Hell’s Kitchen condo board sues Gotham, SLCE

The condo board of an 18-unit luxury property in Hell’s Kitchen wants to send its developer and designer to detention.

The board at Inkwell filed its complaint against the Gotham Organization and SLCE Architects on Wednesday, Crain’s reported. It is seeking at least $2.5 million in compensation, alleging the companies failed to “construct the condominium in accordance with the promises and representations made in its offering plan.”

Neither of the defendants have entered a response nor commented publicly on the lawsuit, which was filed in Manhattan Supreme Court.

Among the alleged issues at 520 West 45th Street are faulty cooling and heating systems, as well as water leaks trickling in from the sidewalk and damaging the basement.

The Beaux-Arts condo building was converted from a school, with two- and three-bedroom spreads and a red brick facade befitting its history as Public School 51.

Any problems at the building might be evident from recent sales activity. Last year, a third of the units at the five-story property were traded. There are a pair of two-bedroom units on the market today, each asking for $2.2 million.

The city condemned the site in the 1970s, hoping for developments that were never built — it became a parking lot instead. In 2015, Gotham acquired the site from the city for a measly $4 million. In 2017, it opened the condo building with a $39 million sellout, according to the offering plan.

The condo is part of the sprawling Gotham West complex, which is mostly concentrated in rental homes. There are more than 1,200 units in the enclave, split between market-rate and affordable apartments.

AvroKO, the interior designer of the property, was spared from the lawsuit.

— Holden Walter-Warner

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