Brooklyn investor Haim Kahan accuses developer Cheskie Weisz of fraud

When Pecora cleared the tenants from a small apartment building he owns at 1365 First Ave., so it could be razed to make way for a condo from Pecora and Weisz, Weisz was supposed to reimburse Pecora for the lost rent, the lawsuit claimed. But Pecora said he never saw a dime of the $500,000 that he claims was promised.

“The truth is that defendants never had the funds necessary–and they knew it the entire time,” the lawsuit alleged. “Nonetheless, they convinced the plaintiff to put its entire business at risk by vacating apartments so that defendants could chase their quixotic dream of finding a partner.”

Weisz’s lawyer, Ariel Farkas, argued that Pecora was not entitled to any money because he had failed to satisfy “other factors” in the deal. “The claim is entirely without merit,” Farkas said at the time.

That case appears to still be working its way through the courts.

With the Spice Factory, it’s not clear what role, if any, Weisz is playing. The buyer of the property is technically listed as a shell company, so its exact members are unknown. But executive Daryl Hagler of Centers Health Care did sign the deed for the site, which traded for $42.4 million on Nov. 2. Hagler had no comment about his partners or the lawsuit, and Hagler’s development plans aren’t known.

The seller of the land at the corner of Montgomery Street was an entity tied to the Golombeck family, which starting in the 1950s operated a spice-manufacturing facility at the site, although the red-brick factory buildings there are now lined with graffiti and empty. Before spices, workers made mattresses on the property. A beer garden and hotel occupied it originally.

A message left with Zev Golombeck was not returned by press time.

A previous effort to redevelop 960 Franklin fizzled. Neighbors scuttled a plan from Continuum Co. and Lincoln Equities to put up tall towers there over concerns they would cast shadows over the nearby Brooklyn Botanical Garden. Buildings as tall as 6 stories can be developed there without special zoning approvals.

The portfolio of Weisz’s CW Realty includes 292 Bedford Ave., a 19-unit rehab of an existing rental building; 1499 Bedford Ave., a planned 98-unit rental; and 187 Kent Ave., a 96-unit mixed-use development that has faced foreclosure twice.

Evan Newman, Kahan’s lawyer in the case, did not return a call for comment, and Kahan could not be independently reached.