A real estate firm focused on gentrifying neighborhoods is showing cracks after a group of its apartment buildings in New York’s Upper West Side and Harlem filed for bankruptcy, Bloomberg News reported. Buildings controlled by Emerald Equity Group LLC owe $203 million to LoanCore Capital, stemming from debts tied to properties on East 117th Street and West 107th Street, Dec. 28 bankruptcy filings show. Plans outlined in the documents call for LoanCore to take ownership of the residential complexes, which are home to several hundred tenants. The chapter 11 petitions follow missed payments on a $65 million loan tied to another Emerald-controlled property, a luxury rental at 2 Cooper Square in the East Village. Emerald, listed as a co-debtor and led by Isaac Kassirer, was founded in 2012. The company pitches itself on its website as a leading real estate firm focused on multifamily rental acquisitions, with about 7,000 units across the U.S., including 1,500 “in developing areas” of Manhattan.
