A state judge on Tuesday ordered the foreclosure sale of the storied Riverton Houses, a middle-class Harlem enclave that ran into trouble a year ago when its new owner failed to make good on optimistic revenue projections and defaulted on his mortgage.
Justice Richard F. Braun of State Supreme Court in Manhattan ordered the sale of the complex at public auction to satisfy the owners $240.6 million debt. The complex sits between 135th and 138th Streets, from Fifth Avenue to the Harlem River.
Riverton, like a number of complexes during the real estate boom, was bought for top dollar in 2005 by a company led by the developer Laurence Gluck, who had a plan to increase profits by replacing tenants in rent-stabilized apartments with market-rate tenants.
Were about to see a wave of foreclosure sales throughout New York City, said Harold Shultz, senior fellow at the Citizens Housing and Planning Council. This is the first. For tenants, theres good news and bad news. Excessive debt will be eliminated, but they will be at the mercy of the auction process as to who the new owner will be.
Read more in The New York Times.