H. Dale Hemmerdinger, chairman of the M.T.A. and owner of Atco
Properties & Management, is being sued by partners in one of his
buildings for allegedly illegally draining $2.2 million from funds set
aside to run the property. The lawsuit, filed in New York State Supreme
Court, claims that Hemmerdinger put unqualified general
partners on the board at 555 Fifth Avenue, creating an artificial
majority. Fred Schwartz, an attorney representing the plaintiffs –
which include two half-brothers of Hemmerdinger — said that
Hemmerdinger has asked his partners for nearly $1 million to ease the
cash crunch and has offered to buy out those who can’t pay. “We believe
he is trying to take control of the building on the cheap,” Schwartz
said. [more]

Scott Taylor and 40 Central Park South

Atco Residential Group recently dropped its name for what it considers
a more consumer-friendly one: Essential New York Real Estate. Scott Taylor, director of Essential New York Real Estate, said the real
estate brokerage came up with the name because “in New York, real
estate is one of the things that is essential to people, it’s what they
talk about at parties.” For the past year, Taylor said the firm has been planning the
re-branding. It is still under the parent company Atco, which has
property management, construction, investment and development arms.
Taylor said the Atco name is more known for its commercial ownership
and property management businesses, which is one of the reasons the
residential division wanted to separate itself with a new name. Atco is
run by the family of Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman H.
Dale Hemmerdinger. The firm officially started using the new name April 1, and is slowly expanding its broker ranks.
[more]