15, 2021, after SL Green sent a notice of lease cancellation. In court filings, Alden admitted it stopped paying rent for the Tower Suite in April 2020, and it vacated the premises before Jan. The financial press reported that the building’s occupancy was down significantly due to the pandemic shutdown, citing that as a possible reason for the default.īut Smith has also defaulted on millions in payments that were not connected to the pandemic, according to his own admission and a lawsuit filed by the landlords of his vast Manhattan offices.Īlden and several of Smith’s other businesses once occupied the entire top floor of New York’s Lipstick Building.Īfter nearly a year of refusing to pay rent and being sued by SL Green, considered New York City’s largest owner of office real estate, Alden left its longstanding Manhattan digs unannounced in January 2021. It wasn’t that he couldn’t afford to pay - as noted, he has millions in personal assets - but he simply chose not to pay. Smith had simply stopped making payments. Bryan Tower was sold this year for an undisclosed amount after lenders moved to foreclose. The arrangement was “ shrouded in suspicion,” according to one court filing. The result of this middle-of-the-night move was that the struggling chains he’d acquired through Alden were now paying rent to him. Fred’s Pharmacy and Payless ShoeSource were once based in Memphis and Topeka, respectively, where each had employed hundreds. With no announcement - not even to employees - Smith relocated the headquarters of two retail chains he then quickly drove into ruin. Several years ago, the building became known outside of Texas after reporters discovered Smith had quietly engaged in an act of what the business world calls “self-dealing.” He and his tightly held business, Smith Management LLC, also still own extensive real estate from New York to Dallas, where the company until recently owned a 40-story office building called Bryan Tower.īut a casual observer might think Smith has fallen on hard times: last year, lenders foreclosed on Bryan Tower after Smith defaulted on a $70 million loan. Randall Smith, co-founder of the hedge fund Alden Global Capital, is infamous for two things: gutting local newspapers and a voracious acquisition of pricey real estate.Īlthough he recently sold off a few of his 16 mansions in Florida, Smith still owns roughly more than $50 million worth of homes in the West Palm Beach area, as well as a few mansions in the Hamptons.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |