Harris Rd. Dev. Co., L.L.C. v. Hilliard Partnership, L.L.C.

CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 4, 2026
Docket25CA012272
StatusPublished

This text of Harris Rd. Dev. Co., L.L.C. v. Hilliard Partnership, L.L.C. (Harris Rd. Dev. Co., L.L.C. v. Hilliard Partnership, L.L.C.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Harris Rd. Dev. Co., L.L.C. v. Hilliard Partnership, L.L.C., (Ohio Ct. App. 2026).

Opinion

[Cite as Harris Rd. Dev. Co., L.L.C. v. Hilliard Partnership, L.L.C., 2026-Ohio-1602.]

STATE OF OHIO ) IN THE COURT OF APPEALS )ss: NINTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COUNTY OF LORAIN )

HARRIS ROAD DEVELOPMENT CO., C.A. No. 25CA012272 LLC

Appellee APPEAL FROM JUDGMENT v. ENTERED IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS HILLIARD PARTNERSHIP, LLC COUNTY OF LORAIN, OHIO CASE No. 23CV209422 Appellant

DECISION AND JOURNAL ENTRY

Dated: May 4, 2026

SUTTON, Judge.

{¶1} Defendant-Appellant Hilliard Partnership, LLC (“Hilliard Partnership”) appeals the

judgment of the Lorain County Court of Common Pleas granting summary judgment in favor of

Plaintiff-Appellee Harris Road Development Co., LLC (“Harris Road”). For the reasons that

follow, this Court affirms.

I.

Relevant Background Information

{¶2} This appeal arises from a residential subdivision development project in Lorain

County, Ohio called Grande Esplanade. On or about September 26, 2018, Hilliard Partnership,

the developer of the subdivision project, entered into an acquisition loan agreement with Harris

Road. Pursuant to that agreement, Harris Road loaned the sum of $2,250,000.00 to Hilliard

Partnership so Hilliard Partnership could acquire the real property for the project. The funds

were to be repaid with interest by May 31, 2023, or within a ten-day grace period thereafter. The 2

base rate of interest in the agreement was 11% from September 26, 2018, with a default rate of an

additional 5%. The initial maturity date of May 31, 2023, was subject to a possible one-year

extension if certain conditions precedent were met. These conditions were: (i) Hilliard Partnership

provides written notice to Harris Road at least 30 days prior to the initial maturity date of its

election to extend the initial maturity date; (ii) no event of default under the agreement has

occurred; (iii) completion of construction of all required items to render the sublots salable as

buildable sublots has occurred; (iv) no less than 40 of the sublots have been sold; and (v) Hilliard

Partnership has paid to Harris Road the required extension fee.

{¶3} Separately, but also in connection with the Grande Esplanade project, Hilliard

Lending, LLC (“Hilliard Lending”) entered into a development loan agreement with H-9, LLC

(“H-9”), guaranteed by Hilliard Partnership, in which Hilliard Lending would loan H-9 up to

$2,500,000.00 for the development of the Grande Esplanade project. The development loan

agreement also contained an option to extend the initial maturity date by one year. The

development loan is the subject of a separate appeal pending in this Court.

{¶4} The development project stalled, and Hilliard Partnership did not repay the

acquisition loan funds by May 31, 2023. Without meeting the conditions precedent, but prior to

the initial maturity date of the loan, H-9 and Hilliard Partnership attempted to exercise the options

to extend the initial maturity dates of both the acquisition loan and development loan by one year

by sending a letter to Harris Road and Hilliard Lending. The letter did not indicate that all of the

conditions precedent to exercising the extension option in the acquisition loan agreement were

met. On May 15, 2023, a letter signed by Keith Vanderburg, the President of Hilliard Lending,

was sent to Hilliard Partnership and H-9 on behalf of both Harris Road and Hilliard Lending

rejecting the claimed extensions of both loans. Mr. Vanderburg informed Hilliard Partnership that 3

the conditions for the extension of the initial maturity date of the acquisition loan had not been

met.

