A building owner is caught in a financial hole involving a foreign government, the City of New York and the State Department while seeking more space for a school for wheelchair-bound kids.
Harlem building owner Mitchell Mekles says that after leasing 5,000 square feet for a consulate office on the fifth floor of 101-115 W. 116th St. to the Republic of Senegal, the tenant refused to pay either real estate taxes or water bills.
When he complained, Mekles says the Senegalese stopped paying rent altogether and he obtained a legal eviction.
But upon guidance from the Mayor’s Office for International Affairs, which says it does not get involved in civil matters, and the US Office of Foreign Missions, marshals would not go through with the Jan. 14 eviction.
According to attorney Lauren Popper, Mekles is owed over $135,000 in rent, property taxes, water, interest and legal fees.
After The Post got involved, a Senegalese Consulate official called to say the rent is paid. “We had some delays due to bureaucratic issues but it is now paid for,” he said.
The country is still disputing the real estate taxes under the “Geneva Convention” [sic] meaning the Vienna Convention governing consular relations. “We are sorting it out,” the consulate official said, refusing to give his name.
The Vienna Convention states in Article 23.1: The sending State and the head of the mission shall be exempt from all national, regional or municipal dues and taxes in respect of the premises of the mission, whether owned or leased, other than such as represent payment for specific services rendered. [Emphasis added.]
The consulate is also disputing its water bill, which is split by square footage with four other tenants, including a restaurant. When asked if that should have been discussed before the lease was signed, the official said he was not there at that time. “We are willing to sit down and sort out in a responsible way,” he said.
Mekles says he discovered that Senegalese officials spread out into 8,500 square feet of the 10,000-square-foot floor — more than the 5,000 square feet they rented — and would not let him prepare the area for iHope, a school for severely disabled children that needs to expand in the building.
“They threatened to throw me out if I start construction,” Mekles exclaimed of the Senegalese.
iHope is eager to get the space remodeled for a September expansion so it can serve more kids. “Until they relinquish the space and Mitchell makes the modifications, we can’t get in,” said Patrick Donohue, founder of iHope.
Donohue’s daughter, Sarah Jane, has shaken baby syndrome and cannot walk or speak by herself as a result of actions by a former nanny. Now 10, she is one of 31 students and 65 teachers, therapists and aides occupying the current 10,000 feet. iHope has 20 students on a waiting list for the hoped-for 5,000-square-foot expansion.
“They are not even carrying insurance on the space. They are hiding behind this diplomatic immunity. I’m a prisoner of my own property. I need relief and I need help,” Mekles said.
He will have another chance at relief on March 1, when the case is back on the court calendar.
Designers working on the upcoming renovations of what will be the former Four Seasons restaurant space at 375 Park Ave. will now include William T. Georgis, building owner Aby Rosen of RFR Holdings said.
Georgis, one of Rosen’s favored designers, is the architect for Casa Lever at RFR’s 370 Park Ave. as well as the interiors of RFR’s upcoming 100 E. 53 St.
He will be designing the “soft goods” items for the Pool Room and the Grill Room.
These include some of the furniture, table tops and china for the rebirth of the spaces. “We love him; he is great with colors and is the master of the soft goods,” Rosen said.
Additionally, the Four Seasons and Brasserie kitchens will both be fully gutted and then will receive entirely new equipment and finishes per the specifications of the new chefs, Mario Carbone and Rich Torrisi.
The kitchens have been designed as “showcases for select patrons to be able to tour and see the food prep.”
Opal Holdings is developing a 20,000-square-foot residential building at 207 W. 75th St., across from the Beacon Theatre on the short block between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue.
Opal purchased the site in January 2015 for $13.25 million with an $8.5 million mortgage. Now the company headed by Harvey Feldheim along with Shaya and Shulamit Prager have obtained a $14.8 million non-recourse construction loan.
“Development money may be slowing down in general, but there is financing available for strong sponsorships in prime locations,” said Jake Gluck of Eastern Union Funding.
The Jeffrey Cole Architects’ modern take on pre-war living will have 5,000 square feet of retail, plus several full-floor luxury condominium units and will be topped by a five-bedroom, duplex penthouse with rooftop garden perfect for an après Beacon concert pied-à-terre.
