Brodsky claims CitiStorage fire cost him home: lawsuit

Property owner sues CitiStorage for $3M over apartment lost in warehouse fire

Norman Brodsky
Norman Brodsky

Property owner Norman Brodsky may fetch north of $250 million for the Williamsburg waterfront property he owns, but that’s not stopping him from suing CitiStorage for $3 million in connection with last year’s massive fire at the site.

Brodsky has filed suit against CitiStorage in New York State Supreme Court, claiming the fire cost him and his wife Elaine an apartment they built in the North 11th Street warehouse in 1990s.

The suit blames CitiStorage for the Jan. 31, 2015, inferno that took destoyed a warehouse on the site and the Brodskys’ apartment in the building, according to the New York Post.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

While Brodsky still owns the real estate on which the storage warehouse stands, he sold a majority stake in the CitiStorage business itself, as well as two other businesses, for $110 million in 2007, he told Bedford + Bowery last year. Brodsky sold his entire stake in CitiStorage in the subsequent years.

Brodsky stands to benefit heavily from the land itself, with the Related Cos. reportedly in discussions, alongside partners Midtown Equities and East End Capital, for a deal that would provide an option for an ownership stake in the site.

Midtown Equities and East End Capital secured their own option on the 11-acre waterfront site, which is zoned for around 600,000 square feet of commercial space, last year. Brodsky previously indicated he hoped to fetch up to $500 million for the property. [NYP]Rey Mashayekhi