Starwood acquires from HFZ title to 22 Chatsworth co-ops worth $70.4M

Starwood Property Trust, the secured lender for HFZ Capital Group’s troubled cooperative redevelopment of the Chatsworth at 344 West 72nd Street, took title to 22 of the units valued at $70.4 million, city property records show.

This is not the first block of for-sale apartments HFZ has lost to a lender this year. In January, Ziel Feldman’s HFZ ceded control of 96 condominium units to lender CIM Group valued at $231 million at four buildings, 301 West 53rd Street, 88 Lexington Avenue, 90 Lexington Avenue and the Astor at 235 West 75th Street, all in Manhattan.

The loss of the current block is related to a suit from October 2020, in which Starwood through its entity SPT Chatsworth Holdings, sued HFZ in federal court over an alleged $157 million loan default related to the conversion of the Chatsworth into co-ops, as The Real Deal reported at the time.

The Real Deal reported that that balance of the unpaid loans were due in January 2020.

HFZ bought the then 147-unit, century-old Beaux-Arts style building in 2013 for $150 million with the plan to convert it to a co-op.

Feldman in 2013 submitted a plan to convert the rental to co-op with the New York State Attorney General, which was accepted in 2016. The current sellout value is listed as $421 million.

An entity affiliated with the Safra banking family bought 46 of the units in 2017, The Real Deal reported. The NYS AG website lists Edmond M. Safra as the principal of the co-op sponsor.

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