YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – City Council will consider an ordinance at its next meeting that would result in a payment to Erie Terminal Place LLC to satisfy a legal settlement that the parties reached in May.
City Council next Wednesday will vote on whether to approve paying Erie Terminal and attorneys Rossi & Rossi Co. $40,000 to settle litigation that the company first filed against the city in April 2024. Erie Terminal – a building at 112 W. Commerce St., downtown – was redeveloped into apartments approximately a decade ago and leases its ground floor space to two tenants.
Erie Terminal Place sued the city, Marucci and Gaffney Excavating Co. and Pannunzio Contractors LLC on April 22, 2024, alleging that work the city commissioned along Commerce Street in 2022 resulted in damages to Erie Terminal’s facade, marble and exterior and interior walls, according to documents filed with the Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
Erie Terminal last year voluntarily dismissed its case against Pannunzio Contractors.
The street work was related to the redevelopment of 20 Federal Place, a city-owned building that was under renovation in anticipation of luring a private developer to purchase the structure, according to documents. Part of that work included excavating portions of Commerce Street, which runs along the rear of 20 Federal, court papers say. The complaint stated that contractors jackhammering near Erie Terminal caused more than $89,000 in damages to its building. Erie Terminal requested damages in excess of $25,000, plus interest and costs.
According to court documents, a final settlement was reached in May 2025, and the terms were communicated with City Council on May 26.
City Council was initially to hear the legislation approving the settlement July 27 but lacked a quorum to vote on the measure, according to court documents. The item was not included on City Council’s agenda on two subsequent meetings in August and September, court documents show.
The delay forced Erie Terminal’s attorney, Gregg Rossi, to file a motion to enforce settlement with the court Sept. 19. A court magistrate had scheduled a hearing Dec. 3 regarding the matter.