Thursday, September 21, 2017

Historic $20M Greenwich Village townhouse is a ‘death trap,’ per lawsuit

You get what you pay for

The buyer of a $20 million Greenwich Village mansion alleges that historic six-story abode—seemingly a ultra-luxury dream house—is in fact a ultra-luxury "death trap," according to a report from the New York Post.

Back in 2016, the paper explains, a buyer, who's shielded by an LLC, picked up 116 Waverly Place (once the haunt of literary luminaries like Edgar Allan Poe and Herman Melville) for $20 million.

This was something of a discount: the place, owned and developed by Spruce Capital Partners, had previously been listed (and then delisted) for a startling $34 million, on account of what the then-brokerbabble claimed was its "scale, significance and exacting detail and execution like no other building utilizing highest quality finishes and material." Among its selling points: fireplaces on every floor, a pool, and what the listing once billed as "an enormous skylight."

But shortly after closing on the deal, the buyer "discovered numerous and significant defects and deficiencies including, but not limited to, life threatening issues which required substantial and costly emergency repairs," according to suit filed yesterday.

Among the issues: a gas leak (caused by holes around one of the fireplaces), "fungal growth" (because of "shoddy installation" of the pool), and mold spores (on account of "leaky skylights").

In the suit, the new owner alleges that the developers were aware of the problems, the Post explains, but "concealed them because they were 'desperate' to sell the townhouse." Spruce Capital, for their part, pointed out owner had the property inspected before closing and was "not aware" of the suit's complaints.

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