Judge allows $40M water leak lawsuit over Manchester River’s Edge apartments to proceed

A $40 million lawsuit concerning water leaks at the River’s Edge apartment tower in Manchester is moving forward after a Richmond Circuit Court judge largely denied a request to dismiss the case, WTVR CBS 6 reported.

The lawsuit was filed by Four Mile Capital, the current owner of the 212-unit, 10-story River’s Edge building at 505 Porter Street, which it purchased in 2021 for $47.5 million, Richmond BizSense reported. Four Mile Capital alleges that the building suffers from systemic water leaks due to shoddy construction and that it was misled about the building’s condition during the purchase.

The defendants include local firms CMB Development and Purcell Construction Corp., who deny wrongdoing and sought to dismiss the case. However, Judge Jacqueline McClenney rejected most of the dismissal request, allowing the lawsuit to proceed except for some claims against Purcell, who was found not contractually obligated to Four Mile.

Four Mile Capital claims the building’s façade needs to be completely re-clad to fix the leaks, which would require relocating tenants. The lawsuit alleges fraud, business conspiracy, breach of contract, and negligence related to the building’s construction and condition.

The case remains active in Richmond Circuit Court, with Four Mile recently amending its complaint to remove Purcell from some allegations, according to Richmond BizSense.