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New York

Buyer sues Lightstone over $19M FiDi condo deal gone bad

Sale at 130 William Street left hanging one year after promised closing, suit says

Lightstone Group's Mitchell C. Hochberg and 130 William Street (Getty, 130 William Street, Lighstone)
Lightstone Group's Mitchell C. Hochberg and 130 William Street (Getty, 130 William Street, Lightstone)

A buyer at the Lightstone Group’s Lower Manhattan property is seeking a refund, saying the developer failed to deliver.

The unidentified buyer is suing the firm to recover a $1.9 million down payment on a $19 million unit at 130 William Street. The sale was supposed to close in 2021, but never did, according to the lawsuit filed Monday in New York County Supreme Court.

The buyer — shielded behind the LLC “Rich Ning” — deposited $950,000 of the down payment to an escrow agent in May 2021 and another $950,000 in June 2021.

The apartment was to be delivered to the buyer in December 2021, but the date came and went. In October 2022, nearly a year later, the apartment was still not delivered.

As a result, the buyer demanded Lightstone return the down payment. Instead, the developer issued a notice claiming to schedule a closing for Nov. 18, 2022, which the complaint calls a “sham closing in an attempt to manufacture an excuse to wrongfully retain the down payment.”

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The unit in question — PH65 — made headlines in 2021 when it went into contract after asking $20 million. At the time, it was the highest asking price for a Financial District condo.

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A representative for Lightstone declined to comment. Lawyers for the buyer also declined to comment.

In 2014, Lightstone paid $60 million for a 12-story, 142,000-square-foot distressed office building at the address.

The 241-unit, 66-story residential building was designed by architect Sir David Adjaye and completed in 2020. Corcoran Sunshine is handling sales, and Lightstone has advertised having over $200 million in sales at the building this year.

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Condo MarketLightstone GroupReal Estate Lawsuits