Thursday, February 23, 2017

Washington Lobbyist Paul Manafort Sends Crew To Remove Debris From Front Yard Of His Carroll Gardens Brownstone

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 377 Union Street between Smith and Hoyt Streets in Carroll Gardens
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The front garden of 377 Union Street with construction debris. 
Photo taken on February 16, 2017
 Clean-up in process at 377 Union Street earlier today
Last week, PMFA posted about 377 Union Street, a somewhat neglected brownstone in Carroll Gardens that happens to belong to Paul J. Manafort, Junior, the veteran Republican strategist and former national chairman to the presidential campaign of Donald Trump.

A renovation on this property was started in 2013, but was halted a year-and-a-half ago and ever since, building materials, like rusty i-beams and cinderblocks, have been stored in the front yard.  A stop-work order has been taped to the front yard by the NYC Department of Buildings and neighbors have been complaining that no one ever shoveled the snow or sweeps the sidewalk in front of the home.

After PMFA posted about the neglect, several other web sites picked up the story. The New York Post even contacted Mr. Manafort. He told the Post that he had hired a new architect and that he was expecting “ to complete construction by the end of the year.”

Just today, a few workers did indeed show up at 377 Union Street and were cleaning up. A local resident who sent us several photos, was told by the crew that the rusted beams will be gone by tomorrow.  "Thank heavens!", the local resident told us.

However, that is only part of the story of 377 Union Street. There is, of course, a more troubling issue regarding the financing of this property.  Manafort bought the building under an L.L.C. in 2012 for $2,995,000. Just recently, the property was transferred from the LLC to Manafort.  Over the past several years, he has been able to secure financing that seems highly risky and rather questionable.  By now, the loans surpass the value of the home by several millions.

After spending some time confirming the records on ACRIS, PMFA posted some of the documentation on February 16. Others started to take a closer look, including attorneys Julian Russo and Matthew Termine. Just two days ago, they published their findings here: https://377union.atavist.com.
The information on the website is quite fascinating and seems to indicate that there may be something quite unusual with Manafort's Carroll Gardens investment property.


14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think it hasn't been that long since they stopped working. And the contractor Pilaster Associates still has their sign on the property. Perhaps they are cleaning up to save their reputation. They were very cooperative and the workers courteous. But in any event I'm glad someone cleaned up. Personally it didn't bother me. It's the filthy yards where people actually LIVE that bother me more. And Union street has many.

chance bliss said...

damn. doing your part, katia. maybe there's more to this story, maybe not, but it's fair and right to ask questions.

Anonymous said...

I'd love for Rachel Maddow to cover/look into this story.

Katia said...

Asking questions is never wrong in my book, dear Chance Bliss. Obviously, Mr. Manaford has bigger problems at the moment than the 377 Union Street property, but it happens to be right in our neighborhood.

Anonymous said...

Two days ago Politico verified that a cache of text messages hidden in the Dark Web were those of Manafort's daughter. There are about 250,000 messages that cover a couple of years of communications with friends and family. Here is one that she posted about her father that is worth considering:

Remember when there were all those deaths taking place? A while back. About a year ago Revolts and what not Do you know whose strategy that was to cause that To send those people out and get them slaughtered. As a tactic to outrage the world and get focus on Ukraine. Don’t fool yourself. That money we have is blood money I don’t advise raising it with him. He lies like a rug and gets realllll pissed off. But it’s true. He thinks I don’t remember …

Katia said...

Chilling!

Triada Samaras said...

Wow Katia what a story! You are the best investigative journalist we have! Carroll Gardens is so lucky to have you! t.

Katia said...

You are two sweet, Triada.

Jim said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Have you seen this article, Katia? Your blog's mentioned:

https://theintercept.com/2017/02/24/former-trump-campaign-manager-paul-manafort-took-out-19-million-in-puzzling-real-estate-loans/

neil said...

Nice work Katia! Super interesting.

Anonymous said...

A bizarre "landmark" in your neighborhood. Manafort - ugh - an underworld thug.

Katia said...

Yes, I have. It's a good article.

nishis said...

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-30/manafort-cash-flowed-to-pricey-brooklyn-soho-homes-u-s-says