New York, NY, July 30, 2014 – Venable lawyers have won, again, for their client, the Board of the Art Students League, in a renewed attempt to prevent them from selling air rights above their historic building on Manhattan’s West side. The decision confirms an earlier ruling by the court denying a preliminary injunction to prevent the sale.
Supreme Court Justice Judge Melvin Schweitzer granted summary judgment to the League and its Board finding that a group of petitioner members of the League had raised no “triable issues of fact.” The sale may now proceed.
The Board’s attorney, Venable’s Michael Volpe, of the firm’s New York office, noted that the judge had reviewed the decision-making of the board regarding the sale of the air rights and had found it to be sound. “The judge heard the petitioners’ concerns and ruled against them,” Volpe said. “Now the Board and the League can move on.”
The air rights in question, above the League’s headquarters at 215 West 57th Street, were conferred to a developer, Broadway Trio an affiliate of Extell Development in 2005 for $31.8 M. An 88-story luxury residential tower is planned next to the American Fine Arts building. The air rights relate to a planned cantilevered section which will extend over the building at the 30th floor.
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