POAH-MPTTA Joint Venture, LLC, et al. v. New Mass Pike Towers Limited Partnership, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 09-027-17)
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS SUFFOLK, ss. SUPERIOR COURT CIVIL ACTION No. 16-03282-BLS1 POAH – MPTTA JOINT VENTURE, LLC & another1 vs. NEW MASS PIKE TOWERS LIMITED PARTNERSHIP & others2 MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER ON DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS PLAINTIFFS’ SECOND SUBSTITUTE COMPLAINT Plaintiffs, POAH – MPTTA Joint Venture, LLC (Joint Venture) and Mass Pike Towers Tenants Association, Inc. (MPTTA), filed this action for declaratory judgment against defendants, New Mass Pike Towers Limited Partnership, Trinity Financial, Inc., and Trinity Mass Pike Towers, Inc (referred to collectively as “Trinity”). Trinity moves to dismiss plaintiffs’ “Second Substitute Complaint” (Complaint) for lack of jurisdiction under Mass. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1), failure to state a claim under Mass. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6), and for failure to add indispensable parties under Mass. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(7) and Mass. R. Civ. P. 19. Count I is brought solely by the Joint Venture, and Count II is brought solely by MPTTA. In both counts, plaintiffs seek declaratory judgment relating to the potential purchase and sale of Mass Pike Towers. For the reasons stated below, Trinity’s motion to dismiss is allowed. 1 Mass Pike Towers Tenants Association, Inc. 2 Trinity Mass Pike Towers, Inc., as general partner of New Mass Pike Towers Limited Partnership, and Trinity Financial, Inc. BACKGROUND The facts as revealed by the Complaint are as follows. Mass Pike Towers is a two hundred unit subsidized housing complex in the Chinatown section of Boston, Massachusetts. Plaintiff MPTTA is a 501(c)(3) charitable association of the tenants of Mass Pike Towers. Plaintiff Joint Venture is a Massachusetts limited liability company, consisting of MPTTA and Preservation of Affordable Housing, Inc. (POAH).3 In this action, the Joint Venture seeks a declaration for specific enforcement of an option it allegedly received from the City of Boston to purchase Mass Pike Towers. As an alternative ground for relief, MPTTA asserts in Count II that there is an actual controversy between the parties as to whether MPTTA should be allowed to exercise the option on its own behalf. Plaintiffs request that the court issue a declaration of their rights. In 1999, defendant, Trinity Financial, Inc., a local for-profit development company, submitted proposals seeking approval and support from the City of Boston, the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development to purchase Mass Pike Towers. Trinity proposed to purchase Mass Pike Towers for a below-market price of $ 6.1 million. The appraised value of the property was $ 7.8 million. Trinity proposed to purchase Mass Pike Towers without contributing any cash itself. Trinity also proposed to receive a developer’s fee of $ 3.4 million. Public resources were […]
Commonwealth v. Pike (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-049-14)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us SJC‑11499 COMMONWEALTH vs. MATTHEW J. PIKE. March 17, 2014. Sex Offender. Sex Offender Registration and Community Notification Act. Evidence, Sex offender. On May 20, 2010, the defendant pleaded guilty to several charges including indecent assault and battery. He was sentenced to two years at a correctional facility, time deemed served, and placed on probation for two years. His conditions of probation included, among other things, that he register as a sex offender pursuant to G. L. c. 6, §§ 178C-178P. He was subsequently charged in a complaint, on July 30, 2010, with failing to register, in violation of G. L. c. 6, § 178H (a), and, following a jury-waived trial, was convicted of that charge. The Appeals Court affirmed the conviction, rejecting the defendant’s argument that the evidence was insufficient and declining to consider his argument that he received ineffective assistance of counsel because he had not first raised the claim in a motion for a new trial. See Commonwealth v. Pike, 83 Mass. App. Ct. 1128 (2013). The case is now before this court on further appellate review. The defendant raises the same two issues here that he did in the Appeals Court: that the evidence is insufficient to support the conviction and that he received ineffective assistance of counsel. To prove that the defendant violated G. L. c. 6, § 178H (a), the Commonwealth must show that, among other things, the defendant failed to notify the Sex Offender Registry Board (board) of a change of address.[1] At trial, the Commonwealth attempted to prove this element of the crime through the testimony of the defendant’s probation officer, Susan McDonough. She testified that she was scheduled to visit the defendant at his home on July 14, 2010, but that she “left a message that [she] would not be able to make that appointment and for him to come into the office. He did not report.” She also stated that on July 21, 2010, she went to the defendant’s home and he was not there. That same day, the defendant left a message on McDonough’s voice mail “that all is good and he [was] staying with a friend.” As a result of these events, McDonough asked for a warrant on July 23, 2010, leading to the issuance of the July 30, 2010, complaint charging the defendant with failing to register […]
Section of Mass Pike to Close Overnight
A section of the Mass Pike will be closed overnight as crews continue to fix a lighting and ventilation issue caused by a Sunday power outage. The Prudential Tunnel will be closed to vehicular traffic between 1 and 5 a.m. at the latest Monday, according to a Massachusetts State Police alert Sunday evening. The alert continues: MassDOT urges motorists to allow extra time to reach their destination during this time frame. The closure is being implemented as a public safety precaution. NStar will be performing electrical work that may impact the tunnel’s lighting and ventilation systems. Motorists traveling East on the Pike will be detoured to Storrow Drive East via Exit 18/Allston-Brighton. Truckers must find an alternate route. Pike West travelers will follow I-93 Southbound to Mass Ave. I-93 Northbound and Southbound travelers destined for the Pike West will be detoured to Mass Ave. For transportation news and updates visit MassDOT at our website:www.mass.gov/massdot, blog: www.mass.gov/blog/transportation, or follow MassDOT on twitter atwww.twitter.com/massdot and Facebookatwww.facebook.com/massdotinfo. South End Patch