{¶5} On June 30, 2023, Harris Road filed a complaint against Hilliard Partnership in the

Lorain County Court of Common Pleas for breach of contract, seeking $2,250,000.00 plus

contractual interest. The complaint alleged: (1) Harris Road and Hilliard Partnership entered into

an acquisition loan agreement whereby Harris Road agreed to loan Hilliard Partnership

$2,500,000.00 to be used “only for the purchase certain undeveloped real property in and around

the city of Avon,” in Lorain County, Ohio; (2) Harris Road loaned Hilliard Partnership the sum of

$2,250,000.00; (3) Harris Road obtained a valid second lien mortgage1 on the subject property; (4)

the acquisition loan agreement required all funds loaned by Harris Road to Hilliard Partnership be

repaid in full, with interest, on or before May 31, 2023, subject to a possible one-year extension;

(5) the loan period was not extended; and (6) Hilliard Partnership failed to repay the loan and

accrued interest.

{¶6} Hilliard Partnership answered the complaint, admitting it entered the forementioned

acquisition loan agreement with Harris Road, and admitting Harris Road loaned it $2,250,000.00,

but denied the remaining allegations in the complaint. Hilliard Partnership also counterclaimed

against Harris Road for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, anticipatory breach of

contract, “[a]ctive-[c]onstructive [f]raud,” negligent misrepresentation, and abuse of process,

seeking “[e]quitable [r]elief [r]eformation” of the agreement and demanding an “accounting.”

{¶7} Harris Road filed a motion for summary judgment on its complaint against Hilliard

Partnership and on Hilliard Partnership’s counterclaims. The trial court granted Harris Road’s

motion for summary judgment in its entirety and entered judgment in favor of Harris Road on its

1 Hilliard Lending holds the first mortgage. 4

complaint and on Hilliard Partnership’s counterclaims. The trial court granted judgment in favor

of Harris Road and against Hilliard Partnership in the amount of $4,364,177.53.

{¶8} Hilliard Partnership has appealed, raising one assignment of error for our

consideration.

II.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR I

THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN GRANTING SUMMARY JUDGMENT WHERE GENUINE ISSUES OF MATERIAL FACT EXISTED REGARDING THE PARTIES’ PERFORMANCE, MODIFICATION, AND ENFORCEMENT OF THE LOAN ACQUISITION AGREEMENT.

{¶9} In its sole assignment of error, Hilliard Partnership argues the trial court erred in

granting summary judgment in favor of Harris Road, maintaining there remain genuine issues of

material fact precluding summary judgment.

{¶10} This Court reviews an award of summary judgment de novo. Grafton v. Ohio

Edison Co., 77 Ohio St.3d 102, 105 (1996). Summary judgment is appropriate under Civ.R. 56

when: (1) no genuine issue as to any material fact remains to be litigated; (2) the moving party is

entitled to judgment as a matter of law; and (3) viewing the evidence most strongly in favor of the

nonmoving party, reasonable minds can come to but one conclusion and that conclusion is adverse

to the nonmoving party. Temple v. Wean United, Inc., 50 Ohio St.2d 317, 327 (1977), citing Civ.R.

56(C). A court must view the facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving party and must

resolve any doubt in favor of the non-moving party. Murphy v. Reynoldsburg, 65 Ohio St.3d 356,

358-359 (1992). The party moving for summary judgment bears the initial burden of informing

the trial court of the basis for the motion and pointing to parts of the record that show the absence

of a genuine issue of material fact. Dresher v. Burt, 75 Ohio St.3d 280, 292-293 (1996).

Specifically, the moving party must support the motion by pointing to some evidence in the record 5

of the type listed in Civ.R. 56(C). Id. Once a moving party satisfies its burden of supporting its

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Harris Rd. Dev. Co., L.L.C. v. Hilliard Partnership, L.L.C., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/harris-rd-dev-co-llc-v-hilliard-partnership-llc-ohioctapp-2026.