Oates v. Larkin

23 Mass. L. Rptr. 390
CourtMassachusetts Superior Court
DecidedDecember 5, 2007
DocketNo. 072889BLS2
StatusPublished

This text of 23 Mass. L. Rptr. 390 (Oates v. Larkin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Superior Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Oates v. Larkin, 23 Mass. L. Rptr. 390 (Mass. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

FabricaNT, Judith, J.

INTRODUCTION

This action arises from the construction of Millennium Place, a large-scale residential, hotel, and commercial condominium project in downtown Boston. The plaintiff, as president of the association of unit owners of one of the four components of the project, alleges that the project suffers from construction defects, and that the developer and its appointed majority of the board of managers have refused to take action to remedy the problems or to assert claims against the entities involved in the construction. Before the Court are a motion to dismiss filed by the members of the board of managers and the developer, a separate motion to dismiss filed by the construction manager, and a motion by the architect to join in that motion. For the reasons that will be explained, the developer’s and managers’ motion will be denied, provided that the plaintiff complies with an order to amend the complaint. Bovis’s motion will be allowed in part and denied in part, and CBTs motion to join will be allowed, with substantive rulings on the claims against CBT identical to those on the claims against Bovis.

BACKGROUND

The verified complaint, along with exhibits appended to it, provides the following factual allegations. Millennium Place is located “on either side of Avery Street” in downtown Boston. It was developed by a set of entities identified in the complaint as New Commonwealth Center Limited Partnership and New Commonwealth Residential Co., LLC d/b/a Millennium Partners-Boston (collectively, “the developer”). The project is a two-tier condominium, consisting of four separate condominiums which, together, make up what is referred to as the primary condominium. The four second-tier condominiums include one commercial and three residential, known as North High-Rise, North Low-Rise, and South. Each second-tier condominium has its own association of unit owners, known as the North High-Rise Residential Association, the North Low-Rise Residential Association, the South Residential Association, and the Commercial Association. The primary condominium is controlled by a seven-member board of managers, consisting of the president of each of the three residential unit owners’ associations, and four managers appointed by the Commercial Association. The three residential associations are under the control of their unit owners; the Commercial Association remains under the control of the developer. The plaintiff, Keith Oates, is president of the North High-Rise Association, and by virtue of that position is its representative on the board of managers of the primary association. The developer has appointed four of its employees to the four positions on the primary association board of managers that it controls through the Commercial Association.

The project consists of two buildings, referred to as the North and South buildings. The North High-Rise and the North Low-Rise condominiums, with 132 and 63 residential units, respectively, are both located in the North building. The South condominium, with 172 residential units, is located in the South building. The parking garage, which services all the residential as well as the commercial condominiums, is located in the South building; commercial parking is on floors 1 through 4, and parking for the residential units is on floors 4 and 5.

[392]*392After the residential unit owners took control of their associations, they identified certain defects in the buildings. In a letter from its counsel dated June 3, 2005, the North High-Rise Association notified the developer of what it characterized as “certain defective design and/or construction elements or omissions in the building,” and demanded that the developer cure the problems or “make payment to the Board [of North High-Rise] sufficient to allow it to cure the problems.” The construction problems identified related to concrete in a stairwell, balancing of the ventilation system, drainage on balconies, heat pumps and thermostats in units, stairwell door closers, fire-proofing at fire wall penetrations, lack of plumbing access panels, inadequate roof fans, security measures for the service elevator, and dents in an elevator panel.

Some of these issues, it appears, were resolved, but some remained. The North High-Rise Association’s counsel sent two further letters to the developer, dated August 24, 2006, identifying defects and demanding relief pursuant to G.L.c. 93A. The construction defects asserted in those letters consisted of inappropriately located thermostats in residential units, inefficient roof fans, certain apparently relatively minor deficiencies in Are safety facilities and in the parking garage, and, most significant, lack of waterproofing membranes on the floor slabs in the parking garage, resulting in water intrusion. As to the garage water issue, the letter stated that “[t]he possibility of premature failure of the Parking Garage’s structure and systems presents a serious safety issue; moreover, such failures would undoubtedly result in a special assessment on the Primary Units, and my clients have no intention of paying for corrective work that originates from poor design and/or construction . . .” It went on to state that the lack of waterproofing in the parking garage “leads to both structural problems (deterioration of concrete, and rusting of the rebar) and maintenance problems (salts staining the walls and dripping onto parked cars).”

The issues regarding the parking garage were not resolved, and counsel for North High-Rise sent another letter, dated November 22, 2006, to counsel for the board of managers of the primary association, demanding that the primary board demand action from the developer to address the problem. On March 29, 2007, the North-High Rise Residential Association filed suit in this Court against the developer, the Primary Association, and the Commercial Association, claiming negligence, breach of fiduciary duly, and violation of G.L.c. 93A with respect to certain accounting issues and with respect to certain alleged building defects, particularly in the parking garage.2, 3

Both the North and South High-Rise Associations have made multiple demands on the Primary Association to take action with respect to the construction defects, including by filing suit against the developer and the various entities involved in the design and construction prior to the running of the statute of repose. At a meeting of the board of managers of the Primary Association on July 3, 2007, the managers voted on whether to file such a suit. The three presidents of the residential associations voted for, while the four managers appointed by the Commercial Association voted against.

The plaintiff brought this action on July 6, 2007. He purports to sue “as President of the Millennium Place North High-Rise Residential Association.” Named as defendants are the four members of the Primary Association Board of Managers who were appointed by the developers through the Commercial Association; the two entities identified collectively as the developer; Bovis Lend Lease LMB, Inc. (“Bovis”), identified as the general contractor;4 Gary Edward Handel & Associates, identified as the design architect; CBTArchitects, Inc., identified as the architect of record; Cosentini Associates, Inc., identified as the mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineer; and DeSimone Consulting Engineers, Inc., identified as the structural engineer. The Primary Association is also named, apparently as a nominal party; no relief is sought against it.

The complaint sets forth four counts.

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Bluebook (online)
23 Mass. L. Rptr. 390, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/oates-v-larkin-masssuperct-2007.