Maurice Mann Sued Again Over Apthorp

Developer Maurice Mann, who partnered with the billionaire Lev Leviev to buy the Apthorp in 2007, is being sued by Blue Rock Properties, a brokerage firm that helped arrange the deal's financing.

Blue Rock claims Mann Realty Associates failed to pay the required fees on about $16 million dollars of the $425 million dollar deal, so the brokers say they're entitled to an additional $400,000 in commissions that Mr. Mann never paid, according to The Real Deal.

It's hardly the first lawsuit alleging managerial incompetence on the part of Mr. Mann. In January, Max Abelson detailed Mr. Leviev's (ultimately successful) attempt to wrest control of the building from Mr. Mann, who had been something of a surprise orchestrator of such a massive deal, which saw the group pay a record $2.6 million per apartment. At the time, at least one person thought Mr. Mann might be in over his head:

"I think," a longtime associate of Mr. Mann said this week about his friend, "he's just gotten himself into an unfortunate situation-a project bigger than he was expecting it was going to be. I don't know if he really knew what he was getting into. He's a decent, good guy. He tries to do the right thing, that's what I'm going to say."

But the president of Mann Realty said at the time that those allegations of mismanagement by Mr. Leviev were "bullshit," and that any financial troubles facing the building should be viewed in light of the economic collapse.

Mr. Mann has yet to comment on the suit.