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Extell hit with $27M suit over One57
Contractor claims developer delayed and disrupted its work
Extell Development is facing a $27 million lawsuit from contractor Five Star Electric Corp., which claims non-payment for work done at the One57 hotel condo site — the location where a tower crane collapsed following Hurricane Sandy.
In the suit filed March 7 in Manhattan Supreme Court, Five Star claims it signed a contract for the project with Extell in 2010, through its construction manager Bovis Lend Lease LMB Inc. (now known as Lend Lease). The development was then known as Carnegie Tower, a 76-story hotel and luxury residential building, at 157 West 57th Street, in Manhattan.
The Ozone Park, Queens-based electrical contractor claims its work was delayed and disrupted by Extell’s failure to provide an adequate and complete design for the project, failure to properly manage the work, and failure to process change orders. The suit claims that “dramatic changes” were made during the course of the work, equal to 124 percent of the original contract price. The contact price is not disclosed in the suit.
Five Star states that the company’s work was also delayed by the storm, which led to the collapse of the project’s tower crane in 2012.
The suit claims that Five Star was forced to complete its work in a manner that was out of sequence, resulting in substantially increased costs. Separately, the wife of Five Star electrician who allegedly died as a result of an incident at the site filed a lawsuit against Extell and Lend Lease last year, as previously reported.
Attorney Robert Saville, representing Five Star, was not immediately available for comment. A spokesperson for Extell did not return requests for comment.
As The Real Deal reported last month, the Park Hyatt Hotel at One57, is set to open for business on Aug. 28, and will occupy the first 30 floors of the Extell condo tower.
Extell has faced additional litigation linked to the tower crane collapse, stemming from damage to the Hotel Salisbury.
In 2013, The Alwyn Court filed suit to block Extell from installing a new crane boom at the site, because it required a one-day evacuation of the 58th Street building.
Marc Luxemburg, Whose Firm Represented Alwyn Court, said that case was settled under a confidential agreement.