The battle between Extell Development and Vornado Realty Trust over a Central Park condominium site that would directly compete with One57 has entered a new phase. The Wall Street Journal reported that Extell has gone to court to force Vornado to re-fill the building it vacated, at 220 Central Park South.
Vornado emptied the building, and wants to do the same to the basement garage Extell leases through 2018, in order to knock it down and replace it with a luxury condo building just blocks from Extell’s One57.
The lawsuit is a reaction to Vornado having recently informed Extell that it is in default of its lease, and will move to evict it.
Vornado’s maneuver came on the heels of a $200 fine it handed to Extell in May because the parking garage was not being used “primarily for residents” as is required. However, Vornado, which has been planning the development for some seven years, had bought out all of the residential tenants. In Extell’s lawsuit against Vornado, it alleges the violation was a “sham” and demanding that it “re-occupy the building with tenants.”
“They take away our clients, they empty out the building, and then say, ‘You’re in violation because you have an empty building,'” Extell President Gary Barnett told the Journal. [WSJ] — Adam Fusfeld