MTA was bad landlord at Fulton Transit Center for a decade, Westfield says

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Crime isn’t Westfield’s only issue at MTA’s Fulton Center

Westfield’s move to break its lease at the Fulton Transit Center over a perceived lack of security was the culmination of years of frustration with the MTA that began before the station even opened.

The real estate giant argued in legal filings that “unsafe conditions” gave it grounds to withdraw early from its 20-year deal to manage retail at the Lower Manhattan station. But the filings also reveal that Westfield’s attempt to bail on Fulton Center is just the latest chapter in a nearly decadelong dispute with the MTA. In essence, Westfield argues the MTA is a bad landlord.

The bustling downtown subway station — which connects nine train lines — opened in 2014, seven years behind schedule and more than $600 million over budget.

But according to Westfield, the MTA cut the ribbon on the station and rented out space before construction was even finished.

“Once Westfield came into possession of the premises, it realized that much of the work that was required to be performed by MTA/NYCTA prior to the delivery of the commercial usage areas was incomplete and/or defective,” the company wrote in a Manhattan federal court filing last Friday.

“Despite the ‘target opening date’ in 2014, NYCTA continued its construction work at Fulton Transit Center well into 2016,” the filing states, claiming the agency “strung Westfield along… without any identifiable completion date.”

Westfield attorneys write the MTA “misrepresented floor plans,” failed to pour more than a foot of concrete, and did not build features like a service elevator and employee restrooms.

The company demanded a rent reduction in 2018, citing the…