Cho v. Purdue Research Foundation

803 N.E.2d 1161, 2004 Ind. App. LEXIS 289, 2004 WL 351862
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 26, 2004
Docket79A02-0305-CV-449
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 803 N.E.2d 1161 (Cho v. Purdue Research Foundation) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cho v. Purdue Research Foundation, 803 N.E.2d 1161, 2004 Ind. App. LEXIS 289, 2004 WL 351862 (Ind. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

OPINION

RILEY, Judge.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

Appellant-Plaintiff, John Cho (Cho) d/b/a Ace Construction & Interior Design (Ace Construction), appeals the trial court's summary judgment in favor of Ap-pellee-Defendant, Purdue Research Foundation (PRF). ' ‘

We affirm.

ISSUES

Cho raises eight issues on apbeal, which we consolidate and restate as follows:

(1) Whether the trial court erred in determining that Ace Construction's mechanic's. lien was invalid. because PRF did not actively consent to the construction project; ‘
(2) Whether the trial court erred in determining as a matter of law that the work performed by ACE Construction does not support a mechanic's lien;
(3) Whether the trial court erred in de- - termining as a matter .of law that Ace Construction's mechanic's lien was not filed in a timely manner and is invalid; and
(4) Whether the trial court erred in determining as a matter of law that Ace Construction was not entitled to file a mechanic's lien for the expenses incurred in constructing the clean room.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On or about January 6, 2002, PRF 1 and Optolynx, Inc. (Optolynx) 2 entered into a Lease Agreement in which Optolynx leased from PRF 983 square feet in Unit D1i-100 Rooms D1-103, D1-104, D1-105, D1-106, and D1i-107 in the Purdue Technology Center (Technology Center) located at 3000 Kent Avenue, in West Lafayette, Indiana, in the Purdue Research Park (the "Leased Property"). Article 11 of the Lease Agreement expressly provided that Optolynx was not to make "alterations, changes, improvements or additions to the Leased Property without the prior written consent" of PRF. (Appellant's App. p. 228).

After executing the Lease Agreement, Optolynx expressed an interest in leasing separate, additional space amounting to eight thousand eight hundred eighty three square feet in units E1-100 and E1-200 ("additional space") of the Technology Center for the purpose of constructing a clean room for the manufacture of computer chips. It is undisputed that PRF was aware that Optolynx was developing plans for the construction of a clean room in the additional space. It is further undisputed that PRF did not participate in the following: 1) Optolynx's decision to pursue the construction of a clean room; 2) Optolynx's determination of the work that would be required in order to construct a satisfactory clean room; 3) Optolynx's selection of a contractor to perform the work; or 4) Optolynx's negotiation of an agreement with any prospective contractors. Greg Deason (Deason), the Director of Research *1165 Park Development at PRF, 3 advised Opto-lynx that PRF would agree to the construction of a clean room in the additional space provided that PRF and Optolynx were both able to reach an agreement on the terms of a lease for the space.

On April 11, 2000, Cho d/b/a Ace Construction entered into a contract with Op-tolynx to construct the clean room in a portion of the Technology Center 4 Ace Construction specializes in the construction of clean rooms and generally constructs four to five clean rooms per year. A clean room construction project involves four phases: 1) design; 2) purchasing; 3) manufacturing; and 4) construction. Under the terms of the contract between Ace Construction and Optolynx, Ace Construetion was to provide the design engineering, materials, and installation of the clean room for a price of $810,000 subject to adjustments for changes in the seope of work or in equipment specifications. Some of Ace Construction's obligations under the contract were to be provided by Ace Construction's sub-contractors. Particularly, the services provided by Ace Construction are described on page 10 of the contract, as follows:

PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Trained Ace Construction personnel will professionally manage the OPTOLYNX, INC. project. Ace Construction will procure required subcontracting services, and an experienced technical crew will perform the turnkey installation.

(Appellant's App. p. 242).

At the time the contract was executed, Optolynx paid Ace Construction $81,000.00 as payment towards the contract price. However, Ace Construction has not received any other amounts paid by Opto-lynx or any other individual or entity towards the contract price. PRF did not participate in negotiating or drafting the contract agreement between Optolynx and Ace Construction, and further did not sign or initial the contract agreement. In fact, PRF was not provided with a copy of the agreement or the details of the agreement between Ace Construction and Optolynx until after Ace Construction recorded its Notice of Intention to Hold Lien on September 18, 2000.

Nonetheless, Deason informed Optolynx on numerous occasions that it was not authorized to begin construction of the clean room until PRF, as the landlord, had sufficient opportunity to review the plans for the proposed clean room and assess the potential impact the plans had on the other tenants and the Technology Center as a whole. Further, Deason informed Opto-lynx that PRF would not approve plans for the construction of a clean room in the Technology Center unless and until Opto-lynx executed a lease for the space in which the proposed clean room was to be constructed. Deason also informed Ace Construction that before any construction activities could go forward, PRE's approval would be required.

On May 16, 2000, Ace Construction presented to Deason a written request allowing them to remove some ceiling tile and *1166 grid and to erect metal studs for partition walls inside the proposed clean room space. Although Ace Construction requested that PRF approve both the demolition of the existing ceiling and the installation of a metal frame, PRF approved only the minor demolition requested by Ace Construction, Thus, PRF denied authorization of the other construction activities in the additional space. PRF authorized Ace Construction to conduct the ceiling demolition because of its "optimism" and belief that the clean room would eventually be built. (Appellant's App. p. 626). The ceiling demolition work involved removal of the existing air conditioning ductwork, light fixtures, and wiring. Ace Construction did not hire a subcontractor to do the ceiling demolition; instead, they performed the work themselves. On or about May 18, 2000, the demolition work was completed.

After the demolition was completed, Ace construction requested that PRF approve the plans for construction of the clean room, sign the required local building permit applications, and execute additional documents so that the plans for the clean room could be submitted to the State of Indiana to secure a design release. On July 18, 2000, the design plans were reviewed in a meeting attended by representatives of Ace Construction, Optolynx, and PREF. During the meeting, Deason communicated the technical concerns identified during the design review to Ace Construetion.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
803 N.E.2d 1161, 2004 Ind. App. LEXIS 289, 2004 WL 351862, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cho-v-purdue-research-foundation-indctapp-2004.