Fulton Market building sold with faulty HVAC, roof, lawsuit claims

The new owners of a Fulton Market commercial building are suing its former owner, saying he sold a building full of defects.

Lawyers Mitchell Whittaker and Ronald Gonsky bought the three-story building at 819 West Fulton Market for $1.825 million in 2014, according to a recently filed lawsuit and public records regarding the sale. It was sold by Zbigniew Ciszek, who built and owned the property, according to the lawsuit.

The lawyers said they noticed a number of building defects shortly after they closed on the property in October 2014, the suit said. The defects include a faulty HVAC system that allows rain water into its ducts, improper roof installation that results in leaks, leaky windows and improperly installed flooring, according to the suit.

“Such conditions are not the result of inadequate maintenance are were present since the date property was substantially completed and since the date the property was sold,” the suit said. “These design and construction defects were latent and not reasonably discoverable by [the buyers] prior to the closing of the sale of the property.”

Ciszek did not immediately return a request for comment for this story.

The lawsuit also claims Ciszek improperly changed the tenant in the building months before the closing. Amending the lease for the building called into question the enforceability of the guaranty on the lease, according to the suit.

The building, constructed in 2010, is currently the home of restaurant Ramen Takeya.

The new property owners did not include in their suit an estimate of the cost of the needed repairs and instead are asking a judge to award them an amount “proven at trial,” according to the lawsuit.