The speed of light

Pritam Singh is not your average developer. Just ask him.

"A born iconoclast, Pritam Singh attracts attention wherever he goes," says his website. He is "one of the most sought after developers of quality real estate in America. His enigmatic life story has also made him a favorite subject of journalists across the country. . . . One of America's most talked about real estate developers. . . . His keen eye for detail has taken on legendary proportions."

Singh, a poor boy from Fitchburg who went from hippie to devout Sikh in the '70s and got very rich building in Key West, stares pensively out from his website wearing a turban and a full black beard: "He acted with the speed that has made him a legend."

More like the speed of light. Just ask Robin Brown.

Singh, known as Paul Arthur Labombard in his Fitchburg days, is the reluctant buyer of Boston's most expensive home, a $14.3 million, massive 7,000-square-foot condo atop what is soon-to-become the city's most elite address, the Residences at Mandarin, at the Prudential Center. Now, however, Singh is suing Brown and his partners, the builders of the Mandarin, to void the deal and get back his $3.4 million deposit. The problem: Singh says the condo doesn't get enough light in winter, and no one told him.

Brown made his reputation as the city's top hotelier during his many years running the Four Seasons, and has spent 11 years working on the Mandarin project. He says he is still astonished at how fast Singh bought the Mandarin's 14th-floor penthouse.

According to Brown, Singh's daughter, Charan, first came to see him in October 2004, spent less than an hour with him, and took home plans for seven different condos, ranging in price from $2.2 million to $12.9 million. The following March, Singh and his family came in for about 45 minutes and agreed to buy a $6.6 million penthouse. During about half the time, Brown says, Singh was on the phone, discussing a deal to buy a hotel. "He apologized for being on the phone so long," says Brown.

Then in May, Singh called from the Miami airport on his way to Costa Rica. His question: Was the adjacent condo still available and could he buy it? It's your lucky day because it is still available, Brown told him. The price: $7.7 million. The whole conversation took about five minutes, remembers Brown. "I was amazed," he says.

Singh's architects spent more than a year designing his massive unit, which includes three bedrooms, five baths, a guest apartment, a library, a gallery, an exercise room, gardens, and much more. My bedroom would fit in his bedroom closet. It wasn't until May that Singh came in to announce his wife had a "seasonal disorder," which triggers depression in the winter. They talked about solutions, including adding three large skylights. In late September, Singh's lawyer's wrote saying he was suing.

Singh rejects the idea that he was acting with the speed of light. The only issue, he says, is the developers knew the condo had problems with shadows and they had an affirmative obligation to disclose that. "There are studies that exist that these properties will be in near-constant darkness most of the day," says Singh, 54, who no longer wears a turban -- a long story, he says.

Brown says the shadow study done for the Boston Redevelopment Authority shows no such thing, and deals mainly with the shadows the Mandarin will cast on the neighborhood.

Singh's website chronicles, in detail, his "lifelong journey of self-discovery."

"Singh was unstoppable," it says in a nonstop journey of self-congratulation. And adds: "Asked about the secret of his success, Singh has said, 'I think the thing I do well is that I see things that aren't there.' "

Steve Bailey is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at bailey@globe.com or at 617-929-2902.