Even as governments and creditors try to collect millions from Steven Green, he's moving forward with some new real estate propositions.
By JEFF TESTERMAN
Published September 30, 2003
TAMPA - One of Steven Green's apartment companies owes $1.3-million to Hillsborough County in code enforcement fines. The same company defaulted on a $9-million loan.
But Green continues to build his real estate empire:
A company owned by the Yonkers millionaire has plunked down $2.9-million for an 84-unit apartment complex near the University of South Florida.
This month, Green appeared before the planning board of the upscale village of Bronxville, N.Y., seeking approval for plans to renovate a 33,500-sqaure-foot warehouse into a combination office and home for himself. The converted three-story, brick warehouse would feature several bedrooms, 12 bathrooms, a billiards room, a gym and fitness area, a media room and a rooftop deck and pool.
The cost of the renovation? In the "millions," said Corwin Frost, chairman of the Bronxville Planning Board.
But board members charged with approving the project have concerns about the legal problems dogging Green in Florida and New York.
"The more we hear, the more we think he may be an undesirable guy," said Frost. "We don't know his real motivation."
Bronxville is an affluent bedroom community of 6,200 people in southern Westchester County, about 15 miles from mid-town Manhattan. In a one-square-mile village dominated by Tudor, Victorian and colonial homes, Green's warehouse home would be by far the largest and most peculiar.
"In our village, there will be nothing like what he's proposing," said Bronxville building inspector Vincent Pici. "Why he needs all that space hasn't been answered."
Frost said he has already asked the planning board's outside counsel to look into judgments against Green and his real estate holding companies.
"Our question," said Frost, "is, could this warehouse property end up with liens on it?"
Hillsborough County is still trying to collect $1.3-million in code enforcement fines against Green's Amberwood Realty, owner of the 212-unit Amberwood Apartments closed down last year after inspectors found hundreds of violations. Green's company defaulted on the $9.04-million mortgage on Amberwood, and the property was sold to a South Florida investment group in July.
Hillsborough County has subpoenaed Green's records in an effort to make him personally responsible for the debt.
New York City is also trying to collect $2.27-million in fines from Green, according to city housing spokeswoman Carol Abrams. The city took Green to court more than 40 times to correct code violations in the early 1990s, a period in which the Village Voice listed Green as one of the city's 10 worst landlords.
Green declined to discuss his latest business moves Monday.
Green's most recent apartment acquisition is the Adagio Apartments at 3600 E Fletcher Ave., a two-story complex across the street from USF.
A sign announcing "community restoration now under way" signals a series of improvements, including new fencing, windows and sliding doors, as well as a playground, according to rental manager Mary Ann Holland. She said rents for all but efficiency units will rise. One-bedroom apartments now at $540 a month and two-bedroom units at $645 will rise from $4 to $19 a month, she said.
The corporate address for Green's Adagio Realty is 81 Pondfield Road in Bronxville, across the street from the warehouse he seeks to renovate.
Lawsuits involving Green's residences have had him in court during the last year.
In Tampa, SunTrust Bank won an $800,000 judgment against Green in a foreclosure suit involving Green's $1.7-million, 8,157-square-foot second home at 801 S Delaware Ave. in Tampa's Hyde Park. But the bank was unable to collect the debt after Green transferred the red-brick home to a trust he manages called Green Family Holdings.
Records show Green has signed new mortgages for the SunTrust debt, and has added new collateral for it in the form of a Fort Lauderdale townhouse he owns. The records also show the bank required Green to sign a second set of papers after learning his signature on the first set had been notarized by a New York woman with no record of a notary license.
In Yonkers, the HSBC Bank won a $526,973 judgment after Green failed to pay an unsecured business note. HSBC tried to place a lien on Green's $1.6-million Yonkers home, but found Green had transferred the property to Green Family Holdings. The case is still in court, but nearing a settlement, said HSBC attorney Donald David.
- Times researcher John Martin contributed to this report. Jeff Testerman can be reached at 226-3422 or by e-mail at testerman@sptimes.com
