Scarano gets sued

Controversial architect Robert Scarano is locked in two court battles with a young development firm that is seeking at least $4 million in damages for two sold-out, luxury Manhattan projects that it claims were harmed by the architect's aggressive design practices.

Developer battles Scarano in court

West Village-based Blesso Properties filed a lawsuit September 17 in Manhattan State Supreme Court through a related company, which charges Scarano with fraud, breach of contract and negligence, and seeks damages in excess of $1 million for a project at 234 West 20th Street in Chelsea.

But, Scarano said in an interview that he believed the suit was just a tactical response to a lawsuit that he filed in June seeking $208,099 in payments he claimed the developer still owed him on a record-setting project at 138 West 124th Street in Harlem. At $1,007 per square foot, the two-bedroom penthouse condo was sold in 2007 at the highest price ever paid for an apartment above 110th Street, according to Corcoran Group Marketing.

In a counter suit, Blesso filed papers on September 4 seeking in excess of $3 million from Scarano for architectural malpractice, fraud and breach of contract.