Courts roundup: Roche sues partner Merchant for $35M, Nazarian sues contractors in Village
510 West 42nd Street (Credit - Google)
Roche sues Hochfelder, Merchant, for $35M: Robert Roche of Roche Enterprises is seeking $35 million from Adam Hochfelder, Richard Cohn, Abraham Merchant, Merchants Hospitality and Mailman Trust related to the hotel and retail project at 510 West 42nd Street, in Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan.
According to the filing, “Defendants fraudulently induced Plaintiffs to invest millions of dollars in a hotel development and retail project, located at 510 West 42nd Street, New York, New York 10036 and execute multiple guaranties.”
Court filings represent the positions of one party and are not necessarily accurate or complete.
An affiliate of Merchants successfully sued Roche in 2020, 156663/2020 and won a $4.5 million judgment in January 2022 alleging an equity subscription payment of $4 million had not been paid by Roche.
In addition, Merchants Hospitality filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy in in 2021, here 21-11141-mg 512 W42 Retail LLC.
Taconic Capital Advisors provided $42 million to the development team in 2019. According to a press release at the time, “In addition to the financing, Merchants Hospitality and Roche Enterprises have funded over $45 million in equity into the Cachet Hotel to create one of the most dynamic boutique hotels in New York City…”
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Nazarian sues contractors he faults for Greenwich Village demolition: Lionel Nazarian of Nazarian Property Group alleges the construction manager and contractors working on 14 Gay Street, a city Landmark, committed errors resulting in $2.5 million worth of damages and the required demolition of building in Greenwich Village.
According to the filing, “As a result of negligent and improper workmanship performed by Defendants, the Properties sustained catastrophic physical damage. Ultimately, the DOB required that 14 GS Property be demolished and rebuilt.”
Yimby reported this month that two floors had been removed and one remained.
Plaintiffs seek monetary damages to recover the costs resulting from the physical damage to the Properties. The alleged faulty construction resulted in the city requireing a full demolition of the building, filed in December. Nazarian bought the properties in April 2022.
Correction: A prior version of this post identified the lender in the top item as Taconic Partners, when in fact it was Taconic Capital Advisors, an unrelated company.
Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page and link to DOB NOW portal.