Expanding a business in all the right directions.

In the brief period since Metrovest Equities, Inc. opened its doors, the firm has orchestrated more than $300 million in real property sales.

Founded in 1997 by George Filopoulos at the time a 28-year-old year real estate veteran with nearly a decade of deals behind him -- Metrovest is a full-service real estate investment firm with sales, legal and management affiliates.

Working throughout the five boroughs, Metrovest Equities is fast developing a reputation as the kind of firm that focuses on the more challenging deals, often working with distressed properties in less than optimal neighborhoods.

One recent transaction in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn successfully closed only after Metrovest broker Joseph Dabbah actively sought out and found a buyer who believed in the community and was willing to invest in the property."

Another deal in which two Metrovest brokers were involved - commercial sales manager Philip Fierro for the seller and Zach D'Epey for the buyer - entailed locating a buyer willing to provide a personal guarantee and apply for lender approval without contingency for a five-story multifamily property in The Bronx. The property sold for approximately 4.5 times the annual rent roll.

"It hasn't escaped any of us that we have a knack for closing unusually complex deals," says Filopoulos. "Maybe it's because we're a young firm or simply because it comes with the territory - or the locations where we have the most contacts."

Other examples of multi-faceted deals this year include a 400,000 square-foot manufacturing building encompassing a fullsquare block in downtown Brooklyn that was delivered vacant for approximately $9 million to a purchaser represented by Metrovest's Tim Salouros, and a large HUD deal that entailed locating a qualified buyer for a $20 million, 662-unit apartment building in Newark, NJ.

"It hasn't escaped any of us that we have a knack for closing unusually complex deals."

All of which reflects the type of commitment that starts at the top, and maybe best illustrated by Filopoulos's most recent role as "white knight."

In 1998, he took on Metropolis Towers in Jersey City, NJ, at that time known as Gregory Park, a 23-story, twin tower, 770-unit limited equity cooperative with an underlying HUD-financed mortgage. It was not one of HUD's success stories, and by the time Filopoulos became involved, the building was in massive disrepair, the cooperative owed nearly $25 million in mortgage payments, and HUD had scheduled a foreclosure sale to auction the distressed co-op as a rental complex.

Moreover, the auction meant that 420 shareholder families in the building - most of whom were first-time equity holders from various countries - would lose their equity and, for many, their life savings. But Filopoulos had a plan to save the co-op and make it profitable. Represented by Michael Coritsidis of Coritsidis & Lambros, and working closely with Allen Turek of Hartman & Craven, LLC, who had recently been retained by the board, and bankruptcy attorney Thomas R. Califano of Morrison, Cohen, Singer & Weinstein LLP, Filopoulos had the co-op declare bankruptcy and stop the foreclosure.

He then negotiated a discounted pay-off of the mortgage with HUD through a new underlying mortgage placed by The Dime Savings Bank. He also convertedthe limited equity co-op plan to a free-market one, and re-issued stock certificates and proprietary leases.

The shareholders kept their equity and their homes, and without suffering assessments or even maintenance increases. Of the balance of the unsold shares owned by Metrovest GPNJ LLC, comprising 350 units, 180 are vacant and being fully renovated, marketed and rented in record time and at just below fair market rates.

"Here was a family building in which people were living in virtual squalor because they unwittingly invested in a property that was dying, largely through mismanagement," says Filopoulos. "Now they can choose to stay here comfortably or sell their apartments for a profit. I think of Metropolis Towers as a mini-global village, and these residents should have a shot at the American dream."

As part of the renovation plan, eight new elevators have been installed, dozens of balconies repaired, a new air-conditioning system installed, and exterior facade work implemented. The next stage entails the refurbishing of the lobbies and hallways.

So now that he can finally begin to take a breather and bask in the accomplishment of saving people's homes - while making the property profitable for all - Filopoulos is busy with other "white knight" projects and expanding his scope throughout the tri-state area. As for his associate brokers in Queens, they continue to find unusual deals that require complicated negotiations and provide interesting challenges.