Joel Wiener’s Pinnacle Group places 5K units in bankruptcy

A game of chess is afoot as Joel Wiener’s Pinnacle Group tries to withstand a foreclosure effort from its lender.

Wiener filed petitions for bankruptcy protection across 82 entities, PincusCo reported. The entities control 91 properties and roughly 5,000 multifamily units, sporting an original debt principle of $574.4 million.

Wiener is aiming to consolidate the various petitions under a single entity, the one that controls the 73-unit building at 4530 Broadway in Washington Heights.

A spokesperson for Flagstar Bank did not respond to a request for comment from the Commercial Observer. A spokesperson for Pinnacle could not be reached.

Two months ago, Flagstar filed its largest pre-foreclosure action in years, filing four summonses against Pinnacle. Wiener’s bankruptcy petitions cover most, though not all of the 5,200 units linked to Flagstar’s efforts.

Flagstar’s action only involved summonses and not complaints, an uncommon maneuver for commercial foreclosure cases in the state. It’s not clear why Flagstar decided against filing complaints in its action.

Both the bankruptcy petitions and pre-foreclosure filings represent more than half of Pinnacle’s 8,700-unit multifamily portfolio in New York City. Pinnacle’s portfolio spans approximately 136 properties totaling about 7.5 million square feet, according to PincusCo data, which estimates the holdings are worth about $1.6 billion.

Wiener became a billionaire in 2017, despite being a target of tenant complaints and fraud investigations. In 2022, he was penalized after admitting to not properly acknowledging needed capital repairs at a Forest Hills condo conversion.

Under a settlementWiener paid $330,000 to the reserve fund of The Georgian at 109-20 Queens Boulevard, which covered the cost of necessary piping, as well as $150,000 to the HPD.

This year, Flagstar — rebranded from New York Community Bank — sold $142 million in rent-stabilized debt to Cantor Fitzgerald. The loans were backed by 27 assets, which were 86 percent rent-stabilized on a weighted average and were tied to a plethora of borrowers, including Pinnacle.

— Holden Walter-Warner