Developer nears end of endless Long Beach condo dispute

The developer behind a mostly unbuilt condominium project in Long Beach is closing in on what could be a big payday.

Haberman & Haberman won a lawsuit against the Nassau County municipality and a Nassau County judge is now hearing arguments for how much the city should pay in damages, Newsday reported. The builder wants $149 million, or about 5 percent of the city’s annual budget.

Incredibly, the development dates all the way back to 1985, when Haberman and Xander Corp. teamed up to build four adjacent towers. Haberman built the first in 1988, but its permit request for the second tower was not granted until 2003, according to Newsday.

Then it got held up by litigation and a dispute between the two developers. Xander asked that the permit be revoked because the project was not providing the 1.5 parking spaces per unit required by town policy in 1989.

The case dragged on. Eventually, in 2015, city was found liable. The developer, which originally asked for $50 million, now wants nearly three times as much to make up for lost revenue.

The city can only argue against damages claimed and cannot argue the issue of liability. It is asking that a $23 million settlement reached last week between Haberman and Xander count toward whatever judgment is awarded. Haberman wants that kept separate.

In 2018 the judge in the case reinstated Haberman’s permits to build three more buildings. Two would be 10 stories and one would be seven. [Newsday] — Dennis Lynch