Pop song bird Taylor Swift at the center of a battle with a Manhattan real estate broker, who claims the pop superstar refused to pay a $1.08 million commission for the purchase of her new Tribeca townhouse.
A member of the Douglas Elliman brokerage firm, whose name has not been released, introduced the singer to the owner of 153 Franklin St., which abuts a building where the “Bad Blood” singer has a duplex penthouse, last year, according to the civil suit filed in Manhattan.
The property was a perfect match for Swift, a frequent paparazzi target, whose apartment building at 155 Franklin St. does not have an indoor garage, requiring Swift to park on the street, the suit says.
The home built in 1915 covers 5,148 square feet and features a cinema, bar, gym and enclosed roof garden.
Swift is best known for narrative songs, such as “Shake it Off,” which focus on her personal life, which has received widespread media coverage.
The Douglas Elliman broker also showed Swift the unlisted 27-foot-wide townhouse.
Elliman says its broker measured the property with a laser for Swift, provided her companies with blueprints and engaged in preliminary negotiations with the building’s owner on her behalf.
But Swift’s management company, Firefly, excluded Douglas Elliman from the October closing, the suit says.
The legal papers explained that the townhouse would provide privacy for the star – who could come and go using the indoor garage – unlike her apartment building next-door where she she was forced to park on the street.
The Manhattan civil suit claims that Swift’s management companies excluded Douglas Elliman from the closing, which took place in October, and claim another broker ended up getting the commission.
Douglas Elliman is suing for the commission, which equals 6 percent of the sale price.
Swift is not named as a defendant in the suit, two entities she controls are defendants.
Swift’s spokeswoman declined to comment for published reports.
