Building owned by Koeppel files for bankruptcy protection in dispute with tenants

Although some rent is being collected in the building, the roll is down 40%, Koeppel said Crain’s.

In May, lender Wilmington Trust sought foreclosure of a $32.1 million loan linked to the building because Koeppel had reportedly made no payments since last August, according to court documents.

That lawsuit, filed in federal court in the Southern District of New York, also alleged that Koeppel used income from the building to pay for personal expenses such as car rentals and meals.

The bankruptcy protection filing, first reported by The Real Deal, will temporarily prevent the lockdown.

Koeppel blamed his financial troubles at the building on his mother, Roberta, and sister Alexandria, from whom he has been estranged for more than 25 years. However, it was not immediately clear what their role in the building had been.

“Roberta Koeppel and her daughter entered into the J-51 tax abatement, which in turn resulted in the depletion of available resources to properly maintain the building,” he said in a statement. “This is just another example of their gross mismanagement and incompetence as property managers, and yet again the victims are being left in my mother’s wake.”

He said he planned to take her to court, “which will hold her responsible for paying the compensation she was contractually obligated to pay.”

Koeppel is expected to inherit part of a portfolio of 10 properties currently controlled by his mother upon her death. He sued her earlier this year to have her and her sister removed as trustees of the portfolio on the grounds that they failed to maintain the buildings and left them to fall into disrepair.

Her mother was listed as the 47th worst landlord in New York City by the Public Defender’s Office in 2020, but she was not listed last year.

Earlier this month, Koeppel claimed in court papers that his two sisters wrongly received distributions from the wallet, and penalties associated with it could cost him “tens of millions of dollars.”

Some of the family trust properties include 250 E. 73rd St., 141 E. 89th St., and 1594 Third Ave. in Manhattan, as well as 850 E. 31st St., 1925 Quentin Road, 6801 Bay Parkway, 201 Brighton First Road and 6925 Fourth Ave. in Brooklyn. Others are located on Long Island.