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August 11, 2006
One David against two Goliaths
Bruce Ratner bought big-time Brooklyn developer Shaya Boymelgreen's leases to Henry Weinstein's property and then leased the property back to Boymelgreen. Weinstein smells a rat and will have his day in court against the two real estate giants who cut a deal behind his back. Even if the Goliaths lose, the issue will be moot when Ratner uses eminent domain.
Brooklyn Papers, ‘Little’ developer slaps ‘big boys’ for collusion
BP has the story but gets the location of the dispute totally wrong and is missing a few key facts that are covered by...
Atlantic Yards Report, Landlord says Ratner has "unclean hands" in lease dispute
For instance, why did Boymelgreen send a notice of intent to transfer the lease to an old address when he had been sending lease payments to the current one?
It’s unclear how much difference the dispute might make in the long run, since the state could still use eminent domain to take the properties whether or not Ratner controlled the lease. But the transfer of the lease has been used to portray publicly that Forest City Ratner “controls” Weinstein’s property, Lots 5, 6 & 13 on the map; the asterixes hint at the dispute. (And should Forest City Ratner control the lease, that would mean one less commercial lease to be canceled in an eminent domain proceeding.)
Curbed.com, 'Two Gorillas Decided to Mate'
Blah blah blah this could go on forever, but we really just love the story because of the photo, where it looks like Weinstein is about to belly-bop that entire building down. Take that, Shaya!
Posted by lumi at August 11, 2006 6:37 PM