The opening of a 13K SF outpost of the STK chain of steakhouses across the street from Union Square has been thrown into doubt amid a dispute over a $109K rent payment.
:quality(75))
An affiliate of Denver-based The One Group inked a 10-year lease in January 2025 for its STK brand to take the corner retail unit at the bottom of ABS Partners Real Estate’s 200 Park Ave. S. Until last month, its space was being used as storage by the landlord or a previous tenant for “hundreds of pounds of debris, construction tools, and construction materials,” according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in New York County Supreme Court.
“Nothing can be done with the space until that material is removed,” The One Group Chief Accounting Officer Christi Hing wrote in a sworn affidavit.
Nevertheless, the landlord issued a notice to The One Group on Sept. 11 that it owed ABS $109,375 for September rent, plus a late fee. The notice gave the tenant until Sept. 23 to pay up or risk its lease being terminated, according to a document submitted to the court.
Attorneys for the restaurant filed for an injunction and a temporary restraining order, seeking a judge to prevent ABS from terminating the lease.
ABS' lawyer, Rosenberg & Estis attorney Alex Estis, wrote in a response filed Wednesday afternoon that the tenant doesn't qualify for an emergency injunction, known as a Yellowstone injunction.
The tenant's attorneys needed to give advance notice to the landlord that it intended to file for an emergency injunction, Estis wrote. Instead, they prepared the legal filings during the Jewish high holidays and didn't hand over the full materials until a day after its complaint was filed, Estis alleged.
"I luckily looked at my email and saw counsel intended to file on Yom Kippur, less than 24 hours notice and did not specify the time as to when he would file," Estis wrote in an affidavit, calling the tactics of the plaintiff's counsel, Adam Leitman Bailey P.C. partner Dov Treiman, "gamesmanship."
ABS agreed to extend the payment deadline by one day, according to emails Estis filed alongside his affidavit.
Treiman argued in his initial filing that because the tenant couldn’t access the space until mid-August thanks to clutter clogging up the would-be restaurant’s interior, it didn't officially take possession and doesn't yet owe rent. The lease contains a clause that delays rent payments for 300 days after the tenant takes over the space, making the first payment due in June 2027, the lawsuit claims.
Photos submitted to the court show a still white-boxed interior filled with ladders, work benches and various other miscellaneous items, which Treiman wrote are from between Aug. 6 and Aug. 11. The items have since been cleared out.
But STK has had the keys since a walk-through in September 2025 and paid rent in July and August, Estis told Bisnow on Wednesday afternoon.
"There’s nothing in the space right now that is impeding anything, and the space is not being used by anybody else," Estis said in an interview.
"Not only did they not object, but they began paying rent after they took occupancy," he added.
Leitman Bailey and The One Group didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
“This is not our first encounter with a commercial tenant seeking the avoidance of the payment of rent,” ABS President Gregg Schenker said in a statement through his attorney.
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)