25-16 37th Avenue (Credit – Google)

February 9th, 2023

UPDATED: Maninder Sethi and Kavneet Sethi through the entity 25-16 LIC LLC acquired a 39-unit development site valued at $14.1 million at 25-16 37th Avenue in Long Island City, Queens, out of bankruptcy. The prior developer sought to build a 38-unit condominium building with a $39 million sellout. The lender Bankwell Bank provided the new owners a $22 million construction loan.

The seller was 25-16 37 Ave Owners LLC, a company controlled by David Goldwasser’s FIA Capital Partners, which had placed the property in bankruptcy in 2021. The prior developers, including Barry Leon and partners, had begun construction on the 39-unit residential elevator building, but construction stalled and the developers were hit with two pre-foreclosure actions. FIA Capital Partners, which bankruptcy specialist David Goldwasser runs, took control of the company and filed the bankruptcy.

Goldwasser acquired control of the property from a mezzanine lender following a UCC foreclosure auction. At the time of the bankruptcy, the property had assets less than $10 million and debts totaling $18.44 million, composed of a $12.7 million first mortgage, a $3.3 million mezzanine loan, contractors and others, according to the 2021 bankruptcy filing.