The owner of a Nolita property once slated for development by Brandon Miller’s Real Estate Equities Corporation is suing the developer and its principals for abandoning the ill-fated office project.
Ari Zagdanski’s Kinsmen Property Group claims Real Estate Equities, or REEC, owes more than $2.9 million in ground rent at 156-166 Bowery Street, according to a new lawsuit filed in state Supreme Court. Kinsmen is suing REEC, principal Mark Seigel and Brandon Miller’s widow Candice, who’s the administrator of his estate.
The landlord claims that REEC owes more than $5.3 million in back rent, demolition costs, tax reimbursements and outstanding liens on the property.
REEC took over the leasehold for the 15,000-square-foot assemblage in February 2021 in a deal valued at $50 million. It agreed to demolish the property within 18 months and complete construction on a six- or seven-story mixed-use office building by February 2026, the suit alleges.
But that never happened. Instead, REEC failed to pay the ground rent or made partial payments for several months in 2024, the suit alleges. REEC also bailed on more than $600,000 in real estate taxes, which Kinsmen paid to avoid interest and penalties, the suit alleges. The landlord slapped REEC with a default notice in August, the month after Miller died.
Kinsmen filed permits in October to tear down the vacant, graffiti-covered buildings on the property and spent $1.7 million on demolition and related costs, the suit alleges. The landlord later demanded to be reimbursed by Seigel and Candice Miller, as successor to Brandon, who it says “jointly and severally” guaranteed the construction costs.
Lawyers for Kinsmen and Miller did not immediately respond to comment. Seigel did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Brandon Miller died by suicide on July 3, leaving behind a tangled web of unfinished real estate projects and delinquent payments. REEC has gone dark since Brandon’s death and the company’s website is now hidden behind a password, raising questions about the future of REEC and its projects.
The landlord terminated REEC’s ground lease in January.
Meanwhile, two other properties once envisioned by Miller are turning a corner. Leasing has begun at an East Village office property developed by REEC and a vacant lot in Chelsea where Miller once envisioned another office building is up for sale.
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