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Naftali Group Settles with Tenant, Moving Ahead with Plans for UWS Condo Project
By: Hadassa Kalatizadeh
The Naftali Group has settled with a holdout tenant, allowing it to move forward with its plans for a luxury Upper West Side condo project.
As reported by Crain’s NY, Naftali Group’s plans for 211 W. 84th Street were on hold due to a tenant who refused to move out. The developer had sued Ahmet Ozsu in February 2022, saying the tenant had ended his month-to-month lease at the end of 2021 and was still refusing to leave. The developer sought $25 million in damages in the lawsuit, charging that demolition had to be delayed and they couldn’t begin construction of the new building because of the holdout tenant. Naftali and Ozsu have settled the dispute, and the lawsuit was abandoned at the end of 2022, as per court records. The dollar amount of the settlement has not been disclosed. A source for Crain’s, who is familiar with the deal, said Ozsu was paid enough to enable him to purchase a home.
The Upper West Side building, located between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue, has plans to construct a new 18-story tower with 227,000 square-feet of mixed-use space, including posh 45 residential units. The current building, where demolition is upcoming, is just four stories tall. Naftali Group, led by Chairman and CEO Miki Naftali, had purchased the site in June 2021 for about $70.3 million, property records show. The construction plans were filed last year. Demolition plans were filed for July, but couldn’t move forward because of the tenant who refused to leave his apartment.
Ozsu’s lawyer, Adam Leitman Bailey, had claimed then that the developer was harassing the tenant by cutting off electricity in some parts of the building and limiting his gas and hot water supplies. Naftali was trying to make Ozsu’s life “as miserable as possible,” Bailey had told Crain’s. Last August, a judge had allowed Ozsu to stay in the building pending a decision on his emergency rental assistance application. At the time, Naftali had offered Ozsu $30,000 to leave the building, the lawyer had told Crain’s. Bailey said Ozsu moved out at the end of December. “Only guts, courage and creative lawyering kept him in his apartment,” he said of Ozsu. “We are very glad that this had a happy ending.”
Naftali’ Group’s lawyer, Y. David Scharf, declined to comment on the settlement. Naftali is a global real estate development and investment company specializing in luxury condo projects in Manhattan. Established some 33 years ago, the company boasts present and past projects worth over $12 billion in total. Well known projects by the developer include: the Seymour at 261 W. 25th St. in Chelsea, where a 3 bedroom condo was asking $14,000 a month for rent; and the Bellemont at 1165 Madison Ave. in the Upper East Side, where a quadruplex penthouse sold for $68 million in March.
