An appeals court restored Masoud Shojaee’s Shoma Group’s $10 million jury award against an affiliate of Ugo Colombo, adding another twist in the long-running lawsuit over a failed Coral Gables project.
Masoud Shojaee Wins Appeal Against Ugo Colombo Affiliate
The Third District Court of Appeal nixed a state judge’s ruling from last year that had quashed the jury’s damages award to Shoma.
Masoud Shojaee Wins Appeal Against Ugo Colombo Affiliate
Entities tied to Shojaee and CMC Group founder Colombo have been locked in a seven-year litigation over their fizzled joint venture to build The Collection Residences. The 128-unit high-end condominium was supposed to rise across the street from Colombo’s The Collection luxury car dealership but plans went awry sometime in 2015 and construction never started.
Masoud Shojaee Wins Appeal Against Ugo Colombo Affiliate
After pulling out of the JV, Shojaee’s Shoma Coral Gables entity sued Colombo, his affiliate and The Collection, alleging that they had wanted to buy the project’s underground garage and ground-floor retail but offered a price lowballed by about $6 million, according to court filings. When they couldn’t reach a deal, Colombo’s affiliate retaliated by closing the sales office and discontinuing marketing, according to Shoma’s complaint.
Masoud Shojaee Wins Appeal Against Ugo Colombo Affiliate
Shoma won initially. In 2021, a jury sided with the firm determining that Colombo and his affiliate breached the JV operating agreement. The jury verdict for $10 million was against the Colombo affiliate but it awarded zero damages against Colombo individually.
Masoud Shojaee Wins Appeal Against Ugo Colombo Affiliate
But in January of last year, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge William Thomas threw out the jury verdict.
Masoud Shojaee Wins Appeal Against Ugo Colombo Affiliate
Now, the appeals court disagreed and directed the lower court to reinstate the verdict.
Thomas and the appeals court didn’t see eye-to-eye on one specific point: whether Shoma Coral Gables suffered individual harm that is separate from any harm suffered by the Shojaee-Colombo JV entity, Coral Gables Luxury…
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