New Harlem Storage Center Damaged Next-Door Building, Lawsuit Says

HARLEM, NY — A developer botched the construction of a new self-storage facility in Harlem, damaging the apartment building next door, according to a lawsuit by the adjacent landlord.

The suit was filed Friday in Manhattan Supreme Court by the owner of 133 West 145th St., a six-story apartment building between Lenox Avenue and Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard.

It centers on the CubeSmart Self Storage building constructed last year on a vacant lot that had previously housed a gas station.

Robert Khomari, the landlord who owns the 133 building, contends that developers Cayre Equities and their contractors carried out negligent work that left the property values of their building "significantly diminished," the lawsuit says.

A previous legal battle already played out before construction even began: Cayre sued Khomari in 2019 for refusing to grant access to his building so that developers could install required protections. A judge ruled in the developers' favor months later, granting them a license that gave them access to the next-door property.

But Khomari now says the developers failed to install many of the necessary protections, never provided notice about upcoming excavation work, and made "unauthorized penetrations" into the 133 building, the lawsuit says.

The ensuing work resulted in "visible cracking" along the building's east wall, cracking to the building's brick facade and chimney, cracks in the building's interior, and other damage to a paved walkway that surrounds the building, according to the lawsuit.

The Department of Buildings has issued violations to Khomari for safety issues stemming from the cracked facade, the lawsuit points out.

Repairing the damage will cost about $682,000, according to Khomari, who is asking a judge to award a combined $10 million in damages from the defendants.

Attempts to reach Cayre Equities by phone and email were unsuccessful.

Both buildings sit right across the street from the site of the One45 rezoning, which called for a pair of 363-foot towers on the corner of Lenox Avenue. The project was defeated in May — and developers may now construct a self-storage building on that site as well.