The Cleveland-based PCS &Build now wants to foreclose on Spooky Nook’s building that houses its conference center and hotel, known as Mill 2, according to a new civil complaint filed late on Wednesday.
PCS &Build cites multiple issues in its lawsuit related to the building on the east side of North B Street, and they want the building to be sold at auction as they seek to recover a mechanic’s lien of nearly $3.96 million, plus fees and interest.
“PCS is entitled to foreclosure (of) its Affidavit for Mechanic’s Lien, to have the property sold as if on execution, and to recover payment,” according to the lawsuit.
This lawsuit has already been a months-long legal battle over the contract and determining who’s responsible for incomplete work at the $165 million transformational two-building, 1.2 million-square-foot mega-complex that has repurposed the former Champion Mill paper plant. Liens have been placed on both buildings by the contractor and 11 subcontractors that have exceeded a collective $22.3 million. PCS levied the majority of the lien amounts ($15.89 million).
In addition to a figurative army of attorneys involved in the cases, it now involves four Butler County Common Pleas judges and collectively more than a dozen of named parties, including the Butler County Port Authority and the city of Hamilton.
Spooky Nook Sports Champion Mill, which bisects North B Street, began operating in May 2022 when it opened part of its conference center and hotel, and then near the end of 2022, it began hosting sports events on the other side of the street. For the past few months, the complex has hosted tournaments and events, drawing tens of thousands of people every weekend.
With each filing, and suit, the dispute between PCS and Spooky Nook grows even more complicated, and Powers in February already declared the case before him a “complex litigation” because of the number of parties involved.
On Feb. 10, PCS filed its original civil suit, and amended it in April, saying they’re owed millions of dollars in costs and damages, the case is assigned to Butler County Common Pleas Judge Noah Powers. While that lawsuit also surrounds a contract dispute, it’s primary focus surrounds the March 2021 catastrophic collapse of what’s known as Building 500, a field dome that was to be a pre-engineered metal building.
PCS claims in that suit Spook Nook failed on several fronts, including properly insuring the project and giving written notice about an intent to allegedly purchase non-compliant builder’s risk insurance before the start of the project. Spooky Nook denies that and, in May, filed suit against Atlantic Specialty Insurance Company, one of the project’s insurers.
This new lawsuit by the construction company, which was filed late Wednesday night, pertains to the contract and work on the conference center and hotel on the east side of the street. It has been assigned to Common Pleas Judge Gregory Howard, which is the second of two PCS-Spooky Nook cases.
Spooky Nook filed a new 10-count civil suit against PCS, its principal Peter Pericarini, and the subcontractor Bronco Excavating on Wednesday evening, offers more claims of breaches of contract, and claims of tortious interference, fraud, and slander, and they request multiple declaratory judgments. Howard is also presiding over this case.
Spooky Nook is fiercely defending itself against the claims, and suggests PCS’ bonding company to settle the payment bonds with their subcontractors, according to a statement from the Spooky Nook Team.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
“In the meantime, Spooky Nook Sports intends to continue to hold all events that it is able under the circumstances and is proud of the positive impact that the facility has had on the city of Hamilton, its residents, and local business owners,” according to the statement.
While PCS is seeking foreclosure on the conference center and hotel as one of the remedies of the four-count civil suit, the crux is over that part of the project’s “guaranteed maximum price,” which is a little more than $50.1 million, according to court documents.
PCS claims there are “continued owner changes, delays, and refusals to adhere to the terms of the prime contract,” indicating Spooky Nook officials “repeatedly insisted” that PCS perform work outside the contract stipulations without adjustments to the contract.
They also claim Spooky Nook failed to acknowledge “substantial completion” of the project, which they claim states in the contract that is when “the owner can occupy or utilize” parts of the facility for its intended use, listing 14 events held in the building on the east side of North B Street.
“(Spooky Nook’s) failure to acknowledge substantial completion or pay PCS’s retainage and other non-retainage amounts due is without legal excuse and constitutes a material breach of contract,” according to the new PCS suit.
Spooky Nook has already countersued PCS, and filed a lawsuit seeking insurance money for Building 500′s collapse. That civil suit against Atlantic Speciality Insurance has been set for an Aug. 4 case management meeting with Common Pleas Judge Keith Spaeth.
Now the sports and events complex has filed a complaint against Star Building Systems, the manufacturer of the materials used in Building 500.
Earlier in the day Wednesday, Spooky Nook also filed a two-count complaint alleging Texas-based Star Building Materials was negligent and liable for their product. This complaint was initially brought on as a Third Party complaint in May in the suit before Powers and has since been dismissed in order to bring on this new lawsuit now assigned to Common Pleas Judge Jennifer Muench-McElfresh.
In the complaint, they allege the manufacturer “negligently manufactured the metal building system, which proximately caused the Building 500 incident, resulting in an economic loss.” Further, they claim the Texas manufacturer was also “negligent in establishing weld design requirements and/or performing the welds at issue” related to the collapse of Building 500.
Besides PCS and Spooky Nook’s court filings, defendants in the February case have also filed responses, many of who are subcontractors on the project.
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