A Richmond Circuit Court judge has cleared the way for a $40 million lawsuit over chronic water leaks at a 212-unit Manchester apartment tower to keep moving toward a possible jury trial, rejecting most of the developer and contractor's attempt to get the case thrown out. The ruling keeps alive fraud, negligence and business conspiracy claims against the team behind River's Edge, the 10-story building at 505 Porter St. that current owner Four Mile Capital says was never built the way it was supposed to be.
The dispute, first detailed by Richmond BizSense, centers on a building Denver-based Four Mile Capital bought for $47.5 million in 2021. The firm alleges it was misled about the tower's condition and about known water leaks at the time of the sale, and that the building was never constructed according to its purported design. Four Mile is suing developer CMB Development, contractor Purcell Construction Corp. and others, alleging fraud, business conspiracy, breach of contract and negligence, and it is seeking more than $40 million in damages.
Richmond Circuit Court Judge Jacqueline McClenney issued an opinion and order on September 21 largely denying the defendants' demurrer, the procedural motion they filed seeking dismissal. Under Virginia Code § 8.01-273, a demurrer only tests whether a complaint's allegations would state a valid legal claim if true — it does not weigh evidence or decide the facts. That means McClenney's ruling is a procedural green light for discovery and trial, not a finding that the fraud allegations are accurate.
A Narrower Win for Purcell Construction
The ruling wasn't a clean sweep for Four Mile. McClenney sustained demurrers on certain counts against Purcell, finding the contractor was not a party to the original sale agreement between the developers and Four Mile and therefore isn't contractually obligated to the current owner. In response, Four Mile amended its complaint on October 13 to remove Purcell from the breach-of-contract allegation, narrowing that particular claim while the broader fraud and negligence case against the developer moves forward.
Four Mile attorney Dylan Graham characterized the outcome as a win for his client and said the firm is now pushing for a trial date to move the case forward quickly, according to Richmond BizSense's report. The defendants have denied wrongdoing. Samuel Kaufman represents Purcell and Stephen Faraci represents the developers; both the contractor and the development team declined to comment through their attorneys.
Leaks Tied to a Missing Waterproof Layer
The water problems at River's Edge date back to before Four Mile even closed on the deal. During 2021 pre-sale negotiations, the sellers agreed to complete leak repairs both before and after closing, but Purcell Construction stopped performing that work in 2022 after claiming it had finished everything necessary, as reported by Richmond BizSense. That breakdown prompted Four Mile to commission an independent building envelope investigation, which an August 2026 report from the outlet says found the tower's persistent leaks stemmed from construction that deviated from its original design — including missing waterproof sheathing the buyers claim they were told had been installed.
Four Mile Capital property manager Chris Geer described the leaks as unpredictable and said the firm cannot forecast when a new leak will start or which units will be affected, since the severity varies with wind direction and the strength of incoming rain. Geer called the issue a systemic building defect, one Four Mile says it must fix at the source to prevent future leaks rather than continuing to chase individual repairs. The firm says it's effectively chasing leaks unit by unit just to maintain safe, dry housing for residents, and the ongoing water intrusion has at times hurt its ability to lease the building, which currently sits at roughly 92% occupancy.
A Decade-Old Design, a Full Facade Rebuild on the Table
River's Edge was completed in 2018 as part of the broader transformation of Manchester's riverfront, built on a portion of the former 18-acre Reynolds Metals Co. South Plant industrial site. Architectural specifications from CMB Development describe the structure as a two-story cast-in-place concrete podium parking garage topped by eight stories of metal-stud-framed apartment units spanning roughly 210,000 square feet — a construction type that depends on a continuous exterior weather barrier to keep water out. CMB Development has also built other riverfront projects in the area, including Shiplock Views and The Link at Manchester.
Four Mile claims the entire facade needs to be reclad to fix the leaks for good, a project that would require relocating tenants during the work. The building currently offers market-rate units, with one-bedrooms starting around $1,400 per month and two-bedrooms starting at $2,000 per month, and Four Mile Capital handles property management itself. The firm, founded in 2016, manages more than 3,000 multifamily units across seven states, including other Virginia properties in Richmond, North Chesterfield and Lynchburg.
As of Friday afternoon, there were no further filings and no new hearings set in the case, according to Richmond BizSense's reporting. With the fraud and negligence claims now cleared to proceed and Four Mile pressing for a trial date, the litigation's next phase is likely to center on discovery into exactly what was built behind River's Edge's walls — and who knew what, and when.
