For A&R Kalimian Realty, things are beginning to look hazy at the Aire.
Fitch downgraded a rating tied to a loan at the Lincoln Square luxury apartment building, Crain’s reported. Kalimian is running the risk of default at 200 West 67th Street, a 310-unit residence.
A special servicer is in charge of the note, a $225 million mortgage issued by JPMorgan Chase in 2013. Albert Kalimian, managing principal of the family firm, didn’t respond to Crain’s request for comment.
Occupancy isn’t the issue at the property, which is managed by Rose Associates. The property is 97 percent leased and commands rents ranging from $3,850 and $12,400.
Instead, Aire’s property tax bill is challenging the landlord’s ability to cover the debt service. Kalimian benefited from a tax abatement that had it paying $1.1 million on an annual basis. With the abatement phasing out this year, Kalimian is staring down a $6.7 million property tax bill.
Kalimian purchased the former blood donation center on Amsterdam Avenue from the Red Cross in 2004 for $72.3 million. The rental opened in 2010. There are also multiple retail units in the property — including a Polestar electric car dealership — which are fully occupied.
The looming threat at the property comes as Kalimian deals with a more existential, internal threat as a rift fractures the family.
In December, Eagle Point Properties principal Justin Amirian sued his uncle, Albert, over the management of a handful of properties in Soho and the West Village. Amirian’s co-plaintiff in the case is his mother, Edna.
Read more
New York
How is the Aire up there?
Commercial
New York
New rift in Kalimian family’s escalating legal saga
Commercial
New York
Kalimian sues nephew over “malicious” email
In November, Justin sued Albert for allegedly withholding financial information about the Aire. Justin accused his uncle of costing building ownership $35 million following the 2008 financial crisis. A month before that suit, Kalimian sued Amirian for defamation.
Family patriarch Elias Kalimian, father to Edna and Albert, died in 2020, setting off the legal saga.
— Holden Walter-Warner