Magpie restaurant owners awarded $34,000 in lawsuit after fire prompts relocation

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — The owners of Magpie restaurant have won $34,000 in damages in a lawsuit that claimed the business was forced to relocate after a fire destroyed the building next door in 2017.

The Hanley Building, once a furniture store, had sat vacant at Chestnut and Main Street before it was destroyed in a massive fire in June 2017.

Magpie, which had operated next door, at 307 S. Main Street, since 2015, suffered damage in the fire.

The suit, filed in October of 2017, by Stephanie Caltagerone’s Three Magpies, Inc., alleged that the landlords, Sam and Linda Pirello, breached a lease agreement that gave Magpie the first right of refusal to buy the property. Instead, the suit claimed, they transferred ownership to Urban Equities Properties for redevelopment.

The Pirellos contended that damage to the structure triggered a clause that allowed them to break the lease.

The suit claimed that the management property, UEP Investments 2, did not allow the owners to collect all of their property and equipment from the building.

The defendants claimed the property was attached to the building and was a permanent part of the structure, but the restaurant owners claimed it belonged to them under the lease agreement.

Last Thursday, Judge Lisa Fabiano decided on behalf of Three Magpies, Inc., awarding damages of $34,000 from UEP Investments 2.

The Hanley building was later demolished and became lofts, at 301 S. Main Street, owned by Urban Equities Properties.

Magpie reopened a year later, at 216 North Madison Street.