NYC Margaritaville owner files for bankruptcy ahead of foreclosureBy Hannah Frishberg
July 10, 2023
Some people claim that there’s a woman to blame, but the owner of Margaritaville Times Square claims his lender rigged the auction process.
There’s trouble in paradise at New York City’s branch of the Jimmy Buffet song-themed hotel and restaurant, which was scheduled to hit the auction block Monday as part of an Article 9 foreclosure sale — before the owner filed for bankruptcy on Sunday.
The sale followed Soho Properties chairman Sharif El-Gamal failing to pay a $57 million loan on the 234-room, five-bar complex (which also features Times Square’s only outdoor pool) this March, the Real Deal reported.
The lender, Craig Spencer’s Arden Group, subsequently moved to foreclose, but although notice of the July 10 auction was posted on April 10, El-Gamal claims sale terms and bidding instructions weren’t circulated until more than two months later — one of multiple reasons, the developer’s attorneys argue, the auction is “commercially unreasonable” and should be nullified.
“[Arden’s] intent here is obvious,” states a lawsuit filed by El-Gamal on Wednesday in Manhattan Supreme Court, according to the Real Deal. “It hopes to seize control of the property and benefit from [El-Gamal’s] hard work.”
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Source:
https://nypost.com/2023/07/10/nyc-margaritaville-owner-files-for-bankruptcy-ahead-of-foreclosure/
