‘Leaning’ Seaport Tower Developer, Lender Negotiating Over Condo’s Future

The key players in the saga of the South Street Seaport's most infamous tower are heading to mediation, with the developer and lender agreeing to try to find a resolution to their legal disputes.

Israeli Bank Leumi's U.S. affiliate and developer Fortis Property Group have been warring in the courts for months after Bank Leumi last year attempted to foreclose on a $120M loan it provided for the building at 161 Maiden Lane, The Real Deal reports. Fortis sued its lenders in a separate lawsuit last year, alleging they weren't meeting their loan payment requirements. The bank claimed at the time that not a single condominium at the 99-unit property had closed — and it wanted the property sold.

“At the suggestion of the judge, Fortis is currently working with Bank Leumi to settle the dispute through mediation. The parties have initiated mediation and we are hopeful that a mutually satisfactory resolution will be reached,” Fortis told TRD in a statement. “Fortis has had a longstanding relationship with Bank Leumi that was complicated, in part, by the deficient performance of a former general contractor on the project.”

In 2019, contractor Pizzarotti sued Fortis, claiming the tower was leaning three inches north. Pizzarotti had handled construction for the previous four years, and it claimed poorly executed foundation work done before it joined the project caused the problem. The suit led to the moniker "The Leaning Tower of the Seaport" for the project, though Fortis said at the time the claims in the lawsuit were "patently false." 

A year before, a contractor there, SSC High Rise Construction, pleaded guilty to manslaughter after a worker fell to his death at the site. Construction had stopped last year, but in June, a court signed off on the hiring of a construction company to secure the site and make an assessment of its status.