Maverick files $27M pre-foreclosure at retail in Fordham Manor

Maverick Real Estate Partners filed a $27 million pre-foreclosure action yesterday in New York State Supreme Court in the Bronx, alleging two loans secured by the retail property 201-213 East Fordham Road in Fordham Manor, the Bronx, were in default. Steven Chera and related family members own the property. This branch of the Chera family has owned the property since 1987.

Case 815096/2025E LINK

According to the complaint, Republic First Bank under the name Republic Bank originated two loans totaling $27 million on June 28, 2022.

The Cheras bought the property under the name Fordham Grand Associates in February 1987 for $6.7 million, according to a PincusCo analysis of transfer tax records, borrowing $4.76 million at the time. The Cheras have changed the owner entity several times, and several members of the family have signed for loans and other property records. Raymond Chera signed in 1987, Michael Chera signed for a document in 1997, Charles Chera signed in 1999 and Steven Chera signed in 2022.

Republic Bank was declared insolvent and in April 2024 shuttered. On June 3, 2025, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation sold the loan to Fulton Bank. The next day, on June 4, 2025, Fulton Bank sold the loan to Maverick’s entity, Fordham Road Retail LLC, in a transaction that has not yet been recorded in city records as of publication.

According to the complaint, “Borrower is in default under the Building Loan Documents by reason of, among other things for: (i) failing to make the monthly payment of principal and interest within ten (10) days after the date when such payment was due and payable on July 1, 2025; (ii) failing to pay the real estate taxes due for the Property on July 1, 2025; (iii) transferring ownership of the Property and relinquishing self-management of the Mortgaged Property pursuant to, among other things the Ground Lease (as defined below) and the Assignment and Assumption Agreement…”

Court records represent the position of one party and are not necessarily accurate or complete.

PincusCo reported in 2022 that Steven Chera had signed a memorandum of contract to sell the property to Yousef Althkefati. The ground lease noted in the complaint is signed by Yousef Althkefati.

The property

The retail building in Fordham Manor has 22,842 square feet of built space and 26,877 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 49,708 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 158 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 14,450 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is C4-4 which allows for up to 3.4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 3.44 times FAR for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $14.7 million. The most recent loan totaled $27 million and was provided by Republic First Bank on June 28, 2022.

Prior sales and revenue

The 22,842-square-foot property generated revenue of $2 million or $89 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

Violations and lawsuits

According to city public data, the property has received $44,485 in OATH penalties in the last year.

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property for the past 24 months.

The neighborhood

In Fordham Manor, The bulk, or 35 percent of the 18.4 million square feet of commercial built space are walkup buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 28 percent of the space. In sales, Fordham Manor has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $179.5 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 4th highest in Bronx. For development, Fordham Manor has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 11th highest in Bronx. It had 821,279 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 4 percent of the neighborhood’s built space. There was one pre-foreclosure suit filed among other development buildings in the past 12 months.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 12 of the 19 commercial properties representing 372,885 square feet of the 615,636 square feet. The largest owner is Anthony Gazivoda, followed by Faraj Srour and then Finkelstein Timberger East Real Estate. There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The owner

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Yousef Althkefati owned at least three commercial properties in New York City with 97,821 square feet and a city-determined market value of $24.4 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $19.8 million in debt, borrowed from Israel Discount Bank and Sterling National Bank. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 62 percent of the 97,821 square feet of built space are retail properties, with industrial properties next occupying 38 percent of the space. The bulk, or 39 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Queens next at 38 percent of the space.

The surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 213 East Fordham Road, PincusCo identified four commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months. Of those four items, one was for major renovation including a certificate of occupancy change. It was a permit issued on February 14, 2025 for the $4.4 million renovation of 74,897-square-foot educational (E) building with zero residential units at 2510 Valentine Avenue. One of those four items was a sale which Maddd Equities and Eli Weiss bought the 50,000-square-foot, one-unit office building (O7) on 2532 Grand Concourse for $8 million from Matthew Bloomfield on January 23, 2025. Of those four items, two were loans above $5 million totaling $19.2 million. The most recent of the two was Maddd Equities in which borrowed $5 million from Progress Capital secured by the 50,000-square-foot, one-unit office building (O7) on 2532 Grand Concourse on January 23, 2025.

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