Photos last week by Stacie Joy
After 23 years of sitting in disrepair, there may finally be a new chapter for
the long-vacant former P.S. 64 at 605 E. Ninth St. between Avenue B and Avenue C.
Last week, as
The Real Deal first reported, Supreme Court Justice Melissa Crane ruled that Madison Realty Capital can move forward with a foreclosure against building landlord Gregg Singer after years of delay.
Madison Realty Capital reportedly provided Singer with a $44 million loan on the property in 2016. Court records show that he failed to repay the balance by its maturity date in April 2016, and by that September, the lender filed to foreclose, as reported by TRD.
Per a Madison statement
"Madison aims to work productively with borrowers. However, in this case, the borrower has refused to make good on his commitments for more than three years, leaving us with no choice but to enforce our rights and remedies."
In an email to TRD, Singer said that he still planned to move forward with developing the site "and will inform the court at the appropriate time."
He continued: "In the end, we believe even [Madison Realty Capital] will be happy. This will be a great asset for the community, which is highly desirable and in great need."
In her ruling, the judge stated "that Singer had failed to raise any material issues to dispute Madison Realty Capital's arguments, citing a 25-page response that lacked a table of contents and amounted to a 'rambling litany of defenses.'"
The building became the Charas/El Bohio Community Center after the school left in 1977. The group was eventually evicted in December 2001 when Singer took over as the landlord.
Singer, who bought the property from the city during an auction in 1998 for $3.15 million, has wanted to turn the building into a dorm. (The DOB maintains a Stop Work Order on the property.)
In years past, there has been a call to return the building for community use. Given this movement some hope: then-Mayor de Blasio's
statement at a Town Hall on Oct. 12, 2017, that the city would take steps to reacquire the building. According to published reports, the Mayor said he'd work to "right the wrongs of the past."
When news circulated late last week that the forclosure could move forward, several sources EVG spoke with said that the news was not unexpected. However, at this point, sources said, what happens next, or what this means for the future of the building, is anyone's guess.