Owner of building on Charles Street on Beacon Hill sues over basement excavation next door; says the work has rendered its building unsafe for occupancy

The owner of 151 Charles St. on Beacon Hill yesterday sued the owner of the neighboring 149 Charles St., for what it says is illegal digging in that building's basement, which it claims removed some supports for its building, forcing it to evacuate the tenants who had not already moved after their floors started warping, their walls started cracking and doors and windows stopped closing all the way.

In its lawsuit, filed in Suffolk Superior Court, Egeria, a Dutch real-estate investment firm, accuses local real-estate developer Ty Gupta and his contractors of causing at least $1.2 million in damage and lost rents in its four-story, six-unit building.

Gupta bought 149 Charles St. in October, 2021 for $8.3 million from a bar holding company controlled by City Realty, after that company had won city approval to add three apartments in a rear addition to its own six-unit building. City Realty initially held onto the Beacon Hill Pub, but last March, the Boston Licensing Board approved plans by Gupta to buy the Beacon Hill Pub liquor license and turn the dive into a fancy Beacon Hill-worthy restaurant.

In its suit, Egeria, which bought its building in December, 2021 for $10.9 million, charges that Gupta's contractors went beyond what they were approved for in the basement under the permits City Realty got, that rather than simply renovating the space, they began excavating it to a depth of five feet, and without the supervision of a structural engineer, let alone approval from ISD.

Egeria, through a local LLC, Charles and Cambridge Corner, LLC, charges:

Defendants' excavation removed lateral support for the foundation of the abutting property owned by Plaintiff C&C at 151 Charles.

Defendants' excavation removed soil within the critical angle of repose beneath the foundation of 151 Charles.

Defendants' excavation undermined the foundation of 151 Charles.

Egeria alleges ISD issued a stop-work order in August, but rescinded that after Gupta's contractor told an inspector any digging was just for "test pits" for engineers, rather than to increase the ceiling height enough in the basement to allow restaurant seating there.

The suit continues:

On or about September 19, 2022, Plaintiff C&C's tenants at 151 Charles began reporting to C&C's property manager sudden and severe warping of floors, cracking in plaster, cracking in bathroom tiles, and failure of doors and windows to open and shut property.

The suit alleges this "sudden and severe shifting of portions of the building at 151 Charles" happened within a span of just a few hours and "at the very same time Defendants were excavating the basement at 149 Charles."

Egeria says that ISD "immediately ordered Defendants to stop work" until a remediation plan by engineers hired by both landlords could come up with a remediation plan.

But ISD removed its stop-work order after a 149 Charles engineer submitted a one-page report on Oct. 6 that the work was "safe."

Egeria says that on Oct. 31, four of the six tenants in its building ended their leases because of the problems.

On Jan. 3, the suit continues, Egeria ordered the remaining tenants out of the building after an engineer it had hired concluded "the front units of the building had shifted to the point that they could no longer suport any occupancy."

On Jan. 13, the suit continues, ISD issued another stop-work order.

As of the filing of this Complaint, cracking in walls, displacement of doors and windows, and sinking of floors continue at 151 Charles.

Egeria is seeking a jury trial to demand that Gupta pay damages - and not be allowed to do any additional work until it submits remediation plans that Egeria's engineers conclude would make Egeria's building safe again.