The gorgeous developer wants the 86 Philip Chou.
Extel, a billionaire row-building company, has overridden a lease at a building that a high-end, Upper East Side Chinese restaurant is planning to demolish, seeking a penalty of nearly $1 million, new court documents say.
After purchasing the property, Extel is taking a trendy Chinese restaurant to court, with the three next door planning to set up a stylish 37-storey apartment tower for $103 million this month.
The new landlord quickly announced the heat of a well-known eatery after filing a lawsuit Wednesday demanding a $977,000 penalty against Philip Chow.
The lawsuit, filed against Abraham merchant of Merchant Hospitality, the owner of Philip Chou, claims that Butterfly owes six months of unpaid rent (approximately $390,000), and could remain on the East 60th Avenue location for hundreds of thousands more each month.
A restaurant worker, the location of the shocking shooting and armed robbery in 2021, told the Post Thursday that the restaurant has yet to announce an official deadline, despite the lease expired.
It is unknown what restaurants will ultimately pay. Livin Radler's David M. Grill declined to return a call seeking comment, while company communications director Laurie Bloom declined to comment.
In court documents filed before the Manhattan Supreme Court and first reported by Crane, Extel argues that restaurants are entitled to four times their 120-day monthly rent of $61,000, as a punishment for not voiding their leases on time.
However, Extel also filed that the “exact amount” would be decided in court, and that merchants could ultimately claim an additional $977,680 depending on the seat availability.
The merchant told the post that the information in the lawsuit was “inaccurate” and would soon file a response. His attorney did not respond to a request for comment.
This is not the first attempt to collect rent from high-end locations.
In November, former owner of the building, Sol Goldman sued Philip Chow for $156,192 in arrears on rent, court documents show. The submission from the merchant's lawyer claimed that in reality the rent was paid.
In 2016, workers sued Philip Chou about wages and alleged workplace violations.
In 2009, Philip Chou was sued by the owner of the restaurant where he worked. Chou allegedly the name of his new restaurant caused confusion and reached a level of trademark infringement.
After six years of lawsuit, the federal court of appeals He ordered Mr. Cho to pay $1.1 million in legal fees. For Philip Chow.
