Epic Rehabilitation and Nursing at White Plains, a 160-bed nursing home that opened a year ago, has been sued for nearly $114 million for allegedly defaulting on its lease a month after it opened.
The landlord, White Plains Healthcare Properties I, sued Lizer Jozefovic and Mark Neuman, the CEO and CFO of Epic Healthcare Management, and the EPIC affiliate that leased the facility.
White Plains Healthcare Properties I is demanding rents and fees due under the entire 30-year lease.
The $60 million facility, at 120 Church St. in downtown White Plains, was designed for Alzheimer”™s, rehabilitation and long-term care patients.
White Plains Healthcare Properties I is affiliated with The Congress Cos. of Peabody, Massachusetts, and is managed by Congress”™ CEO, William A. Nicholson.
Epic took possession of the facility, as tenant, last Sept. 30.
Rent was set at $6,073,158 a year, the complaint states, and Jozefovic and Neuman guaranteed the payments and other terms.
But by the end of last November, Epic had allegedly defaulted on the $506,097 monthly payment. The company also failed to pay real estate taxes, utility fees and security deposits, according to the complaint, and failed to maintain a $6 million credit line or report significant events and circumstances at the facility.
By continuing to occupy the property, Epic became a month-to-month tenant and the monthly rent tripled.
White Plains Healthcare Properties I and the Epic affiliate negotiated new terms last November, “in an attempt to avoid termination of the lease,” the lawsuit states.
The property was to be sold for $73 million to a new entity, with Jozefovic and Neuman holding 77.5% interest and WPH holding 22.5%.
Epic had to pay the overdue rent and other fees and obtain an $8 million line of credit. The security deposit was reduced from $3.7 million to $2 million.
Epic allegedly defaulted on the new obligations, and White Plains Healthcare Properties I terminated the lease as of Jan. 13 and demanded all rents and fees for the entire 30 years.
White Plains Healthcare Properties I claims it is owed $113,832,988, including $95 million for future rents that were discounted to represent their present value.
Epic, based in Croton-on-Hudson, also operates nursing homes in that village as well as in Holmes, Middletown and Purdys.
Jozefovic messaged over the weekend that he wanted to share his side of the story but was unable to do so, as he was preparing to observe the most holy day on the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. He deferred to his attorney, John Giardino, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
White Plains Healthcare Properties I is represented by White Plains attorneys Alfred E. Donnellan, Peter S. Dawson and Robert A. Spolzino.
