Tourneau wants out of 510 Madison
May 06, 2009 06:30PM By Adam Pincus
Tourneau is trying to get out of its 10 Madison Avenue leaseThree months after an incoming tenant in Macklowe Properties' fire-damaged 510 Madison Avenue announced it wanted to cancel its lease, a second tenant-to-be is trying to do the same.
International watch retailer Tourneau is trying to break a lease it signed last July for a 3,300-square-foot ground-floor retail location in the Macklowe building at the corner of Madison Avenue and 53rd Street, court papers say, which is still under construction.
The watch company, citing an obscure legal theory, wants to break the lease because it remains unclear when it would be able to move in to the building, and also wants its $148,683 deposit returned, a lawsuit filed April 13 in Manhattan State Supreme Court says.
The Tourneau suit follows an effort by investment firm Jay Goldman & Co. to break its lease on the 19th floor of the 30-story building, just two weeks after a fire broke out in the second floor February 9, causing minor damage.
Court papers submitted yesterday in Manhattan Supreme Court by Macklowe Properties attorney Richard Claman indicate Tourneau may be trying to get out of the lease because of general weakness in the economy.
In March, "Tourneau informed [Macklowe Properties] that it was undertaking a global review of all its leases, to try to escape or minimize its obligations, in view of the current economic conditions," the court filing says.
Tourneau announced in July 2008 that it would relocate its oldest Manhattan location from the Omni Berkshire Place Hotel at 500 Madison Avenue at 52nd Street to the new store a block north.
The senior vice president and general counsel for Tourneau, Stuart Fisher, said the company would not comment on pending litigation.
When asked about the allegation by Macklowe Properties that the watch retailer was looking to minimize its lease obligations, he said, "At this point we have no plans to close any stores in Manhattan."
A spokesman for Macklowe Properties declined to comment.
The general manager of the Omni Berkshire Place Hotel, Dan Piotrowski, said he was not aware that Tourneau was fighting the move to 510 Madison Avenue.
"The lease runs out at the end of the calendar year," he said. He added that negotiations could be taking place at the hotel's corporate office in Dallas that he was not aware of. The Dallas office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Comments
Anonymous
This is superb! Macklowe's downfall is fast and furious! Hopefully, he and the city's other greedy developers also lost a fortune to Bernie Madoff.
Comment #1 Posted By: Anonymous 05/06/09
Anonymous
I'm not a Macklowe fan. I don't even know the man. But what kind of person are you #1? You root for peoples downfalls and demise? You must be very successful and happy. Let me guess, you're single OR your spouse hates you. either one. Miserable bastard
Comment #2 Posted By: Anonymous 05/07/09
Anonymous
Miserable bastard #2 you must be a macklowe relative maybe "kent swig????" feel sorry.
Comment #3 Posted By: Anonymous 05/07/09
Anonymous
Trouble family. But nothing likely could have prepared Mr. Swig for the wars on numerous fronts that he has faced as the Manhattan condominium market has unraveled.
Comment #4 Posted By: Anonymous 05/07/09
Anonymous
Here are some folks who might root for his demise. These are excerpts from a New York Times piece from 1984: "The displaced tenants of an Upper East Side building that was ripped by a gas explosion last month sued their landlord yesterday, charging that he had deliberately failed to restore services in an effort to evict them. ''Not one ounce of work has been done,'' said Bernadette Harrison, the leader of the more than 100 tenants who have been unable to move back into their apartments at 30 East End Avenue at 81st Street. It names as the defendant the luxury high-rise developer, Harry Macklowe. Although the basement explosion took place Oct. 18, the building is still without heat, electricity, gas or water. Telephone service has recently been restored to a few apartments, tenants said. Andrew Stein, the Manhattan Borough President, whose name was added to the suit as a plaintiff, said Mr. Macklowe ''is acting like the worst kind of slumlord,'' and said the city should hold up all other luxury development projects that Mr. Macklowe's company had under way in the city.
Comment #5 Posted By: Anonymous 05/07/09
Anonymous
Macklowe May Lose $500 Million Site on Park Avenue "The Drake Hotel". The next shoe to fall on the Macklowe saga.
Comment #6 Posted By: Anonymous 05/07/09
Anonymous
Macklowe owes Deutsche Bank hundreds of millions of dollars, and has been in default now for, what, more than a year? He doesn't own that Drake site, and yet he's fighting what will inevitably be a losing campaign to stave off being forcibly evicted by the courts. That's why we have a giant crater at one of the most important commercial sites on the planet. Because Macklowe won't give back what isn't his.
Comment #7 Posted By: Anonymous 05/07/09