HFZ extends XI sales gallery lease, ending lawsuit

Developer’s landlord had brought case to take back Meatpacking District space

HFZ Capital chairman Ziel Feldman and the XI sales gallery at 25-27 Little West 12th Street (Photos via Owen Hoffmann/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images; Craig Barritt/Getty Images for XI Gallery)
HFZ Capital chairman Ziel Feldman and the XI sales gallery at 25-27 Little West 12th Street (Photos via Owen Hoffmann/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images; Craig Barritt/Getty Images for XI Gallery)

Ziel Feldman and his firm, HFZ Capital, settled a dispute involving the sales gallery for its XI condominium project Thursday.

Greenway Mews Realty, the owner of 25-27 Little West 12th Street, in which the sales gallery is located, filed the lawsuit Monday against HFZ for not vacating the property or paying rent after the three-year lease expired in June.

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With the lawsuit, the landlord sought to take back the space and collect $1.1 million to cover back rent, expenses to restore the property, and legal fees.

On Thursday afternoon, however, Greenway Mews’ lawyer Steven Sperber notified the court to discontinue the lawsuit as HFZ has agreed to a lease extension, according to email communications between lawyers for both sides that HFZ shared with The Real Deal.

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“We look forward to your client’s continued tenancy at the building,” Sperber wrote in an email to Marc Becker, an attorney for HFZ.

The court papers do not include details of the agreement, an HFZ representative said the lease has been extended until March 2021. The monthly rent had been $152,235.

HFZ needed the sales gallery because it still has apartments to unload at the XI, a luxury building near the High Line. Designed by Bjarke Ingels, the condo complex has 236 units along with a Six Senses Hotel. Buyers so far include Graeme Hart, a billionaire from New Zealand who signed a contract for a $34 million penthouse.

Separately, HFZ on Wednesday resolved litigation with the New York Times, which had sued to collect on a $121,600 advertising bill.

Contact Akiko Matsuda at akiko.matsuda@therealdeal.com