YOUNGSTOWN — Nearly a year after individuals harmed by the explosion at the Realty Tower downtown started to file lawsuits against companies that owned the now demolished downtown Realty Tower and those accused of causing the explosion, Youngstown Stambaugh Hotel LLC and Youngstown Stambaugh Parking Holdings have sued for similar reasons.

The suit was filed in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on Friday and names as defendants YO Properties 47; LY Property Management; Greenheart Companies; East Ohio Gas Co., doing business as Enbridge Gas Ohio and other natural gas-related entities; and Travelers Indemnity Co. of Connecticut.

Stambaugh Hotel LLC owns the Hilton Double Tree Hotel, 44 E. Federal Street, located on the other side of East Federal Street from the Realty Tower, and the parking lot behind the DoubleTree. The building that houses the hotel, known as the Stambaugh Building, suffered damage in the blast and was ordered closed by city officials after the explosion, as was the parking garage.

The suit seeks more than $1 million for the damage to the hotel that was not covered by insurance and compensation for the financial losses the hotel and parking lot suffered.

The suit states that the losses were “caused by the negligence of the owner, manager and general contractor of the Realty Tower and the owners and operators of the natural gas line which exploded, in addition to their strict liability for such ultra-hazardous activities.”

The suit names Travelers Indemnity Co. of Connecticut as a “nominal defendant” that wrote the insurance policy that covered the hotel. It states that the company provided the hotel with a policy for property damage and lost business income. For that reason, Travelers “is a necessary party in interest to the dispute.”

The suit states that YO Properties 47 “acted through its agents, servants, employees and contractors and, thus, is vicariously liable for their actions.” It states that Greenheart Companies also “acted through its agents, servants, employees and contractors and, thus, is vicariously liable for their actions.”

Embridge is a Canadian Corporation that, at all times relevant to this complaint, similarly “acted through its agents, servants, employees, contractors, affiliated subsidiaries and/or entities and thus, is vicariously liable for their actions,” the suit states.

The complaint alleges that in April 2024, the City of Youngstown entered into a no-bid contract with Greenheart to relocate utilities, which included water, gas, electrical, data and phone lines, sprinkler lines, as well as furnace water tanks from underneath the sidewalk in front of the Realty Tower, 47 E. Federal Street.

The gas lines in and near the Realty Tower were owned jointly and/or separately by the Enbridge defendants and/or the Dominion defendants, the suit states, adding that LY Property Management and/or YO Properties supervised, maintained and / or controlled the Realty Tower.

On May 28, four members of the scrap removal crew engaged by Greenheart were removing old utilities and other items from the basement of the Realty Tower, and a member of the crew who was using a reciprocating saw cut into one of the gas lines, which was thought to be inactive, the suit states.

After the line had been cut, a member of the crew smelled natural gas, heard a loud whistling sound and felt natural gas blowing into his face because the line was pressurized, the suit states. “The scrap crew called 911, activated the fire alarms and evacuated the Realty Tower,” the suit states. The building exploded about six minutes after the line was cut, the suit states.

Chase Bank employee Akil Drake was killed in the explosion and several others were injured. The explosion also caused the evacuation and displacement of residents of International Towers, which was next door to the Realty Tower. Many of those residents are elderly and / or disabled. Those residents were allowed to move back after several months.

The explosion caused extensive physical damage to the hotel and parking lot. Then the Youngstown Fire Department closed access to the streets around the Realty Tower for about 75 days, which meant that the hotel and parking deck were required to cease operations, the suit states.

It caused a “substantial loss of business income, including but not limited to hotel room reservations, banquet reservations, dining and parking deck revenue,” it states. The hotel had to spend money to relocate hotel guests, rent a temporary office and hire security to maintain the hotel in a safe and secure condition while closed, the suit adds.

The suit alleges the parking lot suffered property damages of more than $25,000.

The suit seeks a judgment jointly and severally against defendants for compensatory damages of more than $25,000, punitive damages and other compensation.

The Vindicator sought comment from the defendants or their representatives Monday but was not successful.