A New York-based developer has filed a federal lawsuit against the Town of Lake Park, accusing the town’s own attorney of trying to extort and blackmail his company into abandoning a planned affordable housing project near Park Avenue. The Alder at Lake Park LLC, tied to Daniel Goldstein of Bofsa Properties, claims Town Attorney Tom Baird told the company that its problems would disappear if it sold its properties to a developer he had already lined up.
Federal Complaint Accuses Town of Coercion
The Alder at Lake Park LLC filed its complaint against the Town of Lake Park in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, according to The Real Deal, which reported the lawsuit was filed in late August 2026. Goldstein owns a seven-parcel assemblage at Park Avenue and 10th Street in Lake Park, where he plans The Kelsey at Park Avenue, a mixed-use affordable housing project. Per the complaint, Baird directed a code enforcement officer to issue 34 code violations against the developer’s properties.
According to the complaint, Lake Park had persuaded Alder to purchase 918 Park Avenue and fold it into the broader project, and had offered a larger development with an expedited approval process in exchange for incorporating the parcel. The site contains a dilapidated historic building. But Alder alleges the town then used the code enforcement process and the threat of steep remediation costs to coerce it into surrendering the properties, and it says Baird opposed The Kelsey project outright.
Fines Piled Up on a Historic Building
The building at 918 Park Avenue, known as the Arnold Building, dates to 1925 and is considered the last surviving commercial structure from the original Kelsey City, having once served as headquarters for the construction firm that built Lake Park’s historic Town Hall, according to a Facebook post cited in local records. Its legal owner applied in 2023 to rescind its historic designation to allow demolition.
The property faced daily fines, and the town threatened foreclosure if the fines went unpaid. Lake Park requirements also forced Alder to downsize the overall project from 720 to 426 units, and the town ultimately rejected Alder’s latest application as a no-go, after having rejected the project repeatedly since Alder purchased 918 Park Avenue.
Developer, Town Attorney Trade Accusations
Goldstein called Baird’s alleged actions an abuse of power and said the lawsuit seeks to bring out the corruption. He said Alder wants the project approved rather than a payout, and characterized the current violations as targeted and insignificant. Wade Bowden, who represents the plaintiff, said Alder is seeking accountability and fairness after investing millions of dollars into the project…