Wells Fargo files $50M pre-foreclosure at Janus Property’s Harlem life sciences project

Wells Fargo filed a $50 million pre-foreclosure action on May 11, 2026, against Janus Property Company’s entity TSTY Owner LLC, regarding the Taystee Building in West Harlem. The suit, filed in New York County Supreme Court, targets the empty 11-story commercial life sciences property at 450 West 126th Street which spans approximately 341,561 square feet.

The legal action follows an alleged maturity default on a $50 million consolidated loan package issued on August 8, 2022. Wells Fargo, acting as the lender, provided a senior secured multi-draw term loan that consolidated several prior mortgages. The borrower exercised an option to extend the original February 7, 2025, maturity date to August 7, 2025. According to the complaint, TSTY Owner LLC failed to repay the outstanding principal balance and accrued interest by the extended deadline. Wells Fargo issued a formal notice of default on August 12, 2025, and the borrower remained in default as of August 17, 2025. As of the May 2026 filing, the total amount due reached $51,439,573.69, including unpaid principal and interest accruing at a default rate of 4 percent above the effective rate.

Case LINK

The life science real estate sector, once considered a “recession-proof” darling of the commercial property market, has faced significant headwinds over the last 24 months. While the sector saw record-breaking investment during the pandemic, a combination of oversupply, shifting capital markets, and a pullback in biotech venture funding has led to increased distress for many projects, The Real Deal reported last fall.

The Taystee Building is a central component of the Manhattanville Factory District, a redevelopment initiative led by Janus Property Company founders Scott Metzner and Jerry Salama. The project involved the adaptive reuse of the former Taystee Bakery site into a modern life sciences and office hub.

However, the building, according to the complaint, is completely empty, “The Taystee Building is vacant and has no commercial, residential or other tenants.”

The development was designed to capitalize on the proximity to Columbia University’s Manhattanville campus expansion and the 125th Street commercial corridor. Despite its completion, the complaint states that the building is currently vacant and has no commercial or residential tenants. The foreclosure seeks a judgment to sell the property at a public sale to satisfy the debt. Wells Fargo is represented in the matter by attorneys Mark R. Seiden and Taylor Lodise of Jones Day. The bank also reserved its right to seek deficiency judgments against the borrower and identified guarantors should the sale proceeds fail to cover the full obligation.

The property

The office building in Harlem has 260,965 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. PincusCo cannot determine the lot area of the 424 West 126 Street parcel at this time. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $77.4 million. The most recent loan totaled $50 million and was provided by Wells Fargo on August 8, 2022.

Prior sales, articles and revenue

This property was sold for $20.1 million on December 20, 2018.

Development

Janus Property submitted a new building construction project for a 246,525 square-foot office (B) building at 450 West 126th Street. The plan was filed on June 27, 2013 and was permitted on January 22, 2019. It calls for the construction of a 164-foot tall, 11-story building and was filed with the New York City Department of Buildings under job number 121643043. The project is described in the filing as: construct eleven (11) story new building with cellar.

Violations and lawsuits

According to city public data, the property has not received any significant violations 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 $840.2 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 14th 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 3.7 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 10 of the 24 commercial properties representing 543,324 square feet of the 706,084 square feet. The largest owner is Croman Real Estate, followed by Galil Management and then Janus Property Company. On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 374,851 square feet. The largest is a 246,525 square-foot business (B) building submitted by Janus Property and filed by Jerry Salama with plans filed June 27, 2013 and permitted January 22, 2019. The second largest is a 93-unit, 128,326 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Jianhui Hu with plans filed November 16, 2018 and permitted July 21, 2020.

The owner

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Janus Property Company owned at least four commercial properties in New York City with 670,567 square feet and a city-determined market value of $139.5 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $143.5 million in debt, with top three lenders as Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, and East West Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 82 percent of the 670,567 square feet of built space are office properties, with industrial properties next occupying 18 percent of the space. They are all located in Manhattan.

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