William Beaver House

i've heard that the developer and the bank is negotiating new agreement. during this time, no one can close. it seems that they may not be paying back fast enough. there might be a chance of bank taking over.

How does freezing closings help things? And if the bank takes over? Doesn't Balaz have like a zillon dollars?

If the bank takes over, is that good for buyers or bad?
Any rules or regulations about them being allowed to convert to a rental building?

The condo is already effective, and units have been sold, so no going back. Doesn't matter whether the sponsor or the bank owns the unsold units. Either will just rent them out until they decide to try to sell them again. A condo is by definition potentially full of rented-out units anyway, so no conversion involved.

be careful . . . be V E R Y careful as a rental you're ok, to buy NOT so much

Excellent example of an unnatural situation. Instead of building condominiums for owners, they built condominiums for investors to rent out. So this situation doesn't serve anyone well. Families should own and live in their homes.

I looked at these a few months ago. The sales guy told me 1/3 were sold and closed; 1/3 were in contract but not closed and 1/3 were available for sale. Given that the the building was done two years ago, my guess is that most of the 1/3 that were in contract and not closed will not close. That means 2/3 of the building is empty (roughly).

looked at these a couple of weeks ago, i think they're really nice units. couldn't find anything on it other people hate the yellow bricks and the original marketing with cartoon characters were risque. but inside, in person, i thought the apartments are nice, and the ammenities the best ive seen. so how is it if the fate of the building is undecided, there is still a "sales" team in place. So what happens to those people in contract? do they loose their deposit or get it back if the building goes to rental?

does anyone know if its legal/possible for them to convert the building to rentals?

The building can go rental - those people who own their apartment cannot be forced to sell it. What can happen (and what almost every prospectus for a new condo clearly states) is that the developer could rent the unsold units. If you have placed a deposit and don't close the developer can keep your deposit - regardless of what they do with the apartment. The condo plan is effective and it will always be a condo but the developer has the right to rent the unsold units (although I suspect if they ever did, they would eventually try to sell them once the market gets better).

Sorry - I meant building "can't" go rental.

so what did cityhunter mean by the "bank taking over" and why would it stall closings? whether it is owned by the bank or the developer isn't it the goal to SELL apartments whether it be to investors or individuals? a bank doesn't want real estate, it wants money. so perhaps the bank and sponsor are trying to negotiate a "short sale" on remaining apartments? this is a different situation then when a building isn't complete, the developer has problems, and people put money down-that would be a bad situation

And why would anyone in their right mind need a headache like this? Unless their purpose is to be an absentee owner renting the unit out. Is that what the offering document detailed?

i don't fully understand it either. according to the agent, during the process of the negotiation, the developer can sign contracts but can NOT close. i'm guessing, eventually, those who are in contract will close the deal with whoever owns the unit after the negotiation. the immediate impact is if you are someone who wants to move it right away, you won't be able to close it for a few months.

what i'm more interested to find out is what could be the outcome of this negotiation and how it would impact the price of the units in the building immediately after the negotiation. anyone know of examples of similar situation?

cityhunter i too am interested. i guess if the bank took over or worked something out with the sponsor, the prices would go down. but i stick to what i said above that at this point the project is complete, the ammenities open, people live there as owners and renters, so "no backsies"
the best thing is to contact a mortgage or re broker to find out if banks are lending to ppl to purchase in that bldg.

Hi everyone,
Sorry for not commenting before, but the real facts are that Sapir owes a lot of money both to Blackstone (mezz loan) and iStar (Senior loan). Due to those debts they can't close any sales in the last 7 months! They can't even get contracts out. Basically, the brokerage there which is Prodigy lies about the situation and percentage sold and they keep on putting the open house signs, which is BS to bait clients to come and then maybe catch them and sell them in other buildings in the neighborhood. Everything about the building and brokers working there is shady!! be ware of them and their bait ads for sale or rental in the building... I responded to an ad and this chic tried to convince me to see other buildings with her after I realized they don't really have anything available there!!! But I guess there will always be suckers, so they'll keep on putting those baits until the state department will go after them and their licenses! Too bad for the building because it is a gorgeous building and amenities. At this point Sapir has to sell buildings to pay his debts or the WBH will go to foreclosure.