Citibank Wins $85.7 Million Lawsuit against Real Estate Developer (NYSE: C)

Citibank (NYSE: C) won a judgment allowing it to collect $85.7 million from billionaire real-estate developer Sheldon H. Solow.

New York State Supreme Court Justice Bernard Fried said on Thursday that he was granting Citibank’s request for a summary judgment. A dispute about how much Citibank will be able to collect in fees and damages will be sent to an arbitrator, according to Fried’s ruling.

“I intend to grant Citibank’s summary judgment motion in its entirety,” Fried said from the bench.

Citibank sued Solow in 2008 claiming that he failed to make payments on a $503 million line of credit that the bank provided to help develop a site in New York along the East River.

In an answer to Citibank’s complaint, Solow said that the bank rebuffed his offer to provide additional collateral and instead Citibank sold the initial collateral for millions less than what Solow believed to be fair market value, according to court documents.

Solow is planning to build six waterfront apartment towers and a 1.4 million sq. foot office tower on the 10 acre site, according to New York City’s Planning Department.

Solow’s attorneys accused Citibank of filing discovery motions to “fish for some new ground” on which to base its property seizures and selling off his collateral.

“We are pleased with the decision,” Danielle Romero-Apsilos, a spokeswoman for New York-based Citibank, said in an e-mailed statement.