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Edmond Li’s Veracity lists 11-property portfolio in Soho, Nolita
Landlord liquidating portfolio of mostly mixed-use walkups after signs of financial distress
After falling behind on payments during the pandemic, downtown landlord Edmond Li’s Veracity Equities is hoping to sell the bulk of its Lower Manhattan portfolio to a single buyer.
Marketed by Cushman & Wakefield as “Soho’s Eleven,” the mixed-use portfolio comprises 11 mostly walk-up buildings stretching from Soho and Nolita to the Lower East Side. Combined, the properties include 28 retail spaces and 166 apartments, 31 of which — or 19 percent — are rent-stabilized.
About half the buildings are concentrated around Spring and Prince streets in Nolita, between Lafayette Street and the Bowery. The largest buildings in the offering are 100-102 Forsyth Street, a 36-unit property on the Lower East Side with eight storefronts, and a seven-story loft at 199-203 Lafayette Street in Soho.
The portfolio, amassed between 1994 and 2008, has a residential occupancy of 93 percent and a retail occupancy of 85 percent, according to marketing materials viewed by The Real Deal.
A source familiar with the listing said Veracity is liquidating its portfolio to satisfy loan obligations. The 11 buildings are among 17 properties listed on the firm’s website. All but one of them — a 40-unit apartment building 3830-3834 Parsons Boulevard in Flushing, Queens — are in Lower Manhattan.
Distress in Veracity’s portfolio was evident in a Morningstar analysis of a $41 million loan secured by three properties — 31 Prince Street, 46 Prince Street, and 48 Spring Street. The appraised value on the three properties dropped from $66 million when the loan was issued in March 2018 to $49.5 million as of last month. The building at 31 Prince Street is said to already be under contract, and 48 Spring Street is part of the “Soho’s Eleven” portfolio.
PincusCo reported last month that lenders have filed five foreclosure actions against nine Veracity properties since 2021.
The properties are being marketed as a single portfolio sale, and a source indicated that the brokers will begin taking bids in a few weeks.
A Cushman & Wakefield team led by Bobby Carrozzo and Dan O’Brien are handling the sale for Veracity. Both Veracity and the brokers declined to comment.