Rye-based real estate firm Eastgate Whitehouse LLC, accused of defaulting on a $32.1 million mortgage, has filed for bankruptcy protection.
Eastgate has yet to file a schedule detailing its financials, but White Plains’ Chapter 11 petition filed in U.S. bankruptcy court lists both assets and liabilities in the $10 million to $50 million range. is estimated to be
Eastgate is run by William W. Keppel, a descendant of Brooklyn’s real estate dynasty.
Although the business is based in Keppel’s mansion in Harrison, the main asset, a 15-story apartment building, is located at 350 East 52nd Street in Manhattan.
Eastgate refinanced the building in 2018 with a $32.1 million, 10-year interest-free balloon loan from Barclays Bank. Keppel personally guaranteed the loan.
In May of this year, the Wilmington Trust, a mortgage trustee, sued Eastgate and Keppel, seeking foreclosure of the loans. A trustee will be appointed to manage the rent and profits, and the condominium will be sold to pay off the loan.
Wilmington claims Eastgate stopped paying monthly interest a year ago. It also alleges other defaults, including failure to disclose that Keppel filed for personal bankruptcy just before the mortgage was completed.
Eastgate and Koeppel broadly denied the accusations in their responses to the complaint. They countersued the Wilmington Trust for failing to pay out a $260,000 insurance payout to repair the commercial space in the apartment complex that was damaged in last Christmas’ fire.
Koeppel said in an affidavit that he and his attorney told the mortgage broker of the bankruptcy while negotiating the loan, and that the mortgage broker told Barclays.
“That aside, it seems highly unlikely that Barclays Bank would not have carried out a title inquiry … would have disclosed the bankruptcy filing.”
Koepple declared $66 million in assets and $10.3 million in liabilities in its 2018 Chapter 11 reorganization lawsuit. He said the bankruptcy was due to a $7 million judgment pending in legal costs.
His major assets were the $46.6 million Eastgate White House Mansion and the $9.8 million Brooklyn estate. (The Eastgate property was valued at $62.9 million in 2018, according to loan documents.)
He valued Harrison’s house at $5 million and five cars and four boats at over $1 million.
According to the bankruptcy schedule, Keppel earned $1.12 million in 2017 and earned $95,250 a month in 2018, but was spending $100,677 a month.
In addition to the $32.1 million mortgage debt listed as pending, Eastgate’s petition shows unsecured claims from Keppel for a $5.4 million loan and $596,000 in legal and accounting fees. .