New owner of Granite Ridge in North East goes to court as he launches center for veterans

Six months after his foundation purchased Granite Ridge — the former Mercyhurst North East campus — a Florida philanthropist has filed a series of lawsuits as he works to turn the property into an outreach center for military veterans .

The Mellon Heritage Foundation, whose president is M. Richard Mellon, is suing over the Erie County Assessment Board's refusal to make most of the property tax exempt. The claims involve six suits — one for each parcel at issue.

And in another lawsuit filed in Erie County Common Pleas Court, M. Richard Mellon and the foundation are suing an Erie real estate business and the former owners of the property over claims that the property's aquatics center is unusable and needs $2.2 million in repairs.

Mellon is claiming the real estate company and the former owners failed to disclose what he says were defects. He and the foundation are seeking $2.5 million in damages.

All the defendants in both cases said the claims are meritless.

A big purchase, and then lawsuits

The Mellon Foundation purchased the Granite Ridge property for $3.1 million — the final adjusted price — in late December .

The seller was North East Campus LLC, affiliated with the Baltimore-based Ehrenfeld Cos. Ehrenfeld bought the property from Mercyhurst University for $4.5 million in 2021.

Ehrenfeld's plans for the 70-acre property, including creating a facility to house unaccompanied migrant children , never materialized. It sold 5.1 acres and a total of 39 townhomes and apartments to a local developer for $4 million in November , and sold the rest to the Mellon Heritage Foundation.

M. Richard Mellon is a former Erie resident who now lives in Naples, Florida. He is not part of the Mellon railroad and banking family from Pittsburgh.

The Mellon Heritage Foundation sued the Assessment Board on June 17. It wants a judge to reverse the board's ruling and declare the property exempt from real estate taxes.

The Mellon Heritage Foundation and M. Richard Mellon sued over the aquatics center on July 8. The defendants include Agresti Real Estate, North East Campus and Jonathan Ehrenfeld, of the Ehrenfeld Cos. and of Blue Ocean LLC, another defendant.

A lawyer for Agresti Real Estate characterized the claims as baseless.

"My clients aren't at liberty to elaborate on the complaint in any detail at this time," said the lawyer, Norman "Bud" Stark. "As a local brokerage, Agresti Real Estate takes great care and pride in the work that they do and are confident that they've done so in this transaction.

"The allegations against Agresti Real Estate are not true and we intend to fully defend the claims in court."

A lawyer for Jonathan Ehrenfeld and his businesses said the suit is "without merit."

"It is our intention to defend vigorously," said the lawyer, Lisa Presta.

Assessment cases seek exemptions for 6 parcels

In the assessment cases, the Mellon Heritage Foundation is claiming the six parcels should be free from property taxes because the foundation is a charitable organization providing "a significant public benefit" by offering veterans free services, including educational and physical fitness programs, according to the lawsuits.

The complex is called Mellon Heritage Veterans Outreach and Wellness Center .

"We are open for operations," M. Richard Mellon said in an interview. "Our doors are open to all veterans."

Tax exemptions would save the Mellon Foundation close to $83,000 a year, the total amount of the the bill for the six parcels in the litigation, according to assessment records.

The property is made up of seven parcels. One of them is already tax exempt — the library.

The head of the county Assessment Bureau, Mike Voytek, said the Assessment Board made the library exempt because the Mellon Heritage Foundation has been using it for programs.

Woytek said the three-member board in May declined to make the other Mellon Heritage Foundation properties exempt because the foundation was not yet using them for programs.

The foundation can reapply for exemptions once it uses the buildings for charitable purposes, Woytek said.

Dispute over the aquatics center

The lawsuit over the aquatics center claims fraud and misrepresentation. The suit contends that the seller knew the aquatics center had problems but failed to disclose them and that the real estate firm failed to relay the defects to M. Richard Mellon.

The suit claims a contractor inspected the premises and got access to all the buildings except the aquatics center. It also claims Mellon did not visit the property until most of the purchase deal had been worked out.

"Mr. Mellon, on behalf of the Mellon Foundation, was interested in moving forward with the purchase of the North East Campus property in order to meet the urgent needs of area veterans, and, as a result, much of the negotiation occurred prior to Mr. Mellon seeing the property and based solely on the statements, information and materials provided" by others, according to the suit.

Mellon said the foundation needs the aquatics center for physical therapy and other programs.

"It's a great disappointment, because I was going to put it into immediate use," he said.

Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com or 814-870-1813. Follow him on X @ETNpalattella .

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: New owner of Granite Ridge in North East goes to court as he launches center for veterans