Howard Lutnick’s $30M suit against Southampton can proceed

Real estate titan Howard Lutnick is one step closer to living out his aspirations of farming his 40-acre plot in Southampton.

Yesterday a judge denied the Southampton town planning board’s motion to dismiss a $30 million lawsuit brought by Lutnick, chairman and CEO of BGC Partners, the New York Daily News reported. The suit stems from the board’s refusal to grant Lutnick a permit to build an 11,200-square-foot barn at His Halsey Lane estate.

Lutnick, whose BGC Partners owns commercial brokerage Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, purchased the property in 2003 for $15.25 million and insists that covenants on the land allow him to use it for farming. He says he wants to expand an orchard, but residents say he merely wants to build the barn to house his collection of cars, the newspaper reported. [NYDN] – Tom DiChristopher