The Lucida at 151 East 85th Street, Gary Barnett

An Extell Development affiliate is suing a small residential brokerage firm for breach of contract for allegedly keeping nearly $200,000 in commissions at the Upper East Side condominium tower Lucida, even though the sales were never finalized, Meanwhile, in the Financial District, the international architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill claims its landlord, a partnership between real estate private equity firm Capstone Equities and investor the Carlyle Group, has stiffed it on more than $1 million in tenant improvement work at its Financial District office, a recent lawsuit says. Also in the Financial District, a stalled condo conversion project has created one more headache for the German lender Deutsche Bank that provided equity financing for the site at 45 John Street. [more]