One of the East Village’s most recognizable storefronts will see new ownership, and potentially a new tenant.
The commercial condo that once housed the Astor Place Starbucks is headed to foreclosure. The condo’s lender won summary judgment in New York Supreme Court last week. The building was owned by an entity associated with Isaac and Edward Gindi.
At the same time, the servicer on the loan is negotiating a lease agreement with a new prospective tenant, according to Morningstar Credit. That means the retail space at 21 Astor Place, facing the “Cube” statue, could be occupied for the first time since Starbucks left in 2024.
A company now associated with the Gindis bought the commercial condo for $13 million in 2004, according to city records. Ownership interests appear to have transferred several times, but in 2015, the Gindis sponsored a $26.7 million refinancing loan for the location.
Like many retail properties, it struggled during and after the pandemic. FedEx left its share of the space in 2021. DoorDash moved in quickly, but at a lower price and with over a month of free rent. Revenues for the condo fell 40 percent that year, according to information from Morningstar.
Starbucks had inked a 20-year lease in 2004, becoming a case study in the changing character of the East Village and Saint Marks Place. The store’s closure in 2024 gained significant media attention.
“It was a gentrifier that the neighborhood grew to accept pretty quickly,” Curbed eulogized after the announcement. “It found its audience in a million NYU-freshman-year study dates.”
Starbucks’ withdrawal set the foreclosure suit in motion. The lender says the borrower failed to deposit $1.5 million in the lender’s account, a requirement triggered by the coffee chain’s departure. The Gindis, who served as limited guarantors on the loan, also allegedly failed to submit documentation about their net worth and liquidity.
“The vacancy at 21 Astor stems from high taxes, complex landmark regulations and lengthy municipal approvals,” Terrance and Darren Oved, the Gindis’ counsel of Oved & Oved LLP, said in a statement in December.
The lender filed a foreclosure suit in July 2025 and won summary judgment November 5, 2026. Although the borrower sought to avoid formal foreclosure by handing over the deed to the property, the lender had other ideas, according to servicer commentary to Morningstar.
The appraised value of the property fell more than 73 percent between 2015 and 2026, according to Morningstar.
The receiver on the property began drafting a new lease agreement for the property in September. DoorDash’s lease for more than half the condo’s space is up in January, according to Morningstar, while the former Starbucks space is vacant.
Attorneys for neither the plaintiff nor the defendants immediately responded to requests for comment Monday.
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Gindis face potential foreclosure on former Astor Place Starbucks site
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