Mark Hotel In NYC
A judge in NYC ruled in favor of a property developer for an unfinished, luxurious apartment complex in NYC, costing the ex-wife of a software tycoon, her $4.7M deposit. Roberta Campbell was highly disappointed when she went to inspect her $19M apartment in NYC days before closing and discovered it didn’t have air conditioning, heat, nor hot water. She brought in a home inspector, an architect and two attorneys to view the space. They found ‘dangerously large gaps between the pavers on the terrace,’ unfinished floors and non-functioning heat, hot water, air conditioning, and cooking gas, according to court documents.
Despite the dangerous conditions described by her team of inspectors, Judge Pauley still ruled in favor of property developers citing that the contract protected developer Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP because it said the company was not liable for ‘the interruption, discontinuance or quality of any such services’ in the apartment. “The absence of heat, hot water, and air conditioning on April 15 did not prevent Campbell’s occupancy of the suite because the relevant systems were completely and properly constructed, heat and air conditioning in fact were available, and gas service credibly could have been activated within Con Edison’s next eight hour shift,” the judge said in his order.
Judge Pauley attributed the financial crisis and housing crash in late 2008 to cause the developers to run short of funds– resulting in the condition Ms Campbell found her apartment. Furthermore, the contract stipulated that construction on the building wouldn’t be finished for one year after the closing.
Despite the ruling against her, Campbell managed to find a home in one of the most elite neighborhoods in NYC. Unfortunately for Mark Hotel, only two apartments have been sold in the past three years.
