UPDATED Aug. 26, 2020, 7:25 pm: Ziel Feldman and his firm, HFZ Capital, are being sued for not vacating the sales gallery for the XI condominium complex when the lease expired in June.
Greenway Mews Realty filed the lawsuit Monday against its tenant, 76 Eleventh Avenue Property Owner, a limited liability company that leased the lower-level space at 25-27 Little West 12th Street.
HFZ is behind the tenant entity and has been using the Meatpacking District space to showcase its XI development, a luxury condominium complex designed by Bjarke Ingels. The XI is under construction near the High Line.
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Naming HFZ and Feldman, its chairman, as defendants, the lawsuit alleges that the sales gallery remains in place with no rent being paid since the three-year lease ended.
HFZ did not return phone and email messages seeking comment. Greenway Mews did not return a request for comment left with a person who answered a company phone.
According to the lawsuit, the tenant defaulted on the lease by failing to pay the $152,235 monthly rent from April to June. The landlord then withdrew nearly $627,000 from the tenant’s $836,000 line of credit to satisfy the rent, the court papers said.
Greenway Mews is seeking to take back the space and collect $1.1 million to cover additional rent, the cost to restore the property, and legal fees.
The condo complex offers 236 units along with a Six Senses Hotel. Sales have been ongoing, with buyers include Graeme Hart, a New Zealand billionaire businessman, who signed a contract for a $34 million penthouse.
In a separate complaint filed Tuesday, HFZ also sued by the New York Times for not paying for about $121,600 in advertising. The Times is seeking to recoup the fees with interest. HFZ did not initially respond to a request for comment. William McDermott, a lawyer representing the Times, said he would not comment on a pending litigation involving his client.
After publication of this story, an HFZ representative emailed information indicating that the litigation with the New York Times had been resolved Wednesday afternoon, as McDermott filed a court document to discontinue the matter. The document did not spell out what the resolution was.
Contact Akiko Matsuda at akiko.matsuda@therealdeal.com