EDGEWATER — The devastating 7-alarm inferno that displaced about 1,000 residents of a luxury apartment building is a direct result of the real estate company's negligence, alleges a class action lawsuit filed Monday by now-homeless tenants of the Avalon at Edgewater.
The civil lawsuit, filed in Bergen County Superior Court on Monday, claims hundreds of tenants of the complex, as well as residents in neighboring homes, suffered economic losses due to the direct actions of Maryland-based corporate real estate firm AvalonBay.
Approximately 1,000 people were displaced from their homes as a result of the roaring fire, half of them permanently. Many pets also died in the fire.
"At this point we don't have a specific amount in damages, but that will come out as the case proceeds," attorney Bruce Greenberg of Lite Depalma Greenberg told NJ Advance Media.
The plaintiffs are seeking a jury trial, Greenberg said.
A spokesman for AvalonBay said the company had "no comment at this time."
"Defendant owed a duty to perform the construction and maintenance in a safe, competent and workmanlike manner in order to avoid damage to property or injury to persons, and to ensure that any persons to whom it delegated responsibilities did the same," the litigator from the Newark firm Lite DePalma Greenberg LLC wrote in the lawsuit. "Defendant breached its duty of care to Plaintiffs and Class Members. Defendant's breach was the direct and proximate cause of injuries to Plaintiffs and Class Members. Defendant knew or should have known of the risk of fire during construction and for maintenance, and knew or should have known that the risk was increased when using lightweight wood construction and/or in allowing a blowtorch to be used in close proximity to these flammable materials."
The plaintiffs also cited statements made by Edgewater firefighters and other officials who condemned the building's "lightweight" wood construction, which is cheap to build but more fire-prone than other accepted construction methods.
“If it was made out of concrete and cinder block, we wouldn’t have this sort of problem,” Edgewater Fire Chief Tom Jacobson said at a press conference last Thursday.
Wednesday’s fire was the second time flames consumed the property overlooking the Hudson River.
While still under construction in August of 2000, a massive fire engulfed all four complex buildings in 15 minutes and spread to surrounding homes, claiming nine modest houses nearby and dozens of cars.
AvalonBay later paid $6 million in settlements to the homeowners, the Associated Press reported in 2005. A jury found the company was negligent and contributed to the fire.
The previous buildings were also made largely of lightweight wood materials.
Avalon at Edgewater, rebuilt in 2002, cost about $75 million to build.
AvalonBay's chief construction officer, Michael Feigin, in a statement last week called wood-frame construction a “standard, common, and safe construction method for multifamily housing used throughout the United States.”
Though officials have said the 408-unit building was built to code and had no outstanding violations, the class action lawsuit filed Monday argues the fire could have been anticipated.
"Defendant's actions and failures to act constitute an intentional and unreasonable invasion of Plaintiff's and Class Members' interest in the private use and enjoyment of their property because Defendant knew or was substantially certain that a fire was likely to result from its conduct," the complaint states. "Defendant's conduct is also unreasonable because the gravity of the potential harm resulting from the fire outweighed any conceivable utility of Defendant's conduct."
Greenberg, citing news reports, also alleged in the lawsuit that the building lacked sprinkler systems between walls and under the roof, which officials believe accelerated the pace of the blaze.
AvalonBay has not yet responded to the lawsuit, Greenberg said.
The company did, however, require that tenants obtain renter's insurance as a condition of the lease, according to multiple sources.
Multiple sources also told NJ Advance Media that AvalonBay has pro-rated January leases, returned security deposits to permanently displaced tenants and offered $1,000 to help tenants find short-term accommodation.
James Kleimann may be reached at jkleimann@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @jameskleimann. Find NJ.com on Facebook.