A 280-unit apartment complex in Little Rock is being foreclosed on and a receiver sought for the property, as the borrowers owe more than $20 million, according to a lawsuit filed by the lenders.
Back in 2022, Briarwood TIC Participant 1 LLC, Briarwood TIC Participant 2 LLC and Briarwood TIC Participant 3 LLC, affiliates of ST Realty Group LLC of Brooklyn, New York, bought their namesake apartment project at 801 S. Rodney Parham Road for $23.5 million.
A lawsuit filed last month in Pulaski County Circuit Court said that the borrowers didn’t make their interest payments in October and November and owe $20.65 million for the principal balances and interest, default interest and late charges.
The plaintiffs are ComputerShare Trust Co., National Association, as Trustee for the Benefit of the Registered Holders of Merchants Multifamily Trust 2022-RSS1, Multifamily Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates, Series 2022-RSS1; and Merchants Bank of Indiana.
The lenders want to foreclose on the property and asked for a receiver because there is “danger of waste, loss, injury, and further damage, which jeopardizes both the Property and the health, safety, and welfare of the tenants (and visitors) of the Property,” the lawsuit said.
The lenders said that eight of the units “were badly damaged from a fire” in December 2023.
The borrowers also “have failed to address electrical wiring, breezeway concrete repairs and sidewalk trip hazards, despite funds previously being set aside in a critical repair reserve fund to cover such issues,” according to court filings.
The occupancy at the complex fell from about 84% in the fall of 2022 to about 73% now, the filing said.
The lenders asked the judge in the case to appoint Ian Lagowitz of Trigild as the receiver. The lenders said the receiver is a nationwide property management, asset management and real estate company with extensive experience helping lenders and others with distressed properties.
Someone at the office of Shlomo Tajerstein, who was the authorized signatory for the Briarwood companies when the loans were made, said that she didn’t think he would be interested in commenting.
The Briarwood companies haven’t filed a response to the lawsuit as of Tuesday afternoon.
The plaintiffs are being represented by attorneys Charles Coleman and Jaimie Moss of Wright Lindsey & Jennings’ Little Rock office.
Stay tuned.
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