Northwest Philly property owners and tenant sue neighbor, construction firm over property damage

The owners of a piece of property in Northwest Philadelphia and their business tenants have filed a civil claim against the owners of an adjoining property and a construction firm for damages to the plaintiff’s property that were allegedly caused by the demolition of the adjoining structure.

Philip L. Hinerman, an attorney with Philadelphia’s Fox Rothschild law firm, filed the complaint May 15 at Philadelphia’s Common Pleas Court on behalf of Jennifer Rezeli and Scott Kelly, who own 133 Grape St. in the city’s Manayunk section.

The co-plaintiff in the litigation is Re:Vision Architecture, the business that rents the plaintiff’s space.

Named as defendants in the lawsuit are Secure Real Estate Investments LLC, the equitable owners of the adjoining property, and Penn Valley, Pa.-based Newport Construction Management Corporation.

The lawsuit claims that demolition work that began on the defendant’s property back in September 2010 left the plaintiff’s property subject to water intrusion.

“Due to lack of proper maintenance and control at the Secure Property, and due to design and construction activities resulting from actions or inactions of both defendants, the Property was damaged and continues to be damaged by the infiltration of storm water and the lack of adequate control or security to prevent migration onto the Plaintiff’s Property,” the lawsuit states.

The complaint claims that the plaintiffs have requested on repeated occasions that the defendants repair the damages, but that no effort has been made to remediate the conditions or to control the continued migration and infiltration of water onto the plaintiff’s property.

The lawsuit contains counts of trespass and negligence against both defendants.

The plaintiffs seek declaratory judgment that the defendants are liable for all past, present and future damages to the plaintiff’s property, and they ask the court to order the defendants to remedy the situation at the damaged building.

 

The case ID number is 120501381.