Developer Katan Group has been slapped with $1 million in legal fees resulting from three lawsuits surrounding the sale of the Domino Sugar factory in Brooklyn. A New York state judge ordered Katan to pay its former investment partner, developer CPC Resources, the fees after rejecting their argument that invoices from the suit were unclear.
“The special referee’s determination of the reasonableness of the rates billed by CPC’s counsel was amply supported and substantiated by the record,” Judge Eileen Bransten said.
Katan had attempted to block the sale of the 11-acre Williamsburg site to Two Trees, which paid $185 million for the property last October. However, Judge Bransten rejected all three cases and ordered Katan to pay CPC’s attorney’s fees, referring the fee case to Judge Ira Gammerman.
Judge Gammerman recommended that Katan pay the bulk of CPC’s fees, excluding “fees on fees” that resulted from litigating the fee issue, according to Law360.
As partners, CPC and Katan had planned to develop a 2,200-unit residential housing project that would have cost approximately $2.2 billion. However, the plan stalled in early 2012 and the joint venture decided to sell, but when an agreement could not be reached Katan took legal action. [Law360] —Christopher Cameron