Chicago Architect Sues Iowa Bank, Claiming ‘Piracy’ Over Building Plans

A nationally known architectural firm is suing an Iowa bank over what it calls the “piracy” of its intellectual property. First Security Bank & Trust Co. of Charles City, Iowa, took over an ongoing retail and residential development project in a bankruptcy proceeding, intending to finish the downtown Charles City, Iowa project and open it for businesses and 33 residential units. 
 
However, the legal complaint notes, the bank never paid the architect, Cornice & Rose International, LLC, for the architectural work on the project, which is known as McQuillen Place.
 
“This is piracy, plain and simple,” said James A. Gray, principal of Cornice & Rose. “First Security should not have taken over the project in the first place—they were acting in bad faith—but the law says, regardless, they do not own our design, any more than they’d own the script for a movie they just saw at a theatre.”
 
Also named as defendants in the case are eight vendors and two individuals involved in the project.
 
The case citation is Cornice & Rose International, LLC v. Four Keys, LLC, et al., Case No. 6:20-cv-02097-KEM, Northern District of Iowa.

“We’ve warned them over and over again, in front of Federal judges, in the press, and in letters and phone calls. They’ve ignored us -- as if they don’t have to obey the law like everybody else,” said Gray.

Gray is represented in the lawsuit by Peter Riley of the Tom Riley Law Firm. The bank and the others had not named their counsel as of November 30.

McQuillen Place, a three-story multiuse building with a distinctive Victorian clocktower, space for retail, restaurants, and 33 residential units, has been embroiled in litigation since the Iowa Economic Development Authority famously reneged on a written promise to provide a subsidy for construction costs.

First Security Bank claims it bought the building at a court sale in July 2020, but opponents in litigation claim the sale violated due process at the expense of creditors and the structure’s original developer. 
 

Contact Information

James Gray

Principal, Architect

Cornice & Rose International LLC

(1) (847) 525-2323

james.gray@corniceandrose.com