The Daily Dirt: Fortis’ legal drama

Fortis Property Group is stuck in two seemingly never-ending development sagas. 

The two projects are very different and have their own complicated histories. But in both cases, Fortis and another party blame each other for the development’s failure to move forward.

The developer is still fighting for its troubled condo tower at 161 Maiden Lane, which is sitting vacant and unfinished.

Fortis and its lender on the project, Valley Bank, have been locked in a legal battle since 2020. The bank is seeking to foreclose on a $120 million loan to build the Seaport Residences, accusing the developer of missing critical deadlines. Fortis, in turn, is suing the lender, alleging it wrongfully stopped funding the project and prevented the tower’s timely completion.

Last week, the parties indicated that they are ready to try mediation for a second time after talks fell apart last year. But, based on letters sent to a state judge, they still disagree on some key points.

One is the proposed creation of a fund to pay contractors on the project. Fortis agrees that is a good idea, but thinks Valley should put in most of the money. The bank, as you can imagine, disagrees. It opposes creating such a fund before foreclosure proceedings are concluded.

Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, Fortis is dealing with a lawsuit over the former Long Island College Hospital site. The State University of New York is suing, alleging the developer has failed to abide by the conditions needed for the third and final closing in the $240 million, three-phase purchase of the Cobble Hill site.

Fortis has countered that SUNY failed to meet obligations required to close.

What we’re thinking about: What locations will WeWork abandon? In office buildings where the company remains, what will the renegotiated leases look like? Send a note to kathryn@therealdeal.com.

A thing we’ve learned: The 32-story building at 211 Madison Avenue was featured prominently  in the 1993 thriller “Sliver.” The name, which the movie shared with the novel it is based on, comes from a derided moniker for tall, slender buildings. The Madison Avenue tower is built on a 33-foot-wide site, and narrowly escaped a 1983 zoning change known as the “sliver law” that limited the heights of buildings on sites less than 45 feet wide.

Elsewhere in New York…

— The city is moving forward with a $432 million no-bid contract awarded to DocGo to house migrants across the state, Gothamist reports. That is despite city Comptroller Brad Lander’s rejecting the contract and raising concerns that DocGo is a “medical services company, not a logistics company, social services provider or legal service provider.” Reports of staff mistreating or misleading asylum seekers, failing to properly respond to reported assaults, and providing inadequate services exacerbate the concerns, Lander wrote to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development. The mayor chalked up Lander’s comments to a desire to “get in the conversation.” He is expected to override the comptroller’s decision.

— The city Department of Transportation has launched “Smart Curb,” a pilot program to study the lack of available parking on the Upper West Side, Bloomberg reports. The goal of the pilot is to reimagine how curbside space is used, potentially by creating designated spaces for commercial vehicles, introducing parking fees and making other changes.

— City schools are figuring out the logistics of educating nearly 20,000 children of asylum seekers, CBS New York reports. One challenge is finding teachers who can communicate with the students, who speak at least 15 languages among them. It is also not clear where each student will ultimately attend school. “We will not know probably until the end of September, the beginning of October where all of the asylum seeking migrant children are going to be. … They’re in shelters right now, so obviously the schools around them won’t be able to take them all,” United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew said.

Residential: The priciest residential closing Wednesday was $8 million for a condo at 200 Amsterdam Avenue in Lincoln Square.

Commercial: The most expensive commercial closing of the day was $17 million for two lots on Amsterdam Avenue near West 131st Street in Manhattan. 

New to the Market: The priciest residence to hit the market Wednesday was a condo at 15 Central Park West asking $31.8 million. Compass has the listing. — Jay Young