Celebrity-luring Tribeca lofts mired in $376M complaint

Harry Styles, Justin Timberlake, Jennifer Lawrence, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively and Meg Ryan have all reportedly owned lofts there. Bill Gates’ daughter, Jennifer, last year reportedly bought race car driver Lewis Hamilton’s penthouse for $51 million.

But along with the lap pool, Turkish bath, wine cellar and an underground garage widely hailed as “paparazzi-proof,” the building also has a leaky roof, walls that are “literally falling apart” and a host of other problems, the condo board representing owners claims. They’ve been suing the building’s architect, John Cetra, and its developer, Nathan Berman, for more than two years now.

In their most recent complaint, filed in New York state court in July, the owners asked for a total of $376 million, much of it in punitive damages, for 11 claims, including breach of contract and negligence. Lawyers not involved in the case say many of the claims are duplicative, and that the suit is really seeking around $100 million. That’s in line with the $250 million that owners at 432 Park Ave., a much-larger luxury condo tower also allegedly beset by leaks and other issues, are seeking in their suit.

“Defendants heavily marketed the building as meticulously renovated apartments of unparalleled luxury, while charging millions of dollars — sometimes tens of millions per unit to customers,” the 443 Greenwich board claims. Instead, “defects and code violations are present throughout the building.” According to the suit, an independent inspector found some parts of the building were “unsafe,” even “life-threatening.”

Cetra’s firm, CetraRuddy, declined to comment. A spokesperson for Berman’s firm, Metro Loft, which…