Apthorp drops lawsuit against IRBC

A lawsuit against Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IRBC) over the sale of a $385 million loan tied to the condominium conversion of the Apthorp, an apartment building on Manhattan's Upper West Side, has been dropped

Apthorp Associates, the sponsor of the condo conversion, sued IRBC, formerly Anglo Irish Bank, in New York State supreme court in Manhattan earlier this year, seeking to force the nationalised lender to maintain at least a 51 per cent interest in the loan.

The lawsuit was discontinued without prejudice upon the application of Apthorp Associates, Judge Jeffrey Oing said in a ruling filed on Tuesday..

Apthorp's request for a temporary injunction to prevent the sale of the loan was withdrawn with prejudice and woould not be renewed, Judge Oing said. "The case is over," Reed Oslan, a lawyer with Kirkland and Ellis who represented the bank in the case.

"They abandoned their attempt to stop the sale via litigation." The order is "self-explanatory" and the case was voluntarily withdrawn, Gregg Weiner, a lawyer who represented Apthorp in the case, said. Judge Oing also ordered Apthorp to pay $7,846 in costs incurred by IBRC after the plaintiff requested an adjournment of a motion for a preliminary injunction in the case.

The Apthorp is on Broadway between West 78th and West 79th streets in Manhattan. It was built in 1908 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, according to the building's website.