There’s a battle brewing on Manhattan’s West Side between  “Jay-Z” (also known as Shawn Carter) and Highland (Highland) Capital Management LP — a bank located Dallas, Texas, that granted the superstar hip-hopper and his business partners a $52 million loan to build the J Hotel.

Despite his best efforts, it appears that the super successful businessman (he also co-owns several businesses, including The 40/40 Club and the New Jersey Nets) might not be able to freestyle his way out of losing millions on a deal that never got off the ground.

Literally.

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… it could be the 80-acre, 110-building Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town apartment complex in Manhattan (New York City):

Associated Press reports that Tishman Speyer Properties and BlackRock Realty, which purchased “Stuy Town” for a jaw-dropping $5.4 billion in 2006, couldn’t make a $16 million loan payment due Jan. 8, 2010.

As a result, the complex will be turned over to creditors. Tishman Speyer and BlackRock, meanwhile, will continue to manage the properties to ensure a smooth transition.

It sounds like a massive undertaking … just like the initial investment.

It’s perhaps the end of an era for the historic “Tavern on the Green,” which has operated in New York City’s Central Park for more than 75 years.

On New Year’s Eve (Dec. 31, 2009), the current owners — who are $8 million in debt and have declared bankruptcy — will serve their final suppers before handing the keys over to a new owner, Dean Poll, in 2010 and beyond. Poll was awarded a 20-year lease on the establishment earlier this year after promising to pump more than $25 million in renovations into the 27,000 square-foot landmark.

However, Poll may not have the intellectual rights to use the “Tavern on the Green” moniker, which is valued at about $19 million. In fact, a federal judge will rule on the issue next month to determine if it belongs to the LeRoy family (the current owners who have declared bankruptcy), according to the Associated Press.

In addition to the name, “everything that fills the current restaurant will be for sale starting Jan. 13, at a Guernsey’s auction,” including a century-old chandelier made of green glass, Tiffany stained glass, a mural depicting Central Park and “other over-the-top decor that has bewitched visitors for decades.”

Same name or not, the new Tavern on the Green (or Tavern on the Park if the name is off limits) will be completely different.

It will incorporate:

” … green building technology while a conservatory-style dining space will complement the original Victorian architecture. Poll also plans an outdoor cafe, bicycle racks and new public restrooms.”

Tavern on the Green was established in 1934. It is located in Central Park on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The old fashioned eatery was and continues to be an extremely popular haunt, raking in a reported $38 million in gross revenues back in 2007 — “the second highest-grossing independently-owned restaurant in the United States.”

Whether or not Poll’s new vision can restore the Tavern to its glory days and achieve similar success remains to be seen, but it’s safe to say that he’ll be under the microscope the moment the clock strikes midnight to start the New Year.

Oops! He did it again …

Former NBA superstar Latrell Sprewell is once again in the midst of foreclosure. Daily News reports that the ex-Knickerbocker is behind on a mortgage worth more $1.6 million, which he took out to finance a $5.4 million mansion situated on 3.3 acres in Purchase, New York.

If Sprewell doesn’t get current on the payments, he could lose the home in a Westchester County Courthouse foreclosure auction that is scheduled for Jan. 7, 2010.

Back in 2008, Sprewell nearly walked away from his home in River Hills home in Milwaukee, Wisc., when it went into default. He ponied up the debt at the last minute just before the Milwaukee Sheriff’s Department seized it.

His 70-foot-yacht, “Milwaukee’s Best,” however, was not as fortunate — U.S. Marshals auctioned the $1.5 million ship off for $856,000 after Sprewell did not fulfill his financial obligations.

Sprewell — who played 13 seasons in the league — earned an annual salary of $14.6 million in the final year of his career. In 2005, he infamously turned down a contract extension from the Minnesota Timberwolves worth between $27 million and $30 million for three seasons, saying “I’ve got my family to feed.”

He never played again once the contract expired because he didn’t want to “stoop beneath a level” he thought he was worth, according to his agent.

How times have changed.