Welsh Brewpub Survives Upheaval after LNR Partners Buys Midtown Bldg At Auction

The Liberty NYC, a brewpub with a big Welsh rugby following, appears to have survived the financial upheaval at the building on 29 West 35th St that put it in the hands of a new owner following an auction of the foreclosed property on Aug. 21.

LNR Partners—the special servicing arm of Miami-based Starwood Property Trust, is the new owner after nobody else appeared willing to step up an assume a defaulted loan that had grown to $57.6 million.

The financial firm appears happy to let Glenn Treacher, the former Welsh rugby player who owns the Liberty NYC keep his Welsh-themed bar operating for the next decade plus. It’s become a home away from home for many of his fellow ex-patriots as well as fans of the rugby Six Nations tournaments.

When you enter the bar, the framed Welsh flag with a red dragon on a white and green field background greets you. The dragon, or “draig,” is a prominent symbol of Wales and represents strength and power. The walls are adorned with black-and-white photos showcasing famous Welsh figures and pivotal moments from Wales’ rich history.

“We have the Welsh flag up, so people can spot us from a distance, and being just a short walk from Macy’s and Herald Square definitely helps,” he explains. “A lot of people stumble upon us while walking around, but over time, we’ve built a community where Welsh folks feel right at home.”

He adds with pride, “Sometimes people spot the Welsh flag—the best flag in the world, with its dragon—and they come in. It’s brilliant.” Glenn shares that the community naturally gravitated towards learning about Welsh history, sports, and culture, making it more than just a themed bar. “We didn’t set out to be a ‘Welsh-themed’ place. It’s more of a home for Welsh people.”

The pub has built its reputation in part by catering to the Welsh rugby crowd with mid-priced food offerings and an attractive happy hour. Treacher recalls he’s first began playing rugby as an was 11 year-old. He played for London Nordical School, a naval school, and then moved on to play for Sunderland College and Ashbrook, a team in north London, but insists on calling himself an “amateur rugby player.” His ties to the sport didn’t end when to moved to the States in the late 1970s. Treacher started playing for the local NY Rugby club and even captained them in 1984, eventually becoming the club’s director for a while.

Since establishing its Welsh identity, The Liberty has teamed up with New York Welsh to host gatherings that bring together anyone with Welsh roots or a passion for Welsh or Celtic culture. Whether it’s for the Six Nations rugby tournament, St. David’s Day during Wales Week, or Dylan Thomas Day, this place has become a welcoming refuge for those looking to connect with Wales, Treacher said.

He’s relieved that the financial upheaval at the building where it is based appears to be over for the moment, and the current owner is cutting him a deal to keep his pub going for years to come.

The office building that has housed the pub for years has a tortured financial history that stretched back to the Great Recession in 2008.

Coming out of that economic crisis in 2010, the then-owners Shapour (Paul) Sohayegh and Roni Movahedian first faced losing the 75,000 sq. ft. Chelsea office building after they defaulted on an original $29.2 million mortgage the signed when the bought the building in 2007.

The duo eventually managed to stave off a threatened auction by its then-loan holder and hold on to the property because they were able to convince the lender that they had found a new tenant willing to set up shop in the building and generate enough cash to service the loan.

“I saved them from foreclosure the first time around back in 2010,” recalled Treacher.

“They had to get a signature on a contract and a check that night and take it to the bank the next day for the foreclosure to stop. So Paul came out to my house on Long Island with a bottle of champagne and I wrote him a check for $57,000 on the spot,” Treacher told Straus News.

Paul and Roni knew Glenn through another property they leased to him on 38th St, called “The Australian” (now shut). “They apparently liked me and were trying to get me to take over [the ground floor lease at] 29 West 35th St too,” said Glenn.

But even with a new tenant on board, the financial problems for the building did not subside.

According to the trade publication The Real Deal, in 2007 Twin Holdings of Delaware and Herald Square of Delaware, which operated under the name Empire State Equities, acquired the 12-story office building for $30 million from NTD Building. At the time, the aging property was already 75 percent vacant. Shapour “Paul” Sohayegh a principal of Manhattan-based Bravo Management, stepped in and guaranteed repayment of the loan, according to a lawsuit filed in August, 2009 which said he failed to do so.

When LNR took over the troubled loan from CW Capital, it gave Sohahegh and his business partner Roni Movahedian a temporary reprieve, but they were still apparently unable to reverse the fortunes of the 114 year old office building amid a dismal NYC office climate in the post-pandemic world.

LNR Partners first filed the complaint against Sohayegh and Movahedian—and their respective limited liability companies, American Equities and United Group, both headquartered in Manhattan—in January 2022 after the duo defaulted on a new $41 million loan originally underwritten by Wells Fargo Bank.

LNR Partners took possession of the property at 29 W. 35th St after the owners failed to repay the loan by the deadline. Last month, a New York state Supreme Court ruling ordered a $57.6 million judgment, plus interest, against them. As a result, the 12-story building was auctioned off on August 21, 2024, with LNR Partners emerging as the new owner when no other bidder stepped foward to assume the mortgage.

According to Treacher, “The Liberty Bar will continue to be in business as we still have one and a half years remaining on our lease with the former owners.”

On top of that, Colliers, a management company was hired to administer the building when it went into foreclosure in 2022.

“During the foreclosure, Colliers approached us and as we’re the only tenant, asked us if we would stay. And we basically wanted to say no because of all the financial and other issues we went through with Paul and Roni. Our business was diminishing and honestly, I was ready to move on,” said Glenn.

“But Colliers came in and said, ‘Okay, we’d like you to take this space that you’re in now for another 13 years. If you would take next door space as well for 13 years, we’ll give you this lease.’ That was on January 4, 2022 and it was a good enough offer for me to stay, so I agreed”.

As an additional sweetener, Colliers also agreed to give Glenn six months free rent along with an undisclosed amount for the damages he said he he had to incur because the past owners failed to maintain the building throughout the term of the lease.

We attempted to reach LNR Partners LLC for a comment but they didn’t respond to by presstime. An effort was also made to reach out to former owners Shapour Sohayegh and Roni Movahedian for their take on the matter, but they could not be reached.