Paramount Building Owners Sue Casting Agency Telsey + Company for $5M
By Nicholas Rizzi July 7, 2021 2:15 pm
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The owners of the historic Paramount Building have sued famed Broadway casting agency Telsey + Company for $5 million in unpaid rent, court records show.
Paramount Leasehold — the joint venture between Levin Management and Rosemark Management — filed a lawsuit against Telsey, claiming that the agency ditched its office at 1501 Broadway in December and owes $5 million in rent through July, according to the complaint filed Wednesday in Manhattan Supreme Court.
Founded by casting director Bernard Telsey, the agency, which has worked on Broadway shows that include “Hamilton“, signed a lease for the fifth floor of the 32-story, Times Square office building in 2016 that runs until 2026, according to court records.
However, Telsey + Company — whose website and social media profiles have gone dark recently — left the space on Dec. 31 and stopped making rent payments. The suit claims that “despite repeated demands” for Telsey to pay up, it continued to skirt its payments.
Landlords have taken commercial and retail tenants to court throughout the coronavirus pandemic demanding missing rent, and this isn’t Paramount Leasehold’s first tussle with a tenant at the Paramount Building.
The landlord sued the guarantor of the Hard Rock Cafe in December, after the restaurant chain skipped out on nearly $6.5 million in rent for its Paramount Building outpost, Crain’s New York Business reported.
Paramount Leasehold’s lawyer and a spokesperson for Levin did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Telsey and Rosemark could not be reached for comment.
Nicholas Rizzi can be reached at nrizzi@commercialobserver.com.
