Courts roundup: Chabad sues Sackman over $30M condo; Friedland sues Zabar family, more

Chabad Lubavitch sues Sackman over delayed $30M UWS condo unit: Chabad Lubavitch of the West Side sued Sackman Enterprises to recover a nearly $3 million down payment on an approximately $30 million condo unit that would have been home to the religious group, but the building has not been completed in time. The development is on parcels 15 to 19 West 96th Street.

The Chabad won an arbitration ordering the repayment of the down payment and additional monies, and the Chabad alleges Sackman has not complied with the ruling.

Yimby reported in January 2022 on progress on the project. 

According to the complaint: “This is a petition to confirm an arbitration award entered in favor of Petitioner, an entity formed for the benefit of the Chabad Lubavitch of the West Side (the “Chabad”), and against Respondent, an affiliate of Sackman Enterprises Inc. that is owned and operated by members of the Sackman family. In 2017, Petitioner entered into a contract to purchase a nearly $30,000,000 community facility condominium unit in a new building being developed by Respondent. Petitioner intended to use the unit as the Chabad’s new permanent home for all of its religious, educational, and community operations. Since 2017, Respondent has broken promise after promise and was unable to honor any of its contractual obligations to Petitioner and the Chabad. Indeed, Respondent never completed construction – it never even came close. It has been five years since the contract was executed, and Respondent has just topped out the building and, according to recent news reports, Respondent does not anticipate completing construction until Spring 2023. Respondent’s failures culminated in a three-day arbitration between the parties at which Respondent attempted to confiscate the sizable down payment furnished by the Chabad for the construction of its synagogue and education center. The arbitrator saw right through Respondent’s paper-thin claims and defenses and awarded the return of the down payment to Petitioner, as well as over $800,000 of additional monetary damages.” LINK

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

Friedland seeks UWS dev parcel partition in dispute with Zabar family: Friedland Properties is suing for partition and sale of the properties, which are two buildings, one a corner mixed use with 47,292 sq ft and 18 commercial units at 2231 Broadway and the other is an adjacent building at 250 West 80th Street, a 6,846-square-foot building with 2 commercial units in three floors. According to the complaint, Friedland controls two entities, each with a 25% stake for a total of 50%, and the Zabar family owns the other 50%. According to the complaint: “Over the last several years, and continuing to the present date, there has been significant interest in redeveloping the Property to maximize its value. Plaintiffs have engaged in discussions with Defendant to reach a commercially desirable outcome with respect to redeveloping the Property, but Defendant has steadfastly refused to engage in meaningful discussions. Defendant’s refusal to engage with Plaintiffs regarding their efforts to maximize the Property’s value is commercially unreasonable. As a result, joint ownership of the Property between the parties is no longer desirable or workable.” Friedland signed a contract to buy air rights for this site, PincusCo reported in December 2021. LINK

$10.5M LIC hotel pre-foreclosure: Lender Metro City Bank filed to foreclose on a 2018 loan with an original principal of $10.5 million secured by 38-60 13th Street, a 31,015-square-foot hotel building built in 2015 in Long Island City. NY International Student Residence is the lessee in the building. The guarantors of the loan include George Baharestani, Lisa Levine and James Juhn, according to the complaint. LINK

Partnership dispute over 6K sf Sunset Park warehouse: Esther Hirsch is suing her partners claiming she has a 33 1/3% ownership in 227 51st Street, a single-story, 6,000-square foot warehouse building in Sunset Park, and wants to review financial records of the company, and claims the defendants, who control management of the property, have not provided access. LINK