Courts roundup: Ira Drukier sues Andre Balazs; Thor facing foreclosure in Harlem, more
Courts roundup for Friday, April 9, 2021: There were no real estate bankruptcies of note. There were two commercial foreclosures, detailed below.
Please note that court filings are the positions of the parties and are not necessarily complete or accurate.
Ira Drukier claims Andre Balazs mismanaged 147 Mercer Street hotel, seeks $500K. Drukier, who is partners with Richard Born in BD Hotels, filed the derivate suit. The filing states in part: “[BD Hotels entity] and BALAZS LLC are, and have always been, the sole members of Mercer LLC, with each having a membership interest of 65% and 35% respectively. Upon information and belief, widespread, negative press regarding Balazs’ personal life combined with the very public allegations of discrimination, abuse, misconduct and neglectful management by Hotels AB at ‘sister hotel’ Chateau Marmonti has been incredibly harmful to the Hotel as a result of its association with Balazs and HotelsAB. On November 11, 2019, BDL sent to Balazs a letter informing him that based on his ongoing and gross misconduct, he no longer met the requirements allowing him to serve as Managing Director of the Hotel. Balazs refuses to step down despite the automatic termination of his agency under the Operating Agreement. Upon information and belief, Balazs engaged in self-dealing when he caused Mercer LLC to pay over $100,000 in personal legal expenses and settlement fees related to a harassment claim brought against Balazs in 2018. Balazs’ willful, intentional disregard of his duties and apparent misappropriation of Mercer LLC’s assets have, among other things, crippled the Manager’s ability to properly manage Mercer LLC, caused reputational harm to the Hotel, and resulted in third party litigation and significant monetary losses to Mercer LLC.” LINK
East West Bank sues to foreclosure on $23M Thor loan: The bank sued to foreclose on the multifamily and retail property 17 West 125th Street that Thor bought in 2015 for $29.6 million from FBE Ltd., TreeTop Development and others. At the time Thor took out a $23 million acquisition and rehab construction loan. The property has 48 residential units and eight retail spaces. LINK
Gadi Ben Hamo and Meyer Chetrit expect to foreclose on 11 parcels in Jamaica: Gadi Ben Hamo and Meyer Chetrit of the Chetrit Group intend to foreclose on a second mortgage secured by 11 properties on both sides of Hillside Avenue in Jamaica Queens, according to a summons filed Friday. The suit is, “A claim for judicial reformation of the Second Mortgage between Plaintiffs and Carol Joy dated December 23, 2019, based on mutual mistake in identifying the parcels of land subject to said mortgage.” The suit lists 11 properties. Only three of them have a $2 million second mortgage recorded, the other 8 parcels have a $11.5 million first mortgage recorded. The filing states the plaintiffs intent to foreclose: “in anticipation of foreclosure.” LINK
Correction: A prior version of this post misspelled Gadi Ben Hamo’s first name.