Aby Rosen Faces Foreclosure at 285 Madison Avenue

Another day, another piece of bad news for Aby Rosen.

The embattled investor is facing foreclosure on his ownership stake at the Grand Central-area office building at 285 Madison Avenue.

DAOL Asset Management, the Korean investment firm that provided Rosen’s RFR Holding with mezzanine debt on the property, has scheduled a foreclosure auction for April 15.

Alongside the auction, the lender is also shopping the debt for sale, eyeing a price north of $300 million, a source with knowledge of the process told The Real Deal.

RFR is also facing foreclosure on the property from the CMBS bondholders.

A representative for RFR Holding declined to comment. A Newmark team led by Adam Spies and Adam Doneger is handling the marketing process.

The Promote first reported news of the foreclosure.

RFR bought the 26-story, roughly 500,000-square-foot 285 Madison Avenue for $189 million in 2012. But the property, which is 96 percent leased, has been crippled by debt.

RFR took out a $235 million CMBS loan against the property in 2017, as well as $205 million in mezzanine debt. Rosen and his partner Michael Fuchs used the funds to pay off an existing $300 million, and cashed out about $127 million from the remaining proceeds.

When the CMBS loan matured in November 2022, RFR requested an extension. At the time, the property was appraised at $411 million, down 30 percent from the time of issuance.

Rosen and Fuchs got an 18 month extension on the debt, but when it matured in May 2024 they were unable to pay off the loan.

The mezzanine debt “may have hindered refinancing efforts,” according to a note from Kroll Credit Profile.

DAOL Asset Management sued Rosen and Fuchs over their personal guarantees on the debt in May, and in October a judge ordered the investors to pay $18 million.

Last week a judge ruled against RFR in its last-ditch effort to hold onto the Chrysler Building. The judge ruled that RFR’s ground lease on the iconic tower had been terminated, and allowed for Cooper Union to evict the company from the property.