Developer Sues City for $50M Over Pathmark Pharmacy Site on Cherry Street
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The now-closed Pathmark Pharmacy, October 2012
We’re drowning in riverside drama.
While Extell Development Company clanks away at its monstrous two-tower development at 250 South Street, the adjacent property on the eastern flank is going through its own growing pains. The current lessee of the city-owned parcels comprising 235-247 Cherry Street – formerly the Pathmark Pharmacy – is now suing the Housing Development Corporation for $50 million.
Developer and parking mogul F. Roy Schoenberg claims the city backed out of a deal to sell him the land two years ago for $4 million in order to construct a new building. That area has definitely appreciated in value since then. The Daily News has the scoop:
The Cherry St. development site, which currently houses a low-rise retail building, is controlled by the city through the Settlement Housing Fund, a private nonprofit housing organization. The fund inked a contract with Schoenberg’s company to sell the site in June 2012, according to legal documents. The plaintiff had plans to raze the site and build a new tower in partnership with development company Artimus Construction.
The deal was contingent on the partners’ ability to get necessary approvals from the tower from the city’s planning department.
But when delays at the planning department forced the developers to push back the timeline for the project, the city allegedly backed out of the deal and is now refusing to cooperate with attempts to revive it.
According to the report, the Cherry Street development site could potentially support seventy apartments for low-income families.
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