YOUNGSTOWN — A judge denied a request by Youngstown to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Carrier Services Group, the last tenant at the city-owned 20 Federal Place that is seeking more than $500,000 in damages.

Judge Maureen Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on Wednesday denied an Oct. 30 summary judgment motion by the city and three co-defendants, Mayor Jamael Tito Brown; Charles Shasho, deputy director of public works; and Jim Murray, the project’s engineer.

Summary judgment seeks to end a case before it goes to trial on the grounds that there is no genuine dispute of facts and “that reasonable minds viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to (one side) can only reach a conclusion adverse to the party against whom the motion for summary judgment is made,” Sweeney wrote.

Sweeney wrote: “After resolving all doubts … the court must deny each of the motions for summary judgment. Material issues of fact remain in dispute that bar the court from granting any of the motions filed by” the city and the three other co-defendants.

The city states it properly evicted CSG after Sweeney ruled Dec. 6, 2023, that it was permitted to so and any damage that occurred was the responsibility of the company because it refused to remove items while an $7.4 million remediation project occurs at the downtown building at 20 W. Federal St.

Because of the work, the city removed and damaged CSG’s fiber optic lines, computer servers and equipment when the company wouldn’t remove them. CSG has said the damage exceeded $500,000.

City officials have said the fiber optic line and the power were cut and Carrier didn’t notice either for about two weeks and it was more than a week after the equipment was moved to the city’s traffic engineering building on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard before the company realized that occurred.

Carrier hasn’t had a valid lease since Sept. 30, 2020, when an old contract expired, and the company failed to renew on a timely basis, Magistrate Dennis J. Sarisky ruled Aug. 23, 2023, and Sweeney upheld Dec. 6, 2023.

This lawsuit seeks damages against the city and the three other co-defendants.

Sweeney rejected the city’s arguments for summary judgment on various grounds.

She denied the city is entitled to governmental immunity because 20 Federal Place, owned by the city, is a commercial building.

Sweeney also rejected the argument that the three co-defendants are protected by qualified immunity – a common defense used by governments in Ohio that gives them immunity from liability as a defense in many court cases in which it is performing a government or proprietary function.

Sweeney wrote Shasho decided to cut the electric power to CSG’s premises as well as fiber optic lines and “destroy and / or remove the leased premises,” while Brown “condoned and authorized” those actions and Murray told subcontractors to follow the directives.

Sweeney wrote: “As such, there are issues of fact which prevent the court from summarily concluding that the actions of the individual employees of the city did not violate statutory constitutional rights and are protected by qualified immunity.”

The city in May paid $50,000 to Tokio Marine, the city’s insurance company, to cover its deductible in this ongoing lawsuit.

There were 19 tenants, taking up about 20 percent of the 332,000-square-foot building before eviction notices were sent in July 2022. Some of the tenants received extensions.

The city permitted Carrier to remain the longest of any of the tenants, but sought to evict it Jan. 3, 2023.

The evictions occurred because the city spent $7.4 million – largely thanks to a $6.96 million state grant – to remove asbestos and partially demolish the building in order to have it redeveloped. That project was finished in October.

The city purchased the building in November 2004 after Phar-Mor, a national retail store company, went out of business. The property was the Phar-Mor Centre, the company’s corporate headquarters. Before that, it was the flagship location of Strouss’ department store for several decades.

The city’s board of control approved a nonbinding memorandum of understanding on Dec. 18 with Bluelofts Inc., a Dallas, Texas, redevelopment firm, “not to extend beyond Oct. 15, 2025, to finalize a ground lease agreement and P3 (public-private partnership) structure and financially close the bonds and commence construction.”

Under the proposal, Bluelofts is teaming with Madrone Community Foundation of Berkeley, California, which would own the building through a nonprofit charitable organization. The city would retain ownership of the ground underneath the building.

Bluelofts proposed a $57 million project at the building, but will use the results of a recently-completed market feasibility study to finalize development plans.

Bluelofts’ most recent proposal in December, which could change based on the study, is to build 100 apartments to house 180 people in one-to-three-bedroom units with 43 of the apartments being affordable / workforce housing at 80% median income rent as well as 30,000 square feet of commercial space, a small wellness center, and e-commerce and mini-warehouse space on the first two floors for smaller businesses.

The project also calls for 62 parking spaces in the basement.

Bluelofts’ proposal is to start construction in October and be finished around June 2027.

An updated proposal is expected to be presented to city council in September.

The building has $10 million in state historic tax credits and $14 million in federal historic tax credits that expire at the end of 2025 if a project at the building isn’t started by then.