Chalk one up for Con Edison in its battle over back rent with the mosque developer at 51 Park Place.
The Post has learned that in June, State Supreme Court Judge Richard Braun upheld the $10.35 million appraisal price obtained by the utility, which it used to calculate the rent.
Con Ed argues that it is owed $1.7 million in back rent and $47,437 a month in rent for the building that sits on its land. But Sharif El-Gamal, the Park51 Mosque developer, contends Con Ed’s math is bad and that it owes $881,519 in back rent and $25,875 a month going forward.
“We were confident that the appraisal process was sound. We are pleased with the court’s ruling,” said Con Ed spokesman Allan Drury.
But not so fast. El-Gamal’s attorney, Matthew Hearle, said yesterday they plan to file a notice of appeal.
Moreover, Hearle said Braun recently ruled that the provision of the lease stating the rental formula was “ambiguous,” which means more discovery is needed to figure out what the original 1970s document meant to say.
El-Gamal’s group bought the building at 45-47 Park Place in 2009 for $4.8 million and, at the same time, paid $700,000 to lease Con Ed’s substation at 51 Park.
The plan was to knock down both and build a controversial mosque and community center near Ground Zero.
But the plan hit a major hurdle last year with the rent-reset dispute, and El-Gamal went to court seeking to challenge the rent formula.
Based on an interim decision by Braun, El-Gamal has been making $25,000 payments each month and also posted an $881,000 bond to pay for past due amounts if he loses. Braun also said El- Gamal does not have to increase the bond while litigation continues.