A developer in Kips Bay is learning how much damage a tenant holdout can do to a project.
Michael Heletz’s Excel Development Group is trapped in a legal feud with 343 East 33rd Street resident Annie Feng, Crain’s reported. Her presence is one of the only reasons a building approved before the pandemic has yet to go up, interminably stalled.
Excel needs to knock down four buildings to make way for a 23-story apartment project. The developer has cleared all but six of the tenants across the four buildings, with five of those six agreeing to deals to abandon their rent-stabilized homes, according to court documents. That leaves only Feng as a holdout.
Feng — the lone holdout — has alleged Excel is consequently harassing her and allowing her apartment to fall into disrepair. She claims the problems include cracked walls, broken lights and mice infestations.
Furthermore, Feng alleges Heletz prevented her from receiving federal emergency rental assistance program funds during the pandemic by withholding necessary documents from her application.
Heletz denies the accusations from Feng, who has lived at the building since 2012. A few years ago, a judge ordered Heletz to remediate the issues in Feng’s apartment.
Feng has conducted two rent strikes in recent years, court filings state. While Feng ultimately paid back rent for the first strike, the second strike resulted in Heletz suing her for $68,000.
Excel began assembling the parcels for its project in 2016. Between the four lots and additional air rights, the firm spent $29.1 million putting together the pieces necessary for its rental project.
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Plans call for a 160-unit rental building with 64 affordable apartments available to those making 60 percent of the Area Median Income.
Other Excel projects include the 103-unit Vernon Tower in Astoria and a 21-story, 71-unit project underway at a former church site in Hell’s Kitchen.