NYC Going After Its Own Landlord, Claiming It Was Overcharged By $270K
Mayor Eric Adams' administration is suing a Queens warehouse owner, claiming it overcharged the city on a warehouse being used by the New York City Fire Department.
The city claimed in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that between 2014 and 2022, it was forced to pay $270K more than it owed in rent to the landlord of 34-24 Hunters Point Ave., The Real Deal reports.
In its complaint, the city said it discovered in a recent audit that the landlord breached the lease by charging it more in taxes than what the landlord was actually paying. The rent went to three entities, per TRD: Crest Housing, Better Housing and HPA Holding.
Specifically, the city claims the landlord has received tax breaks from the Industrial and Commercial Abatement Program, known as ICAP. Rather than pass those savings along to the city, the city argues the venture that owns the building got an “impermissible windfall" of $271,036 over the years. It asked the court to award it the overcharged rent and additional damages.
In response to the city's previous requests for reimbursement, it said in the suit that the landlord asked for the city to fork over $300K the venture said it was underpaying, per TRD.
The city uses the location for storage and office space. A nearly 5K SF office space on the 67K SF building's second floor was recently put on the leasing market by a pair of Cushman & Wakefield brokers.
