UES Condo Renovations Wrecked Surgeon's Next-Door Townhouse: Suit

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — A plastic surgeon's Lenox Hill townhouse was badly damaged by renovations at a next-door condo building that is already caught up in another legal battle, according to a new lawsuit.

Z. Paul Lorenc, whose surgery practice is based on Park Avenue, filed suit earlier this month against the board and managers of Saga House Condominium on East 74th Street, which sits next door to Lorenc's own townhouse between Third and Lexington avenues.

Featuring seven bedrooms and rooftop and rear gardens, the six-story townhouse has attracted attention before, during Lorenc's repeated attempts to sell the building — due in part to its lavish number of fireplaces ("6+", as of 2009).

But Lorenc says troubles began last November, when a facade repair project at Saga House caused debris to begin raining down onto his property, the lawsuit says.

In a phone call with Saga House's property manager, Lorenc agreed to let protective netting be installed above his home.

Days later, he was surprised to find workers "installing enormous scaffolding in the rear and rooftop gardens" of his home, as workers "freely trespassed" through his garden and roof, his suit alleges.

"I essentially cannot leave the back of my house, and the rear and rooftop gardens have been rendered totally useless due to the large scaffolding erected," Lorenc wrote in a separate court filing. "Both my daughter and I constantly lived in fear when changing and showering or otherwise performing regular household tasks that workers were watching us."

Lorenc complained to the Department of Buildings, resulting in a temporary stop-work order. But by then, it was too late: Lorenc discovered "numerous leaks" that caused water damage across his home, he said.

Meanwhile, when Lorenc listed his townhouse up for sale at $11 million and for rent at $40,000 early this year, he found no takers despite showing the property more than 30 times — presumably "due to the conditions created by construction," the suit says.

"Moved at a glacial pace"

In April, Saga House belatedly filed its own legal request seeking access to Lorenc's property. Lorenc, in response, documented the damage to his townhouse and demanded that Saga House pay at least $20,000 in monthly fees.

A judge ultimately granted the access in August but required Saga House to cover Lorenc's legal fees and pay a larger-than-usual fee of $10,000 for each month it used his property, since work had been "done without a license until such time as the project was forcibly stopped."

Since construction resumed on Aug. 23, however, Saga House has "moved at a glacial pace" when it comes to having its insurance cover Lorenc's property damage, he alleges in the new suit.

Now, Lorenc is seeking damages from the Saga House board, its property managers, and the consulting and contracting companies involved in the renovations.

An attorney for Saga House declined to comment, while the other companies named in the lawsuit did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Saga House is already facing another legal claim: in August, an orthopedist who owns offices in the building alleged that his property suffered severe damage when it allowed a billionaire to build a luxury triplex upstairs — a saga that also began in November 2021.

The billionaire, ALDO Shoes owner Aldo Bensadoun, hired an inexperienced company that ultimately left a sink running for several days, flooding the downstairs offices, the suit alleged. Saga House has not yet filed a response, and the suit is still pending.

Related coverage: UES Offices Destroyed By Billionaire's Botched Renovations: Lawsuit