Taylor Mead Accepts Ben Shaoul Buyout at 163 Ludlow

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The long battle between 88-year-old Taylor Mead and 163 Ludlow landlord Ben Shaoul is now officially water under the proverbial bridge. Rumors had been swirling that buyout negotiations were taking place these last couple weeks. But it’s all true. We received the following statement from Mead’s lawyer yesterday:

[Taylor] has vacated his Ludlow Street apartment and any conflict with his now former-landlord is behind him. Despite whatever battles took place in the past over conditions Mr. Mead lived with, it is worth noting for the record that he is satisfied and pleased with the deal he made involving the surrender of his apartment.

Surrender. Once again, the big money developer wins. Regardless, we wish him well in Denver, but hope he returns to the Lower East Side soon.

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In the meantime, let’s take a look at the math needed to legally destabilize this fifth-floor apartment. It was revealed that his rent was roughly $385. The maximum increase is the 20% vacancy plus a tiny percentage for each year over 8 years – maybe 5% max. We’re now at $469 (385 x 1.25). To raise the rent to the $2,500 threshold for destabilization, they would need to spend enough to raise the rent $2,031 legally. If there were improvements during vacancy, the landlord of a twenty-unit building can apply an additional adjustment of 1/40 the costs. So, there would need to be at least $80,000 in costs for that unit (40 x 2031).