Indian Restaurant to Battle Boston Properties at 250 West 55th Street

The owner of an Indian restaurant on West 54th Street called Purnima has filed a lawsuit against Boston Properties (and its contractor, Bovis Lend Lease) in connection with excavation and foundation work for the (currently suspended) LEED Gold-hopeful 250 West 55th Street project. We’ve followed 250 West 55th Street closely here at gbNYC and thought we’d note the lawsuit, which is seeking $600,000.00 in damages for, among other things, interior and exterior building cracking caused by the adjacent construction. The suit was filed a couple of weeks ago; Purnima is now closed and looking for new space somewhere else in Midtown. According to the Observer, DOB issued three stop work orders for the project; two in December and one in late January on the basis of adjacent “building shaking, vibrating, and [compromised] structual stability.” As an interesting footnote, Purnima was given a makeover by Gordon Ramsey on an episode of the Kitchen Nightmare program on FOX back in 2007.

As you’ll recall, Boston Properties put the 39-story, SOM-designed 250 West 55th Street on hold in February after law firm Proskauer Rose balked at moving forward with a 500,000-square-foot lease (though rumors have circulated that the deal could still happen). Dubbed the “Lever House redux” early last year by Boston Properties’ Robert Selsam, 250 West 55th Street, once completed, will offer nearly 1 million square feet of commercial office space, 25,000 square feet of retail, and be the first Boston Properties project to seek certification under the LEED for New Construction rating system.

• David v. Goliath (NYO)
• 250 West 55th Street (gbNYC)