Douglas Peterson’s City Skyline Realty is again facing the harsh reality of being a rental owner in Manhattan.
Peterson is facing foreclosure on nine buildings in the borough, Crain’s reported. A handful of lawsuits were filed against him in Manhattan Supreme Court this week, alleging default on a combined seven buildings in Manhattan, as well as two more in the Bronx. City Skyline’s defaulted debt allegedly totals $55.4 million.
Maurice Arlos is listed as a defendant in the lawsuits, though his connection to the portfolio is unclear. Peterson declined to comment to the publication.
Arbor Agency Lending and Greystone Servicing issued the original loans — typically ranging between $5 million and $7.5 million — in 2018 and 2019. They were ultimately assigned to Freddie Mac, then later reassigned to Wilmington Trust, which serves as trustee for the debt. The lawsuit was filed by the special servicer of the debt, KeyBank National Association.
The Upper Manhattan buildings at risk of foreclosure are 517 West 161st Street, 446 West 164th Street, 1484 Amsterdam Avenue, 537 West 150th Street, 541 West 144th Street, 516 West 136th Street and 3694 Broadway. The Bronx buildings are at 1075 Nelson Avenue and 2105 Ryer Avenue.
All told, the buildings include 269 units, only two of which appear to be available on StreetEasy; both of those are in contract, too. Most of the buildings were acquired between 2014 and 2017, though a couple were acquired in 2010.
This is hardly Peterson’s first run-in with distress across his portfolio, which totals nearly 1,300 units. In 2023, he defaulted on loans tied to five rent-regulated buildings. Months later, he was hit by pre-foreclosure filings from Fannie Mae on 11 buildings in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx, though it doesn’t appear any of the buildings match the latest batch of distressed properties.
Those defaults totaled $72 million, bringing the firm’s distressed debt to $108 million at the time, or about one-third of City Skyline’s $316 million portfolio.
It’s unclear how many of the units in City Skyline’s latest foreclosure fight are rent-stabilized.
— Holden Walter-Warner
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