Nahla Capital acquires foreclosed mezz position at Wonder Works’ Vitre condo

Mezzanine lender Nahla Capital took control of the mezzanine interest in 29 unsold residential condo units (and six parking units) at Wonder Works’s Vitre condominium project at 302 East 96th Street. The stake was valued at $30.4 million.

There remains a first mortgage loan with an original principal of $43 million. Wonder Works is led by Joseph Klaynberg, Eric Brody and Michael Belkin, who are identified as principals of the development on the NYS Attorney General website. The mezzanine was set for a foreclosure auction earlier this month, The Real Deal reported, and had been marketed by a JLL team including Brett Rosenberg and Jeffrey Julien.

According to a suit filed December 3, 2020 by the developers seeking to block the UCC transfer, Deutsche Bank gave the developers a mezzanine loan for $24.94 million in January 2019. That loan was later transferred to Nahla. The loan was identified as being in default in January 2020. A state Supreme Court judge this month threw out an attempt to halt the UCC foreclosure, and the foreclosure occurred on December 8. The PincusCo new development condo tracker shows 20 units have sold in the project.

Series 2020A Of Nahla Capital LLC acquired an interest from Wonder Works Construction through the entity Wwml96 De Mezz, LLC valued at $30.4 million for 35 parcels, including the tax class high-rise condominium apartment/elevated, residential unit (R4) and containing 29 residential units at 302 East 96th Street in Yorkville. The deal closed on December 8, 2020 and was recorded on December 22, 2020.

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