The 432 Park Avenue condo board’s battle with developers heats up

The legal battle between the condo board at 432 Park Avenue and developers CIM Group and Macklowe Properties is ramping up. 

The 1,400-foot tower, once eyed as the peak of new luxury condo development in New York CIty, has been beset by the back-and-forth lawsuit between the wealthy unit owners and the developers. 

The battle began in 2021, when the board alleged the tower’s faulty design caused “horrible and obtrusive noise and vibrations.” CIM and Macklowe countered that the tower was safe and the unit owner’s claims were “vastly exaggerated.” 

The dispute has been among the more heated in New York City luxury real estate. 

With more than 4 million pages of documents produced, 28 depositions and no resolution in sight, things could get even uglier. 

The board recently sought to delay proceedings to bring in new counsel, replacing Herrick Feinstein with Darren and Terrence Oved of Oved & Oved — a team known for swooping in to represent real estate families, including Alex Sapir and Century 21 owners the Gindis, in contentious litigation.

Back and forth on Billionaires’ Row

CIM Group’s attorney in a recent court filing contested any delay, claiming it would stall settlement talks. Typically, that’s the extent of legal arguments over procedural delays.

But in an unusual move, CIM launched into an attack against the board and certain members in its filing. The developer alleged some board members spread lies to other unit owners, leading to a “belligerent, unreasonable approach” which ultimately “charted a course for completely avoidable and wasteful litigation.” 

“Perhaps that was their prerogative, but now they are seeking the court’s assistance to effectuate further additional, irrational actions,” said CIM’s attorney Ronald Greenberg of Kramer Levin in a filing.

A judge ultimately paused the deposition schedule to allow the board’s new counsel to have more time. 

“Our client hired us to hold defendants accountable for their malfeasance. And we will,” said Terrence and Darren Oved in a statement. “We look forward to restoring the status of 432 Park Avenue to its rightful place as one of the world’s premier residential addresses and the jewel of Billionaires’ Row.”

The building, which had a projected sellout value of $3.1 billion and has attracted buyers such as Douglas Elliman boss Howard Lorber and Jacob “the Jeweler” Arabo, was supposed to be a redemption story for Macklowe. That has been delivered in part, with the building sold out except for one unit held by the condo board, according to Marketproof.

But it has been at the center of numerous lawsuits, including a separate battle between Macklowe and CIM. 

In one lawsuit, Macklowe has accused Los Angeles-based CIM of “decid[ing] to swindle him” out of $110 million in distributions he claims he’s owed. CIM alleges 87-year-old Macklowe is living a “lavish lifestyle” but refuses to pay the outstanding obligations on their loans.

CIM hired Greg Corbin’s Northgate Real Estate to conduct a foreclosure auction on more than $46 million in loans it provided to Macklowe to buy three units in the building. Macklowe halted the foreclosure by putting his interests in the units into bankruptcy.

CIM declined to comment. Macklowe could not be reached for comment.