Avery Hall Investments scooped up a Crown Heights development site where Yoel Goldman once planned to build a flashy hotel.
The developer shelled out $10.1 million for 1550 Bedford Avenue, which Goldman put into bankruptcy early this year. Goldman had valued the site at $14 million.
Maxim Capital provided financing for the purchase, said Avery Hall principal Brian Ezra, adding the firm is weighing “multiple uses” for the property. An Avison Young team including Charles Kingsley, Erik Edeen and Patrick Madigan represented Goldman and the lender, Downtown Capital Partners, in the deal.
The sale marks the latest in the unraveling of Goldman’s Brooklyn empire, which ballooned to a billion dollars before collapsing under mountains of debt, liens and lawsuits. His company, All Year Holdings, was dismantled piece by piece after bankruptcy officers seized control of it in 2022 and sold off the assets.
The Bedford Avenue site was not owned by All Year, but was one of Goldman’s personal holdings. He picked it up in 2014 for $7 million and poured the foundation for a 100-key hotel designed by ODA, according to the bankruptcy filing. But when the pandemic hit, funding dried up, interest payments stopped and mechanic’s liens piled up to more than $1.4 million.
Goldman owed Downtown Capital Partners some $45 million on the project after default interest ballooned on the original $10 million loan, according to court documents. Rather than foreclose, lender Gary Katz let Goldman place the property into bankruptcy, ensuring unsecured creditors get at least something back.
The property was expected to go for $13 million to $15 million, Katz said at the time. But it attracted no bidders besides Avery Hall, according to court filings. The site is zoned for commercial use and has approval for hotel development.
Meanwhile, All Year’s restructuring team is chasing down Goldman’s alleged “handshake deals” with Brooklyn pals, including his neighbor and yeshiva buddy Yoel Silberstein. Goldman, facing a barrage of questions, has repeatedly pleaded the Fifth.
A lawyer for Goldman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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