On auction block
Former Montgomery Ward foreclosed on in January, will be sold
The former Montgomery Ward building, a longtime landmark in Menands, was foreclosed on in January and will be sold.
The massive Riverview Center in Menands, once home to the region’s Montgomery Ward store, is being sold at auction next month after the Brooklyn-based owner couldn’t repay the balance of a $34 million mortgage.
The building is owned by a limited liability company controlled by Tomas Rosenthal, a New York City real estate investor who runs a company called Hampshire Properties in Brooklyn.
Rosenthal was out of the office Monday and did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Located on Broadway and visible from Interstate 787, Riverview Center is one of the largest and most iconic commercial
properties in the Capital Region.
The white concrete Art Deco building with a small tower on top has nearly 1 million square feet of space, which is roughly two-thirds the amount of space at Crossgates Mall.
It was built in 1929 as a
retail store and distribution center for Montgomery Ward, the Chicago-based mail-order catalog and department store that was known for construction of dominating and wellrecognized buildings across the United States.
Montgomery Ward closed
the operation in the early 1980s. Rosenthal’s company acquired it in 2015.
Today there are a variety of tenants in the unique building.
Riverview Assets, an LLC controlled by Rosenthal, was sued by his lenders last year in federal court in Manhattan after it missed a deadline to repay a five-year mortgage that was due in April 2020. Riverview Assets had roughly $31 million left to repay.
A federal judge approved the foreclosure and sale of the property, which includes 23 acres, in January. The auction is scheduled for May 4, according to a legal notice, and will be broadcast online for the public.