In March 2016, Maloney told Bloomberg News that sales at the building would not commence until the following year. This was attributed to a general slowdown in the luxury residential market. By June 2016, the project had risen above street level. The project still encountered financial difficulty and faced a lawsuit from AmBase. In January 2017, the developers had defaulted on the $325 million mezzanine loan from Apollo. However, they negotiated a forbearance agreement on $300 million of the debt and the remaining $25 million was sold to Spruce Capital Management. The developers were in the process of negotiating another $100 million mezzanine loan from Baupost Group to repay Spruce but the loan was vetoed by AmBase. Meanwhile, the landmark facade of Steinway Hall was restored in early 2017. Construction had stalled by July 2017, after the tower had been built to 20 stories. At the time, Spruce claimed that it had not received payment on the $25 million mezzanine loan and filed paperwork to begin the process of foreclosure, leading AmBase to file another lawsuit against Maloney, Stern, and Spruce. The next month, the New York Supreme Court ruled that Spruce Capital could proceed with foreclosure. This allowed the lender to transfer the development entirely to Maloney and Stern, wiping out AmBase's investment completely.