« Martha Does The Flea Copter Rage in Brooklyn Heights »

October 26, 2009

Mendel Brach Barred from Condo Business

spencer-street-102609.jpgGood riddance! The Brooklyn developer Mendel Brach (of Finger Building fame) was barred by New York State from selling condos after he was found to have illegally taken advantage a loophole which allowed him to build an outsized building, reports The New York Times. As you may recall, Brach claimed back in 2002 that he was building faculty housing for a local yeshiva at a new development at 191, 195, 197 and 201 Spencer Street in Bed Stuy and received a zoning variance that allowed him to build nine stories instead of five. The only problem was that he turned around and sold all 72 units in the building as condos. While the state's attorney general office, unaware of the variance, initially approved the condo sales, the city ultimately refused to grant a permanent C of O, plunging the buyers into a kind of housing purgatory in which they were unable to sell, rent or refinance their apartments. In addition to the ban (which Brach can apply to have lifted after five years), the developer was ordered to pay a financial settlement to the occupants of $10.9 million.
State Accord Bans Sales of Homes by Developer [NY Times]
Subpoena for Fraudulent Spencer St Developer [Brownstoner]
A Big F-in Mess on Spencer Street [Brownstoner]
Lock Him Up and Throw Away the Key [Brownstoner]
The Bottom Line on Developer Abuses [Brownstoner]
Photo from Property Shark




Posted by Brownstoner at 10:01 AM | Comments (17)
Categories: Bedford Stuyvesant, Development

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.brownstoner.com/mte/mt-tb.cgi/12016

Comments

Get outta Brooklyn Mendi...and don't let one of your prefab doors hit your ass on the way out!

Good news for Bklyn.

Posted by: Action Jackson at October 26, 2009 10:16 AM

Couldn't of happened to a nicer guy. Total schuper schadenfreude for me.

If only he'd not totally pissed of all us northside residents all those years back and been more reasomnable about things, at least some compromise, he'd be in much better shape now.

Posted by: dittoburg at October 26, 2009 10:19 AM

Basically $150k each to the owners? Not bad, eh?

Posted by: tybur6 at October 26, 2009 10:23 AM

Ah it'll take at least five years before he'd wanna get back into the condo business anyway. Yeah, $150K aint too shabby for pain and suffering. Spec is to be bought at a meaningful discount to C of O'd comps. The risk above must be credited in.

"faculty housing for a local yeshiva" well into Bed Stuy?! Should have seen that red flag a mile a way. On second thought, it is somewhat close to the Hasidic interface.

***Bill Thompson for Mayor***

Posted by: Brownstones Half Off at October 26, 2009 10:39 AM

$10.9 million almost covers their legal bills...

Posted by: IMBY at October 26, 2009 10:46 AM

Shocker! The City has a loophole in just about every legislation, bill, law, etc that is passed. I don't know what the City is mad about. The City got more money from mortgage recording tax and misc fees from Brach selling the 72 condo units.

If all the City agencies were transparent to the other, the AGs office would have known what the City Planning office did. May be now they will require developers to include things like variances in the offering plan.

Posted by: Miss Breukelen at October 26, 2009 10:50 AM

Didn't somebody try that same yeshiva tactic on a condo to bypass zoning laws in the South Slope?

Posted by: DitmasSnark at October 26, 2009 11:07 AM

You should read the comments on this site. It will make your head spin.

http://www.vosizneias.com/40306/2009/10/24/new-york-state-bans-brooklyn-developer-from-selling-homes

Posted by: Adam Incognito at October 26, 2009 11:08 AM

"You should read the comments on this site. It will make your head spin."

Ah, to only to understand yiddish...heated debate, no less.

Posted by: Action Jackson at October 26, 2009 11:21 AM

"Didn't somebody try that same yeshiva tactic on a condo to bypass zoning laws in the South Slope?"

Yep, the LoCicero family, using Bricolage Designs (same as Spencer St.) and I'll just betcha the same yeshiva.

And bask in its mid-block 9 story fuggliness on a 2-3 story block. But I'm told DOI is after the LoCicero boys for this site and another on 15th St. Another crew who should be lead out in cuffs.

Posted by: Action Jackson at October 26, 2009 11:24 AM

So this is good news for the Spencer street owners, right? I hope so.

Posted by: Heather at October 26, 2009 12:16 PM

Such a sad story -- I have dealt with several owners here who sank their life savings into these unsafe units and were looking for any way out. Of course, with no C of O, they couldn't sell or rent them out.

And while I certainly am no expert in NYC building codes, some of the more egregious violations (fire stairwells opening directly into the units, terrifyingly unprotected spiral staircases on the corner roof decks -- one slip and you're soaring over Willoughby Ave.) were immediately visible even to me.

How dod The Developers Group, which sold these units, escape this lawsuit? I should think they should be held responsible as well.

Another reason to work with a buyer's broker, BTW (not to re-ignite that argument).

Posted by: babs at October 26, 2009 12:55 PM

Lets clarify a few things.

1)he was ordered to pay 10.9 million. But he hasn't. And he won't. He claims to have no money, his corp is bankrupt and he says that his family is on welfare & food stamps

2)the 10.9 million is in no way to compensate us for pain & suffering. Nor is it to cover our legal bills. It is pay for changes & repairs to meet all of the items on the code violation list that the DOB has created. Some of the items are valid, some are not. The DOB is not so innocent here.

3)this is not yet helpful for us Spencer Street residents. Unfortunately for us. We are in a messy situation with no real solution to date. And both the DOB & Brach are equally to blame. And many politicians aren't willing to anger the DOB or the community Brach is a part of. It's an election year after all.

For those of you who would like the ridiculously long & complicated factual story visit:

www.spencerstreetsaga.com

Posted by: bootery at October 26, 2009 1:28 PM

adam..that link was so worth it. my faves:

1. "Its posts like yours that make me think the whole idea of posting should not be allowed on this website."

2. "Good thing Brach davens with a nice big tallis zekel. His tefilos are botul..."

Posted by: joe_the_bummer at October 26, 2009 3:44 PM

Another crooked Hasidic Jew. Where will we put them all?

Posted by: Topham Beauclerk at October 26, 2009 5:29 PM

Slap on the wrist.

Five years not developing apartments in a bear market and a fine that the plaintiffs still have to collect (and may never collect)? This is a guy who willfully abused the zoning laws, skirted building regulations and took people's money for a product he knew was defective and illegal, and that's the best the AG's office can do?

Yes, DOB, the architect, the marketers and others were complicit in this travesty, but the fish rots from the head down, and this stinks. I feel sorry for the owners, who are clearly not out of the woods.

Maybe some schadenfreude for some, but no justice here.

Posted by: WBer at October 26, 2009 10:05 PM

Wow~ I feel so sorry for the residents of the building; what an *ss the developer was, and the blithe disregard he had for any sense of right is just appalling.

Posted by: Minmin at October 28, 2009 11:51 AM

Post a comment

Please be patient while your comment is published. It may take a moment.

Latest Restaurant Additions