Todd Glaser, the ultra-luxury home builder behind some of South Florida’s splashiest residential projects, is fighting a former client over a nearly finished Golden Beach mansion that still has not received a certificate of occupancy.
Glaser sued the owner of a waterfront project at 365 Ocean Boulevard on Miami-Dade Circuit Court on Sept. 10. He is seeking a court ruling that would preempt the ownership entity controlled by Richard Reinhart from attempting to claw back nearly $4.9 million in construction fees, as well as seeking up to $4.5 million in damages.
Glaser, who recently listed his own Palm Beach mansion for $59 million, and his attorney Jose Ferrer declined comment. Jennifer Levin and Zachary Smith, two lawyers representing Reinhart’s ownership entity, Central Park Tower LLC, did not respond to requests for comment.
The owner paid $10.8 million for the property in 2019, records show. The lot had a five-bedroom house that was demolished two years later.
In the complaint, Glaser said the two-story project cost roughly $38 million to build and will be worth about $100 million once completed. Reinhart terminated Glaser as the project manager in August after accusing him of mismanaging the job, abandoning the site, failing to obtain a temporary certificate of occupancy and obstructing an audit.
The owner’s June termination notice, which is attached to the lawsuit, alleges that Glaser did not disclose that he is not a licensed general contractor, rendering a 2019 agreement with the owner unenforceable under Florida law. The owner demanded that Glaser refund the $4.9 million, as well as alleging at least $1.5 million in defective work.
Reinhart is engaging in a pressure tactic after Glaser refused to hand over canceled checks, personal bank statements and other financial records related to the project, the lawsuit states. Glaser alleges that his agreement with Central Park Tower required him to obtain authorization from Reinhart on everything, including approximately 45 funding requests totaling $20.9 million from January 2020 through April of this year.
The owner “approved and funded this project at every step for seven years and never once declared a default,” the complaint states.
The 2019 agreement describes Glaser as the construction manager and owner’s representative. However, the owner controlled the construction account and had final approval on draw requests, subcontractor contracts and invoices exceeding $20,000.
Glaser oversaw the general contractor, G7 Holdings, and the subcontractors, the lawsuit states. But Glaser did not perform any of the construction work, acting only as the owner’s representative in coordinating the project, starting in 2021, per the lawsuit.
The project did not receive a master building permit until June 2022 after a lengthy approval process, and it underwent four revisions over the next three years, Glaser alleges. He claims Reinhart repeatedly changed the project’s scope, including adding a rooftop pool and other features, while the interior design team continued making changes into last year.
Glaser says he turned over the site, permit paperwork, plans and an inventory of materials to the owner and its new project manager, RCC Associates, on Aug. 20, four days before the termination was set to take effect.
In its June termination notice, the owner alleged that Glaser entered into contracts and made change orders and purchases without proper authorization, failed to provide updated construction schedules, improperly charged a 20 percent management fee on repair work, and failed to secure lien waivers and contractor affidavits.
Glaser is seeking a court order to declare that the owner had no cause to terminate him and does not have a right to his personal financial records.
