Judge Blocks Shvo’s Eviction Bid Against Core Club

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Core Club is keeping its perch on Fifth Avenue — for now.

A state judge ruled that Michael Shvo can’t boot the members-only club from his office tower at 711 Fifth, where the developer claimed the tenant was millions behind on rent, Crain’s reported.

The decision marks the latest volley in a bruising legal battle between Core Club founder Jennie Enterprise and Shvo, whose high-profile property bets have been squeezed since the pandemic.

Shvo moved last month to terminate the lease, saying the club had defaulted on $3.6 million in rent for its 60,000-square-foot spread across the tower’s top four floors. But the judge sided with Core, pointing to a memorandum of understanding the parties drafted last year that restructured payment terms.

Shvo never signed the document, but Masley found the club had shown “good faith” by paying rent in line with its modified obligations. The judge ordered Core to keep paying under the terms of its 2021 lease and barred Shvo from taking steps to evict.

Shvo’s camp took the ruling as a win, emphasizing that the court affirmed Core still needs to abide by its original lease. An attorney for Core framed the decision as shutting down a “baseless eviction attempt” and said the club will continue pressing for damages tied to what it describes as Shvo’s “egregious misconduct.”

Core, which relocated to Fifth Avenue in 2022 from East 55th Street, has roughly 1,500 members paying upward of $10,000 annually. Court filings show it pulled in $25 million of revenue last year with net income of $2.7 million. But the glossy brand has traded insults with its landlord, accusing Shvo of neglecting basic building services, from cold showers to clogged toilets.

The two sides are entangled in other disputes, including a separate judgment that Core owes Shvo $1 million on an old loan.

Meanwhile, Shvo faces pressure of his own. Sales have reportedly stalled at his Miami Beach condo project, putting his ownership in jeopardy, and he’s separately weighing bulk sales of units at the Mandarin Oriental residences on Fifth.

— Holden Walter-Warner