The fallout from a lifted deed restriction at 45 Rivington Street on the Lower East side continues, with the mayor’s office saying the deal went completely under its radar, despite the mayor’s reputation for micromanagement.
The Department of Citywide Administrative Services – the agency that cut the deal, which allowed the Allure Group to sell the property to the Slate Group, Adam America Real Estate and China Vanke for $116 million – never informed City Hall, Politico reported.
As far as I know, no one in [the] mayor’s office knew about the lifting of the deed restriction in 2015,” spokesperson Karen Hinton told the news service, “except, of course, the Mayor’s Office of Contract Services general counsel who signs off in a very pro forma way.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio, known as a hands-on administrator, expressed frustration that the deal was never brought to his attention Monday.
“Someone should’ve said ‘no’ farther down the food chain and if they didn’t know how, they should’ve come to me and I would’ve said no very quickly,” he told Politico.
Officials have previously said they plan to sue Allure over the transaction, which followed an apparent promise in 2014 to maintain the use of the property, known as Rivington House, as a nursing home.
State health officials also said they were deceived by Allure, Crain’s reported.
“The [Health Department] felt certain that it would remain a nursing home,” a source with knowledge of the agency’s reaction told the magazine. “They are pretty pissed off right now.”
Slate, Adam America and Vanke plan to build 100 luxury condos at the property. [Politico and Crain’s] – Ariel Stulberg