Robert Gladstone of Madison Equities is suing Town Residential’s Andrew Heiberger for $100 million, alleging the head of the brokerage defamed him and his company in a bid to “poison public sentiment” against them. A spokesperson for Town dismissed the libel claims as “insanity.”
The two have been sparring over the termination of Town’s exclusive contract to market the units at 212 Fifth Avenue, a condominium conversion project in which Madison Equities is one of the developers.
Madison sued Town in January, in a move designed to force the brokerage to step off the 48-unit project. The developer alleged that Town had missed sales targets. Town countered by saying that Madison illegally withheld commissions, held back units and concealed accepted and pending offers from the sales team. The project, the conversion of a former Ring portfolio building, is being developed in partnership with Thor Equities and Building and Land Technology. Sotheby’s International Realty is now handling sales.
A spokesperson for Town described the libel suit, which was filed Thursday, as more “bullying and intimidation.”
“The sponsor owes Town New Development millions of dollars for contracts signed and closed – and not even a $1 billion counter lawsuit will force Town to accept an unfair settlement,” the spokesperson said. “The judge will have to sort through the facts, not the fiction.”
A spokesperson for Gladstone said the latest claims were “based on facts and conduct totally independent of the termination lawsuit.”