Coon was recommended as a person to talk with due to his experience with successfully acquiring Ohio historic tax credits. Over the next couple of years, Coon became heavily involved with the Spooky Nook business, including being a partner in one of the LLCs formed. The company said it followed many of Coon’s recommendations, and stated in court documents that Coon “became the public face” for the redevelopment project’s historic tax credit application.
Spooky Nook was eventually successful in obtaining the state historic tax credits, as the project received $4.7 million for the hotel project in 2018.
Sometime in 2019, a man named Pietro Perticarini had approached Coon about being involved in a new company called &build LLC, which included PCS, according to court documents. Subsequently, Coon allegedly invested $1.5 million into the company, the complaint said. Spooky Nook said Coon did not disclose this information, including when he recommended PCS as the general contractor.
In this latest Butler County lawsuit, Coon purported PCS’ ability to obtain a performance bond and payment bond, which Spooky Nook said “was a critical part of the decision-making process” on choosing a general contractor. However, in the suit, the company claims it was because of Coon’s financial investment that PCS was able to obtain those bonds.
Coon separated his involvement in the Spooky Nook business in January 2020, but the sports complex claims he continued to represent himself as involved in February 2020, when he responded to the state historic tax credit program about the Spooky Nook hotel.
Spooky Nook did not disclose in the complaint how much in damages it’s seeking, but did specify the want the court to award damages exceeding $50,000 plus punitive damages, interest, court costs and attorney fees. The project was initially estimated to cost $120 million, but over time costs grew to $165 million in funding from Butler County and Hamilton, mostly for utility and road improvements in the area.
As a result of contracting with PCS on Coon’s recommendation, Spooky Nook officials claim in court documents that among other things, the general contractor was “unable to independently secure” performance and payment bonds, the work performed by PCS and/or subcontractors “was riddled with defects” which caused additional costs and delays, and “PCS submitted multiple fraudulent payment applications to Historic Mill” and had “misrepresentations about the percentage of completed work, double charges for the same work, and overbilling for work performed.”
The Journal-News reached out to PCS &build’s attorney, Michael Frantz, and Coon’s attorney, Laura Mills, for comment, but neither have replied. PCS, while key in in the allegations in the lawsuit against Coon, is not named in it. Mills was notified on Oct. 14 of the complaint filed in Butler County, and still has time to file a response.
Spooky Nook Sports spokesperson Mackenzie Bender told the Journal-News: “The owners claims are set forth in detail in the complaint. We do not have any additional comments at this time.”
Though PCS is not involved in this lawsuit, Spooky Nook and PCS are involved in another yet-to-be-resolved Butler County lawsuit that started in February 2023.
PCS &build filed suit against Spooky Nook related to the sports complex side of the facility in mid-February 2023, an 11-count complaint related to the March 2021 collapse of a steel structure known as Building 500. The suit ballooned with additional complaints, countersuits and counterclaims, and liens against the property to where it was deemed a “complex litigation” due to the number of defendants, plaintiffs and attorneys.
PCS &build filed its second lawsuit in July 2023 related to the hotel and conference side of the complex, and overall PCS had been seeking nearly $15.9 million, according to the two suits, and 11 subcontractors were seeking a collective $6.4 million. Then on March 25, PCS &build filed for Chapter 7 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Northern District of Ohio. This is known as a liquidation bankruptcy.
This case is expected to have a pre-trial and settlement conference in January 2025, and two dates have been set for a possible jury trial, one in March and the other several months later in September.
But that’s not all of the litigation. In October 2023, Coon filed a lawsuit in Stark County Common Pleas Court alleging a business partner, Pietro Perticarini and his company, which included PCS &build, committed fraud related to the redevelopment of the former paper mill on North B Street.
According to court documents in Stark County, this case has been assigned a pre-trial on Dec. 17 and a jury trial on Jan. 27.
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