Harry Macklowe’s got to get his finger out of Meyer Equities’ pie, a New York State Supreme Court judge decided.
Justice Shirley Werner Kornreich ruled that Macklowe has no power under a right-of-first-refusal agreement to purchase the home of the Children’s Aid Society in Midtown, which Meyer Equities has offered to buy for $28 million, according to a decision filed Tuesday.
Macklowe had signed an ROFR agreement that gave him a right to match any offer on the child welfare nonprofit’s seven-story building at 150 East 45th Street when he bought an adjacent property back in 1981.
The developer sold that building — 2 Grand Central Tower next door at 147 East 44th Street — in 2008 to Boston Properties, which sold it three years later to Rockwood Capital for $401 million.
When Meyer Equities, led by the father-and-son team of Marty and Eric Meyer, made its $28 million offer to buy the Children’s Aid Society building in November, Macklowe insisted that, since he signed the ROFR, he had the right to match the offer and started negotiating with the nonprofit, the lawsuit claims.
But the Meyers shot back with a lawsuit saying that the agreement travelled with the properties, and Macklowe had no right to interfere with their negotiations. Werner ruled that Macklowe has no rights to match an offer under the agreement, and that Rockwood’s 30-day window to match the offer expired.
A representative for Meyer Equities declined to comment, and a spokesperson for Macklowe did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The mogul is embroiled in a messy divorce with his wife of 58 years, Linda Macklowe, which has the two fighting over a vast fortune.