Attorney General allows tenants to stay at Kent Swig’s (left) Sheffield57

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s real estate finance bureau ordered a settlement that allows nearly two dozen market-rate tenants to remain in the Sheffield57 condominium, while limiting a rent increase proposed by developer Kent Swig. Housing Court Judge David Cohen originally blocked the evictions of 23 market-rate tenants in a landmark 2007 decision. That decision was overturned in 2008, and was under appeal by the tenants. During settlement talks with the AG’s office, Swig proposed an agreement that would let the tenants remain in the building if they agreed to significant rent increases. In a June 17 letter to Swig’s attorney Stuart Saft, and obtained by The Real Deal, Assistant Attorney General Marisa Peisman said that the rental increase proposed by Swig was well above comparable rates. [more]

Yair Levy, who pleaded guilty last month to harassing Kent Swig with an ice
bucket during a business meeting, is now suing Swig. Levy
filed a lawsuit in Manhattan State Supreme Court this week claiming
that Swig allegedly siphoned off $50 million in Sheffield57
construction funds for personal uses. The suit also alleges Swig paid
his company Swig Equities millions in commissions. According to the
suit, Levy, Swig and Serge Hoyda are in default on at least $100
million in loans. “Yair Levy and Serge Hoyda, investors in the
Sheffield Sponsor, have been victimized by Kent Swig, who took millions
in loan advances from the senior lenders, Wells Fargo and Guggenheim,
when those lenders knew Swig was vastly over budget and knew or should
have known that Swig was using the loan proceeds for personal
purposes,” said Stephen Meister, Levy’s lawyer. [more]