https://www.crainsnewyork.com/real-estate/lbg-sues-naftali-group-alleged-wage-nonpayment
A top general contractor has locked horns with one of the city’s best-known high-end developers.
Leeding Builders Group, an affiliate of construction juggernaut AECOM Tishman, has sued condo builder Naftali Group for allegedly refusing to pay dozens of subcontractors between 2019 and 2022 for their efforts at The Benson, at 1045 Madison Ave. on the Upper East Side. The property is regarded as a real estate success story of the pandemic.
Specifically Leeding, which also goes by LBG, claims Naftali chairman Miki Naftali owes the firm $3 million plus interest and attorney fees for work done on the 15-unit building, which notched $238 million in sales by the time marketing wrapped up in 2022, according to the suit, which was filed Tuesday in Manhattan state Supreme Court.
“Owner seeks to squeeze for themselves [sic] even more profit out of the project—unfortunately, out of the pockets of LBG and [subcontractors such as electricians, plumbers and carpenters] who successfully performed the work and delivered a property of windfall value,” the suit says.
Naftali Group has not yet filed a legal response to the complaint, and a firm spokeswoman had no comment by press time, so it’s not known whether the unpaid bills, if true, stem from some kind of dispute over the work.