Residents of a co-op in Brooklyn Heights claimed on Monday that they were deprived of a massive payout from their fellow shareholders, who refused to accept a developer's large amount of money in exchange for a nearby portion of land.
As it turns out, the residents of 75 Henry Street at Cadman Plaza West could potentially have received as much as $400,000 each by selling a property on Pineapple Walk, a pedestrian path that now houses a few other establishments.
Shareholders had to opt of out selling the 370-unit tower after a 191-112 vote. This resulted in shareholders being forced to turn down the $130 million offer from Anbau Enterprises, who intended to "build a 40-story tower and shopping complex on the 278,000-square-foot plot," reported the New York Post.
"That's not chicken feed," said 84-year-old Gil Gleit in a meeting prior to the private voting on Friday. Residents had to slip a piece of paper - written either with a "yes" or a "no" - in the building manager's mailbox.
"The developer right away was offering $75 million, then they upped it to $130 million. They made the first offer, we had that advantage, and who knows how much more they would have offered?" Gleit explained.
Residents were supposed to receive somewhere between $150,000 to $400,000 each, which would depend on the size of each unit, whereas townhouse owners could have obtained more.
Meanwhile, a source from the building said, "People that voted yes had an open mind, believed the money could keep the co-op financially sound for the future. They had an opportunity to get a lot of money in a tax-efficient manner."
On the other hand, majority of the residents of the 75 Henry Street co-op voted a "no" because the high-rise building that would have replaced it could "crowd schools and subway stops."
Resident Bill Closs argues that the proposed building's construction could have blocked the sunlight, and more importantly, lower the values of nearby properties and change the historic neighborhood's character.
"It's hard to imagine that greed didn't win out, but, in our case, we voted no because we didn't want to put our neighbors through that kind of hell," Closs said. "We don't deserve the money, and we really don't need it that much. Ethics were a factor for us."