RFR signs $45M loan modification with Blackstone for retail condos in Lenox Hill, resolves foreclosure

RFR Holding through the entity RFD Third Avenue Retail Associates as borrower signed a loan modification with lender Blackstone Group through the entity Sig Cre 2023 Venture LLC valued at $45 million for two retail condominium units at 188 East 78th Street in Lenox Hill, Manhattan. The modification marks the end of a pre-foreclosure action Blackstone filed against RFR over alleged defaults in the loan.
The deal closed on October 17, 2025 and was recorded on October 24, 2025. The prior lender was Blackstone Group which held debt that had an original loan amount of $45 million.The two properties have 21,581 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $2,085 per the PincusCo analysis. (The price per square foot analysis is the transaction price divided by square feet as reported in public records and assumes no air rights have been sold.)
The signatory for RFR Holding was Frank Mangieri , Aby Rosen , and Michael Fuchs . The signatory for Blackstone Group was Albert Picallo .

The pre-foreclosure action, 850472/2024, filed in December 2024, was discontinued on October 20, 2025. The parties ended the action without prejudice, meaning Blackstone could refile if it wanted to.

The pre-foreclosure Blackstone filed in December was the sixth and final action it filed against RFR and its principals in a flurry of legal activity between April 2024 and December 2024, and it has not filed any cases since then.

The property

The retail condo in Lenox Hill has 21,581 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has a total lot size of 8,527 square feet. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $33.5 million.

Violations and lawsuits

The properties were involved in one lawsuit and zero bankruptcies over the past two years. The suit was a $45 million commercial foreclosure concerning a loan filed on December 16, 2024, by Blackstone Group and Rialto Capital Advisors against RFR Holding, Aby Rosen, and Michael Fuchs. In addition, according to city public data, the properties have not received any significant violations in the last year.

Development

There are no active new building construction projects or major alteration projects with initial costs more than $1 million on this tax lot.

The neighborhood

In Lenox Hill, The bulk, or 34 percent of the 53.3 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 30 percent of the space. In sales, Lenox Hill has the highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $4.5 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Lenox Hill has 2.1 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 12th highest in Manhattan. It had 3.1 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 6 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On the tax block of 188 East 78th Street, PincusCo has identified the owners of nine of the 20 commercial properties representing 83,465 square feet of the 271,751 square feet. The largest owner is Friedland Properties, followed by Lawrence G. Creel and then Daniel Dermer Trustee Of Daniel Dermer.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 43 percent of the 271,751 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with industrial buildings next occupying 17 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that RFR Holding owned at least 19 commercial properties with 10 residential units in New York City with 2,777,610 square feet and a city-determined market value of $1.3 billion. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 82 percent of the 2,777,610 square feet of built space are office properties, with hotel properties next occupying 12 percent of the space. The bulk, or 96 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Brooklyn next at 4 percent of the space.

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