A $16 million bid to buy and renovate a low-income Bronx apartment building was scuttled by the local councilwoman – with the backing of Council Speaker Christine Quinn – in order to steer the building to a different owner, the jilted buyer charges in a lawsuit.
Developer Gerald Migdol claims in his suit against the city and other defendants that he’ll lose a $1 million deposit on the aborted purchase of the 220-unit building in the Melrose section because Councilwoman Maria del Carmen Arroyo was able to get the city’s approval of the sale rescinded.
In his lawsuit, Migdol said Arroyo wants the building, Maria Lopez Plaza, to be sold to another developer, not identified in court papers.
But Migdol said it’s the Atlantic Development Group, a firm that has donated prodigiously to Bronx Democrats, including $4,125 to Arroyo’s 2005 campaign, records show
A letter from the city Department of Housing, Preservation and Development approving the sale was signed by Commissioner Shaun Donovan on Aug. 15, sending the transaction to the Council’s Land Use Committee, where Arroyo has a seat.
Unable to assemble the votes to block the sale, Arroyo turned to Quinn and pressed her to get Donovan to withdraw his approval, the suit says. Donovan sent a second letter in November, retracting his sanction.
