YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Bistro 1907 Ltd. – a downtown restaurant renamed Casa Di Canzonetta – has filed a complaint in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court against the owner of the Realty Tower and 10 other defendants, alleging negligence that led to a fatal explosion at the building in May 2024.
Bistro 1907 was located on the ground floor of the DoubleTree by Hilton Youngstown Downtown, across the street from Realty Tower, when the explosion occurred.
As a result, Bistro was forced to close its doors, “resulting in a substantial loss of business income,” the lawsuit states. The business suffered losses such as food and beverage inventory and other tangible goods, court papers say.
The lawsuit also claims that the restaurant lost future and long-term business income, including future bookings for events, parties and catering.
The complaint was filed late Tuesday.
Bistro 1907 said in its filings that building owner YO Properties 47 LLC, LY Property Management LLC and Greenheart Companies LLC “directly and proximately caused the natural gas explosion” that destroyed the building.
In August, the National Transportation Safety Board determined that “the probable cause of the explosion and subsequent fatality was a cut by a scrap-removal crew into an active Enbridge Inc. service line, which was incorrectly documented as having been abandoned years earlier by the pipeline owner at the time, Dominion Energy Inc.” which allowed natural gas to leak into the building where an unknown source ignited it, the report said.
NTSB’s findings also said Chase Bank’s emergency procedures – which did not require immediate evacuation of the building in the case of a natural gas leak – contributed “to the severity of the accident.”
The May 28, 2024, blast also killed Akil Drake, 27, a Chase Bank employee.
Bistro 1907’s lawsuit also names eight entities related to Enbridge, which had acquired the assets of Dominion Energy’s Ohio operations by the time of the explosion. The lawsuit alleges the Enbridge entities “negligently failed to depressurize or cut supply to the natural gas supply line that caused the explosion at the Realty Tower.”
The complaint also alleges that the companies failed to provide the Realty Tower owners, management and the salvage crew reliable and accurate information regarding the service and pressurization status of the gas line.
Bistro 1907 seeks unspecified damages and demands a jury trial, according to the filing. The restaurant closed immediately after the explosion and reopened as Casa di Canzonetta in October 2024.
Pictured at top: The DoubleTree by Hilton Youngstown Downtown hotel is seen during the demolition of the neighboring Realty Tower in August 2024.