Luxury Upper West Side Apartment Building Slips Into Default
A&R Kalimian Realty failed to pay off the $225M senior loan tied to its luxury apartment building in Manhattan's Lincoln Square neighborhood when it matured last month, according to the debt's special servicer.
The New York City landlord, which has been embroiled in a family tug of war, took out the $225M mortgage on 200 W. 67th St. with JPMorgan Chase in 2013, and it matured Nov. 1. The landlord had requested a short-term extension and was working on paying off the loan, but the loan is considered delinquent and nonperforming, according to Trepp.
The loan was transferred to special servicing in June. Fitch Ratings flagged the debt this summer as at risk of default after the expiration of the 43-story building's tax abatement caused its annual property taxes to rise from $1.1M in 2013 to $6.7M this year, Crain's New York Business reported.
In addition to the $225M senior mortgage, there is a $25M subordinate loan attached to the property, which A&R Kalimian opened in 2010 after purchasing the land along Amsterdam Avenue from the Red Cross in 2004 for $72.3M.
A&R Kalimian Managing Partner Albert Kalimian and a spokesman for special servicer LNR Partners didn't respond to requests for comment.
The Aire, which sits close to Lincoln Center on Manhattan’s Upper West Side and features amenities like a private party deck and courtyard, has rents ranging from $3,750 a month for a 398 SF studio to $11,900 for a 1,500 SF, three-bedroom, three-bathroom apartment, according to its website.
Occupancy at the building was 97% as of March after dropping close to 70% in 2021, during the depths of the pandemic. The building also has 25K SF of retail space, which was fully leased as of this summer, Crain's reported.
The default is just one issue pressing A&R Kalimian. Kalimian sued his nephew Justin Amirian last year for defamation, alleging Amirian was trying to elbow him out of his position managing the family's properties following the death of family patriarch Elias Kalimian, The Daily Beast reported. That case was dropped in February, according to New York Supreme Court records.
Kalimian, along with two of his sisters, Deborah Kalimian and Rita Kalimian Sakhaie, were sued in October by Amirian, his brother-in-law, Saeed, and their mother, Kalimian's third sister, Edna Kalimian Amirian. The Amirians alleged the Kalimians committed self-dealing at 11 apartment buildings they own in Manhattan and asked a judge for at least a $5M judgment.
Albert Kalimian has yet to respond to that lawsuit.
CORRECTION, DEC. 13, 11:30 P.M. ET: Saeed Amirian is Justin Amirian's brother-in-law, not his brother, as a previous version of this article stated.
