Detroit's Riverfront Towers sued for default

DETROIT (AP) -- An icon of the Detroit riverfront faces foreclosure, with mortgage giant Fannie Mae suing owners of the Riverfront Towers apartment complex for $70 million. Owners of the 24-acre complex are in default on a $55 million mortgage, and Fannie Mae has sued in federal court to recover that money, plus fees, The Detroit News reported. "Wow, that is not good news," said former Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Conrad Mallett Jr., a Riverfront Towers resident. The Associated Press was unable to locate the owners for comment. Neither Montvale, N.J.-based Empirian at Riverfront LLC nor Monsey, N.Y.-based Aintsar Riverfront LLC has a telephone listing, and court records do not indicate any response from them to the lawsuit. The complex includes about 550 apartments, a 77-slip marina and a health club. The 26-story Tower 100 was built in 1992, and the 29-story Tower 200 in 1983. Rents range from $809 for a one-bedroom apartment to $2,779 for a two-bedroom, three-bath unit, the newspaper said. It was built by industrialist Max Fisher and developer A. Alfred Taubman and widely seen along with the Renaissance Center as an effort to revive the city at a time of economic decline. "To build something of significance in Detroit, fully market-rate housing on the riverfront, was a statement," said developer Emmett Moten. Residents in the complex have included Rosa Parks, ex-Mayor Coleman Young, and the late Detroit Red Wings great Bob Probert, who could walk to work at nearby Joe Louis Arena. Parks, 92, died in her apartment in 2005. Fannie Mae has asked a judge to appoint a receiver to collect rents, repair roofs and elevators, inspect the fire alarms and emergency generator, and find a new buyer. According to the lawsuit, the owners failed in August to make the monthly principal and interest payments. Fannie Mae, which was assigned the $55 million loan three years ago, said the companies didn't pay to gain leverage in protracted mortgage negotiations. The lawsuit doesn't involve a third condominium tower. Published: Wed, Sep 28, 2011