Troubles for Wall Street office tower worsen as foreclosure looms

The unfortunate case of 111 Wall Street might be even more unfortunate than it sounds.

Two months since we wrote that the vacant, 1.2 million square-foot tower at the corner of South Street “epitomized the crisis” of the downtown commercial market, the building owned by Nightingale Properties and Intervest Capital Partners now faces a foreclosure action by mezzanine lender Oaktree Capital Management, as first reported by Real Estate Alert.

An auction is scheduled for Sept. 19 to be run by JLL, which is the tower’s leasing agent. JLL declined to comment.

As we wrote on June 8, the owners plunked nearly a half-billion dollars into buying the 1960s property and handsomely redesigning it top-to-bottom with new, modern infrastructure, only to encounter the worst office-leasing market in decades.

But now it appears that the redevelopment project isn’t even finished. Some of the new curtain-wall glass has yet to be installed and sources said that not all of the interior is finished, either.

The added cost to finish the job might well reduce the amount that a buyer’s willing to pay for the tower, which stands at the less-convenient eastern end of Wall Street.

All eyes meanwhile are on 60 Wall Street, the nearly vacant tower a few blocks east that’s nearly twice as large as 111 Wall. Owner Paramount Group, a global operator, is much stronger than Nightingale and its partners and 60 Wall’s location is nearer to the Fulton Center subway complex.

Paramount is said to be in talks with a number of potential tenants through leasing agent CBRE. Everyone who cares about Downtown hopes for the success of 60 Wall – and a brighter future for 111 Wall as well.

Hochul strikes deal for 5 WTC

Kudos to Gov. Kathy Hochul and to all other involved parties in making the deal to finally build Five World Trade Center. Its 1,200 apartments will include one third of them earmarked for low-and moderate-income New Yorkers as well as some specifically for 9/11 survivors and first responders.

Hochul has been largely ineffectual in real estate matters – as in her failure to make the state legislature extend expired 421A tax benefits — but the 5 WTC resolution that includes $65 million in state subsidies is more than welcome.

Activists had absurdly wanted to make the billion-dollar, 900-foot-tall skyscraper 100% affordable. The developers are Brookfield Properties, Silverstein Properties, Omni New York and Dabar Development Partners.