Icon Realty added to their East Village portfolio with the purchase of 222 E. 12th St. for $2.545 million in late 2012.
The city approved permits to renovate some of the units in May. At that time, a neighbor told us that the building between Second Avenue and Third Avenue was now tenant-free as the gut renovations began.
Apparently that was not the case, though.
A different neighbor told us about the recent arrival of security guards at 222's front door.
The neighbor relayed the following: "I live a few doors down and asked why there was a security guard, and a tenant said that the building owner was trying to force tenants out using the construction and that the tenant had succeeded in getting the Department of Buildings to halt work. I've never seen a security guard outside a building before for this reason."
The city issued two Stop Work Orders last week.
According to one complaint (in the DOB's ALL-CAP style):
THE OWNER OF THE BUILDING LIED TO THE CITY CLAIMING THE BUILDING WAS EMPTY IN ORDER TO OBTAIN A PERMIT TO DO CONSTRUCTION ILLEGALLY. THERE ARE 7 TENANTS STILL LIVING INSIDE THE BUILDING.
And the other complaint:
CONSTRUCTION WORKERS ARE CONSTRUCTING LUXURY APTS INSTEAD OF NECESSARY REPARS., NO TENANT PROTECTION PLAN FOR ALT
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