Soloviev Group is out $27 million while its attempted sale of an allegedly asbestos-infested Yorkville building is tied up in litigation.

The firm’s plan was to sell a majority stake of its rental building at 501 East 87th Street to A&E Real Estate Management for $33.5 million. A&E would have become the majority owner with a 56.3 percent stake, and would have assumed the same percentage of the $60.5 million Soloviev owes in loans at the property.

But Soloviev now alleges in a lawsuit that A&E wrongfully backed out of its agreement to buy the 22-story rental building, known as Rivers Bend, PincusCo first reported. 

The complaint claims that A&E agreed to the deal in February. Soloviev, led by Stefan Soloviev, and Douglas Eisenberg’s A&E declined to comment. 

The sale was scheduled to close in April, but A&E allegedly asked for several extensions, pushing the closing back to October, putting down a total of $13 million in deposits. Of that, Soloviev has collected $7.5 million while another $7 million remains in escrow.

On Sept. 29, a day before the scheduled closing, A&E allegedly surprised Soloviev with a termination notice, asserting that it didn’t get approval to assume the loan and that the asbestos discovered in the building was grounds for exiting the deal. It also wants its deposits back.

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Soloviev Group’s lawsuit says A&E’s “last-minute false allegations were unsupported and meritless and are manufactured excuses for its failure to meet its obligations … despite its repeated requests for additional time to meet those obligations and close.”

Soloviev then informed A&E it was in default of the sale agreement and that Soloviev would retain the $7.5 million in deposits and fees, and demanded the outstanding $7 million in escrow plus interest.

Soloviev’s lawsuit seeks that $7 million plus 9 percent interest, as well as punitive damages and legal costs.

There was talk of including Rivers Bend in Soloviev’s huge portfolio sale to Josh Gotlib and Meyer Orbach, but the building was ultimately left out of that $425 million deal. 

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