Santander files nine pre-foreclosures at rent-regulated NYC rentals totaling $70.5M
351 West 125th Street (Credit - Cyclomedia)
Santander Bank through the entity SIG RCRS A/B MR 2023 Venture LLC filed nine pre-foreclosure actions yesterday alleging loans secured by heavily rent-regulated buildings in the Bronx, Manhattan and Brooklyn were in default. All the properties were owned by affiliates of Michael Ostad and Edward Ostad. Some properties have additional owners.
The actions were filed in New York State Supreme Court on November 12, 2025 in the county courthouses in the Bronx, Manhattan and Brooklyn, depending on where the the property was located.
Case 351 West 125th Street LINK
Court filings represent the position of one party and are not necessarily accurate or complete. In these actions, the lender alleges payment defaults, generally stating no payments have been made since March or April of 2025.
Many property owners both long-established and not, have been targeted with foreclosure actions, in a process that takes one to three years to play out. In some instances, such as A&E Real Estate in Queens, the borrower refinances but in others they lose the property.
Below is a list of recent transactions that were sold through the judicial foreclosure process, according to PincusCo data.
The building with the highest debt level of the properties involved in the Santander Bank pre-foreclosure actions is 351 West 125th Street, with an original principal of $18 million. The other properties include, 570 East 163 Street, 609-611 West 151st Street, 1061-1065 Nelson Avenue, 2356 Grand Concourse, 736 Riverside Drive, 579 61st Street, 4423 4th Avenue and 166-168 East 104th Street.
Latest Ostad Family Stories:
• Two Ostad brothers sue third to dissolve portfolio LLCs with $79.7M in debt (April 15, 2025)
• Edward Ostad pays $4.4M for 8-unit walkup on Yorkville corner (February 17, 2025)
• Edward Ostad pays $5.7M for two mixed-use, retail building in Carroll Gardens (December 20, 2024)
• Edward Ostad pays $3.4M to Related for 8-unit walkup in Carroll Gardens (November 22, 2024)
• Edward Ostad pays $7.25M for 3 buildings in Williamsburg (November 14, 2024)
The property
The elevator building 351 West 125th Street with 38 residential units in Harlem has 45,945 square feet of built space and 14,188 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 60,151 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 100 feet and is 99 feet deep with a total lot size of 9,992 square feet. The zoning is C4-4D which allows for up to 3.4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 6.02 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $7.4 million. The most recent loan totaled $18 million and was provided by Signature Bank on March 18, 2021.
Prior sales and revenue
This property was sold for $23 million on June 15, 2017.
The 45,945-square-foot property generated revenue of $1.5 million or $32 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.
Violations and lawsuits
According to city public data, the property has received one DOB violation, $32,850 in ECB penalties, 250 housing violations, $50,605 in OATH penalties, and two housing litigations in the last year.
There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property for the past 24 months.
The neighborhood
In Harlem, The bulk, or 43 percent of the 81.1 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 30 percent of the space. In sales, Harlem has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $709.2 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 15th highest in Manhattan. For development, Harlem has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 10th highest in Manhattan. It had 3.8 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 5 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.
The block
On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of nine of the 20 commercial properties representing 246,596 square feet of the 301,424 square feet. The largest owner is Alex Adjmi, followed by Cedar Holdings Llc and then Edward Ostad. There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.
The owner
The PincusCo database currently indicates that Edward Ostad owned at least 63 commercial properties with 791 residential units in New York City with 782,209 square feet and a city-determined market value of $189.1 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $214.6 million in debt, with top three lenders as Signature Bank, New York Community Bank, and Amalgamated Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 43 percent of the 782,209 square feet of built space are walkup properties, with elevator properties next occupying 36 percent of the space. The bulk, or 55 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Brooklyn next at 25 percent of the space.
The owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Nurul Ahia, head officer and Tanet Tukes, officer. The business entity is West 125th Street Equities Llc.
The surrounding
This is the first commercial real estate event of interest identified within the 400-foot radius of 357 Dr M L King Jr Boulevard in the past 24 months.
Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page and link to DOB NOW portal.