Yair Levy ran out of money to finish downtown Miami building, diamond dealer’s lawsuit alleges

New York-based developer Yair Levy’s grand plan to convert a downtown Miami office and retail building into a premier jewelers’ destination is allegedly turning into shattered glass. 

Levy, who’s banned for life from selling condos and co-ops in the Empire State, allegedly has run out of funds to complete renovations at Time Century Jewelry Center, a nine-story building at 1 Northeast First Street in Miami, according to a recently filed lawsuit filed in MIami-Dade Circuit Court on Sept. 19. Levy is the majority owner of the property through an affiliate of his company, Time Century Holdings.

During a Sept. 12 meeting, Levy allegedly told prospective tenants, including the diamond dealer suing him, that he needs an outside investor to finish the $50 million rehab, the complaint states. The lawsuit was filed by Freddy’s Certified Diamonds & Fine Jewelry, which is currently a tenant at downtown Miami’s reigning jewelry retail and wholesale center, the Seybold Building. Levy, his daughter Galit, and two Time Century affiliates are the defendants in the suit. 

Freddy’s was supposed to move into Levy’s property last year, after paying Time Century $815,937 million for a security deposit and build out expenses, the lawsuit alleges. Freddy’s has also allegedly paid $790,000 in holdover rent to its current landlord. 

Two days after the alleged meeting, a lender filed a separate foreclosure complaint against the Time Century affiliate that owns the mixed-use building, which was previously known as Downtown Miami Metro Mall. Time Century allegedly defaulted on a $27.2 million mortgage debt that was supposed to partially cover the renovations. 

Freddy’s finds out about Levy’s past transgressions

Levy did not respond to questions about the alleged meeting and other claims in the diamond dealer’s lawsuit. Instead, Time Century provided an email statement through a spokesperson.

“We are in communication with the tenant and hope to resolve this matter shortly,” the statement said. “We are looking forward to making Time Century Jewelry Center the premier jewelry building in Miami.” 

Frederick Strauss, Freddy’s president, and his lawyer did not respond to requests for comment. 

Levy allegedly told the prospective tenants that he could not provide them with a completion date on the spaces for which they had signed leases until he secures an investor to “infuse the needed capital,” the lawsuit states. 

Following the alleged meeting, Freddy’s owner learned that Levy was the subject of “criminal proceedings in New York, where he was found liable for fraud and prohibited by the New York State Attorney General’s office from engaging in certain real estate activities,” the lawsuit states.

In 2011, a New York state Supreme Court judge ruled that Levy defrauded buyers and tenants of a failed condo conversion by plundering the project’s reserve funds for personal and family expenses. In addition to being ordered to pay $7.4 million in damages, Levy was banned from selling condos and co-ops for life. A year later, an appeals court upheld the ruling.  

Levy is facing new troubles in his home city. In August, Wells Fargo initiated foreclosure proceedings against a half–dozen New York City buildings that Levy and his family own. 

“World-class” promises to lure Freddy’s

Time Century paid $14.8 million for an 80 percent stake in the downtown Miami mixed-use building in 2018, marking Levy’s first foray into South Florida’s real estate market. 

A year later, Levy allegedly met with Freddy’s representatives to entice them to move into his building, the jewelry store’s lawsuit states. Levy allegedly promised that Freddy’s would be a “featured anchor tenant” in what he boasted would become a “world-class jewelry destination” and the “best jewelry building in the southeastern U.S.”

At the time, Levy allegedly did not disclose the New York court ruling against him, the lawsuit states. Freddy’s signed a lease in 2020 that required the build-out of the new space in Time Century Jewelry Center to be completed a year later. Freddy’s was supposed to move in last summer, but Time Century hasn’t finished construction, the lawsuit alleges.