Edgewater Owners Association v. Hartz Mountain Industries

Breach of contract and consumer fraud claims by the owners association of the 512 unit Edgewater condominium complex in Harbor, New Jersey against Hartz Mountain Industries for faulty and deficient construction of the complex including waterproofing, steel substructure, expansion joints, fire sprinklers, windows, brickfacing, balconies and other areas. Hartz Mountain Industries touted the luxury housing complex in its sales material about the development, which juts out into the Hudson River and overlooks the Manhattan skyline. The plaintiff claimed that the 1,500-foot-long wood, steel and concrete pier - built in 1929 by Ford Motor Company began deteteriorating. Experts testified that the wood piles, or poles, holding up the pier were eroded from age, water and tiny marine creatures that had eat wood. The units in the project sold for $200,000 to $700,000. They claimed that they were taken advantage of by the Hartz Mountain.