She spent her savings building a restaurant. Now she’s being asked to pay $2.5 million to keep it.

Editor’s note: This story is told in two parts. Click here to read the other installment.

BROOKLYN — As Eva Volmar left Brooklyn’s commercial tenant housing court on June 16, still fighting to keep control of the restaurant she spent more than a year building, a new proposal was on the table. 

Her landlord, she said, wanted to sell it to her — for $2.5 million.

Volmar, owner of La Cachette du Coin in the Prospect Lefferts Gardens area just north of Flatbush, has been embroiled in a legal dispute with her landlord after the contractor she hired to transform a bare commercial space into a restaurant placed a mechanic’s lien on the property despite what she says were verbal payment agreements allowing her to pay the balance of the construction costs in installments.

The mechanic’s lien — which Volmar calls “bogus” — became the basis for an effort to terminate her lease. She believes landlord Nigel Boyden orchestrated the move in hopes of reclaiming the fully built-out restaurant and leasing it to another tenant.

The proposal surfaced two weeks ago in Brooklyn Housing Court, where attorneys for both sides told Judge Javier Ortiz that discussions had taken place about a possible sale of the restaurant to Volmar. La Cachette du Coin opened in December after an extensive renovation of the unfinished commercial space.

According to Volmar, the offer came through Eddie Mamiye, a listing agent with MOD Commercial Real Estate, who said Boyden was willing to sell the restaurant for $2.5 million and help her secure a Small Business Administration loan to finance the purchase.

On MOD’s site, the same space is listed for $2 million and advertised as a fully built-out restaurant.

“I don’t want to buy the restaurant,” Volmar said. “I just want to continue my lease.”

Volmar’s fight to remain in the space stems from a series of legal setbacks that followed the filing of the lien.

Earlier this year, her attorney at the time, Robert Rosman, filed two lawsuits: one seeking to discharge the lien and another arguing that Volmar was not in breach of her lease and asking the court to prevent Boyden from terminating it.

Court records show Rosman missed his first court appearance. Without the lien being discharged, the second case unraveled. On March 2, a judge denied Volmar’s Yellowstone injunction, a legal mechanism that can temporarily preserve a commercial lease while a dispute is resolved.

Two weeks later, Boyden filed a holdover proceeding, seeking to have the lease declared terminated.

Rosman did not respond to a request for comment sent by email.

Volmar later hired the Spodek Law Group to represent her.

City property records show Boyden’s building increased in value from $500,000 in 2018, when he purchased the lot, to $2 million in 2025 after Volmar completed the buildout. The residential units in the building, which range from about $500,000 to $1.45 million, are sold out.

A proposal in court

When Volmar and Boyden saw each other across the sixth-floor hallway where commercial lease cases were being heard, neither spoke.

Around 10 a.m., Judge Ortiz called their case.

At first, Gregory Skiff, Boyden’s attorney, and Ralph Franco Jr., Volmar’s attorney, told the judge that an offer to sell the restaurant to Volmar had been made. Skiff said his client doubted Volmar had the funds to complete the purchase and raised the outstanding lien as an obstacle.

The attorneys then moved to a conference room to continue negotiations. They later returned and asked the judge to set a new trial date to allow more time to work toward an agreement.

Ortiz agreed, and the clerk scheduled a trial for Aug. 25.

After the hearing, Boyden and his attorney left. Volmar, her business partner and Franco remained in the hallway discussing next steps.

Asked what she planned to do, Volmar said she wanted to resolve the lien first and then negotiate a new lease.

“I think we have a very good shot at resolving this,” Franco said.

Volmar agreed, but said the lien would have to be removed first.

Just then, contractor Ed Mishan called Volmar’s cellphone. She said he agreed to meet with her and her partner later that afternoon.

According to Volmar, the meeting did not produce a breakthrough.

She said she offered a payment plan totaling $200,000 — $20,000 upfront and $5,000 per month for 36 months — which she said was $70,000 more than she believed she owed.

But after the meeting, Volmar said, Mishan called her and said he had spoken with his son, a business partner, and Boyden.

“He said he’s not going to remove the lien for that little money,” Volmar said.

Since Mishan would not negotiate, Volmar said, her attorney plans to challenge the lien in court.

For Volmar, however, the goal remains simple. 

She never intended to buy a multimillion-dollar property. She wanted a lease, a restaurant and a chance to build a future for her family.

“I don’t want to buy the restaurant,” she said. “I just want to continue my lease.”

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