Courts roundup: $23.7M busted contract, EQR $5M busted contract, Koeppel brothers feud continues, more

Lloyd Shaffer, Meny Chukroon trade suits over busted $23.7M Lenox Hill contact:  Seller Lloyd Shaffer and buyer Meny Chukroon traded lawsuits over a $23.7 million contract for 1484 First Avenue in Lenox Hill, Manhattan. According to Chukroon’s complaint, “Pursuant to a Contract of Sale between Plaintiff and Defendant dated April 6, 2022 (the “Contract”), Defendant agreed to sell, and Plaintiff agreed to purchase, the Property for the sum of $23,700,000. Each of Plaintiff and Defendant was represented in the transaction by sophisticated real estate counsel. The Contract was highly negotiated over a period of more than six (6) weeks, and contained many provisions that were specifically and purposefully agreed upon, and which were essential for the transaction.”

Court filings represent the position of one party and are not necessarily accurate or complete.

The Chukroon complaint continues, “The Contract required, inter alia, Plaintiff to deliver an earnest money down payment of one million one hundred eighty-five and 00/100 ($1,185,000.00) dollars Notwithstanding Defendant having been unprepared to close in accordance with the Contract, Defendant without excuse or justification by letter dated December 5, 2022 (the “Defendant Notice”), unilaterally declared a time of the essence Closing Date to be January 10, 2023, at 11:00 am (the “Law Day”) at the offices of the attorneys for Defendant, time being of the essence as to all parties’ obligations on such date. Upon information and belief, prior to the Defendant Notice Defendant had not had a single conversation or written exchange with the Title Company to clear title to the Property nor made any effort to clear Defendant’s plethora of deficiencies with its contractual obligations during the executory period of the Contract. By reason thereof, Plaintiff rejected the time of the essence declaration in the Defendant Notice. 16. Notwithstanding that Defendant was neither prepared nor ready, willing and able to close on the Law DayDefendant was not prepared to close on the Law Day. The Closing declared by Defendant’s attorneys was a transparent sham, concocted by Defendant to obfuscate it’s many breaches and failures to comply with its contractual obligations and misappropriate of the Downpayment. Defendant breached the Contract by failing to address and resolve with the Title Company the defects in title. 21. Defendant breached the Contact by improperly substituting (and insisting upon) an improper, unlicensed abstract company (to wit, the Unauthorized Company) in place of the designated Title Company. 22. Defendant breached the Contract by failing to remove liens and encumbrances that Defendant was obligated to remove prior to Closing (alleged breaches continue.)” The specialty building in Lenox Hill has 13,600 square feet of built space and 33,417 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 47,000 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis o city data. The parcel has frontage of 50 feet and is 94 feet deep with a total lot size of 4,700 square feet. The zoning is C1-9 which allows for up to 2 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 10 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city designated market value for the property in 2022 is $4.2 million. Chukroon’s complaint, Shaffer’s complaint

Equity Residential claims it signed a contract to sell a parking lot/development site on August 8, 2022 to CCC for $5.5 million, set to close on December 7, 2022. A Dan Manuel is identified as a member on the contract, and an Eran Tourgeman in previous transactions has signed as a member for Yael Garden. LINK

City alleges rat infestation in $21M East Harlem dev site: The City of New York through its Department of Health and Mental Hygiene seeks to enter the vacant lot and abate an apparent rat infestation. The property was previously owned by investor Bo Jin Zhu, who bought it in 2015 for $16 million, and later filed for bankruptcy and in that process sold this property for $20.75 million in 2019 to a Little Neck, Queens, company called North Capital Investments, with the signatory Yufeng Sun. The owner has not responded to several requests, according to the petition. The corner parcel is 101 feet along Third Avenue and 92 feet deep. It is occupied by an approximately 20-foot-wide walkup and the rest of the lot is vacant and overgrown with vegetation. There is a Sotheby’s listing from 2021 seeking $27.5 million for the site.  LINK

Brothers Howard and Daniel Koeppel have feuded for years, the New York Times reported in 1999. Each owns a 50 percent interest in the properties, and Howard Koeppel is seeking to have a receiver installed to allegedly, “maintain the real property, and prevent irreparable loss, and waste.” The properties are on two tax lots, and each spans an entire block front along the nothern side of Northern Boulevard. 77-01 Northern Boulevard is between 77th and 78th streets, and 78-01 to 78-17 Northern Boulevard is between 78th and 79th streets. LINK

A group of tenants allege landlord Delshah Capital is using illegal tactics to convert what should be rent regulated units to free market units. Patch reported in September 2022 that tenants in the building planned a rent strike alleging gas had been out for months, repairs were not made, and other allegations.

Delshah Capital responded with a statement, “There is no plan to decontrol any units. In fact, since the 2019 HSTPA [Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act], that is not even possible anymore. This building was a previous Silvershore building and had a myriad of problems. We have been working on removing violations and deferred maintenance.” The walkup building with 25 residential units in South Slope has 22,001 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The property is owned by Delshah Capital. The parcel has frontage of 50 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 5,000 square feet. The zoning is R6B which allows for up to 2 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $3.6 million. LINK