Port Chester hair salon sues to stop demolition for Tarry Lighthouse

The owners of a Port Chester hair salon claim that their landlord is pressuring them to vacate a building so that it can be demolished for a $76.1 million apartment-retail complex.

Magaly, Lorena and Angelica Cochachi, partners in the X-S Hair Salon at 163 N. Main St., are asking Westchester Supreme Court to stop White Plains developer David Mann and Lighthouse Living from demolishing the building.

They claim Mann has harassed and intimidated them.

“That’s completely false,” Mann said in a telephone interview, “and we will easily disprove that when we meet in court.”

The X-S salon has leased 3,000 square feet on the ground floor for 20 years and has an option to extend the lease to 2030.

In 2019, according to the complaint, the Cochachis spent $500,000 on renovations.

Mann bought the property from Marvin Wildenberg Associates in March for $5.75 million, according to county property records. He has acquired four other properties on the block that once were home to Tarry Market, Tarry Lodge and Tarry Wine.

Mann’s Tarry Lighthouse plans call for a 6-story structure with 209 apartments, 28,000 square feet of retail space, and parking for 271 cars.

The site plan has been approved and the village Industrial Development Agency has granted preliminary approval for $16.9 million to $20.5 million in tax breaks

X-S salon was the only tenant in the 163 Main St. building with a long-term lease, according to the IDA application. Acuario restaurant, Tandoori restaurant, Redi-Cut Carpet on the ground floor and four office tenants on the second floor were on month-to-month leases.

The Cochachis say they rejected Mann’s proposal because they would end up with a smaller space, higher rent, less foot traffic and fewer customers.

Within days of rejecting the proposal, they claim a campaign of intimidation and harassment began. They were allegedly locked out, electricity and gas were turned off, and debris was dumped by the salon’s exit.

The Cochachis claim that messengers for Mann threatened that if they did not agree to relocate the developer would simply build around their space.

On July 12, Mann sent the salon a notice stating that it was in default on the lease for failing to maintain a liability insurance policy. The Cochachis claim they are fully insured.

Mann said he did not have the electricity shut off. He did have the gas shut off for the vacant spaces and common areas but did not know that the salon was tapped into one of those meters, “in breach of the lease.”

He had proposed moving X-S salon one block away to a newly renovated space for three years. He would “build out the space to your satisfaction,” the proposal states, “with the goal being a replica of the current X-S Hair space.”

He would cover any rent greater than the current lease. In three years the salon could move back to a new building, with the same rent schedule as in the current lease. He would pay the moving costs and build out the new space at no cost.

“In my opinion,” Mann stated in the proposal, “the temporary inconvenience of moving pays tremendous dividends. This space will easily be … the nicest salon in Port Chester, Greenwich and Rye.”

Mann said the Cochachis wanted $1 million.

“That’s just unrealistic,” he said. “I’m willing to give a lump sum payment as an alternative …. Building around them will cost more, but a lot less than $1 million.”

He said he hopes to start demolition in a week or two.

The Cochachis are represented by Purchase attorney Max Di Fabio.