ALBANY — While South End residents and elected officials weigh the proposed $570 million data center and technology campus at the former Kenwood Academy site off South Pearl Street, a California company is crying foul over an insurance claim made shortly after the 2023 fire that destroyed the former private school and convent.
In March, Next Insurance of Palo Alto, Calif., filed a lawsuit in state Supreme Court in Albany alleging that Jacob Frydman, the New York real estate developer who acquired the historic 76-acre site in 2017 for roughly $18 million, lied about details of the property on his application to purchase insurance for it.
Frydman’s limited liability company that owned the site, Kenwood Commons, filed for federal bankruptcy protection on March 28, 2022. That same day, according to Next Insurance, Frydman applied for and was issued an insurance policy for the property. The insurance company’s lawsuit does not mention the premium Frydman paid.
Nearly a year later, on March 21, 2023, Kenwood Commons lost the Kenwood Academy property at a mortgage foreclosure auction. Guild Ventures, which held the $5 million mortgage, was the winning bidder at $100,000…