Roxana Baiceanu Before the economic collapse, it was only now and then that you heard about luxury homes being sold at a bargain as a result of the owners’ incapacity for making their payments. The situation changed radically after recession hit, with news about beautiful pieces of real estate turning into damsels-in-distress becoming more and more common across the US.
What about the NYC real estate market? Well, in the Big Apple foreclosure activity has been less intense than in other U.S. states; however, it’s not only ordinary people’s homes, but also those of the wealthy people as well which have hit the foreclosure block in the past decade. In certain cases, the liens went over $10 million.
Looking into our NYC foreclosure database, which tracks distressed properties back to 1970, we were able to find a handful of premium Manhattan properties (priced $3 million and up) which found new buyers through an auction. Here’s the top 10 list:
#1. 113 E 61 St, Manhattan
Sale price: $8,891,000
Lien amount: $8,329,074
Auction year: 2010
The history of this UES property is not a happy one. Back in 1993, it became known as Manhattan’s “first-ever ‘Absolute Auction’ of a premium property,” which was followed by 5 other sales within a 10-year time span. The 7-story, 7,000 sqft. property was built in 1900 by designer Philip Lamb. The 2010 buyer was an LLC, Sbre Realty Cor P.
#2. 79 Horatio St, Manhattan
Sale price: $7,400,000
Year sold at auction: 2008
The 6,000 sqft. West Village estate remained within the Gottlieb family even after the auction, where it had arrived as a result of a legal disagreement between its co-owners (Bill Gottlieb and another family member, according to Curbed). One year later, the estate is put back on the market. After going through an extensive renovation and having its landmark status restored, the 1870-built, six-floor townhouse was sold again in 2014 for $21 million.
#3. 14-16 E 67 St, Manhattan
Sale price: $7,180,725
Lien amount: $16,532,273
Auction year: 2003
Across the street from the Rockefellers stands the famous Milbank estate, bought in 1975 by Bob Guccione, the founder of the Penthouse Magazine. After filing for bankruptcy in 2003, he had to let go of this huge 18,000 sqft pile– one of the biggest private mansions in Manhattan. The next year, however, a fund was created by a group of investors to help Guccione buy the property was bought back for $26.5 million, but only to hit the auction again in 2006. The mansion was bought in 2008 for $46 million by hedge-fund billionaire Philip Falcone.
#4. 694 Broadway #1109, Manhattan
Sale price: $5,650,000
Lien amount: $4,405,392
Auction year: 2014
This 3-bed, 4.5-bath unit has had many famous owners such as pop artist Britney Spears, rap impresario Russel Simmons, and Keith Richard of the Rolling Stones. In 2014, when it was sold at the auction, the last known owners were TV producer Jessica Klein and her late husband, Isaac Levenbrown. Bought by Noah Gold LLC, the pad is currently on the market for $7.6 million.
#5. 25 North Moore Street #3A/4A, Manhattan
Sale price: $5,600,375
Lien amount: $8,960,862
Auction year: 2010
Hip hop producer Damon Dash lost his Tribeca duplex in 2010, after several failed attempts to sell it in order to avoid foreclosure. Platinum Capital paid $5.6 million for it and sold it 2 years (and several flippings) later for $7.25 million.
#6. 105 Greene Street #4B, Manhattan
Sale price: $5,205,000
Lien amount: $3,551,764
Auction year: 2013
Another investor hit by the economic downturn, Robert O’Neel III, lost his 3-bed, 3-bath condo unit at 105 Greene Street in 2013. The condo was bought at the auction by Kaplan Gold LLC for $5,205,000 and relisted in the spring of this year for a little under $9 million. The seller has recently cut down the asking price to a more modest $7.6 million.
#7. 212 East 57 Street #1920A, Manhattan
Sale price: $5,000,000
Lien amount: $12,000,000
Auction year: 2014
Tise 1,923 sqft. pad was bought by Eric Gold LLC. The last known owner was the president of PowerSystems International Inc., Louis Zak.
#8. 845 United Nations Plaza #80B, Manhattan
Sale price: $4,818,422
Auction year: 2005
At the time of the auction, this 2,863 sqft. condo in the Trump Tower had belonged to the Turkish telecommunication mogul Cem Uzan, who defaulted on payments on several of the apartments he owned in the building. The unit was bought by investor Dominik D’Alleva, who sold the property 2 years later to Northwestern International Lt.D for almost the same price ($5.2 million).
#9. 337 W 70 St, Manhattan
Sale price: $4,650,000
Auction year: 2007
This 4-story townhouse in Lincoln Square changed hands a few times within the last decade. When the unit headed for auction, it had belonged to attorney Constance Huttner and her partner Yaffa Rachel Cheslow. The new owner sold the house the next day for almost half a million more to Katalin and Laurence Gingold. In 2009, the Gingold couple handed it over to Zeev and Yael Pearl from the law firm of Pearl Cohen Zedek Latzer in exchange of $4,550,000.
#10. 40 Bond Street #TH4, Manhattan
Sale price: $4,500,000
Lien amount: $6,868,664
Auction year: 2011
American producer Gerald (Jerry) Goldstein and his wife Claire Levine’s apartment was sold at the auction in 2011 after accumulating a lien in the amount of $6.9 million. Their LLC, Amadeus B, bought the pad in the fashionable building at 40 Bond Street for $7,425,000 in 2008.
