New York: Law Firm Tenant wins $2M rent credit, fees for bad AC during Covid

Many commercial tenants went to court for a pandemic rent break. A Murray Hill law firm can now count itself among the few to have won one.

New York’s Appellate Division ruled that affiliates of landlord ABS Partners Real Estate must credit Wolf Haldenstein, a firm specializing in stocks and antitrust law, over $2 million in rent and legal fees after the office owner failed to complete renovations on the firm’s two floors of leased space.

The HVAC system roared like a “jet engine,” the landlord’s architect said, produced 90-degree temperatures in the summer and failed to circulate fresh air as Covid raged in New York.

The law firm, which has occupied 270 Madison Ave for nearly 100 years, agreed to move temporarily from the ninth and 10th floors to the 11th and 13th when it signed a 12-year lease in 2018.

Read more at  https://therealdeal.com/2022/12/13/tenant-wins-2m-rent-credit-fees-for-bad-ac-during-covid/?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=after_article&utm_campaign=related_article