NEW YORK CITY—A federal civil rights lawsuit against the Durst Organization—alleging that Durst engaged in a pattern and practice of developing rental apartment buildings that are inaccessible to persons with disabilities—has been settled.
Under the settlement, Durst agrees to establish procedures to ensure that its ongoing and future development projects, such as the 2,400-unit Halletts Point development in Queens and the 709-unit VIA 57 West development in Manhattan, will comply with the accessibility requirements of the federal Fair Housing Act.
Durst also agrees to make two apartment buildings in Manhattan containing more than 1,000 units—the Helena and the Epic—more accessible to individuals with disabilities. Finally, Durst agrees to provide up to $515,000 to compensate aggrieved persons and pay a civil penalty of $55,000. The settlement was reached after the court denied the developer's motion to dismiss the government's lawsuit.
"This is the ninth in a series of lawsuits that this office has brought against real estate developers and architects who fail to design and construct new apartment buildings accessible to people with disabilities," declares US attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara.
He continues, "Today's settlement with Durst makes clear that real estate developers cannot hide behind opaque corporate structures to evade their obligation to comply with the Fair Housing Act or avoid liability for violating that act."
However, in a statement Durst provided to GlobeSt.com, a company spokesman says, "Seven years and 10 months ago, we offered to fix any problems that the Department of Justice found and it declined, it wanted to keep investigating."
He continues, "It took nearly eight years of negotiations and millions of dollars in legal costs for both sides to reach this agreement with DOJ. Despite the government's assertions, we did not concede a pattern and practice of violating FHA in the settlement."
Still, under the settlement, Durst agrees that—for every multifamily housing project it constructs in the next three years—it will retain an FHA compliance consultant to ensure that the building, as constructed, will comply with the FHA's accessibility requirements. In addition, the developer agrees to institute policies and training to ensure that its own employees and agents will comply with the FHA's accessibility requirements.
Further, the settlement requires Durst to make extensive retrofits at the Helena and to commit to additional retrofits at the Epic once that building has been inspected, to make these buildings accessible.
Aditionally, the settlement requires Durst to provide up to $515,000 in funds to compensate aggrieved persons. DURST also agrees to pay a civil penalty of $55,000.
The suit was filed last year in the wake of several such proceedings. Similar charges were levied against Related Cos. one month earlier.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Rayna Katz
Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
