Chris Pine is suing Eckstrom’s Carlos Saavedra to recoup $100,000 in fees he paid for a short-term rental that fell through.
Photo: Anna Pocaro/Variety/Getty Images
Celebrity renters, they’re just like us. Chris Pine wants his security deposit and first month’s rent back on a rental that didn’t work out, though the rental in question cost nearly $70,000 a month. According to a lawsuit filed in Kings County Supreme Court on Monday, Pine is suing a townhouse developer for allegedly refusing to refund $100,000 in fees from a deal that fell through.
According to the suit, which was first reported by The Real Deal, Pine had been in negotiations with Eckstrom NYC’s Carlos Saavedra to rent 487 Henry Street, a sleekly renovated five-bedroom, four-plus-bath townhouse in Cobble Hill, for just shy of two months. (He’s apparently in town to film a rom-com with Emma Stone called The Catch.) During that process, Pine says he paid $50,000 for the first month’s rent, plus another $50,000 for a security deposit. Pine, a known dog guy, also alleged he paid an additional “pet deposit” of $25,000, though that amount has already been refunded, probably because security-deposit fees are capped at one month’s rent per the 2019 state housing laws.
Pine was hoping to rent the entire townhouse at 487 Henry Street, as seen in this listing photo.
Photo: Brooklyn Real Inc
Eckstrom did a gut renovation at 487 Henry, as seen in this listing photo.
Photo: Park Property Advisors
Eckstrom’s finishes at 487 Henry Street, as seen in this listing photo, lean toward very now luxe aesthetics.
Photo: Park Property Advisors
487 Henry Street is a typical Eckstrom property. The firm, which Saavedra co-founded with his wife, Nicole Eckstrom, has developed a playbook of purchasing multifamily homes in brownstone Brooklyn, which they gut renovate and combine into single-family townhouses with modern finishes before flipping them for eight figures. The appeal is basically one-stop turnkey-townhouse shopping — buyers can pick finishes, though they trend toward white oak and other very now luxe aesthetics. Eckstrom purchased No. 487, then a four-family home, back in 2024 for $4.65 million. The new list price is currently $14.25 million, or $69,500 a month as a rental.
The five-floor, nearly 6,300-square-foot rental on Henry Street comes furnished and has an additional 2,000 square feet of outdoor space. The amenity spread includes a sauna and cold plunge, which Pine probably could have used for unwinding after dealing with any local Trekkies. It’s unclear why the rental negotiations fell through, but the lawsuit notes that no lease was executed: “There is, accordingly, no lawful basis for Owner to retain the funds.” (An attorney for Saavedra told The Real Deal that Pine’s lawsuit “tells only one side and does not reflect the complete story.”)
Good luck to Pine, who had a hard weekend. He threw the ceremonial first pitch at Citi Field on Saturday and was accused by a Daily News reporter of having a “terrible curveball.”
