the property from its previous owners following a prolonged legal battle. The takeover follows a federal foreclosure ruling ordering the sale of the 23,000-square-foot mixed-use office and residential property, which has remained vacant for more than seven years.

The lender took the property back through the entity RSS WFCM2015-NX2-NY WAM, LLC. The closing date was March 14, 2025 and it was recorded on March 20, 2025.

The building spans 23,000 square feet and has been at the center of a legal and financial dispute. The bankruptcy case, filed under Case No. 24-10848-mew, came after U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl ruled in a foreclosure case 1:20-cv-05309-JGK-VF that the property should be auctioned.

According to the 2024 bankruptcy filing, the property was valued at $16 million but carried $24.2 million in debt. The restructuring officer, Ephraim Diamond of Arbel Capital Advisors, attributed the financial strain to the Covid-19 pandemic and a prolonged lack of tenants, which led to a mortgage default in April 2020.

The judgment was more than $28 million, and the lender, by its special servicer Rialto Capital Advisors made a $20 million bid for the auction scheduled for December 13, 2024. No other bidders made offers, so the auction was cancelled. The broker for the auction was Greg Corbin of Northgate Real Estate Group.

The building was originally acquired in December 2010 for $18 million by 70 Broad LLC, an entity controlled by the Chen family. In April 2015, ownership was transferred to Winta Asset Management LLC, through which the family secured a $15 million loan from Silverpeak Real Estate Finance. The loan was later securitized and sold as bonds under Series 2015-NXS2.

The bankruptcy filing identifies Shuigun Chen as the guarantor and a signatory on the filing, while Caihong Chen, Caiyun Chen, and Mingsen Chen were named in the foreclosure case. Caihong Chen signed for the original loans, court records show.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of five of the 11 commercial properties representing 1,976,862 square feet of the 2,038,224 square feet. The largest owner is Invesco, followed by Jackson Mak and then Kyungho Kang. There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 70 Broadd Street, PincusCo identified seven commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months. Of those seven items, three were sales above $5 million totaling $207.2 million. The most recent of the three was Nassimi Realty which bought the 21,216-square-foot, five-unit office building (O5) on 74 Broad Street for $19.6 million from Caspi Development and Mactaggart Family & Partners on January 8, 2024. Of those seven items, four were loans above $5 million totaling $264.3 million. The most recent of the four was Premier Emerald, LLC in which borrowed $25.3 million from Maxim Credit Group, LLC secured by the 59,410-square-foot, one-unit hotel (H2) on 11 Stone Street on April 29, 2024.

Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page and link to DOB NOW portal.