The Upper East Side townhouse at 7 East 81st Street, owned by Sotheby’s chief executive officer Charles Stewart and his wife Caterina, was described by Architectural Digest as “elegantly eclectic” in November 2023.
These days, their next-door neighbors might call it something else.
A lawsuit filed by a trust apparently representing Jill Davis, a long-time comedy writer and author, and Edward Conrad, a former Bain Capital managing partner, who live at 5 East 81st Street, claims the pair has been unlawfully renovating their home for over four years.
A complaint filed on Wednesday outlines grievances with the construction and accuses the Stewarts of doing work “with an utter disregard for the safety of [Davis and Conrad’s] home, and in a manner repugnant to all reasonable standards of professional conduct and communal civility.”
Charles declined a request for comment through a spokesperson for Sotheby’s.
The Stewarts tore off the rear facade of their home and undertook excavation and ground-up development that led to a construction beam shattering the roof of a glass atrium at Davis and Conrad’s home, according to the complaint.
Davis and Conrad’s home allegedly suffered water damage from alterations made to the shared wall between the townhouses and an improperly installed sidewalk shed in the front of the properties.
The neighbors have allegedly tried to negotiate an access agreement for years, which is generally required for construction being done that will encroach on neighboring properties. But Davis and Conrad claim they entered into a limited agreement with a fictional entity, CAHS Construction, which the complaint says was created by the Stewarts to protect themselves legally.
The conditions of that agreement were not followed, according to the complaint, and subsequent attempts to negotiate additional terms were used as “a front to buy them time” without needing to pay license or professional fees.
The Stewarts currently have a partial stop-work order from the Department of Buildings and 10 open violations on their property, according to public records. The partial stop-work order states that supported pipe scaffolding was installed “contrary to approved plans” with “multiple make-shift components” that have created “hazardous and unsafe” conditions for the property at 5 East 81st Street.
Conard and Davis are seeking monetary damages and an injunction on the work.
Stewart bought the home, which had previously served as a rental building, in November 2019 for $9.9 million, one month after taking over as Sotheby’s CEO.
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