Billionaire Jeff Greene, who made a fortune betting against subprime mortgages, has picked up another sort of distressed asset.
Greene’s firm, Coral Gables, FL.-based Florida Sunshine Investments, Inc., has purchased 62 Wooster Street for $26.27 million, according to city records.
The building, which also has the address 476 Broome Street, was a planned luxury conversion by Trinity Development Group, with five residential units, a roof-top swimming pool and 4,000 s/f of retail space with art galleries. The residential portion was to total 37,500 s/f, with units averaging 7,500 s/f.
But Trinity’s partner, Stillwater Capital, which previously owned the property, faced financial troubles. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission would also investigate Stillwater for potential violations in June 2010, according to Forbes, but took no further action. However, the company lost its hold on 62 Wooster, along with another property at 523 Greenwich Street, which went into foreclosure last year.
Lender BRT Realty Trust, which had a $27.25 million mortgage on 62 Wooster, filed to foreclose, and attorney Carl Wisotsky was appointed as referee.
According to PropertyShark, a foreclosure auction was scheduled on March 17, with a lien of $32.3 million.
Greene couldn’t immediately be reached for comment, and his plans for the building are unclear. His attorney, Deborah Wiacek Mintz of Greenberg Traurig LLP, didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
