NORTHAMPTON — A Hampshire Superior Court judge ruled in favor last week of a Chicopee fire and water damage restoration company that claims to be owed more than $633,000 from work completed for an historic building on Round Hill Road that was destroyed by fire in August 2016.
Judge Richard Carey allowed Complete Restoration Solutions Inc.’s motion to attach real estate of Historic Round Hill Summit LLC of Northampton in the amount of $500,000 on Friday. The ruling means that Historic Round Hill Summit property effectively cannot be sold or mortgaged before a final ruling from a judge in the lawsuit.
Complete Restoration filed the complaint against Historic Round Hill in Hampshire Superior Court in May, alleging breach of contract for labor and materials and “unjust enrichment” in the amount of $633,447.63.
Historic Round Hill denied the complaint and alleged the restoration company is not entitled to the money for a variety of reasons, including its “unfair and deceptive acts,” according to a counterclaim filed in court. The developer also alleged that CRS caused about $100,000 worth of damage to appliances, counters, baseboards and historic windows.
Attorneys for CRS and Historic Round Hill could not be reached Monday. Both argued their respective sides before Carey in court on Friday.
CRS was hired by Historic Round Hill Summit last August to complete restoration work and services following the fire that ravaged the vacant Rogers Hall building at 49 Round Hill Road, which was under renovation at the time. The building once served as a dormitory at the former Clarke School for the Deaf. The fire also damaged parts of connecting Hubbard Hall.
The Round Hill Road property’s owners are Peter Picknelly, chairman and CEO of Peter Pan Bus Lines and owner of Opal Real Estate Group, Springfield attorney Michael Siddall, and businessman James Hebert. They purchased the property from Clarke School for $4.8 million in 2013 to transform it into a mix of residences and light office and commercial space.
Emily Cutts can be reached at ecutst@gazettenet.com.