Ziel Feldman and HFZ legal review
Ziel Feldman legal review
Ziel Feldman and HFZ Capital Group have been sued together or separately 36 times since January 2020, far more than any other developer, according to a PincusCo review of state court records. The review excludes torts and workers’ compensation complaints.
Plaintiffs range from large hedge funds like the Children’s Investment Fund to small local lenders and investors.
Summaries for some of the cases are below. Download the entire list of 36 cases in an Excel spreadsheet here. Feldman has responded to some of these complaints, however the responses have not been included here. This article is intended to present the scope of the filings, not present a forum to review the merits of each case. As in all litigation, the complaints are the positions of one side and may or may not be accurate or complete.
–Children’s Investment Fund and TCI affiliates filed a suit yesterday seeking a judgment, alleging $119.7 million is due through a payment guaranty made as security for $755 million in mezzanine loans given to develop 76 Eleventh Avenue, known as “The XI.”
–Last week, investor Benny Shabtai alleged he made a loan totaling $3.64 million to Feldman, HFZ and Nir Meir in 2014 that could be converted into an apartment in a building Feldman was developing. The funds have not be exchanged for an apartment and the investor now claims $9,820,356 is due.
–Omnibuild Construction is seeking a judgment on a personal guaranty agreement it claims was executed in October 2020 and was due in December 2020 for $6,646,402. Omnibuild was the construction manager at 76 Eleventh Avenue before disengaging from the job last summer. Omnibuild also sued in July for a judgment totaling $102 million, seeking payment for work at the project.
–Omnibuild was replaced by Pavarini McGovern as construction manager at 76 Eleventh. Pavarini in December sued Feldman and HFZ and others for $17 million allegedly unpaid for work at 3 West 29th Street.
–The condo board at 235 West 75th Street is seeking $10 million, alleging problems with construction, sales, marketing, management, and operation of the building.
–The condo board of the HFZ-developed Halcyon at 305 East 51st Street sued, seeking $10 million in a complaint alleging numerous problems at the building.
–The law firm Troutman Peppers withdrew as counsel on a case at HFZ-developed condo 90 Lexington, claiming it was owed $126,036. This is an ongoing case of a residential buyer seeking repairs for it’s unit.