Hey, there! Log in / Register
Mall life not all it's cracked up to be, some owners say in suit against Natick Mall condo developers
By adamg on Tue, 11/01/2011 - 7:44pm
Some of the first people to buy pricey condos at the Natick Mall are suing to get their money back.
In a lawsuit originally filed in Middlesex Superior Court last month, but transferred today to US District Court in Boston, 11 purchasers of units at Nouvelle at Natick - which promised 24-hour access to the mall - said they never would have invested if they knew the place was about to go bankrupt and that most of the units would be sold at auction for a fraction of what they paid.
The unhappy condo owners charge the developer and its manager withheld information from them about the development's perilous finances. And they allege that when news of the impending problems hit the press as they were negotiating final sales agreements, the developers lied to them and said the condo project's finances were separate from the development company's, which turned out not to be the case.
The suit also charges that when the owners moved in, the building had no heat in the hallways, the elevators often didn't work, smoke detectors were covered in plastic bags, the postal service refused to deliver mail for a month and a sewer "injector" had no backup pump, which meant that when it failed, the garage filled with raw sewage.
Neighborhoods:
Free tagging:
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
 nouvelle-complaint.pdf | 0 bytes |
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Neither sleet nor rain nor snow
But being inside a (expletive) shopping mall will. Interesting.
Frivolous law suit.
What a joke.
Why frivolous?
Even people foolish enough to move here deserve a reasonable standard of construction quality and habitability.
Though surely the town deserves some liability too. How could they issue a certificate of occupancy when heat, elevators, smoke detectors, and sewers are all failing to operate properly?
Good luck with that
I heard rumors the buyers were planning to sue and here it is. Since when did buying a condo in a mall sound like a good idea?
Also, number one rule when buying a condo: Diligently check the financial condition of the conda association. If you don't get the info you want, walk away. Once you buy in, you're a partner and have to share in the expenses. That's hard enough when you have your own buildings, but when you're sharing resources with a mall, it's gotta get ugly.
Who needs 24hr mall access?
Did some of these people have offices in the mall?
Insomniac mall walkers...
Insomniac mall walkers...
Seriously! They'll be able to
Seriously! They'll be able to get INTO the mall at night, but not be able to get into any of the stores? Why the HELL that would be a benefit?
Actually, wait a sec...MIDNIGHT ROLLER BLADING PARTIES!!
Zombies and zombie fighters, that's who.
Well, haven't you seen Dawn of the Dead? They definitely needed 24hr access.
Commenting on the construction related complaints
It seems, though I'm not an expert, that there is more consumer protection for buyers of TV's and toasters than for buyers of condos and homes.
I'm someone whose newly renovated/new condo building had cabinets falling off of kitchen walls, unsafe/improperly installed furnaces, no water shut off valves for individual units, loose bricks, wiring not up to code, water leaks..and more. I'm not so much pissed at the economy, but at criminally shoddy construction. We were advised that it would be unwise to sue, either the developer or the city that passed inspection on improperly and unsafely installed/not up to code items.
We were scared away from fighting for justice by examples of other condo boards that did the same for issues just as reasonable, lost, and are still paying for those losses in their dues.
Yes, it's an outrage.
But I can also say that many of my buildings wrongs have been righted at our own expense, so at least the next generation of owners will have something solid.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Gee, and buying a CONDO at the MALL seemed like such a GOOD IDEA at the time!!! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
Ha.
I wouldn't buy a condo at a mall, either
but I think it's reasonable for anyone buying a condo or a house anywhere to expect that it's up to code, etc. We're protected as consumers if our toaster burns down our house due to a defect, but not if the house itself burns down due to defect? Why is there no "Consumer Reports" for the construction industry? How do they get to pull off this crap? Well, I know some of the answers in some cases..
Do people who think that
Do people who think that having a condo at a mall is so hilarious not understand how the prudential complex works...?
Last time I checked...
Last time I checked, the Prudential Center was in the middle of a (relatively) vibrant city, with hundreds of amenities available within walking distance (before 11:00, anyway). Natick Mall... er, not so much.
There's a big difference between the Collection and the Pru
That being that the former is in Natick, whereas the latter is in Boston. A condo at the Prudential Center is good for all manner of reasons having nothing to do with the mall. I'm not so sure anybody could make such an argument about the Collection.