I say good for the tenants. I used to work in the UBS building at 480 Washington and when we watched the AquaBlu complex going up, immediately thought of how annoyed the existing condo owners must have gotten. Of course we just assumed that they knew that the 32-story building was eventually going to be build... Guess not.

Anyone know how the North building's lawsuit is going?

LeFrak loses $4.8M appeal in NJ condo lawsuit

By Kaja Whitehouse

March 12, 2014 | 3:32pm

Real estate developer Jamie LeFrak better get used to being called a blowhard ? because it?s likely to happen again.

Owners of 48 units in two of LeFrak?s Jersey City condo high-rises are gearing up for trial against the 40-year-old heir and his eponymously named property empire, The Post has learned.

The apartment owners are claiming LeFrak lured them in with promises of ?breathtaking? views of New York Harbor only to build a high-rise smack dab in front of them.

LeFrak, whose family is worth an estimated $6.1 billion, stands to lose millions if a still-fresh case by 16 other condo owners is any indication.

On Monday, a New Jersey appeals court upheld a jury award of $4.8 million to 16 condo owners from the same waterfront complex.

The owners said they paid a pretty penny for water-facing windows in LeFrak?s South Shore residential high-rise only to end up with views of a 31-story high-rise that was also built by LeFrak.

Adding further insult, the new building, the Aquablu, touted panoramic vistas to buyers.

LeFrak sought to have the $4.8 million judgment tossed on appeal because lawyer Keith Biebelberg described him at the 2011 trial as a rich ?blowhard.?

A three-judge appeals court panel ruled on Monday that the description was ?fair? given the evidence.

The four dozen new claims will be from owners of LeFrak?s South Shore and North Shore apartment complexes, said Richard Feldman of Rosenberg Feldman Smith, who is working with Biebelberg.

A spokeswoman for the real estate company declined to comment.


http://nypost.com/2014/03/12/lefrak-l ... peal-in-nj-condo-lawsuit/

Lefreak is a dishonest criminal, now guilty of deception. A investigation in the relationship with cityhall staffer's would also uncover suspect development agreements and abatement favors

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business ... ts_t912zOZ30ZBegoWEwgJATO

Jamie LeFrak, heir to iconic New York real-estate company The LeFrak Organization, has been ordered to fork over $4.8 million to 16 jilted residents of one of his luxury apartment buildings in Jersey City.
The award closes the loop on a ruling from June that found LeFrak falsely lured buyers to his tony Shore Club condominium with promises of panoramic views of Manhattan that were soon obstructed by another LeFrak building, the 32-story AquaBlu.
New Jersey state court Judge Edward O?Connor?s order included $3.8 million in damages, plus interest, for the false advertising.
Adding insult to injury, the judge also ordered the 38-year-old developer and his firm to cough up close to $1 million in legal fees -- bringing the final tally to close to $5 million.
LeFrak has 45 days to appeal.
A call to a LeFrak Organization spokeswoman of wasn?t returned.


Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business ... egoWEwgJATO#ixzz1W4yeIOwh

Developer ordered to pay $4 million over views from Jersey City condos

Thursday, June 30, 2011, 3:03 AM
By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal

A developer who reneged on a promise to provide 16 Jersey City residents ?breathtaking? views of the Hudson River and the Manhattan skyline must pay the residents nearly $4 million based on this week?s verdict of a Hudson County jury.

Jamie LeFrak, heir to the LeFrak Organization, which developed the Newport community on the Jersey City waterfront, must cough up the cash for the 16 residents of the waterfront?s Shore Club condominium.

The residents sued after LeFrak built a 32-story building, AquaBlu, that stands next to Shore Club and blocks its residents? view of New York City.

Originally planned as a 12-story building, AquaBlu more than doubled in size after the plaintiffs purchased their Shore Club condos.

Plaintiff Todd Etelson, who owns a Manhattan acting school for kids and teens, moved into a unit on the Shore Club?s 23rd floor in June 2007.

After spending nearly $500,000 in part because of the promised ?unobstructed panoramic views of New York City,? AquaBlu came along and blocked his view, Etelson said.

?It was the biggest investment of my life,? he said. ?I dealt in good faith, and I assumed I was being dealt with in good faith.?

The artistic renderings of Shore Club that showed unobstructed views of Manhattan were ?shown for illustrative and artistic purposes only,? LeFrak?s attorney said in court filings, according to the New York Post.

LeFrak?s attorney had attempted to argue that the condo?s advertising materials, which touted the ?unobstructed? views of Manhattan, were for illustrative purposes only.

Attorney Richard Feldman, who represented the 16 Shore Club residents, said he believes the jury?s verdict is ?fair and equitable.?

He said the jury technically only awarded the plaintiffs $1.25 million, but that the award is tripled as per the Consumer Fraud Act.

LeFrak did not return a phone call requesting comment.

Quote:

Because the AquaBlu was not built yet. In the story it says the rendering showed the AquaBlu at 12 stories.

The second building, known as AquaBlu, was depicted on the promotional materials as a 12 story building, but it grew to be a whopping 32-stories tall.

hahahaha what how the hell could you sue for this crap? Didn't they realize when they got to the freaking condo and bought it that there wasn't a breathtaking or panoramic view?

Wow, shocking

LeFrak Tenants Win

A New Jersey jury awarded a group of 16 angry tenants of a LeFrak luxury condo building in Jersey City close to $4 million after determining that the 37-year-old real estate developer and his firm falsely promised them "breathtaking" and "panoramic" views of Manhattan.

How many more people will line up to sue now?