Photo by James Sanna | Banker & Tradesman Staff
A residential brokerage claims the developer of the St. Regis Residences Boston owes over $1 million in unpaid commissions from sales that it brokered before being replaced in 2022.
Gibson Sotheby’s International Realty is suing Boston-based Cronin Group over its role in the marketing and sales of the 22-story harborside condo tower on Seaport Boulevard.
The lawsuit, first reported by the Boston Business Journal, centers on seven units placed under agreement by the George Haseotes Irrevocable Trust at a limited bid auction held in November.
“[Gibson Sotheby’s] was the efficient or predominating cause of the subject sale because GSIR first introduced Haseotes to the St. Regis while it was representing Haseotes on another property,” according to the complaint filed by attorney John Brazilian.
In a statement, developer Jon Cronin characterized the lawsuit as “nothing more than an attempt by Sotheby’s executive team to extract unearned compensation. We terminated our listing agreement with Gibson Sotheby’s for poor performance after bringing us just four Buyers in the 4-plus years of our engagement.”
Cronin Group hired Gibson Sotheby’s International Realty’s Boston office in 2018 to market the units within the building, and the brokerage sold 42 units totaling $170.3 million in purchase prices, according to the lawsuit in Suffolk Superior Court.
One brokerage client, the George Haseotes Irrevocable Trust, acquired two units in March 2020 and made offers on five additional units subsequently, which were rejected, the lawsuit states. The trust also asked Gibson Sotheby’s to research information on the current rental values for the units.
In the meantime, as sales of the luxury condos lagged, Cronin Group hired The Collaborative Cos. of Boston in 2023 as exclusive marketing agent and scheduled a “limited inventory bid sale” on 10 unsold units with asking prices of $1.4 to $3 million.
The Haseotes Trust, owned by the heir of the Cumberland Farms convenience store chain, submitted the high bid on seven of the 10 units on Nov. 16, 2023, which would equate to a 3-percent commission worth over $1 million.
The developer refinanced the debt on the project’s 69 unsold for $240 million in November.
