Door manufacturer claims it was not fully paid for work done at Jazz at Walter Circle

A door manufacturing company claims it has not been paid tens of thousands of dollars for materials it provided in the construction of a senior center.

MPM Industries Inc. filed suit Aug. 11 in the St. Clair County Circuit Court against H.B.D. Construction Inc., Eco Jazz Inc. NFP and more than a dozen other named defendants.

According to the complaint, defendant H.B.D. Construction hired the plaintiff to provide materials to defendant Eco Jazz, which owned the mixed use senior living facility being constructed at 1001 - 1023 N. 15th St. in East St. Louis. The center was known as the Jazz at Walter Circle Project, and MPM agreed to deliver hollow metal doors and frames, flush wood doors and door hardware to the defendants, according to the complaint. In turn, H.B.D. agreed to pay MPM $335,227, the suit states.

Extra work, delays and changes caused the original contracted price to increase by $39,586.92, the complaint says. Since then, however, the defendants have failed to fully pay MPM, it claims.

To date, HBD has paid MPM $325,376 under the HBD-MPM subcontract, leaving an unpaid balance of $49,437.92, the suit states.

Although MPM has repeatedly requested payments, the defendants have failed to supply the money, the complaint says.

In addition to HBD, MPM names the building's owners -- Eco Jazz, The Housing Authority of the City of East St. Louis and People's Ventures -- as defendants. East Lake/Central City, East Lake Management, Cole Taylor Bank, Swansea Building Products, Armstrong Cabinet Products, King O'Tiles, Lorenz and Associates, David J. Hyde and Associates, Town and Country Masonry and Tuckpointing, Bethalto Glass, The Rosch Company, St. Clair County trustee and Raven Securities are also named as defendants. They may claim some right or interest in the property, according to the complaint.

MPM is seeking the money it claims it is owed, plus interest, attorney's fees, costs and other relief the court deems just. It also is seeking an accounting to determine the exact amount it is owed, a mechanic's lien for the amount owed to it, a declaration that its interests and priorities are superior to the other defendants and, in the alternative of a payment being provided to MPM, a deficiency that holds the defendants liable to pay the money.

MPM will be represented by attorneys Thomas J. O'Toole Jr. and Sarah W. Rubenstein of Mickes Goldman O'Toole in St. Louis.

St. Clair County Circuit Court case number 14-L-588.