Shaya Boymelgreen Sued for Allegedly Missing Rent Payments
Shaya Boymelgreen, who a decade ago was infamously banned from selling condos in New York City for two years after a settlement with the New York Attorney General, is facing a fresh foe: Benchmark Realty Group.
Benchmark filed a lawsuit against Boymelgreen in Manhattan Supreme Court last week, accusing the erstwhile developer and businessperson of skipping out on more than $100,000 in rent payments, Crain’s reported. The lawsuit pertains to a retail business Boymelgreen has run with his wife, Alter Native CBD Boutique.
Benchmark, which purchased the property at 250 West 85th Street on the Upper West Side last year for $66 million, alleges Boymelgreen and his wife were guarantors for the store’s lease. They allegedly stopped paying rent five months ago.
The store location, which was fronted on Broadway, closed last month. Alter Native, which is not listed as a licensed dispensary by the state, “was created to redefine cannabis as more than a product,” per the company website.
Boymelgreen couldn’t be reached for comment by the publication. Alter Native did not respond to a request for comment.
This is the second retail spat Boymelgreen has found himself in this year. In April, he was sued for allegedly defaulting on $103,000 in rent for a store at 1668 Broadway near Times Square. That lawsuit was discontinued last week.
Boymelgreen rose to prominence as one of the city’s most high-profile developers, converting 15 Broad Street into 326 condominiums in 2007. Other notable projects included 20 Pine Street in Lower Manhattan and 85 Adams Street in Dumbo.
But the recession left a trail of failed condo projects in its wake. In 2016, he was banned from selling condominium units for two years following a settlement with the state Attorney General’s office, led at the time by Eric Schneiderman, over claims that Boymelgreen refused to finish work and fix construction defects at half a dozen buildings in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
He has since reemerged in South Florida, though not without problems.
In January, Miami-based lawyer David Efron and his entity, Norfe Krome, sued Boymelgreen for allegedly failing to pay $2 million to a loan guarantor following the sale of a 100-acre parcel in unincorporated southwest Miami-Dade County.
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Development
South Florida
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