Court of Appeals of Ohio, Eighth District, Cuyahoga
GRAND ARCADE CONDOMINIUM OWNERS' ASSOCIATION, INC., Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
GA 120, L.L.C., ET AL., Defendants-Appellees.
Civil
Appeal from the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Case
No. CV-16-870901
Kaman
& Cusimano, L.L.C., Joseph E. DiBaggio, and Rachel M.
Kuhn, for appellant.
Powers
Friedman Linn, P.L.L., Michael D. Linn, Rachel E. Cohen, and
Thomas P. Owen, for appellee GA 120, L.L.C.
Thomas
M. Horwitz, and Bryan S. Mollohan, for appellee GA Storage,
L.L.C.
JOURNAL ENTRY AND OPINION
MARY
J. BOYLE, PRESIDING JUDGE.
{¶
1} Plaintiff-appellant, Grand Arcade Condominium
Owners' Association, Inc. ("the Association")
appeals from a judgment denying its motion to appoint a
receiver. In its sole assignment of error, the Association
asserts:
The trial court abused its discretion in denying the
Association its mandatory, statutory right to the appointment
of a receiver, as set forth in R.C. 5311.18(B)(2).
{¶
2} Finding the appeal to be moot, we affirm the
trial court's judgment. I. Procedural History and
Factual Background
{¶
3} In October 2016, the Association filed a
foreclosure complaint against defendants, GA 120, L.L.C. and
GA Storage, L.L.C. GA 120 is the owner of a condominium unit
located at 408 West St. Clair Avenue, Suite 120, Cleveland,
Ohio ("the property"). As a condominium unit owner,
GA 120 is a member of the Association pursuant to the
Association's declaration and bylaws. As explained more
fully below, defendant-appellee, GA Storage, holds the first
mortgage on the property as well as a second mortgage.
{¶
4} The Association recorded a certificate of lien on
the property in the Cuyahoga County Recorder's Office on
August 19, 2016, for $5, 11949, which it asserted was to
secure payment from GA 120 for "maintenance fees, common
expenses and assessments." The Association alleged that
GA 120 owed it $7, 973.08, plus interest at the rate of 10
percent as of October 21, 2016. The Association further
alleged that GA 120 owed additional "maintenance fees
and assessments incurred subsequent to the filing" of
the complaint.
{¶
5} According to the preliminary judicial report
attached to the complaint, a mortgage was recorded on the
property on November 3, 2006, from West Sixth Associates
Limited Partnership ("West Sixth Associates") to GA
Storage in the amount of $1, 561, 523.23. West Sixth
Associates owned the property at that time.
{¶
6} West Sixth Associates redeveloped 99 condominium
units in several historic buildings, including The Grand
Arcade, Warning Bloc, and Klein-Marks and Bair-Bloc buildings
in downtown Cleveland. The buildings, which were originally
built in the 1880s, are on St. Clair Avenue in the city of
Cleveland's Warehouse District.
{¶
7} GA 120 became the property owner in August 2014.
A mortgage was recorded on July 21, 2014, from GA 120 to GA
Storage in the amount of $ 349, 398.08. The report further
shows that another mortgage was recorded from GA 120 to GA
Storage on August 19, 2016, in the amount of $5, 11949.
{¶
8} In August 2014, the Association was engaged in
litigation with Grand Arcade, Ltd. (who owned five commercial
condominium units in The Grand Arcade) over a special
assessment levied by the Association to the condominium
owners for replacing the windows of the historic buildings.
See Grand Arcade, Ltd. v. Grand Arcade Condominium
Owners' Assoc, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 104890,
2017-Ohio-2760. This court upheld the trial court's
determination that the special assessment was valid and that
the unit owners were responsible for paying their
proportional share of the capital improvement cost. Thus, GA
120, which is now the owner of the property, is also
responsible for this special assessment.
{¶
9} When the Association filed its foreclosure
complaint, the special assessment matter was still pending in
this court. After this court released our opinion, Grand
Arcade appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court, which did not
accept the case for discretionary review on January 31, 2018.
Grand Arcade, Ltd. v. Grand Arcade Condominium
Owners' Assoc,151 Ohio St.3d 1506, ...