Batavia Flooring Company Faces Eviction From Campana Building

After at least a year of trying to work out rent issues with Ashland Flooring, the owners of Batavia’s historic Campana Building have filed a lawsuit to evict the business.

Campana Redevelopment LLC, operated by Prairie Structures, filed three notices in November and December. These notices warned Ashland owners that their failure to abide by a payment agreement on overdue rent put them in danger of being removed from the 17,000 square-foot space it occupies.

On Dec. 27, the lease was terminated and Campana officials filed the lawsuit stating Ashland owed just over $201,000. The original three-year lease was signed in April 2009 for Ashland to operate out of Campana’s south wing and a portion of the main building. Ashland remains in the building.

The case was in court Friday and continued to Feb. 6. Prairie Structures President Frank Mares Jr. and an attorney for Ashland each said they could not comment.

Court records are not clear as to when Ashland began to fall behind on the rent, but a January 2011 email from Mares spells out a plan to get things back on track. The email also references Ashland’s need to finish its build out in the space it leased, as well as make repairs for damage caused during the process.

Mares noted how he twice was unsuccessful in picking up checks promised to him by Ashland management, according to court documents. A five-day notice— typically the first legal step taken by a landlord to evict someone—issued on Nov. 11 stated Ashland owed approximately $58,000 in unpaid rent since June.

Built in 1937, the Campana Building sits at the corner of Route 31 and Fabyan Parkway and is recognized as an historical landmark. A current property listing indicates nearly 70,000 square feet of warehouse and office space available for rent at rates ranging from $3.50 to $8.25 per square foot.