Best Western Real Estate Klusterfuck

Ok, maybe not the most profound headline, but I think it captures the situation pretty well. Following my post on Best Western buying up adjacent properties on Emmons Ave., a commenter claiming to exclusively represent the seller on the sale of the four lots 3027-3033 Emmons Avenue which include the Cappuccino on the Bay building, wrote in saying that, while the properties had been sold, Best Western was not the owner. Well, Gene Berardelli of the Sheepshead Bay/Plumb Beach Civic Association has done some digging into the matter and, well, to quote from his findings: “The answer is yes… and no.”

The property where Cappuccino on the Bay is located is being purchased by the owner of the Russian Boutique next door. The corporation who was leasing that property was “Hanardi Corporation”. That Corporation also owns 17 & 18 Lake Ave, and is in the process of building a three story building. Construction has been going on for years, one of the reasons being that the Civic has been watching it very closely, and has obtained Stop Work Orders in the past. (Interestingly enough, the DOS no longer has a record of Hanardi Corporation, which doesn’t necessarily mean that it no longer exists, but that there is no longer a record of it in NY State.)

This, according to VERY reliable sources, is the “buyer” of the property, so Mr. Hanson is telling the truth. What isn’t being told is that the “buyer” would then, according to said VERY reliable sources, go into business with the Best Western.

Berardelli also discovered that three of the properties immediately behind the Emmons spaces purchased by the-developer-formerly-known-as-Hanardi have been bought by a Sailesh Gandhi, and the fourth has been approached about selling it. While no relationship is yet confirmed, Berardelli believes Sailesh is the spouse of Sheila Ghandi, the person listed as the managing agent for Emmons Hospitality, LLC, the owner of Best Western. These four properties, combined with the buildings bought by Hanardi, form a square lot large enough to overcome the 3-story zoning restriction, and allow its owners to build up to 5 stories.

Confused yet? According to Berardelli, that’s the point. He believes the collusion between the developers, and the use of different names, was done to throw off the community. “I think it’s because the neighborhood has been very capable watchdogs during the building of the Best Western,” writes Berardelli.

We hope that such intended deception was not the case, but we’ll be keeping an eye on these guys until we know more about what’s going on.