By Ellen Cans
Two properties belonging to former billionaire hedge-fund manager Phil Falcone are now being listed in an advertisement for an upcoming sale, or may be foreclosed.
As reported by the NY Post, Falcone may be close to losing his townhouse on East 67th Street as well as his Hamptons estate. Dustin Stolly and Jordan Roeschlaub, co-heads of debt and structured finance at Newmark, have posted an advertisement for an upcoming sale of the properties on behalf of the lender, Melody Business Finance, citing an outstanding loan balance of $74.2 million. The ad doesn’t name Falcone as the owner of the distressed entities but he and his wife, Lisa Marie Falcone, purchased the East 67th Street house in their names prior to transferring it to the LLC, named Croxton 2 LLC and Three-Hundreth Street LLC. The husband and wife are listed on the Melody mortgage documents as guarantors, as per the Post. The ad says that interested bidders can attempt to collect the remaining $74,251,646 on the loan or just foreclose on the two homes. The sale will take place on April 13, as per the marketing publication. The brokers declined comment on the foreclosure sale.
Falcone had made his fortune and name during the 2008 financial crash when he assisted his hedge fund, Harbinger, to make billions in bets against housing. By 2012, things started turning sour for him however, when he got into trouble with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He was doled an $18 million fine, and a multiyear ban but didn’t have to make admission of any wrongdoing. As per public records he currently owes $1.8 million in back taxes to New York City. In other evidence of financial difficulty, last September he told a court that he couldn’t pay an almost $14 million legal tab, in correlation with a lawsuit filed against him in Manhattan Supreme Court. Lender Melody has also sued Falcone and his wife, in the same court, claiming they owed millions, as per court papers. In an email response, Falcone said the foreclosure sale was in response to his legal battle with Melody, “which could eliminate” their loan to him.
As per the Post, the two properties featured in the foreclosure auction include a seven-bedroom townhouse at 22 E. 67 Street and a Sagaponack estate at 142 Crestview Drive. The Manhattan home, listed for sale for $27.5 million through The Modlin Group, spans 13,300 square feet across six stories. The Hamptons estate boasts 14,000 square feet with eight bedrooms, an oversized roof deck, gym and outdoor pool.