THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 10, 1994 TAG: 9409100271
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MYLENE MANGALINDAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 50 lines
CMSS Architects, a Virginia Beach architectural firm, filed a lawsuit this week against the city of Norfolk and the owner of Main Street Tower for using the firm's building plans and designs to complete the 14-story office building.
A trial date has not been assigned, but the case probably will be heard within six months, said Judy Cofield, the attorney from Shuttleworth, Ruloff, Giordano & Kahle, the firm representing CMSS.
``The only plans ever designed were ours,'' Cofield said. ``I can tell you from looking at that building, that those are our plans. It is our property and was used wrongly.''
According to court documents filed Tuesday, CMSS is suing the corporate owner of the tower, NeVa Properties, Inc. NeVa Properties is owned by Las Vegas investor Ralph Engelstad, the owner of the Imperial Palace hotel and casino in Nevada.
The architectural firm also named the city of Norfolk as a defendant for allowing the company's copyrighted plans to be duplicated and to be used improperly.
The Virginia Beach firm is asking the court for $500,000 for copyright infringement and breach of contract.
``The plans haven't been with the city for a long time,'' Norfolk city attorney Philip R. Trapani said. ``I briefly discussed this with the owner's attorneys who told me they engaged another architectural firm to design the completion of the building.''
Rowe Development Co., the original developers of Main Street Tower, hired CMSS to design the 14-story office tower at the corner of Bank and Main streets in downtown Norfolk.
The general contractor for the project, Galloway Construction Corp., stopped work on the building in July 1990 because Rowe could not pay it. The building permit for the tower expired.
CMSS left the project because Rowe could not pay it, either. Protected under federal copyright laws, it told the city that its plans could not be used. The city notified the architectural firm that it had disposed of its documents, which had been on file with the city.
CMSS contends that a subcontractor hired by the building's new owner, NeVa Properties, duplicated its original designs, which still carry the firm's name on some of the plans.
Officials from NeVa couldn't be reached for comment. by CNB