Article Courtesy of The Miami Herald

By JOEL POELHUIS

Published June 14, 2009 

Ugo Colombo is hoping the Bristol Tower Condo Association's case doesn't hold water.

The Miami developer is the defendant in a suit that blames him for leaks in a penthouse unit he sold to recording artist Pharrell Williams for $14 million in 2007, shortly after the leaking began. The trial began Monday in Miami-Dade civil court and a jury will decide the case this week.

Colombo claims the leaks are the responsibility of the condo association, which is suing him for $525,000 in damages. Colombo had owned the penthouse since 1993, when his construction company helped build Bristol Tower, which is at 2127 Brickell Ave, Miami. Colombo is being sued as a homeowner, not as a designer.

The suit began with Hector Lopez, who owns the condo unit beneath the 40th-floor penthouse owned by Williams. Lopez, who bought the apartment in December 2006, has not been able to live in the building for the past two-and-a-half years because of ongoing water damage from the floor above, the suit says. In 2007, he filed suit against the condo association, Colombo and Williams, the penthouse's new owner.

The condo association settled with Lopez for $525,000 in exchange for the right to pursue the case against Colombo, according to the plaintiff's counsel, Benjamin Esco.

The plaintiffs contend the leaks come from six sources in the penthouse, including a jacuzzi, an irrigation system for planters and the pump room for the penthouse pool.

According to defense counsel Mai-Ling Castillo, the damages are the condo association's responsibility.

''Not everything that's in a building is the responsibility of the unit owner,'' she said. "There has yet to be a concrete conclusion as to what the cause of these water intrusions is.''

Williams seems to be steering clear of the legal tangle. When his company PW Continuum I bought the penthouse, Colombo agreed to cover indemnity on any legal problems from the already pending suit.

Karl Sturge, who represents PW Continuum I, said his client just wants repairs on the penthouse to move forward. ''We're hoping they get fixed in the next six months,'' he said.

Sturge said there could be more litigation in the future to address the costs of ongoing repairs.

Colombo claims he has had to cover maintenance costs for the condo association before. He said he had to repair his own unit's roof because the association did not move fast enough on repairs. He claims the leaks come from pipes that aren't under the scope of homeowner maintenance.

''I've never seen any water on the floor,'' he said.