Two apartments that former National Arts Club President O. Aldon James once controlled are now undergoing major cleaning and renovation, Real Estate Weekly reported. According to REW sources, the spaces could soon fetch up to $100 per square foot in rent.
New National Arts Club President Dianne Bernhard told REW that the apartments won’t be ready for occupancy until July 1.
James, his twin brother, John, and their friend, Steven Leitner, allegedly left these two apartments, 6A and 10A, in poor condition, with trash and belongings piled throughout and a bathroom floor soiled with excrement and urine. Apartment 6A has a hole in the floor with pipes exposed underneath, which Bernhard said leak into the apartment below. Both apartments also reportedly share a need for plumbing repair. Unit 10A needs new kitchen appliances and cabinets, REW said.
The James brothers and Leitner weren’t contacted for comment by REW.
As reported last month, a Manhattan Supreme Court decision ordered that James get a new hearing, due to perceived bias in the club board’s late January decision to expel him from the building for misusing apartments for hoarding. The court also ruled that James could stay put in the building. James, his twin and Leitner still control four apartments in the National Arts Club, REW said. [REW]