UDR alleges it is owed $6.2M in unpaid retail condo fees

Multifamily landlord UDR, which controls the condominium boards at five large Upper West Side rental buildings it purchased from the Chetrit Group in 2012 for $630 million, alleges the Chetrit Group owes $6.2 million in condominium fees and late charges related to the retail units it still owns in those buildings. One of the main retail tenants is Whole Foods.
The cases were filed December 30 and 31 of 2014, and January 3 and 6 of 2025.
Court cases represent the position of one party and are not necessarily accurate or complete. The Chetrit Group has not yet responded in court filings to the allegations, which are substantially similar in each of the filings.
In some cases condo boards and commercial property owners battle in court over the right of the board to charge certain assessments and fees, and in those cases the lack of payment is not a reflection of an inability to pay, but instead a disagreement over what is owed.

UDR and MetLife bought the residential portions of the multi-building complex for $630 million in 2012, with a total of 710 units. 808 Columbus Avenue has 359 units, 801 Amsterdam Avenue has 100 units, 775 Columbus Avenue has 56 units, 795 Columbus Avenue has 132 units and 805 Columbus Avenue has 63 units.

The buildings (with links to the court cases) are 808 Columbus Avenue, 795 Columbus Avenue, 805 Columbus Avenue, 801 Amsterdam Avenue and 775 Columbus Avenue. The building with the largest alleged amount due is 808 Columbus Avenue, with $4.07 million. The other buildings have between $348,968 and $697,264 in alleged payments due.

According to the complaint related to 808 Columbus Avenue, the total owed is, “$4,073,838 in common charges, comprised of the following: Utility charges for each of the months of March 2021 through and including October 2024, totaling $2,242.064.00; Repair and maintenance charges for each of the months of March 2021 through and including October 2024 totaling $342,212.00; Insurance charges for each of the months of March 2021 through and including October 2024 totaling $259,350.00; Late fee charges with respect to the Common Charges Defaults totaling $27,750.00; Interest charges with respect to the CommonCharges Defaults totaling $1,202,462.”

The neighborhood

In Upper West Side, The majority, or 59 percent of the 52.9 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 23 percent of the space. In sales, Upper West Side has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $996.5 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 8th highest in Manhattan. For development, Upper West Side has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 9th highest in Manhattan. It had 3.2 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 6 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of four of the nine commercial properties representing 977,748 square feet of the 1,893,644 square feet. The two identified owners are UDR, Eastgold Properties and Stellar Management. There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The owner

The owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development include UDR CEO Thomas Toomey, as head officer and Michael Lacy, officer. The business entities are Western Residential, Inc. and Columbus Square 808 LLC.

The surrounding

This is the first commercial real estate event of interest identified within the 400-foot radius of 808 Columbus Avenue in the past 24 months.

Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page and link to DOB NOW portal.