Conference center operator sues Asteri developer over safety, security issues and lost revenue

When the Ithaca Downtown Conference Center first opened in summer 2024, many public officials, conference center staff and members of the business community expressed hope for its positive impact on downtown Ithaca. With a 10,600-square-foot ballroom on the second floor and the nation’s first all-electric commercial kitchen, it was supposed to be a magnet for out-of-town retreats and local weddings and a generator of more than $11.4 million in new local and state sales tax receipts over the next 20 years.

Now, the company leasing the conference center, located on the first three floors of Asteri Ithaca, has filed a legal complaint against the company that owns the building.

“The deteriorating conditions, criminal activity, health and safety concerns, and repeated damage and disruption to the conference center facility and operations have created a climate that is inhospitable to hospitality,” states the lengthy complaint filed by the Downtown Ithaca Local Development Corporation (LDC). The conference center has lost numerous potential clients due to security and building concerns, the lawsuit states.

Asteri Ithaca is a $96 million development at 116-118 East Green St. that includes 181 housing units, 40 of which have on-site support services, and the conference center. The building was first occupied in May of 2024.

The LDC, an independent nonprofit created for the purpose of operating the Downtown Ithaca Conference Center, as well as Ithaca Asteri Condominium, which operates under a board that acts on behalf of Asteri’s residents, has brought a lawsuit against the building’s owner/developer, Vecino Group, as well as Asteri Conference, LLC and Asteri Ithaca, LLC.

While the lawsuit states that the amount owed for damages is yet to be determined at trial, the LDC believes it is owed no less than $5 million for loss of clients, loss of profits, loss of business value, loss of goodwill, reputational harm, business interruption and security expenses.

In June 2021, LDC entered into a 30-year lease with Asteri Conference, a subsidiary of Vecino, to lease the conference center, which is the first three floors of the Asteri building. The LDC now claims that Vecino has breached that agreement and continues to do so by allowing issues with the property to continue.

The building is split; the conference center has entrances facing Green Street, while the nine floors of housing above are accessed through a side door in Home Dairy Alley, across from movie theater Cinemapolis. A secondary door opens into the fourth floor of the adjacent Green Street parking garage.  

The LDC’s complaint states that the LDC was not told until January 2024 that 40 of Asteri’s units would be dedicated to “persons exiting homelessness,” and that those individuals would be housed on the fourth and fifth floor, directly above the conference center.

During the time when this was announced, the LDC alleges, Vecino told them that seven staff members would be in the building at all times, only to have Vecino declare in September 2024 that Asteri was fully staffed with four employees.

Since April of 2024, Asteri/Vecino has employed six different community managers, the complaint states.

One community manager was arrested last June while the conference center was hosting an event, according to LDC’s filings.

Regarding the overall conditions at Asteri and the conference center, the allegations against Vecino are numerous.

There was an outbreak of canine parvovirus, which the LDC alleges Vecino did not inform them of and failed to remedy, leading to the removal of “numerous canine carcasses.”

Asteri also allows residents to linger with their animals around the entrances of the building, the LDC claims, stating that its staff has had to clean up dog — and sometimes human — feces from the area around the entrance of the conference center, as well trash, hypodermic needles and drug paraphernalia, before opening in the morning.

The LDC alleges that there is now an infestation of cockroaches that has been traced to areas of the property that are not leased by the LDC, caused by trash left by residents.

There is a lawsuit pending against Asteri/Vecino that was brought by nine tenants in May. 

Several employees have also filed a complaint, according to former employee Jared Bently, who said he worked as the building’s head of security for three months before he quit in late August. He said he and other members of the security staff were not given the tools they needed to properly secure the building and keep residents — and themselves — safe.

“It’s gotten to the point where even being in the building — nobody’s safe,” said Bently, who still resides in Asteri, though he said he is trying to move. 

Lenny Sacco, security officer for the building, quit after just two weeks on the job and says he feared for his safety. 

“I was physically attacked in the entryway trying to stop a domestic situation that was occurring,” said Sacco. “I got involved in it, and then I became the target of the two residents that originally were in the domestic [dispute]. And when I went to talk to management the day after, I was literally told that I could do absolutely nothing to defend myself.”

Both Bently and Sacco said they were not allowed to have or administer Narcan, a lifesaving emergency tool that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose. 

The LDC’s complaint states that it is believed that Asteri receives about 110 police calls per month for offenses such as loitering, fighting, littering, drug use and disorderly conduct. Stabbings, a police standoff, assaults and sex offenses have also been reported at the property. One dead body has had to be removed from the building, according to the lawsuit.

Ithaca City Police Chief Thomas Kelly told Tompkins Weekly recently that the root cause of the majority of Asteri’s issues is a lack of effective security.

Police officers currently patrol the building “several times a day,” Kelly said. From his perspective, the situation at Asteri has remained largely the same for more than a year, “and it’s challenging,” he said, adding that Vecino has repeatedly renewed its commitment to improving issues such as inadequate staffing and ineffective security at the building’s points of entry, “and we just haven’t seen the consistency,” the chief said.

“They’ve had a struggle in hiring security for the building, and it’s definitely presented frustration for us,” Kelly said. “They need guardianship in the building.”

Asteri’s parking garage entrance has given residents and visitors a way to circumvent the building’s security measures, Kelly said.

He added that after increasing police presence in the building for months and meeting multiple times with Vecino officials, very little progress was made to remedy the problems the police brought to Vecino’s attention.

“Now, our focus is more on the CARE Team and coordination with groups like REACH and Tompkins County ACT, to work with people specifically in the building that we could provide support to,” said Kelly, referring to local agencies that specialize in bringing social services to marginalized individuals.

“We’ve seen where people are able to stay in their apartment and have a safety plan,” Kelly said.

“There are a number of success cases that we’re familiar with,” he added. “There are people that have been placed [in Asteri] that are in a better situation, in that they have housing. But, unfortunately, we don’t hear about those stories because all we hear about are the issues that have gone wrong.”

The LDC complaint states that graffiti, arson and damaged windows have all occurred at the conference center property itself, with 45 fire alarms resulting from fire or smoke conditions or from malicious fire alarm activations.

“The fire instances have been so prevalent, along with the life safety system being out of compliance, that the building was required to retain outside services to provide ‘fire watch’ oversight from June 1 through October 10,” states the lawsuit. “Upon information and belief, there are still fire code violations. 

“Additionally,” the complaint adds, “the residential tenants have had numerous flooding instances that have then flowed directly into the conference center causing significant damage. … The Conference Center has had water intrusion incidents on at least 37 occasions.”

In response to the ongoing criminal activity, the LDC hired additional security, but the lingering issues were hard to ignore. Common areas often reeked of urine, marijuana and cigarette smoke, and doors were commonly left propped open, giving anyone access to various areas of the building.

The lawsuit states that Asteri/Vecino has breached multiple aspects of its lease agreement, including the lease’s guarantee that the LDC “shall quietly enjoy the leased premises without hindrance or molestation of Asteri or any other person of entity acting through or behalf of Asteri.”

Vecino did not respond to our requests for comment. 

Representatives of the LDC declined to comment while the lawsuit is pending.

“The Ithaca Downtown Conference Center is fully operational, offering stellar service to all current and future groups booked,” stated Peggy Coleman, President and CEO of Tompkins Chamber and vice chair of the LDC board. “This is an important economic development tool for Tompkins County, and the Tompkins Chamber and Visit Ithaca are committed to its success.”